Decided to drop this a day early bc we were so excited to get this out there! Thanks to our Patron DP for requesting this one! It was a great film throughout and it definitely made us appreciate all the things we take for granted in life bc without the brave men and women in our military who have fought or still do now, we would not be able to do the things we have the privilege of doing! *Thanks for protecting us everyday!* We will see you guys Monday with Ant-Man ! Love you all! Happy Belated Labor Day! www.patreon.com/theoctobers
Air Force, '78-82, Thanks for the props and getting through this tough-to-watch, top-notch film. Only thing I hated was Cpt. Miller and his unit's decision to stay and help Ryan's guys..Would've placed his azz under arrest and dragged him back, His orders were from the TOP and had priority over that bridge..But then the movie wouldn't have been as great without that final battle..(If only air support could've made it 60 seconds sooner!) A++ Acting from Hanks/ Damon and the support cast..Spieburg's best, He'll never be able to top it!!
Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you more than a few inches underwater. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 7:13 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances. The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting.
I think it would be a very good thing to have every high school student watch this film so they know how ugly war truly is and the sacrifices that so many have made so we can be a free country. Maybe then, we wouldn't be so divided appreciating this country as it should be even though we are far from perfect as we strive to be.
Saving Private Ryan YES! THIS is the right movie!!! After Vietnam, America transformed into a country whose military became one of … professional soldiers. Drafts were discontinued … in favor of an all volunteer force. Only about 3% of Americans had ever served in the military. This may be the reason for the lack of empathy toward veterans and wars, itself.” I would call upon you, and everyone, to not just “watch” a combat-accurate movie …. but, to watch it while considering yourselves as unseen soldiers that are THERE, experiencing the occurrences along with your fellow soldiers, friends. Great every Veterans Day, Memorial Day. This movie is a fictional film of WWII’s D-Day invasion … in which three of four brothers are KIA (killed in action) and a squad / platoon (8 men) search for the remaining live brother. D-Day remains the LARGEST amphibious invasion in history … the transfer of 39 divisions (22 American), over 1 million soldiers to Normandy France. The Allies began their invasion at 6:30am and and finally repelled the Germans by days end … at a cost of more than 10,000 KIA & MIAs. That would LITERALLY BE staring at death and bloodshed EVERYWHERE …. one could look nowhere that was absent its brutality! American soldiers that survived the first day’s invasion attested to the films’, accuracy in the nature & brutality of combat. A slightly unknown factoid is that German machine gunner that was depicted firing down onto Americans landing at Dog-1 Omaha Beach … massacring them before they could even get off their LST. That machine gunner identified himself well after the war as Heinrich Severloh, an 18 year old son of a farmer, that was conscripted by the Germans. Heinrich admitted that he believed he killed more Americans in a single day than any other soldier … more than 1000, possibly over 2000 … and for the rest of his life, the nightmares would never stop! Soldiers on both sides would have to eventually unpack & deal with all of their horrors …. secreted away for later, more convenient times for reflections. Another surreal oddity was the character of the typist Upham …. his character oddly reflects the character of our nation …. America. From 1937, years before America was attacked at Pearl Harbor (and beyond) …. America sat back, failing to act as Germany began exterminating 6MILLION men, women, children, and elders because of their race, using them as reasons for German failings …. We sat back, refusing to involve ourselves in Europe’s ‘Problem’ …. while Germany invaded and overwhelmed every other country except England. We finally pulled ourselves together and entered the combat! In combat, EVERY man (boys 17-20) reacts differently …. assimilates combat differently …. but, EVERYONE is afraid! We all lock our horrors away in the recesses of our minds …. only later to have to deal with them again! Back to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I would hope that you & EVERY American would sit down a day or two before every Memorial Day & Veterans Day and rewatch this film (or, Hacksaw Ridge). But, next time rejoin the film, mentally doing so AS AN UNSEEN MEMBER OF THE SQUAD … to mentally & emotionally connect to the other soldiers as friends, buddies … hopefully, to understand all of the veterans combat problems. America, the people (the 97% never experiencing war, are now highly insulated from soldiers / veterans … stunned into remembering the wounded, maimed & dead … but seem to never comprehend those with invisible wounds … those that returned with PTSD, the veterans that choose to be homeless because feel they don’t deserve to continue living a good life, those 22 that are committing suicides every day. This movie was produced loosely on a true story and several similar situations. I’m not seeking compassion … rather a realistic understanding of WHY we returned as we did! Even though we got back to family & loved ones. They only recognized our shell, but found strangers with in. Some of us got back … but, not really, not completely! Others couldn’t accept the peaceful life, their friends couldn’t return to … and chose life on the streets as self-punishment. Movie done, how did you make it??? How’s that ‘assimilating combat’ and ‘survival guilt’ working for you? Not so good for me and others, either!!!
My Father was 19-yrs-old when he landed on Omaha beach on June 6, 1944. He fought his way across France hedgerow by hedgerow until he was peppered with shrapnel from a German artillery round earning him a purple heart and a ticket home. His four brothers also served in the European theater. What really gave me pride though was finding out that when I was a kid, my Parents used to drive to Travis air force base on the weekends to help welcome home returning Vietnam veterans that they didn't even know.
My great grandpa fought on Normandy. When he was alive we watched this movie and that was the only time I ever saw him cry in his life. He just watched real quiet crying and repeating the names of the buddies he had lost on the beach and after. He still knew everything about them. Their names, their families, what they looked like. He told me he had to remember them because if he (and others) forgot them then they’d truly die.
One thing in all of these reactions I have never heard anyone mention is that at the end of the movie when Ryan's wife comes up to him as he is front of the Captain's grave she reads his name like she didn't know who he was. Ryan probably never spoke of what happened to anyone, not even his wife. It is heartbreaking.
Communicating with civilians is one of the most difficult and worst things. They will never understand; they ask too many questions, and many are horrible questions. My family is just now learning some stuff, and I know they will never see me as the same quiet, laid back, trying to help any person, individual they knew, but I have terminal cancer, and the pain medicine makes me talk when I would normally just stfu so they have learned many things I have seen and done and the look in their eyes and the silence speaks volumes. It took years just to sleep through the night and not have to wake up and clear the house, but you must suppress that shit when you are with someone. The crap I saw in South America in the late 80s was far worse than the shit I saw in Iraq in 90. So yeah, I do not doubt he never talked with them about any of it.
@@mystic37 My grandfather was in WW2 and we had always been told that he was a mechanic. It wasn't until his end of life when he was on hospice and on pain meds that we found out he was more than a mechanic and that he had been in battles bc my grandmother said the meds gave him terrible nightmares. She has some indication of what he experienced but when she confronted him to try to help or comfort, he refused to speak of it and he refused his pain meds after that. Thank you for your service, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
I used to catch my Grandpa from time to time crying out in the backyard as a kid I would ask Grandma why is he crying she just told me he must have gotten something in his eyes not till after they both passed and read some letters did I realize why he would be that way he never had guns in the house I understand why now and he was so gentle and sweet to us grandkids I just can't picture him firing a weapon in anger SO PROUD OF YOU GRANDPA and I will see you again when my time comes
This movie really captures the brutality of WW2. The soldiers surrendering at Normandie are actually saying “Please don't shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone! I am Czech!" The amount of displaced people sent to fight a terrible fight is unimaginable.
