Essay On Saving Private Ryan

Submitted By Nutthakorn1
Words: 1317
Pages: 6

Saving Private Ryan is a movie about an American family who had lost three of their four sons in the battle during World War II, and the search for the last remaining son. Captain John Miller was sent on the rescue team to save Private James Ryan, the fourth and only remaining brother. However, this mission was not easy; finding him was really hard, but surviving tanks and enemy bullets was harder. “Eventually, they located Ryan, but when they ask him to leave, he refuses. He said that he could not leave his unit, who was assigned to hold a key bridge” (worldwariifilms). Miller decided to help him defend his position. If they succeeded, they could save both Private Ryan and his position, but, unfortunately, they found Miller’s body lying on among the battle field. This was what the movie Saving Private Ryan told us. This movie is a real history of D-Day the day that the U.S. military invaded Normandy. This movie has some truth in that it locates the area of the battle field and the date of D-Day, but it is somewhat incorrect in that there was never a commander Private Ryan or a Captain John Miller. Talking about the accuracy of this movie, when we watch the first scene, “this movie accurately portrays the horrors of war.” (amankarios1). The bullets from the German troops are shot to the U.S. military that is on the LCVPs boat as the heavy rain. In the result of trying to land the army, “the blood soaked sand, bodies slain along the shore, and the bloody ocean tide bring the movie scene to life”(amankarios1) on June 6, 1944. Considering the uniforms of each side, for the U.S. Army the uniforms are fairly accurate—the helmets, combat soldiers’ pants and shirts, also the guns they use, “especially the 101st Airborne uniforms and patch.”(amankarios1). The plan is also accurate, we learn from the movie that all of the soldiers will try to move to higher ground and take over Pointe-du-Hoc. Then they will storm Omaha Beach; as a sign that the war will begin. In addition, one of the most accurate parts of the movie is how it portrays the wounds of each soldier. One lost his arm or both arms. One lost his legs. One could see his entrails—liver, stomach, or intestine. Many were screaming or crying and trying to get their organs back in. Also this movie accurately describes the hardships and obstacles that soldiers have to face. Both mental and physical issue attack their bravery and motivation. During their mission, they lose fellow soldiers every day. “David Kenyon Webster, a soldier in the Parachute Infantry described a situation with him and a fellow soldier with the other soldier being injured and asking Webster to leave him behind” (amankarios1). On the other hand, some scenes of this movie are exaggerated. The first one is when Captain John Miller leads the rescue of Private Ryan. In fact, it would almost be impossible to find someone among a ton of troops and crowds. We can assume that this team was very lucky, otherwise it was very skillful in tracing someone behind enemy line. The second inaccuracy is that the name Captain John Miller is not real. There is no such name appearing in the history of D-Day. That means this rescue team is not real. Also “many of the smaller battles either went unnamed or had fictitious names. The final battle of the movie was at ‘Rommelle’ which actually did not exist in real life. Rommel was actually a German Field Commander during World War II.” (discoveryuk). Unforgettable, a main fictitious character Private Ryan himself is also created by a director. This name, as well as Miller, never existed in history, nor is he ever rescued by this made-up rescue team. However, “there is a man named Frederick ‘Fritz’ Niland from the 101st Airborne Division, who Private Ryan is modeled after.”(discoveryuk). Likewise, Fritz is one of four brothers whose three older brothers were killed during World War II, two at Utah Beach and one at Burma. Nevertheless, there is no report that he was rescued by any