Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998. It was written by Robert Rodat, who was inspired to write a script based on a monument he had visited which was dedicated to four brothers from the American Civil War. Some famous actors star in the film including Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel and Tom Sizemore. I think Saving Private Ryan is very emotional and has a great effect on the audience. This is because of all the action and emotions that the soldiers are going through in the battle, and it also shows what really happened in the . In this essay I am going to write about the four sections in the opening battle scene.
Present To Past
The first section of the film is opened with an extreme close up of a faded
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The date is 6th June 1944. You see all of the soldiers praying, and they all look very nervous since they have no idea what will happen to them in battle. As they are all praying for survival, you feel very saddened by the thoughts of the soldiers never having a life if they get killed, and you also see a man with a wedding ring on which shows he has left his whole family behind back home, as well as his wife. It all goes silent, and it gets you wondering what is coming next. You get a long shot of all the American soldiers, then suddenly there is an absolute frenzy of gunfire killing most of them. They are all being killed before they have even set foot on the beach which is very shocking to watch. They are running to the beach, desperate not to be caught in the shooting. When you hear Captain Miller call out “I’ll see you on the beach!” you feel a sense of doubt, as you know not all of them will make it that far.
It is all just chaos as they are getting fired at, blown up by explosives or even drowning. You see an over shoulder shot of the enemy, and at that point you feel as if you are part of the opposition, and the high angle shot makes you see how much of a bad position the Americans are in. The camera then goes back to the shore, and it bobs up and down underwater, as if to make out it is a soldiers view of the struggle to get onto the beach. Even though they are underwater, the
To convey the terrible truth that the Allies lost 10,000 men on June 6th, the director had to recreate the gruesome blood soaked waters and beaches and the piles of dead and dying soldiers. The scene when Miller’s men go rummaging through the huge pile of dog tags is surreal.
In the film, the soldiers fought very hard. They went through a lot in this war. They had to defend themselves and their territory. Often times they ran low on food and water. A ton of men died everyday when they were fighting. The soldiers had to deal with orders that were not necessarily smart orders. They had to protect themselves against Germany.
all which I think was a big mistake by the director. I did not feel
You don’t know where the next shot is coming from and you can never relax because the pacing of the movie comes like a tidal wave of dread. An interesting creative decision here is that even though this is clearly WWII and we know who the enemy is, you never see a single German soldier, not even a Nazi Germany flag is present. The closest you get to an enemy is the aerial assault from many jets fighter. The absence of a physical enemy, it doesn’t affect this survival film one bit, if anything it strikes up more paranoia keeping the audience uneasy the way through.
gives us simple a wide view, so that we can see lot more scenes and
The rambunctious behavior of the soldier’s triumphant victory is a strong message visually for the viewer. These soldiers struggle to find their identity and once the war ends, the identity they’ve build at war vanishes, (McCutcheon, 2007). As a result, they essentially lose a part of them selves, (McCutcheon, 2007). When they return home, many soldiers struggle with psychological issues that prevent them from resuming their once regular lives, (McCutcheon, 2007). The images of soldiers celebrating at the end of war give the viewer a taste of this problem. This also allows the viewer insight to the deeper issues surrounding an American soldier’s mental stability and mentality. Through this image, along with many others throughout the film, the viewer is able to dig deeper and truly analyze what they are seeing.
Analysis of the Methods Used to Make the Opening Battle Sequence of Saving Private Ryan Shocking and Realistic
The soldier hears a quiet whistle blowing in the distance but the sun hasn't risen. He hears people running and shouting “GOING OVER!”, before he knows it all the soldiers are all lining up against the wall of the trench and then he hears a voice shouting, but couldn't make it out what the voice was saying and then before he could even blink his eyes everyone suddenly started running over, all he can see is his friends getting mowed down like blades of grass by the enemy's machine guns. As he runs across, charring the enemy head on, he can't help but think that above the trench makes hell look like a picnic. As he gets to the enemy trench, silence falls across the war zone and then seconds later a gunshot breaks the silence, but the soldier is life less on the ground with the gun in his mouth. No one never knew what was in that trench to make him do what he did that day and no one
While watching this film you may find yourself experiencing some of the same emotions as the characters in the film this allows you to be in the movie letting you be a part of an important event in our history. This is what makes the film so unique. Its full of different scenarios that keep you wondering what is going to happen next. I think that this film is a very close representation of what WWII was really like.