Yeah, I love this detail that almost everyone misses. I'm American and I know that many many soldiers who were forced to fight for the Nazis were not Nazis or even German. Poles, Hungarians, Czech, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Bulgarians, the list just goes on and most of them did not want to be there.
@@forrestcrain3401 hehe thats funny what you said.imagine! even most of the german soldiers want to fight!they must!fight or die the nazi government say.a deserteur shot quickly on the frontline.a conscientious objector haveno many options.your family will die or you are proud to die for your fatherland.
@@forrestcrain3401 Allegedly, there even were Czechoslovak soldiers who landed in Normandy as a part of the Allied Forces. So there were Czechoslovaks fighting against Czechoslovaks.
Yes there were an estimated about a million soldiers from other countries that fought for the German army and about 600k of them were volunteers. They were not all conscripted. About 65 to 70% of those were sent to the Russian front. It was common practice for German soldiers to claim they were not really German and conscripted to fight because they thought they would get better treatment as a POW if they did. It was very difficult to almost impossible for allied from line soldiers to know the difference to better safe than sorry and they were all treated as German soldiers and volunteers.
Quit trying to start Internet rumor. What you said does not translate from Czech or German. You must have a little penis and are trying to compensate for it by starting such a rumor.
A veteran was once asked how accurate the Omaha beach landing scene was. His answer was: "Not enough bodies." Kinda tells us all just how bad things were during that landing. Also, Matt Damon's story about the Ryan brothers was totally improvised. Great acting on his part. Great reaction to a classic!
I read some statements from guys who were there after they watched this film. Another one said “there was a lot more blood. And organs. And screaming.”
There was the Sullivan Brothers. A family of five brothers who all served on the light cruiser Juneau in the Solomon Islands. None survived the sinking of it. After that War Department policy said no siblings could serve in a single unit.
The guns in the bunkers were MG42s, nicknamed "Hitler's Buzzsaw" by the Allies for the sound it made when firing, and that it had nearly twice the fire rate of the comparable American B.A.R. and the British Bren gun. They could also fire almost continuously since they had stored spare barrels with them to switch out when overheated. The medics on the beach were trying to save that one guy because he was the company surgeon, and they knew without him that many more troops would die from wounds that only he could treat. Combat helmets then were just hard hats to protect from explosion debris. They were not bulletproof in the slightest and that one guy got EXTREMELY lucky that that one shot hit at such an angle to be deflected. The two men surrendering that couldn't be understood were Czech conscripts, saying that they hadn't killed anyone, they were intentionally missing shots. The German army conscripted a lot of men from occupied territories to match the growing Allied presence in Europe. Those blimps are actually called barrage balloons, which were set up with thick cables that would cause enemy planes making strafing attacks to hit them with their wings, shearing them and causing them to crash. Many young men were drafted at this time, especially if they had special skills like Upham's translation ability, and those with a college education were sent straight to officer training. I hate how a lot of people react to Upham during the last battle with scorn and hatred, as if they understand what it's like to be in the middle of a battle. No one knows how they'll react in that situation until they're in it. I'd like to think I'd charge bravely up those stairs to the rescue, but I could just as easily freeze in pants-shitting terror, and so could you. So could anyone. This story was inspired by the real Sullivan brothers, all five of whom were serving on board the USS Juneau when it was sunk at Guadalcanal, killing them all. The US War Dept. adopted the Sole Survivor policy after this, preventing all of the members of one family from enlisting/serving to avoid tragedies like this. The Navy commissioned a Fletcher-class destroyer, naming it the USS The Sullivans in their honor. The ship's motto: "We stick together"
Good points but I would compare the mg42 more to the browning 1919 or M2 instead of the BAR or bren. Also the story was inspired by the niland brothers who may have been splint into different units because of what happened with the Sullivan brothers. Overall good points tho
13:33 The gray haired officer on the right talking is former USMC Captain Dale Dye Jr . He is a highly decorated Vietnam combat vet. Dye is also the military consultant for this movie and others like Platoon and Casualties of War. When directors want the actors in a movie to appear authentic the call him.
This was especially emotional for me, as the actor who played old man Ryan looks surprisingly like my grandfather who fought in France & Belgium. He never talked much about fighting, and usually just talked about guys he remembered. In '81-'83 we worked together doing salvage on demolition jobs when I was 18-20, and sometimes when aircraft flew overhead, he would get real quiet, and every morning when we entered an abandoned building, he would sometimes go in a different way, and we never knew where he was until he was right back with us. My mom said he always did that (as if he had made sure the area was secure).
This movie got part of its inspiration from the true story of the Sullivan brothers from Iowa. They were all killed during WWII on the USS Juneau in the pacific. Due to the Bixby family having only lost two of the five sons they thought dead in the civil war, the Sullivan brothers were - and remain - the single greatest wartime sacrifice of any American family.
I saw this movie when i was younger. At the end when Capt. Miller says “earn it”. I took that as a message to all of us to earn it, and I have been proudly serving in the military, and always remembering those who came before me, and hope I “earn it” for them.
The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell. The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell. Spielberg researched small details, for instance, Pvt Jackson's right thumb has a black mark on it. That's actually a bruise that many U. S. riflemen had caused from getting their thumb caught in the loading mechanism from not locking the bolt back properly when loading/reloading the M1 Garand rifle. It was called "Garand thumb". The Hitler Youth Knife is more literary liberty than fact. That knife is a hiking knife given to members of the Hitler Youth Corps, which was much like the Boy Scouts in training while being indoctrinated with the ideology of National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi). The only other group they were issued to were members of the SA. This knife was never part of a soldier of the Wehrmacht. As for the reaction of Carparzo and Mellish, it is highly unlikely an average G.I. would have known what that knife was and its symbolism. The matter of Mellish crying is also not likely as the Allies didn't find out about the fate of Jews in Europe until the first concentration camp was liberated April 4, 1945. The war in Europe ended May 7, 1945. So, following the real timeline, Mellish dies before the Allies knew anything about concentration and death camps. But, after-all, it is Hollywood. Saving Private Ryan is not based on the Sullivan brothers. Fritz Niland became the basis for Private Ryan. He was dropped behind enemy lines on D-Day and spent five days in the French countryside, eventually earning a Bronze star in combat for taking a French. Robert Rodat first came up with the plot in 1994 when he saw a monument in a cemetery in Tonawanda, New York. The monument was to the Niland Brothers - 4 young American men who fought in the Second World War. When three of the Nilands were reported killed, the surviving brother - Fritz - was sent home. This inspired Rodat to write his movie. The average age of a U. S. troops armed forces personnel during WW II was 26 years old. Selective Service draft age range was 18 years of age to 45 years. The average age in Vietnam War was 22, not 19 as any think. There are 26 military cemeteries across Normandy, but the most famous and visited site is the poignant Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. In real life with the Nilands, it actually turned out later that another of the brothers was alive - he’d been held captive in a Burmese POW camp. Attempts to point out the "discrepancies" between the stories of Fritz Niland and James Ryan are often misguided, as Ryan is only based on Niland, and is not meant to be (or claimed to be) a completely accurate representation of him. The differences in the two stories seem to stem in part from the fact that the true story of Sergeant Niland and his brothers is often reported inaccurately. The character of Private James Ryan is a mixture