SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) Breakdown | Hidden Details, Making Of, Things You Missed & Real History

welcome to the heavy spoilers show I'm your host Paul and this video we're breaking down Saving Private Ryan this is easily one of the best war movies of all time and it's actually a film argued was the greatest war movie ever made on Amazon screen test that was back in March 2021 I know I love it it's a film I haven't gone back to until during this breakdown revisiting it has blown me away and there's so many details and things that you might have missed in it at it's C the story about war and also the cost that often comes with it on the show it was argued that so many of our heroes died just for Ryan and therefore it's not exactly a positive message however I argue that it shows the reality of war and highlights a sacrifice that so many give Millions died for just me and you to live and we should be like Ryan who appreciates what they did the movie asks what one man's life's worth and we can tell Ryan's really tried to make us mean something it's a point that I feel the movie really hammers home and please just give me a minute of your time to shout out our sponsors and then we'll get into it this video is sponsored by call of War an immersive authentic free online PVP strategy game choose a real country to lead during World War II where you can fight up to 100 other players in realtime games use many units and secret weapons to build your armies tanks planes and nuclear bombs declare war to your neighbors or Forge alliances with other players choose your own strategy engage in epic battles and take over the world what I love about call of war is its authentic long-term strategy with games that can sometimes take weeks to complete it's really immersive and it allows crossplatform play with you being able to use the same account on both PC and mobile just click the link in the description and you'll get 13,000 gold and one month of Premium subscription absolutely free the offers only available for 30 days so make sure you don't miss out and click that link in the description thanks now the film begins with Ryan and his family visiting Captain Miller's grave this takes place at the Normandy cemetery and it's only in hindsight that we learn who this is where me to believe that this is actually meler but there's a little clue to the old man's identity on his jacket there's a pin from the 101st Airborne which if you know then you know who this guy is from the start the movie is actually based on the real life Nyland brothers who home from Tanda New York all four served during the war with three believed to have died in combat after their reported death Frederick Nyon was sent back to the USA where he completed his service at home now I say believe because it was later revealed that one of the brothers had been taken to a p camp in b that was Edward who was a Japanese prisoner of war who was eventually liberated in 1945 he lived until the age of 71 with Frederick living until he was 63 the other two brothers are buried in the cemetery alongside the other soldiers who sadly lost their lives at Normandy Preston was a lieutenant who stormed the beach while Robert was part of the Airborne Division at the 28 29 minute Mark we zoom in on a backpack and this is what highlights the name driving the movie now that obviously inspired things but they changed up the name so though they weren't beholden to the truth that includes the creation of Captain John Miller with him being fictional along with his headstone Miller was in a to the film The Guns of navon with David nevan's character being called that as well still all the movie is accurate at the time with causing lots of issues for real life veterans this got to the point the Department of Veterans Affair set up a support line for traumatized veterans according to I'm trivia the German actor who dubbed the elderly Ryan was also a veteran of the Normandy invasion he got to see the scenes and ended up dropping out due to at bringing up so much trauma for him it's an absolutely devastating scene that throws you in at the deep end and grabs your attention immediately Spielberg used 177,000 bullets squibs to bring it to life with the effects team rigging the rifles with special Senses upon being five to send a signal to the squib which then detonated to make it look like a realistic hit the opening was mimicked in several other pieces of metor at the time with it being heavily used in the beginning of Medal of Honor I remember playing it and being blown away by it even if now it look a little quaint upon doing my research I found out that Spielberg had a hand in it with him being a consultant and producer at DreamWorks games now we joined Miller alongside his banded brothers and can also catch tomsis Mo's Horvath here we see him chewing tobacco which is something that he does throughout the movie horbath carries a pouch with him throughout filled up with that that slowly goes down the further when we get during his last stand he takes a final bit out of the pouch and choose it before his characters then killed suddenly it lets us know his time's counting down and it all pick