Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #47: Saving Private Ryan (1998)

 
Saving Private Ryan is the last Spielberg movie to have a major cultural impact. Spielberg had tackled the World War II era several times already, but they were pulpy (Indiana Jones movies), comedic (1941), or dramas showing people overcome horrific conditions (Empire of the Sun and Schindler’s List). Saving Private Ryan was a full-fledged war film focused on the soldiers. The movie revived American pride in its soldiers, particularly of the Greatest Generation, and spawned several war films and shows. In the video game world it helped create a whole subgenre of historical WW2 shooters, with Spielberg himself helping to develop the Medal of Honor series. Several of these games were keen to feature the Omaha Beach landing, with obviously inspired by the start of Saving Private Ryan.

But has the movie held up? General viewers love it, but many history buffs think it has troublesome aspects. Well, let’s get into it. One of the aspects that made this movie so important was how it handled the battle scenes. The one that everybody knows is the Omaha Beach landing at the beginning. The historical context was that the Western Allies, with the US and Great Britain being the largest members, finally created a second western front in Europe when on June 6, 1944 they executed landings on five beaches along the Normandy Coast. Using deception and the cover of bad weather, they were able to face relatively light German resistance. However, this did not mean it was a cake walk.

Of the five beach landings, Omaha Beach has received the most attention. It was a long, horrid slog, with the American soldiers suffering the worst casualties of any Allied group that day. What struck me when rewatching the movie was how long the opening battle scene was. In reality it took hours for the Americans to finally escape the deadly beach and breach the German bunkers and pillboxes, but of course the movie has other things to get through. That being said, Spielberg really conveyed how difficult it was for the Americans to penetrate the defenses, using little tricks and tactics just to advance a few feet.

The filmmaking techniques are what really made this a memorable battle scene. World War II films by the 90s had already eschewed the bloodless action of previous generations and certainly tried to convey that war is hell, but Saving Private Ryan took it to a whole other level. The graphic depictions of soldiers getting flesh ripped off by bullets and limbs blown off was shocking, so much so that there was serious consideration of giving the film an NC-17 rating. For the men losing limbs, Spielberg got real amputees. Gallons of real blood were used for further authenticity. Realistic dummies (arranged face down) helped fill out the corpses. Explosive charges were packed with sand and water to simulate shells hitting the beach. A final touch was the use of shaky cam. Spielberg ordered the cameramen to just follow the action, meaning they were running and moving along with the actors and extras. With the absence of music and wonderful sound design, this created a visceral, immersive sequence that managed to stick with audiences despite the over two hours of movie that followed it.

Many of the German Tiger Tanks were actually Soviet T-34s heavily
altered to resemble the intended metal behemoths as much as possible.

Also, the costuming and weaponry of this movie is impressive, a big upgrade from previous films though also ironically the biggest source of historical inaccuracies (unavoidably). There actually weren't that many surviving uniforms from the war, so the costuming department really had to do its work to be accurate. The various units even were all the correct insignias. The gear is somewhat more mixed. Most of the weapons are correct, but the crew was unable to procure the actual landing craft used at Omaha Beach, which were British LCAs (Landing Craft Assault). Instead they use the Higgins boats, which were used by units coming out of American ships. Also, for cinematic appeal, the SS unit (2nd SS Panzer Division) in the final battle uses larger Tiger tanks when they actually had smaller Panzer IV models. There's also a few typical Hollywood war bits that allow for cool moments, but are inaccurate. These include bullets knifing through water (they would actually slow down and change trajectory) and Americans poking the barrels of their weapons and grenades into the port windows of tanks (many tanks were outfitted with glass protection to prevent this). There are other little inaccuracies, but this is a small complaint. Numerous WW2 movies had to use the wrong tanks because of a lack of surplus equipment of budgetary concerns. Steven Spielberg in the late 90s had the clout to give us accurate tanks.