of fact and fiction, with some of the fictional elements coming from the erroneous stories about the Niland brothers. The German credited as "Steamboat Willie" who was released by Capt. Miller is not the German who engaged and killed Pvt Stanley "Fish Mellish during hand-to-hand combat. "Steamboat Willie" was in the Heer (Army) of the Wehrmacht and the other was in the Waffen SS which was a paramilitary organization and not part of the Wehrmacht. Originally, the SS uniform differed from the Wehrmacht uniform-whereas the regular army wore field grey, the SS wore black, head to toe (although later the SS did adopt field grey and often wore camouflage pattern uniform. American troops were brown and they didn't wear jackboots. The lightning bolt SS insignia can be seen on the right collar lapel of the German as he passes Upham and reaches the bottom of the staircase. During the Battle at Ramelle, Upham became shell shocked and was unable to save a .30 cal team from a German soldier because he was too frozen with fear to do anything about it. He carried all the .30 caliber ammo at the battle of Ramelle, but was unable to do his job because he was always either pinned down or too afraid to move. He signified the loss of innocence in war and thought that soldiers could be civil, but he later succumbed to the evils of war and made up for his cowardice when he shot Steamboat Willie for killing Miller even after the latter had shown Willie mercy earlier. Not only did Upham represent the loss of innocence of war but he also symbolized the "Every-man". His illusion of neutrality faded when he finally had to pick and side and kill Steamboat Willie, his character revelation being how he finally understood the horrors of war. It became clear that Upham had turned into a hardened and true soldier because of the whole experience. Upham's rank was Tech 5 Corporal (E-5), that meant he was technician in a specialty area. His was maps and translator, he was not a combat infantryman and was never trained for front-line duty. Gunnery Sergent Hartman explained it this way in the movie Full Metal Jacket: "It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. "The way the next of kin was notified of their loved one was killed in action during WW II was by Western Union telegram delivered by a bicycle riding messenger. If you were being notified of multiple deaths as was the case in this film, notification was done in-person by a military officer, usually from the same branch of service as the deceased when possible. That's why the mother upon seeing the officer exit the car momentarily froze knowing that meant at least 2 of her boys were either KIA or MIA, as the priest exits the car, she staggers and completely collapsed.The mother speaks no lines in the movie, yet her breakdown brought a flood of tears form movie goers in theaters across the nation. Another important scene is it is clear from the few lines Ryan's wife speaks that she has never heard the name of Capt. John Miller, this means John has never spoken to her about what happened that day in Ramelle. What many missed is listening to Ryan speaking at the Miller's grave of how he thought about what those 8 men did for him every day was not guilt, but commitment. There are units assigned to recover, bury and mark graves. Usually these were temporary battlefield cemeteries. As hostilities moved farther away, a more permanent site would be selected, at the family's request, whenever possible, the remains would be returned to the United States. At the Normandy Cemetery Visitors Center, you'll find the following inscription: IF EVER PROOF WERE NEEDED THAT WE FOUGHT FOR A CAUSE AND NOT FOR CONQUEST, IT COULD BE FOUND IN THESE CEMETERIES. HERE WAS OUR ONLY CONQUEST: ALL WE ASKED … WAS ENOUGH … SOIL IN WHICH TO BURY OUR GALLANT DEAD.General Mark W. ClarkChairman, American Battle Monuments Commission, 1969-1984
My grandfather fought on the front of “The Battle of the Bulge”. He never ever once spoke to me, my brother or my cousins about it. When we were kids we found an old cookie tin in a drawer filled with military medals. He politely asked us to put them back. I’ll never forget that. * my dad and his siblings relayed the stories to us kids.
To gain a more accurate sense of the horrors of D-Day, keep in mind that the allies attacked at 5 different beaches of Normany. The Americans at Omaha and Utah, the Brits at Gold and Sword, and the Canadians at Juno. The allies advanced from the foothold they gained to move inland to free Europe. The Russians advanced toward Germany, eventually taking Berlin, which ended the war.
My grandfather landed on that beach 90 days after D-Day, and fought all the way to Germany by the end of the war. I saw this with him in the theater when it came out.
You have no idea what it’s like to go through this. As a partially disabled combat veteran of the United States Navy, I can tell you that the cause and death was overwhelming. I still dream about it. I wake up in cold sweats. I blame myself for my friends deaths and all of it has cost me my marriage and family. The nightmares never go away. They never go away!
Yes! SPR is fiction. BoB is real, well about 90%. Since the series is 10 hours long you get to know they men really well. TP is darker but just as good. A good use of your time.
This will always be the most difficult but most important movie I’ve seen. I cry like a baby through the whole thing tbh. People sacrifice everything and more for the possibility at a better future.
No, General Marshall didn’t have the letter to Mrs. Ryan in his book. He had a letter from President Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby, the mother of five Union (the North) Soldiers in the Civil War who were all killed in battle. The President wrote her a personal letter to thank her. He read it to those subordinate offices to tell them that he wanted Ryan found. The cool thing was General Marshall was reading it to them, but didn’t need to look at the paper anymore because he had every word memorized. It was a beautifully worded letter to convey such sincere gratitude to that mother. She lost all five sons, and he didn’t want Mrs. Ryan to lose all of her sons.
Two parts just get to me so much, the opening at Normandy when the old Ryan is overcome with emotion at the captains grave. The other is when they went out to deliver the news of the three sons to the mother, just can't stop tearing up at those scenes.
Grew up in Iowa and knew many farm wives of that generation. People just don't understand what it was like in that day for a farm family to lose all it's sons like that. It was devastating, family then and there was everything.
Normally, they wouldn’t send a car for notification. The family would just get a telegram. In cases where there were multiple deaths, an Army officer would be sent. So when she saw the car, she knew it was really horrible news.
1. Many WWII vets left the theaters because the D-Day battle scenes were so realistic. 2. The German Captain Miller was talked into letting go is the same one that killed him. Upham finally put him down. 3. The story Ryan tells Miller about the last time he saw his brothers was made up by Matt Damon. He was told to say something interesting, so he did, and it was kept in the movie. 4. There really was a USS Sullivans (DD- 68) dedicated to the brothers lost on one ship. 5. I did 24 years in the US Navy. My favorite character is Private Jackson/sniper and my second favorite is Sargent Horvath. RIP Tom Sizemore😇 6. Sizemore also played Boxman in "Flight of the Intruder", a movie I'm in briefly.
I think there's 3 movies that every single person must watch once in their life (and I understand if they never want to watch it again). This one Schindler's List American History X All devastating, brutal, horrific, shocking, and grim. We must never forget history lest we are doomed to repeat it
Not only the visuals, but the sound design of this film, stirs a living nightmare I can only image of the troops that endured this and other times of war.
I knew men back in the 1960s who had survived D-Day. Everyone of them if you mentioned it would start to have flashbacks and be in tears. On a couple occasions I heard them talk quietly about among themselves. One of those occasions was after a Christmas night service in the basement (Hall) of a Baptist Church, 8 men seated at a table in the far back remember the events and their friends/fellow soldiers that didn't make it and the events of that day. Most of these men spent 12 - 24 hours before they could get off the beach, it was just 30 minutes or an hour. It was half a day to a whole day before they could overcome the German positions. As Mr. Buttons said, the sea was just red, it was blood. Every inch of those beaches was precited with Artillery (German). Mr. Button made it to a cliff, where he had to climb over 150 feet to get to the top of it. They didn't claim the top of it until the next morning. It took 8 waves of soldiers to take that. They suffered over 80% casualties he said. Mr. Button, said why God chose him and a few other men to live, he did not know. It wasn't winning the lottery to them. They all said, somehow God chose them and they did not know the reasoning involved.