picks up from this opening he then says want to see plenty of beat between men five men is a juicy opportunity one man's a waste ammo moments later we see a machine gunner shooting one man which subtly hints why they lost the battle this was a tactic used in real life because it either led to one or two positive outcomes if a man was spread out a crowd would draw fire away from him and thus he'd be able to make it to the front however if the enemy shut at him the crowd could Advance instead so either way you'd have someone at the front on the boat we also meet private Jackson who is the company's sniper throughout we can catch a black mark on his thumb which isn't under the injuries that soldiers used to get this bruise was caused when a Digi got caught in the loading mechanism of an M1 grand and it became known as Grand Thum unfortunately we're going to have to blow most of this stuff cuz YouTube's been demonetizing the channel a lot recently on a clock with orange we got demonetized for showing a piece of art that looked like a man's sausage so yeah we currently take any chances however there's some real attention to detail with Spielberg implying a lot of things in the background show the dangers of War things happen like a medic's Cantina getting shot and you can notice that water then starts to spill out of the back of it this then turns into blood showing that he's been hit but he just hasn't realized yet it then goes into a moment where they manag to stop the bleeding on a soldier who then takes a bullet directly to the helmet just before he's hereit you might notice that there's sand all over the helmet and this thing gets completely knocked off by the impacted the bullet these days theyd probably see GI most of it but Spielberg used over 1,000 extras 30 of them were amputees which allowed it to seem like their limbs were blown off most of the others were made up of members of the Irish Army Reserve and they even used two Real World War II vehicles that were present in the conflict Hanks said it was horrendous to film and though this was shot on island he eventually also filmed things in Omaha Hank said he walked from one end of the beach to the other seeing if there was any sign of what happened there he said there's memorials all scattered along and you stop and you read each one and at the end of it was his plaque on the concrete retaining wall and that was us we were Charlie Company of the Rangers and to see that there after what we'd gone through this kind of thing it was kind of rocked me made the hairs stand up the back of my neck and walking back down back to the very famous cemetery there I just realized I was in a holy place you kind of get that Eerie feeling of a holy place too with barricades resembling cross's turn on their sights here they offered the soldiers salvation and protection from the bullets that rain down mercilessly From The Towers it's extremely authentic and you might not even realize that they show things from M's point of view where we can see things through his eyes and also hear him breathing come on as we learn Mill is a teacher and we get a clue towards this later on he says War educates the senses which is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson at the church he brings up how Ryan better be worth it and he needs to be someone who creates a longer lasting light bulb he'd better go home cure some disease or invent a longer lasting light bul or something this has made many think that he taught signs too though he's repressed his love for the academics in order to fight the battles originally they wanted to flesh out his backstory and really start to go into what it is he did however Hanks argued against it and eventually Spielberg decided to cut it down this idea of repression scene early on when he tells a soldier with a typewrite Ed get R of that crap later on upam asks him if he can bring his but he doesn't allow it may bring my typewriter sir even though he has his academic sight to him he clearly doesn't feel like it fits in with the war this is why I believe he doesn't tell his backstory and it's something the characters wonder about in the movie now both Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were considered for the role but Spielberg settled with Hanks in the end I think it makes him feel like a more grounded guy who's sort of an every man thrown into a war a cut line in the script also says he suffers from PTSD which is why we see his hand shaking when we first meet him it really helps you to imagine how you'd handle his situation and because he's more relatable you exp erien it just as much Against All Odds they managed to push through using bangalor and make it to the point beyond the German bunkers as Jackson goes to fire at the bunker he starts quoting the Bible and we see soldiers on the battlefield being read their last rights I believe this is based on Father Francis Samson who was known as parachute Padre he spiritually lent a hand to those on the battlefield and even gave his own blood through transfusions to save lives he was the one who was dispatched to find Nyland and he gave him the paperwork that allowed him to go home Fritz then traveled back to New