Ironically, despite the intentional attempt to portray the horrific realities of war, Saving Private Ryan instead created more pride and enthusiasm for the American military. This is because the actual main plot of the movie is rather celebratory. Of course the Good War narrative is going to be pushed as Spielberg, a Jewish filmmaker, is glad that the Allies pummeled the Nazi regime. I’m not arguing that there’s nothing to celebrate, but several historians and scholars did get the strange premonition that, based on their reactions to this film, Americans were aching for another heroic effort, the stink of Vietnam having been washed away.

Spielberg cast Matt Damon as Private Ryan because he wanted a talented, but unknown actor. As it turned out Good Will Hunting beat Saving Private Ryan to the theaters, ensuring that Damon was already a recognizable face. Even people who haven't seen the movie know he's the titular character.

The titular Private Ryan is the sole survivor of four brothers, the other three managing to all die despite being placed in separate units to avoid such a tragic incident. General George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell) is determined that he be returned home. Unfortunately Ryan was in one of the airborne units that landed behind the coastal German line, and with everything still in confusion after the initial landings, it’s going to take a determined search to find him. This is a completely fictitious story, though the concern with brothers has a real historical background. The Sullivan Brothers all insisted on serving together in the Navy and ended up on the cruiser Juneau. When the Juneau was sunk by a torpedo at Guadalcanal, they all died. This led to the Sole Survivor Policy, where if all sons of a family served, the military would ensure they were all in different theatres of a war and would work to bring the last one home should the others happen to die. The Sole Survivor Policy was not actually devised until 1948, so that’s why Marshall’s decision to order a rescue is treated with such gravitas in the movie.

Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) is charged with selecting choice men to conduct the search. He's an officer in the real life light infantry unit the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which did participate at Omaha Beach. This is the first time Tom Hanks has appeared on my watchlist and I forgot how incredible an actor he can be. Miller is something of a mystery to his men, who don’t know what he did before the war (spoiler example of his great acting). He’s a very gifted tactician, but his two years of war have started to take a toll on him. His hands get the shakes when he’s about to go into action, and twice he suffers from shell-shock. The first incident, during the Omaha Beach scene, is perhaps the eeriest moment of the film.

Captain Miller and his squad (along with a few minor characters such as a mustachioed officer played by Dale Dye; https://cinemascholars.com/saving-private-ryan-a-25th-anniversary-oral-history/#google_vignette)

Spielberg was still a fantastic director at the time, so he manages to fill out Miller’s squad with archetypical soldiers without turning them into clichés. There’s Miller’s dependable buddy Sergeant Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore putting his weapons training from Heat to good use), wisecracking Jew Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg), brave combat medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), bible-quoting sniper Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel with hair!), and machine-gun toting Richard Reiben (Edward Burns). Reiben tends to be the complainer, and often voices the general complaints of the men, that they’re being sent on a strategically unimportant but still risky mission to rescue just one guy.

The most hotly debated character is Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davies), the translator who’s suddenly thrust into the frontlines to help Miller’s men. Aside from basic training he’s been working in intelligence and thus has no grasp of what combat is like. Though he does start to form a friendship with the other soldiers, he’s averse to violence and is given the role of running ammunition back and forth in the final battle. The scene that really generated controversy was when, hearing one of new pals get into a violent hand-to-hand fight, he freezes up and refuses to come to his aid. When I first saw this movie as a teen I absolutely hated Upham, but I’ve grown more sympathetic, especially after Spielberg admitted that he would most likely behave like Upham in a war. In fact, the director deviated from the script and added much more material for Upham, feeling he would best represent how a normal audience member would actually behave in a horrific war zone.

Ted Danson revived his career by proving he could play a dramatic role. Here he, in
a small part as a paratrooper captain, comforts a crying pre-famous Nathan Fillion.