I worked in a movie theater when this came out. A lot of D Day veterans came to see it but had to leave the theater during the beach landing scene because it was too real.
An amazing film. I saw this movie first in the theater with my 3 sons. When the film was over no one left until the credits completed. Then the entire crowd stood silently and exited the theater without speaking. I've seen one other film where the reaction was that intense. That would be another Spielberg film. That other film is Schindler's List. Your reaction as you watched and completed it were terrific! As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
I just found your site, I must say I've seen several young people react to this film and the understanding and heart you two have is so heartening to see! My dad was there D-Day on the USS Frankford destroyer. He helped take out several of the pillboxes so the soldiers could advance up the hill. Veterans in the theaters had to get up and leave until Normandy scenes had passed. They said it was so accurate all the was missing was the smell of diesel and blood.
Your dad is absolutely awesome. I believe that would be extremely hard to see though, especially bc it felt like something that would not end so i cannot imagine having to relive it. Thanks to your dad for his bravery and his service!
The man who read the Bixby letter was George Marshall. General Marshall was the Chief of Staff of the US Army and would later become the architect of the Marshall Plan. That master stroke rebuilt war torn Europe and Japan, stopped the spread of Soviet influence, and laid the foundation of seventh five years of global prosperity previously unknown in human history. George Marshall was a genius and a man of immense conviction and decency. He is, in my estimation, the greatest man this country ever produced. If the world were a just place, cities would be renamed for him.
I always forget Nathan Fillion and Ted Danson are in this. (Fillion was the "wrong" Ryan who had brothers too young to be combatants; Danson shows up as a commander shortly after that scene). Great reaction, guys. Gold content.
I have 4 members of my near family that was in the ww2 my grandfather who a marine in the Pacific and 3 of my grandmother's first cousins one was in Pacific and 2 two who were saw action from North Africa to Normandy, and the Siegfried Line. I as a Vet myself saw this movie in the Theater when it was released, and along with many other vets from WW2 to Present at the time of the movie's release, we had came out of the theater with, for the most part the same reaction to seeing the movie, it was the closest to actually being there, the only thing that was missing was the smell of combat!
The blimps were called "barrage balloons." They were intended to keep enemy fighter planes from being able to fly over the fleet. They also absorbed the impacts of cannon shells in a barrage (cannon attack) so the the bombs would not explode directly on the ships.
A veteran who participated in those beach landings was asked what he thought of the movie when he was coming out of the theater. He replied "They didn't make it bad enough."
Jah bless. Another great movie that I remember vividly from seeing in theaters. My Gaga who served in the United States military for decades took me and my friends to see this. He went in the service when he was 18. We walked to the movies that day to see something completely different but ended up going to see this. The only time I ever throughout my life saw him show any emotion. He didn't say a thing but his face said it all. He was a straight soldier until the day he died.
After this movie Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg made two true miniseries based off of memoirs “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” both are must watches. Truly amazing and accurate recreations of the war
My Dad served I the Pacific during the war. He was in the(in combat zones) Coast Guard and earned 2 purple Hearts. When Pearl Harbor and this movie came out, he told us he lived it and he didn't want see it. Obviously he wasn't he wasn't at either spot but, combat. He lost two brothers during the war.
So a little backround on Millers unit. It's not directly said but if you know WW2 history you can parse out their experience level. Sgt Horvath on Normandy fills a tin up with sand from France. Along side the tins are two others marked Africa and Italy. Also Sgt Horvath says he's been with Miller since Kasserine Pass, which was a major battle in Tunisia. So Captain Miller has been commanding his unit from 1942 through North Africa invading Sicily and then Italy before landing on Normandy. They have bee fighting for 2 years prior to Normandy. They were an experienced and elite company.
Some scoff at the German who died sitting on the table, saying that it wouldn't happen. Not so. As a cop, 20 or so years ago, I investigated the death of a 17 year old boy. He knelt on the floor and put a 20 guage shotgun, probably in his mouth. When found, he was still kneeling. The upper half of his head was gone. The lower half fell open, like a flower, with his brain stem sticking up like a stamen. But, he was still kneeling.
God bless all the courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! Tom Hank’s admonition to Private Ryan to “Earn this!” applies to each and every one of us. It reminds us of the great debt we owe to our nations’ war fighters because of the tremendous sacrifices they have made on our behalf. God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
I'm glad you didn't hate on Upham as much as some reactors do. I think anyone who hates Upham after watching this movie has totally misread Spielberg's intent toward the character.
He wasn’t a soldier at heart, but he was there and he at least did that, it’s easy to pretend everyone e was so brave, but the point is he was there, in real life. And reality is hard, people freeze up. I can’t speak to bad cause I’ve never had to face death in that way. Thank god
My father was in World War 2 and Korea, his father in World War 1. Some of my ancestors were in the American Revolution, and some in the Civil War. I know that all they ever wanted was to go back to having lives as civilians in peace.
A touch of Spielberg’s genius and knowledge is when the two American Rangers, having survived the beach landing shoot two soldiers in German uniforms trying to surrender. They’ve got their hands up, they’re in German uniforms, but they can clearly be heard to be speaking, from memory, Czech. This is historically accurate. The beaches were defended by a mix of German units and units filled with Eastern European men, essentially, ‘pressganged’ into service by the Germans as they had moved eastward 3 years before. There were ‘volunteers’ from virtually every country the Germans had gone through, including Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Slovenians and many more. We’re talking thousands of men, so they’re isn’t just one version of the story but, basically, they were given the choice of putting on a German uniform or being sent to a POW camp or killed. These ‘Ost’ or Eastern Battalions were sent to ‘quiet’ areas, like Normandy. So, pro/con those men’s experiences, why don’t we? Well, they spent 3 years on the Normandy coast digging ditches and stringing barbed wire and such. Compared to German soldiers who were actively fighting in North Africa or Russia, they didn’t have it so bad. However, they were barely paid, in units considered ‘unreliable’ and yet, still expected to fight against the men from the US, England & Canada, three nations these men had no beef with, when they came. If they failed to fight, ran away or failed to follow any other order, they could be summarily executed by the German sergeants and junior officers placed over them. Since we’re talking thousands of men, so, again, not one story applies to all of them. Spielberg has the two men trying to surrender trying to explain that they’re NOT German….. but were killed anyway. I can imagine some of these men did fight, I can imagine many dying, whether they fought or not, I can imagine many fighting until they ran out of ammunition, then trying to surrender. We know many successfully surrendered. A few joined the Allied armies after that. I might imagine some even turned their guns on the closest Germans they could find once the shooting started.
As a veteran I am proud to see today’s interest in the military genre of movies. The advances in special effects have presented such an immersive visual effect, those without military experience can get a little idea of the “HARSH REALITY” our military can face. I had the honor to attend a special showing of “Saving Private Ryan” the second week of its theatrical release. The first two rows (floor level and one up) were reserved for WWII veterans & family. Just before the coming attractions showed, approximately 20 people were ushered to their seats. At the end only subdued sniffles and sobs could be herd with NOONE moving to leave. After a brief pause the first of the veterans got up to leave, while the rest of us in attendance gave them ALL a standing ovation as they left. There seems to be a flow-over effect of people watching some older movies; “Full Metal Jacket”, “Platoon”, “M*A*S*H”, “Apocalypse Now” etc. I think these movies are great but need to be viewed with the filter of social commentary for the time they were made. I would like to see reactions to two older movies, based on two of the most decorated war heroes. These movies, though not posing the fantastic special effects of today’s movies, contain just as much interest by the simple act of storytelling. The first is the story of one of the most decorated soldiers of WWI. The main character of the story (Alvin C York) chose actor Gary Cooper to portray him. Released in September 1941, just before America entered WWII, “Sergeant York”. The second story is about the MOST DECORATED soldier of WWII. The movie not only adapted from his autobiography (Audie Murphy) but starred him as well. From October 1955, just over ten years after the end of the war “To Hell and Back”.