York where he continued to be stationed as an MP as they go over the top we can see two soldiers surrendering who the soldiers here eventually end up shooting sadly if you translate that they say don't shoot I didn't kill anyone I'm Czech Czech of slovakians and Polish people were taken prisoner in the conflict and then forced into joining the German Army it adds an extra gut punch to it because there's even the possibility that Miller might have understood it what I'm sorry I can't what did he say look I washed for supper malish is also given a Hitler Youth knife which is something that he's been desperate to get look at this a Hitler Youth knife and now it's a Shabbat Hol right this has some ironic foreshadowing to it as melish is later killed with one at the Battle of raml C of the condolence letter is being set out and it's a heartbreaking scene seeing how many are being ridden it's here that the name Ryan is noticed and is that is that is that Brian Kenston it hit say that the mother's going to receive all three death notices on the same day which is something that also happened with the islands they received all three within a short space of time with Fritz's letter also arriving on the same day he said Dad Spanish American War Stories are going to have to take a backseat when I get home IMDb trivia stated Fritz didn't know what had happened to his brothers and this story of course then inspired one of the greatest war movies ever the keep Damon's identity is secret and when his mother answers the door we can see an American flag obscuring his face according to the wiki Spielberg cast Damon because he wanted an unknown with an all American look he was cast before Damon won the Oscar for Goodwill Hunting but the film ended up getting released after he'd won Edward Norton almost nearly played him too but he ended up doing American History X now back with the military we then hear this but we split them up after the Sullivan Brothers died on the Juno this is the not of the five Sullivan Brothers who all died when a ship known as the Juno ended up sinking documented in the film The Fighting Sullivans it's these deaths that changed US policy this s forbid Brothers being assigned to the same unit so that families had more of a chance of being spared from multiple losses they also read out the Bixby letter which was written by Abraham Lincoln in a similar situation five brothers died during battle though this ended up being proved inaccurate two died while the others either survived or deserted so many think the story's been exaggerated charging Miller and his company with tracking down Ryan with then see as he goes to Lieutenant Colonel Anderson you don't offload those dual Drive Shermans by 0600 we're going to have an entire division stuck at Carro with its pants around its ankles this is actually an event we see playing out during Band of Brothers which Spielberg and Hanks both ended up producing Dale die plays the colonel in this film and he also plays Colonel sink in banded Brothers Dale is actually a real life military expert who set out training regimens for the actors to go through he also worked as a consultant on Medal of Honor with him two providing insights on this movie as well an island was actually part of the 101st Airborne with banded Brothers telling the story of his company Warren skip M came from that as well and he was best friends with nylon back home it's also here that we finally meet upam who we learns working on a book this is about about the supposed to be about the bond of Brotherhood that developed between soldiers during war now this book is what Spielberg and Han Slater looked at and band Brothers is based on that work after heading out we then see a wide shot as the group walks through a field this is later used when they go to the radio tower at an hour 23 little clue giving us a gap as there's eight men there instead of the seven that there should be at that point now if we go back to the scene where we panned out and saw all the forces on the beach you might notice that in the Jeep you can see that there's the gang in the front of it is harrath and Miller with the ladder holding a map now there was originally deleted scene that would explain how they lost the Jeep later on Miller says they lost most of their ammo which was going to be shown with it being left in the Jeep now this scene in the field really lets us get to know the company and it was the first time that I heard the word Fubar even if you think the mission's Fubar sir to breathe out that takes us out the conflict and I love the transition between nature and then gunfire this takes us into the French occupied village with it's wait is that is that Paul GI Marti at the 50-minute Mark we can catch some graffiti that says patan esta which translates to patan is a traitor p this is bringing up former French leader Philip patan who was seen as being a Nazi collaborator here diesels capazo shot by a sniper with him being cast after Spielberg saw him in Strays Vin Diesel Ro produced and starred in that movie with it then opening the door for him to get the career he has it all goes back to this with his band of brothers and it's his brothers that made