There is one scene where the three flag raisers entered a crowded stadium before a football game which typified how an image of war can be so different to the reality of war. The flash photography, the cheering, the roar of the crowd all went to John Bradley’s head and he had flash backs of the fighting on Iwo Jima and the genuine heroes that he had left behind. This scene contrasts what the reality of war, were all the men are dug in and fighting for there life, and the images of war. Ira Hayes says “I know it’s a good thing, raising the money and that, ‘cause we need it. But, I can’t take them calling me a hero. All I did was try not to get shot. Some of the things I saw done, things I did, they weren’t things to be proud of, you know?” Clint Eastwood shows continuously, through his characters physiology shows how one single photo can be so different what really makes up the battle of Iwo Jima. The aim was to get war bonds; the minds of the three main characters through Clint Eastwood’s directing showed a strong insight to how the reality of a war and an image of war can be so contrasting.
The plot of Saving Private Ryan illustrates a dramatic war movie by depicting all the stages that a war veteran experiences. Private James Ryan and Captain John Miller were chosen to undertake those emotions and experiences. Towards the beginning of the film, the point of view switches from Ryan to Miller when Ryan has a flashback to WWII. Through Miller’s eyes the audience experiences the pure horror of World War II. Saving Private Ryan shows the battles of Normandy beaches where more than 10,000 American troops died alone. Spielberg used this scene in particular to show the raw
The well-known World War II film, “Saving Private Ryan” opens with a veteran visiting Arlington Cemetery. He goes to a specific headstone and the scene changes to the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Under Captain Miller (Tom Hanks), a group of men fight to the shore to secure the beach, and during the fighting, three brothers are killed in action. When the United States learn of a fourth brother, they decide to send out Captain Miller and his men into enemy territory to find him and bring him back home.
In 1998, Spielberg came out with Saving Private Ryan, which captured war in gory and shocking detail as his soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. This again shows his willingness to deal with larger, more serious issues.
The beaches were indeed covered with bodies, and the water was red with the blood of the slaughtered soldiers. The recreation of this battle by Steven Spielberg has succeeded in bringing this war, this battle in particular, out of the history books and into larger than life color on America’s movie screens. Everyone I interviewed already knew of the terrible acts of the Germans during World War II, but hey had not, however, ever really been able to comprehend the degree of loss that many families experienced. They had also never really been able to picture the battles of the soldiers themselves in quite the detail that Saving Private Ryan provided them with. This is one movie that should not be negatively reviewed because of the degree of violence. Saving Private Ryan is about a horrible war, that took place because of a madman’s craziness, and this war was an ugly thing that happened very much like this movie portrayed it. The continuous gore is difficult to watch at times, but leaves the viewer with a greater appreciation of their nation’s military, and the sacrifice of the soldiers who serve willingly.
Saving Private Ryan is a theatrical masterpiece that incorporates many universal themes that almost all people can relate to. The movie follows a squad of U.S. soldiers as they battle through the trenches of World War II. Directed by the great Stephen Spielberg, the movie is claimed by many to be the most accurate presentation of war in any movie to date. The movie includes several themes that helps captivate the audience and truly help people understand just how horrible war is. The idea of losing loved ones frightens even the toughest of us, and being lost in a foreign land scares many others. Both of these themes are thoroughly explored and propelled onto the audience to experience. The extremely accurate depiction of war, the universal themes that everyone can relate to, and the film being a theatrical masterpiece are all reasons why everyone should watch Saving Private Ryan.