You say the Omaha invasion force knew they were going to die but they did not. The naval bombardment was supposed to destroy the hardened enemy positions but failed to do so making the assault far more deadly than it should have been. They were soldiers and they expected a fight but they did not expect to be failed by their higher ups and dropped into a meat grinder.
My grandfather 18 at the time was an infantryman in the 1st infantry division who was one of the first to land ashore. He fortunately survived the events of dday and went on to fight in many battles in france. He was wounded in action whilst saving a soldier who was hit by shrapnel from artillery fire. It is with great pride that i can say he did his duty with the utmost courage and devotion. He was medically discharged afterwards and lived to tell his stories most are hair raising but most he could not talk about. He set an amazing example for me and i also can proudly say that i also today serve in the first infantry division just as he did those many years ago. God bless my country God bless all.
The Normandy sequence is one of the great sequences in war films of all time, if not THE greatest. It's hard to top. Spielberg hit this one outta the park.
You guys did a fantastic job. I've seen a bunch of reactions to this and yours is easily one of the best. Just a great job, thoughtful comments, well edited. Thank you guys.
My dearest Georgia friends, I’m SUPER proud of y’all for watching this one. I’ve visited the cemetery there above the beach. My family had come from Paris and we’d seen Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles just before. I remember being so much more moved by the beaches. I stood on the cliffs and was shocked that somebody, somewhere said, “Yeah….. we can do this!” I was so much more moved by the beaches because that grand palace at Versailles was all about one man, one king. These beaches where so many young men made the ultimate sacrifice just blew me away. Picture the average kid that died: he was 17-19 years old, just coming out of the Great Depression. He probably had never traveled more than 50 miles from wherever he was born. He joined the Army or was drafted after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He goes away to training somewhere, rides a ship across the Atlantic to a country he’s never been to, England, then goes ashore in another country he’d never been to and probably didn’t speak a word of French. Only to lose his life, possibly, minutes after arriving to the beach. It’s just truly humbling.
In the plans for D-Day the vast majority of American troops had not yet seen combat. It was calculated that veteran troops would be too keen to find cover and not advance. The planners sent, essentially, rookies, figuring their lack of experience would actually be an asset.
Now, on the scene with the shot medic and the morphine, morphine was issued in single dose ampoules or syrettes. It had the squeezable bulb with morphine in it and a needle. The training went to every single service person. The short hand of the training was “One for the pain, two for forever.” Everyone was trained to issue the morphine, then mark anyone getting it with pen, mud or blood with a large capital ‘M’ on the forehead. Two doses in too close a time was fatal. The medic above all would have known what asking for a second dose of morphine meant. The medic would also have known what a damaged liver meant, as well. Today things could be done. Back then, no care was available for that wound.
On the paratroop misdrops, that’s accurate. The two American airborne divisions, the 82nd (‘All American Division’) and the 101st (‘Screaming Eagles’) dropped into Normandy. Planners projected 90+% casualties. The paratroopers were loaded down with up to twice their own body weights in gear. Follow on forces could grab gear, weapons, ammo off the corpses of the Airborne. Both airborne divisions rode into battle in slow, UN armored transport airplanes. Of the two, the 101st landed more intact of the two. The 82nd was very badly scattered. The fact that they were so scattered turned out to be a godsend: the Germans knew the Allies were coming and when reports came in from all over the countryside, the Germans didn’t know where to send their units. There are accounts of German units marching for hours at a time, then being informed to march back where they came from. Small groups of paratroops did what they were trained to do. Every service member is trained that “if you’re cut off…. You have no one to tell you what to do….. you’re lost….. first, go win the war!” It means do SOMETHING. Don’t just hunker down and do nothing. Pee in the gas tank of an enemy vehicle. Change road signs around. Do SOMETHING useful to our side, harmful to the enemy. Enough paratroopers did that that it, essentially, paralyzed the German forces. One of the accounts that moved me the most was a waddling, overloaded paratrooper was about to load the transport plane as the sun was setting, turned to the East and said, “Look out Hitler, here we come!” 90-95% casualties projected and that’s what he came up with.
There’s a VERY famous photo taken of Gen. Eisenhower amongst the paratroopers before they embarked on the transport planes. Their faces are blacked out, many of them had shaved mohawk haircuts into their head standing around talking to their Supreme Commander. ‘Ike’ knew the projections and felt he needed to be amongst those soon to be dead men. Ike’s D-Day experience is, actually, really interesting. D-Day was on June 6 but it had been planned for the 5th. Stormy weather caused a delay and the weather was barely marginal for the 6th. Worse was a bad storm due to hit Normandy in the days following the 6th. Eisenhower’s staff, the air, land and sea commanders gave their opinion as to whether to go on the 6th or delay again. Eisenhower’s top generals were evenly split between go or delay. The weather report was just too dodgy. Hundreds of thousands of men, tens of thousands of aircraft, ships and land vehicles are waiting on Ike’s decision. Ike turns to an RAF meteorologist, a lowly captain whose just a weatherman with a uniform, a Captain Flagg or Stagg from memory, and asks his opinion. The RAF Captain says the official projection is no better than 50/50 but adds his personal opinion: he THINKS there will be a window where the seas won’t be too rough. Ike walls off alone with his head down, thinking, turns and says, “Ok, we go!”
That’s the ONLY order Ike gives for the landing. After that, it’s all out of his hands. The Supreme Allied Commander, as soon as he says that, becomes, essentially, a spectator. Ike goes to a small field desk, pens a letter saying, basically, “The invasion has failed…. The men did everything they could….. this was all my fault and all my responsibility,” and places it in his pocket. That letter, forgotten, is in Eisenhower’s Presidential Library in Kansas today. How glad are we all that he didn’t have to read/release that letter?
It was a series of moral dilemmas. Not just the saving private Ryan, but the strategic sacrifice of life at the d day invasion knowing the inevitable loss of life, to the decision not to shoot the burning enemy and end their suffering, to the shooting of surrendering soldiers, to trying to save the girl, taking out the machine guns rather than going around it, shooting only the enemy who was released only to come back in circulation as predicted, Ryan not leaving his company when he was ordered to do so, to the sitting on Ryan to keep him out of danger…just a masterpiece on the absurd but very real ethics of war. And of course the ethical responsibility we all have to earn the gifts of life and freedom we have because of so many who gave their lives so we could enjoy these gifts! Thank you and God Bless all of our service men and women!
My Dad served in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific during WWII, he never talked about it. Unfortunately he passed away when I was 8 years old (1973), so he never got to see me enlist in the Army right after high school in 1983.
You mentioned that you hadn’t seen any Steven Spielberg film; some of his more well-known were Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., the Indiana Jones movies, etc. But highly recommended as an equal to “Saving Private Ryan” is “Schindler’s List.” Also an extraordinary series that he and Tom Hanks produced is “Band of Brothers,” considered one of the greatest series ever made for tv.