him see the importance of family now he sees Kazo pulls out the letter that he wants his brothers to take to his dad this letter carries a lot of symbolism with it and everyone who holds it ends up being killed when a soldier takes it they normally then die and it gets passed all the way down the line Wade re writes it and then goes de Miller with ryban taking it out of his pocket at the end none of them were asked to carry it on but they do so out of a duty to their brother this shows how the group onor The Fallen and how they'll continue Capo's dying wish a Jackson manages to kill a sniper and we get a scientifically accurate moment with how the shot happens the sniper first sees the Flash and then hears the sound which is because light travels faster this is actually a homage to a later War Story which happened during Vietnam US Marine caros Hathcock apparently managed to shoot someone through their scope with Spielberg adding this as a tribute to him they achiev this effect without using CGI but unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to show it however what they did is that they put Gore on the lens and then had an air cannon pting out the back of the helmet the scope then went up and into the eye which put Gore onto it whilst the cannon fight out the back there's so many incredible scenes here that keep up the pace any even even things like them just stumbling across a group of German soldiers in a room that that wait wait is that is that Ted Danon they take them to see someone who also happens to have the name Ryan and wait is that is that Nathan fillian yeah lots of big actors in this without actually being Nathan filan's first film now they head back on the road and get to the church which leads to the scene that always [ __ ] me up I know there's a lot of death and destruction and Unforgettable moments that happen in the movie however this this always gets to me it's way talking about how his mom used to come in from work and see if he was awake so the peir could have a chat Wade said he'd lie there pretending to be asleep just so that he didn't have to talk to her he says he doesn't know why he did it and I think it's something we we've probably all done with this being a moment that's really stuck with me the character is clearly burdened with guilt and we see this also carrying AC cross in his final moments he desperately cries out for his mother as he dies and wishes that she was there to comfort him the next day they come across some crashed paratroopers in Plains we see malish taunting the Germans and flashing the Star of David Spielberg is of course Jewish himself and said he wanted to metaphorically embody this in melish this comes most notably during his death in which upam stands at his sight and doesn't end up helping it's been thought that a German killing a Jewish man while an American stands by is supposed to show the US best's delayed response to the war personally I feel it just shows that the real soldiers weren't like what we see in the movies and that they faced incredibly paralyzing fear every single day W also asks Ruben to smell a soldier's wound and tell him if it smells south of cheese this means it's a serious infection that would likely mean death or amputation sadly we know that he can't be helped out so they just have to keep on moving eventually they get word from a paratrooper of where Ryan is and is that is that Opie from Sons of Anarchy at the be and you've got him now here they encounter the radio tower and you can catch dead cows in the field this is something that the Germans carried out due to the Allies using them for meat and milk killing cows deprived their enemies of food and made that they had to rely on their own supplies after making it to the nest and taking the Germans down we then meet quote unquote Steamboat Willie all of the soldiers have a bad feeling but Miller insists that they have to storm the nest in an earlier draft of the script they had the group taking out the nest and then deciding to camp out in a foxhole that night German panzers would arrive and also set up a camp right beside them a German soldier came in and they had Willie converse with him so that the cover wasn't blown they also trade ryban Micky Mouse slider and mish's knife for food and water while we get though is Wade getting shot and the group trying to help him through the pain Wade asks for two shots of morphine and we see as the group hesitate to do this this is because it's well known the do would be fatal due to how strong the serrats were during World War II one shot contained a strong dose with two being administered for someone facing death Wade is saying that he knows he's going to die and just wants to pass as peacefully as possible Miller then takes out the letter from his pocket and at this point they get steamed by Willie steam with Willie the group are clearly angry and there are signs that they were going to execute him at now at 37 we see Willie getting tied up and Jackson begins to tie a sling around his arm this is typically a rifleman's technique that's used right before an execution he's surprised when Miller lets him go but there was a clue to this when he was sat down with