Until the last act the movie sees Miller’s squad travel through Normandy in the wake of the landings. Everywhere they find dead and wounded men, get into small unit actions, and find both clues and dead ends when searching for the elusive Private Ryan. This is all original buddy war movie stuff, except for one historical easter egg. At one point they find a pilot who decides to talk about the deadly crash of his glider carrying paratroopers. There’s a dead General named Amend inside. Amend is actually a fictionalized General Don Pratt, the assistant division commander of the 101^st Airborne. The glider successfully got to its landing zone (unlike many gliders and paratrooper drops on June 6), but slid for forty feet along the wet grass. It crashed into a line of trees and the sudden stop and impaling branches killed and wounded several men, with Pratt’s spine snapping from the whiplash. As it turns out the pilots weren’t able to slow down the plane because steel plates had been added to protect Pratt form anti-aircraft fire. This added extra weight. In the movie the way the pilot describes the crash gives the sense that many men died because of the precautions taken to defend one man, thus mirroring the possible death of Miller’s squad to bring back Ryan.

Private Ryan (Matt Damon) turns out to be a very heroic man himself and he refuses to abandon the bridge he and his unit have captured until proper relief comes. Miller begrudgingly takes command and a long final battle ensues when an SS unit arrives to take it back. Though there were many contests for bridges in the Normandy Campaign, this particular battle is fictional. Regardless, it's very engaging to watch and showcases a wide array of WW2 weaponry. Despite being graphic like Omaha Beach, it actually upends the impact of that other battle. Whereas Omaha Beach is an incredibly realistic, groundbreaking depiction of what combat might be like, the bridge battle is ultimately a big heroic last stand featuring the characters we’ve bonded with.

Finally it’s time to address my biggest criticism and one that’s shared by many. The depiction of the Germans is off and causes some muddled moral confusion. Perhaps because of his Jewish heritage, Spielberg seemed unable to completely break away from how he depicted them in his other WW2-era films. The Germans in Indiana Jones are semi-cartoonish villains while Schindler’s List depicted the ones that directly participated in the forced labor and genocide of Jews. Here the Germans still go down, sometimes in large groups, without actually being wounded or screaming in pain. They just get shot and drop dead. There’s one scene that really bugged me where paratroopers ambush an armored vehicle full of Axis soldiers. The vehicle gets hit by a bazooka and then the men inside get mowed down when they try to run. There are no cursing, screaming, or wounded groans. They just die like they’re in a video game.

Additionally, Spielberg depicts them all with buzz cuts and shaved heads. These were very much not the typical hair styles of German soldiers and may have been done to reference neo-Nazi skinheads. I will defend the scene where two GIs shoot down two of the Omaha Beach defenders and joke about it. This is actually a tragic easter egg. The two surrendering soldiers are actually speaking Czech, showing they were auxiliary recruits forced to serve the German conquerors (there were quite a few auxiliaries in Normandy, including a Korean with an unusual story).

Because of the uniform buzz cuts, many in the audience confused Steamboat Willie (left)
with the SS soldier who gets a big moment (right). Another issue with this hairstyle decision.

The Steamboat Willie subplot has gotten a lot of flak (here be heavier spoilers). A little after the midpoint Miller’s squad clears out a gun nest where one of them is killed. Already tense over the fact that they’re on a mission they don’t care for, his men want to kill the only prisoner, nicknamed Steamboat Willie by fans for when he starts referencing American culture in an attempt to avoid execution. Upham argues that it’s immoral to kill a surrendered German and Miller agrees. Willie is told to walk off and not fight anymore, but then he shows up in the final battle and scores a serious kill. I don’t think it was intentional, but this subplot seems to teach the  message that you should just kill prisoners because you don’t know when they’ll show back up and kill you.

Saving Private Ryan is another long war movie, but one that’s easy to watch because of Spielberg’s great filmmaking. I think the reason this tops a lot of war movie lists is the Omaha Beach scene. The rest is good, too, but the unrealistic depiction of the Germans soldiers ironically undercuts the horror of war aspect and apes some of the dehumanizing aspects of the old propaganda pictures of the 40s. Spielberg actually addressed the criticisms that the movie inspires cheering for the Americans who fought in WW2. His argument was that an anti-war film’s job is to make sure people aren’t eager to fight in one, but not necessarily that they shouldn’t. I guess it’s up to you to decide if that definition of anti-war works.

Rating: 8/10

Enjoy John Williams' Hymn to the Fallen.