To the brave men that stormed Normandy, we all will never forget. Also the same thing went through the Brave fireman, Ems, police that stormed up those stairs on 9/11 , you could see it in every fireman's face as tbey made tha walk to the building and up the stairs. We will never forget you all either 343 people died tha day, selfless and determined. As they were on the beaches of Normandy. Brothers Rwst in Peace 343
Our Flag Represents Our Fallen Patriots & Servicemen .. This is why we get so upset when people Burn it, take a knee to it, or Disrespect it in anyway 😢 Even though they have a right to do so 😢 But I bet Our Fallen Patriots would be the first to Defend them & their Freedoms that we all take for Granted 😢 ❤GOD Bless you all my Sister's & Brothers from other Mother's I ❤Love you all .. In ❤JESUS name i pray 🙏Amen. 😗💋😍😊🇺🇸🙏😇👍
Well, now you have unknowingly committed yourselves to watching Band of Brothers eventually. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were just beginning with this masterpiece. They trolled us so hard by the eye fade in the intro making us think Private Ryan was Captain Miller. Well played Spielberg. There are a million things I could say and corrections to be made but I won't. It can and will speak for itself. Legendary film making.
I have to add this, I implore you to also see "The Fallen of World War 2" it will give you more perspective on the War. Not to take anything at all away from these men in the West. But by comparison it was a drop in the bucket of blood. I have to say as well...despite all of the death, destruction and action, the most painful scene to me is with the knife. It's intimacy is heart wrenching when he is pleading for his life. It brings home the senselessness of War to begin with. Also, he is not the prisoner they let go. Which everyone thought including me.
The pre-radar site attack is a great study in the breakdown of leadership. Captain Miller starts by asking, "You want to leave it so they can attack the next guys ?" To insults, "When was the last time you felt good about anything ?" And, "The way you run ?" A few years ago, due to some airplane crashes, teaching the team mentality became more prominent. Captains interact with #2 and the crew. And there are techniques to deal with a captain who does not.
Those two surrendering soldiers in the beach seen who got shot, are actually speaking Czech. They were press ganged into joining the German army when their country was annexed by appeasement. Most people forced to fight for the Germans surrendered as soon as possible because they don't want to be there.
Normally I roll with you two on the movie reactions but as a retired vet , this one I have to bow out because of some of the combat scenes. Hope you understand. Keep doin what you do though.
@TheOctobersReact I think I said it before but this definitely an all time classic, anybody would probably recommend it. Lol I kind of like my more under-rated films. I do have other war movie recommendations if ya need any 👍. And yeah it is an all-time classic.
For the military buffs in the audience, there is a slight spoiler in the first scene. The focus on the eyes is meant to make you think he is Capt Miller - because the do similar shots with his eyes, but the military buffs know it is Ryan early in the film because the old man is wearing a 101st "Screaming Eagles" pin on his jacket. Ryan was the only major character who was a paratrooper - Capt Miller and his men were all Rangers. So you got a pretty good hint that the mission to save Private Ryan was a success.
It is truly a moving experience to go there and walk the Cemeteries I traced My Grandpa and Great Grandpa's travels from both WWI and WWII Great Great-Grandpa was KIA in 1916 in the Somme, France he has no known grave Grandpa survived WWII landing in Normandy after the beaches were secured went on to fight in France and the on to Holland getting wounded in Holland in 1944 Grazed by a bullet on the left side of his face that left him with a big scar he never talked about his time in Europe always told me it was shaving accident and that I had to be careful when I grew up and started to shave we found a ton of stuff his time in the army in the chest that was always locked letters and his medal for getting wounded. I can't picture Grandpa firing a weapon in anger as he was so kind and gentle with us grandkids after reading his letters I am so proud of him and the rest of the men and even the women from this generation are and always will be The Greatest Generation may they all rest in peace.
"Tell me I'm a good man". That's all I ever wanted. I've done everything to live my life for those I lost and I don't know that I lived up to their expectations. All I can do is pray and hope,
Upham had the best character arc, besides Norman, in Fury! Also, the squad didn't like upham because, even tho he was useless, he outranked them all except the captain and sergeant. When I was in, I had severe disdain for anyone that out ranked me, but they weren't infantry or at least a field mos. I can definitely say, if ur a field soldier...u can be in the mountains, dessert, sand, heat, snow, wherever. Spending a ton of ur field time, in the rain? Nothing is worse!
Here's a amazing bit of history. Teddy Roosevelt grandson was a officer...full bird Colonel or general. He had a severe limp and walked with a cane. He WALKED on shore during the invasion. He eanted to show his men, if i can do it, u can. And he didn't get shot or blown up. God was watching out for him!
I always think about the Ladies who typed up all those letter, the pain and sadness they must have gone home with everyday is overwhelming to even think about. I am sure it had a serious emotional toll on them foe the rest of their lives.
There was a true story and they made a movie about this exact happening. But the names of the boys were "The Sullivans " this story line was true in"" Private Ryan" but of you both should get a chance, the movie is an old one and its called "The Sullivans" very good movie.
35:44 Morphine is more than a "pain reliever". Tylenol is a pain reliever, morphine is a pain killer. It's basically synthetic heroin, and produces an extreme sense of euphoria. Unfortunately, it also slows your respiration and heart rate, which is why they were hesitant to give Wade any more, in his condition, considering it would almost certainly kill him, which it did. But it also made the end of his life, much more comfortable than it would've been, otherwise, which is why Captain Miller gave it to him. He realized there was nothing more they could do for him, so they might as well make him as comfortable as possible, on his way out.
I went back to a work mates flat in London one night to drink and his sister was there chilling. I was an Aussie fresh off the boat and mentioned I’d like to visit the D Day landing sites during my adventures . She grabbed her photo album and turns out she was a make up and props artist, she created the beach characters missing half bodies etc. Looked real even in the album with smiling actors laying on the sand chatting to her.
'SdKfz 2' German Army, the Kettenkrad was an ingenious half motorcycle, half-tracked vehicle, hence its name - 'ketten' meaning tracks, 'krad' meaning motorcycle.”
11:35 The fish were killed by the pressure waves from bombs not bullies. 12:53 That was "the sole survivor rule." Adopted by the U.S. in 1942. 50:25 Over 78,000,000 people died in WWII 67% of them were civilians. 53:55 "A prisoner of war is a man that tries to kill you, failed and then asks you not to kill him" - Winston Churchill
"I bet surviving that would feel like winning the lottery" - Sadly, and somewhat proudly, the vast majority think anything but. They're genuinely torn apart inside, because they lived, while others didn't. You'll notice that many WW2 veterans when they spoke, never referred to any of their own actions as heroic, or praise worthy. It's just what had to be done. But they'll say so about their fellow soldiers. Also, they save the highest praise for those who never made it back. But yeah, few of them consider it a lottery. From the outside looking in, it seems like what they earned was a lifetime of survivors guilt. An entirely separate layer of heartbreak.
The soldier who was with Tom hanks and took a round in the chest appeared on the Graham Norton show in the red chair. Hanks who was a guest straight away said “do we know each other?” And talked about their experiences in Ireland filming this scene.