upam Miller goes to the rifle sticking in the ground and slowly starts to unload them this is so that Willie can't make a break for them and have a weapon that he could then use to shoot the group at the out 34 Mark you also get a picture of the map which is based on real one's issue to the 8C Airborne here they also start fighting amongst themselves with Miller finally revealing who he is interestingly he talks about his wife even though he doesn't wear a wedding ring in the opening when we see HOV Chew Tobacco we can clearly see that he's wearing his I think Miller not wearing it shows he's trying to repress it and not thinking about the life that he's desperately missing buing away they then come across an armored vehicle and after it's taken down we get to meet Ryan wait is that is that Matt Damon Now you kind of kind of get the air that the rest of the cast don't like him and this was a bit in real life too most of them were forced to go through the rigorous boot camps that took a toll on them both mentally and physically this allowed them to build a on but Damon was never made to do it this was done on purpose so that the group would resen him and this would then hopefully come through in their performances now the ran going to tiet back home he refuses to leave his unit Miller then refuses to leave him and it all becomes about Saving Private Ryan and they get their artillery and talk about how they've got enough TNT to destroy the bridge twice this comes into play later on as we see them using some of the charges from it to make the sticky bombs at the R56 Mark later on when the Tiger tank rolls in a town we can see that it's covered in zimmerit this was done to stop magnetic mines which would be able to attach themselves to the vehicle however due to them making their own DIY adhesives they're able to stick them to the ride and blow its tracks off this is like the war film The Bridge in which a group have to defend a meaningless Bridge against incoming enemies in the downtime waiting for the attack they listen to Edith PA who's singing about longing for a lost loved one it sort of speaks to the soldiers have left their lives behind and reminds them of the life they're fighting for back home Orion remembers the time with his brothers in which they saw one trying to get with a girl named Alice he said she took a nose dive from the ugly tree and hit every Branch coming down it's possible though that he could have ended up marrying her as the Elder Ryan calls his wife Alice in the novelization who knows mate but Damon had lived the story which was a young actor really getting to shine the creative team said it wasn't interesting or funny but that's the reason why they felt it worked was just a kid who lost his brothers rambling away and desperately trying to find humor in the despair it's cut short by the tanks rolling in and rying goes out to check luck rabit I don't need any luck Ser I was Bor lucky ironically he survives until the end and is one of the only characters that makes it out it's at this point that everything kicks off with us getting several different perspectives I think the one that always gets me is seeing things from Jackson's Tower and watching him constantly misses shots Jackson goes between two Scopes which is what leads to his downfall shout outs to college D 22 on red for poting out that swapping this is what causes the issues his Ura times does doesn't get zeroed when he switches which means that it's always going to be off you can kind of see that this is when he starts missing as the bullets don't go where the target is sure there's things that also affect it like distance and elevation but that's the reason why he can't quite hit his targets it's a detail I wouldn't have picked up and yeah if there's any other things involving the weapons then let me know below now the Battle of RL is based on one that took place on the 9th of June 1944 happening 3 days after D-Day it had the 82nd and 101st US Airborne Division going up against the 1,57 paner greno regiment here Captain John Souls headed up in Ambush that employed bazooka's machine guns in hand grenades disabling several tanks they ended up retreating but gave a final push against the Germans that took their side of the river the group eventually received help from the sky which we also see happening towards the end of the battle and one thing that people often get confused about is that they think the soldier who stabs malish is the same actress Steamboat Willie however they're played by different people which I only found out when checking through the C C list I think most of the confusion comes from him sparing upam who we see him walking past on the stairs upam then shoots Willie later on which seems to build off the back of that moment however the arc still works as he was supposed to be freed and then hand himself in up was the one who argued against his execution and here he's deciding that he made the wrong move this is the only time that upam fires his weapon and he ends up letting the other prisoners go how do you see things from his perspective when we get to the bridge and we watch it from his point of view as he shoot Miller this is a flip on the