If you haven’t already you should watch the band of brothers mini series as it’s the natural follow up to this. 10 episodes with an 11th unofficial which is a documentary. Genuinely worth watching. Also you’re the only reaction channel I’ve seen so far that noticed the medic taking the hit in the canteen, props to you guys. That was a really impactful scene for me when I first watched the movie and it sorta kills me inside that no one seems to notice it
The reason why the German MG42 machine gun was so lethal was because of the intense fire rate and the fact that they could swap the barrel of the gun to stop over heating problems and the barrel from melting. This meant that crews could fire for long periods of time without stopping. Only for reloads. They are still used in conflicts today.
The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent from Waterloo, Iowa, who were serving together on the light cruiser USS Juneau, were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942.
My grandfather served on the USS Niblack DD-424 as a sonar officer, tasked with escorting supply convoys across the North Atlantic to Britain. My family has comm recordings of the events of the ship answering a distress call from one of their fellow destroyers that had been torpedoed by a German U-boat, and the screams, the frantic orders, the explosions and gunfire, it's harrowing. Very proud of that man for his role in hunting down those bastards and giving them what for.
I saw this movie in theaters when it came out. I sat in the first row. And in 1997, the Dolby Sorround was loud as fcuk... You can imagine that we were shocked.
If you like this, Tom Hanks and Spielberg made two ten episode miniseries called "The Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific". You have got to watch those. I'm a combat veteran and I attest that those are the best military history shows/movies ever. Told straight from the mouths of survivors. Band of Brothers is about air dropping into Normandy and then the subsequent battles through the European campaign and The Pacific is about the Marines and the island hopping campaign. The actors and writing do an amazing job of bringing those stories to screen.
This is what your Grandfather/ Great Grandfather, went through between the ages of teenager to mid 20s. Highest respect in the world for theses men. The real Veterans say it was a 1000 times worse than this, an it went one for hours.
Of their 9 children as Italian immigrant from 1912, 4 of my uncles served, dad during Korea, all returned, they never spoke of it. My father would tell me don't ask. Then as an adult I found out. Now even at 68 years old, I'm ready to stand in the breach for what they've done for me and mine. I know I'm NOT the only one. God Bless America and it's patriots.
The grave in the beginning said RAY M MC CLURE:) This is one of the most realest war depiction ever along with Band of Brothers. You guys should watch Band of Brothers.
Decided to drop this a day early bc we were so excited to get this out there! Thanks to our Patron DP for requesting this one! It was a great film throughout and it definitely made us appreciate all the things we take for granted in life bc without the brave men and women in our military who have fought or still do now, we would not be able to do the things we have the privilege of doing! *Thanks for protecting us everyday!*
We will see you guys Monday with Ant-Man !
Love you all! Happy Belated Labor Day!
www.patreon.com/theoctobers
Air Force, '78-82, Thanks for the props and getting through this tough-to-watch, top-notch film. Only thing I hated was Cpt. Miller and his unit's decision to stay and help Ryan's guys..Would've placed his azz under arrest and dragged him back, His orders were from the TOP and had priority over that bridge..But then the movie wouldn't have been as great without that final battle..(If only air support could've made it 60 seconds sooner!) A++ Acting from Hanks/ Damon and the support cast..Spieburg's best, He'll never be able to top it!!
Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you more than a few inches underwater. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 7:13 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances.
The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured.
There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting.
I think it would be a very good thing to have every high school student watch this film so they know how ugly war truly is and the sacrifices that so many have made so we can be a free country. Maybe then, we wouldn't be so divided appreciating this country as it should be even though we are far from perfect as we strive to be.
@@scottromer8584hay 194paises en el 🌎 y unos 185paises son libres.
Saving Private Ryan
YES! THIS is the right movie!!!
After Vietnam, America transformed into a country whose military became one of … professional soldiers. Drafts were discontinued … in favor of an all volunteer force. Only about 3% of Americans had ever served in the military. This may be the reason for the lack of empathy toward veterans and wars, itself.”
I would call upon you, and everyone, to not just “watch” a combat-accurate movie …. but, to watch it while considering yourselves as unseen soldiers that are THERE, experiencing the occurrences along with your fellow soldiers, friends. Great every Veterans Day, Memorial Day.
This movie is a fictional film of WWII’s D-Day invasion … in which three of four brothers are KIA (killed in action) and a squad / platoon (8 men) search for the remaining live brother.
D-Day remains the LARGEST amphibious invasion in history … the transfer of 39 divisions (22 American), over 1 million soldiers to Normandy France.
The Allies began their invasion at 6:30am and and finally repelled the Germans by days end … at a cost of more than 10,000 KIA & MIAs. That would LITERALLY BE staring at death and bloodshed EVERYWHERE …. one could look nowhere that was absent its brutality!
American soldiers that survived the first day’s invasion attested to the films’, accuracy in the nature & brutality of combat.
A slightly unknown factoid is that German machine gunner that was depicted firing down onto Americans landing at Dog-1 Omaha Beach … massacring them before they could even get off their LST. That machine gunner identified himself well after the war as Heinrich Severloh, an 18 year old son of a farmer, that was conscripted by the Germans. Heinrich admitted that he believed he killed more Americans in a single day than any other soldier … more than 1000, possibly over 2000 … and for the rest of his life, the nightmares would never stop! Soldiers on both sides would have to eventually unpack & deal with all of their horrors …. secreted away for later, more convenient times for reflections.
Another surreal oddity was the character of the typist Upham …. his character oddly reflects the character of our nation …. America. From 1937, years before America was attacked at Pearl Harbor (and beyond) …. America sat back, failing to act as Germany began exterminating 6MILLION men, women, children, and elders because of their race, using them as reasons for German failings …. We sat back, refusing to involve ourselves in Europe’s ‘Problem’ …. while Germany invaded and overwhelmed every other country except England. We finally pulled ourselves together and entered the combat! In combat, EVERY man (boys 17-20) reacts differently …. assimilates combat differently …. but, EVERYONE is afraid! We all lock our horrors away in the recesses of our minds …. only later to have to deal with them again!
Back to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I would hope that you & EVERY American would sit down a day or two before every Memorial Day & Veterans Day and rewatch this film (or, Hacksaw Ridge). But, next time rejoin the film, mentally doing so AS AN UNSEEN MEMBER OF THE SQUAD … to mentally & emotionally connect to the other soldiers as friends, buddies … hopefully, to understand all of the veterans combat problems. America, the people (the 97% never experiencing war, are now highly insulated from soldiers / veterans … stunned into remembering the wounded, maimed & dead … but seem to never comprehend those with invisible wounds … those that returned with PTSD, the veterans that choose to be homeless because feel they don’t deserve to continue living a good life, those 22 that are committing suicides every day.
This movie was produced loosely on a true story and several similar situations. I’m not seeking compassion … rather a realistic understanding of WHY we returned as we did! Even though we got back to family & loved ones. They only recognized our shell, but found strangers with in. Some of us got back … but, not really, not completely! Others couldn’t accept the peaceful life, their friends couldn’t return to … and chose life on the streets as self-punishment.
Movie done, how did you make it??? How’s that ‘assimilating combat’ and ‘survival guilt’ working for you?
Not so good for me and others, either!!!
My Father was 19-yrs-old when he landed on Omaha beach on June 6, 1944. He fought his way across France hedgerow by hedgerow until he was peppered with shrapnel from a German artillery round earning him a purple heart and a ticket home. His four brothers also served in the European theater. What really gave me pride though was finding out that when I was a kid, my Parents used to drive to Travis air force base on the weekends to help welcome home returning Vietnam veterans that they didn't even know.
Thank you and your whole family for their service. Your dad is a brave man.
your dad is awesome and so are you and your family thanks for sharing that!