situation from the start in which we saw things from Miller's perspective it's meant to show that Miller's just another Soldier and though we followed him throughout he's a small Cog in a giant wheel you might also be wondering what the soldier Whispers to melish just before he kills him this translates to give up you don't stand a chance let's end this here it will be easier for you much easier you'll see it will be over quickly now at the 2hour 27 Mark we see soldiers are reduced to throwing mortars by hand this is an not to Charles Kelly who did it during a fight in Italy in 1943 Kelly ended up receiving the Medal of Honor with this being one of his most famous hacks it's such a harrowing battle that ends with Miller making his last stand on the bridge and we see as a tank begins to roll in this would also influence Co of Duty later on and it's one Inspire the last St mechanic that they brought into the game saved by air Fighters milit riding to earn it we're left questioning what one man's life's worth I think it's a celebrating reminder to all those that died for us which is something that that we often take for granted it's important to remember everything they sacrificed and a reminder to us to not waste a chance we've been given we see his ryban takes the letter out but get a positive note of one being read out in a voiceover instead of condolence it's one informing Mrs Ryan that their sons been returned we then go back to an elderly Ryan with them employing state-of-the-art morphing techniques these had been pioneered in things like the black or white video by Michael Jackson with them also being used in Terminator 2 as we spin around over his shoulder we can Al to catch a grave with a black mark on it which many have thought represents Jackson's thumb bit of a reach that but it's genuinely something online and I'll not let it take you out of this moment he then thanks Miller and says he thinks about his final words every day and hopes that he's earned everything they sacrificed um I'm trying not to cry look there's some dust in the room and he asks his wife to tell him he's a good man she says he is and we close out to really get focused on the graveyard to remind ourselves of how many people like me and you gave it all up so we could be here today SPI ber dedicated the movie to his father who himself was also a World War II veteran he flew Army Air Court missions and worked as an operator in Burma Spielberg did it as a passion project at the time and wasn't actually expecting this movie to be a hit however it was an eded him Best Director with it arguably also being his best film he lost out on best picture to Shakespeare and love which is often listed as one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history hobby Weinstein lobbied against Saving Private Ry and attacked the movie for its historical inaccuracies tell you what though Harvey go [ __ ] yourself in 2015 some Academy members were pulled again in order to choose their best pictures of the past the majority of Academy pollers said they changed their minds and would have indeed have awarded it if given a second chance it was also the last film to win the Oscar for best editing that didn't use a computer to carry out the work its Legacy something that's lasted for almost 30 years and I hope you've enjoyed us going through the film again huge shout out to call of War for sponsoring this video Call of Wars a free online PVP strategy game that takes place during World War III choose your own strategy engage in epic battles and take over the world click on the link in the description to get a free exclusive gift that includes 13,000 gold and one month of Premium subscription for free the offer is only available for 30 days so don't lose time click the link in the description choose your country and fight your way to Victory if you've enjoyed it then please hit the thumbs up and if you want to see breakdowns out this early then please click the join button for 99 cents and 99 p a month you'll get early access to almost all of our videos as long as they're not held back for embargos you'll get to see them before anyone else does for less than $12 a year makes a massive difference to the channel and also means we can pay editors to work on these older films so huge thank you for watching again and if you want another breakdown then check out our analysis of A Clockwork Orange that'll be linked on screen right now and huge thank you again for watching this through by the way I've been Paul you've been the best and I'll see you next time take care peace

Channel: Heavy Spoilers

Views: 375,404

Keywords: saving private ryan, saving private ryan breakdown, saving private ryan ending explained, saving private ryan easter eggs, saving private ryan hidden details, saving private ryan making of, saving private ryan classic movie, tom hanks, matt damon, steven spielberg, saving private ryan making of details, easter eggs, hidden details, things you missed, dale dye, saving private ryan classic movie breakdown, classic movies, classic movie breakdown, world war 2, war movies

Id: AJAnhlyHyX4

Length: 26min 54sec (1614 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 16 2024