Your father was a hero and a great man.
God bless them.
God bless him . My grandfather was 22 , 29th infantry first wave of d-day on Omaha beach.. he also made it through. God bless them…Pure Hero’s
The Pianist & Schindler's List are even more enthralling
My great grandpa fought on Normandy. When he was alive we watched this movie and that was the only time I ever saw him cry in his life. He just watched real quiet crying and repeating the names of the buddies he had lost on the beach and after. He still knew everything about them. Their names, their families, what they looked like. He told me he had to remember them because if he (and others) forgot them then they’d truly die.
Good lord, that is too profound. May he rest in peace along with his buddies. Much thanks to all those that served.
One thing in all of these reactions I have never heard anyone mention is that at the end of the movie when Ryan's wife comes up to him as he is front of the Captain's grave she reads his name like she didn't know who he was. Ryan probably never spoke of what happened to anyone, not even his wife. It is heartbreaking.
Communicating with civilians is one of the most difficult and worst things. They will never understand; they ask too many questions, and many are horrible questions. My family is just now learning some stuff, and I know they will never see me as the same quiet, laid back, trying to help any person, individual they knew, but I have terminal cancer, and the pain medicine makes me talk when I would normally just stfu so they have learned many things I have seen and done and the look in their eyes and the silence speaks volumes. It took years just to sleep through the night and not have to wake up and clear the house, but you must suppress that shit when you are with someone. The crap I saw in South America in the late 80s was far worse than the shit I saw in Iraq in 90. So yeah, I do not doubt he never talked with them about any of it.
@@mystic37 My grandfather was in WW2 and we had always been told that he was a mechanic. It wasn't until his end of life when he was on hospice and on pain meds that we found out he was more than a mechanic and that he had been in battles bc my grandmother said the meds gave him terrible nightmares. She has some indication of what he experienced but when she confronted him to try to help or comfort, he refused to speak of it and he refused his pain meds after that.
Thank you for your service, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
@@mystic37what’d you do lol
I used to catch my Grandpa from time to time crying out in the backyard as a kid I would ask Grandma why is he crying she just told me he must have gotten something in his eyes not till after they both passed and read some letters did I realize why he would be that way he never had guns in the house I understand why now and he was so gentle and sweet to us grandkids I just can't picture him firing a weapon in anger SO PROUD OF YOU GRANDPA and I will see you again when my time comes
This movie really captures the brutality of WW2. The soldiers surrendering at Normandie are actually saying “Please don't shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone! I am Czech!" The amount of displaced people sent to fight a terrible fight is unimaginable.
Yeah, I love this detail that almost everyone misses. I'm American and I know that many many soldiers who were forced to fight for the Nazis were not Nazis or even German. Poles, Hungarians, Czech, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Bulgarians, the list just goes on and most of them did not want to be there.
@@forrestcrain3401 hehe thats funny what you said.imagine! even most of the german soldiers want to fight!they must!fight or die the nazi government say.a deserteur shot quickly on the frontline.a conscientious objector haveno many options.your family will die or you are proud to die for your fatherland.
@@forrestcrain3401 Allegedly, there even were Czechoslovak soldiers who landed in Normandy as a part of the Allied Forces. So there were Czechoslovaks fighting against Czechoslovaks.
Yes there were an estimated about a million soldiers from other countries that fought for the German army and about 600k of them were volunteers. They were not all conscripted. About 65 to 70% of those were sent to the Russian front.
It was common practice for German soldiers to claim they were not really German and conscripted to fight because they thought they would get better treatment as a POW if they did.
It was very difficult to almost impossible for allied from line soldiers to know the difference to better safe than sorry and they were all treated as German soldiers and volunteers.
Quit trying to start Internet rumor. What you said does not translate from Czech or German. You must have a little penis and are trying to compensate for it by starting such a rumor.
A veteran was once asked how accurate the Omaha beach landing scene was. His answer was: "Not enough bodies." Kinda tells us all just how bad things were during that landing.
Also, Matt Damon's story about the Ryan brothers was totally improvised. Great acting on his part.
Great reaction to a classic!
I read some statements from guys who were there after they watched this film. Another one said “there was a lot more blood. And organs. And screaming.”
There was the Sullivan Brothers. A family of five brothers who all served on the light cruiser Juneau in the Solomon Islands. None survived the sinking of it. After that War Department policy said no siblings could serve in a single unit.
The guns in the bunkers were MG42s, nicknamed "Hitler's Buzzsaw" by the Allies for the sound it made when firing, and that it had nearly twice the fire rate of the comparable American B.A.R. and the British Bren gun. They could also fire almost continuously since they had stored spare barrels with them to switch out when overheated.
The medics on the beach were trying to save that one guy because he was the company surgeon, and they knew without him that many more troops would die from wounds that only he could treat.
Combat helmets then were just hard hats to protect from explosion debris. They were not bulletproof in the slightest and that one guy got EXTREMELY lucky that that one shot hit at such an angle to be deflected.
The two men surrendering that couldn't be understood were Czech conscripts, saying that they hadn't killed anyone, they were intentionally missing shots. The German army conscripted a lot of men from occupied territories to match the growing Allied presence in Europe.
Those blimps are actually called barrage balloons, which were set up with thick cables that would cause enemy planes making strafing attacks to hit them with their wings, shearing them and causing them to crash.
Many young men were drafted at this time, especially if they had special skills like Upham's translation ability, and those with a college education were sent straight to officer training. I hate how a lot of people react to Upham during the last battle with scorn and hatred, as if they understand what it's like to be in the middle of a battle. No one knows how they'll react in that situation until they're in it. I'd like to think I'd charge bravely up those stairs to the rescue, but I could just as easily freeze in pants-shitting terror, and so could you. So could anyone.
This story was inspired by the real Sullivan brothers, all five of whom were serving on board the USS Juneau when it was sunk at Guadalcanal, killing them all. The US War Dept. adopted the Sole Survivor policy after this, preventing all of the members of one family from enlisting/serving to avoid tragedies like this. The Navy commissioned a Fletcher-class destroyer, naming it the USS The Sullivans in their honor. The ship's motto: "We stick together"
I agree with your take on Upham. It took me a few years before I realized the same thing and changed how I saw him.
Good points but I would compare the mg42 more to the browning 1919 or M2 instead of the BAR or bren. Also the story was inspired by the niland brothers who may have been splint into different units because of what happened with the Sullivan brothers. Overall good points tho
The MG 42 was also called hitler's sewing machine. The MG 42 is still used today as a turret machine gun on german army leopard tanks.
Our M-60 MG (the pig) was based on the MG42 because we were impressed with it's performance.
When Tom Hanks says Earn This he was speaking to all of us
yes he was!
But we all forgot !! Look at us now !
13:33 The gray haired officer on the right talking is former USMC Captain Dale Dye Jr . He is a highly decorated Vietnam combat vet. Dye is also the military consultant for this movie and others like Platoon and Casualties of War. When directors want the actors in a movie to appear authentic the call him.
... or the late Marine gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey.
This was especially emotional for me, as the actor who played old man Ryan looks surprisingly like my grandfather who fought in France & Belgium. He never talked much about fighting, and usually just talked about guys he remembered. In '81-'83 we worked together doing salvage on demolition jobs when I was 18-20, and sometimes when aircraft flew overhead, he would get real quiet, and every morning when we entered an abandoned building, he would sometimes go in a different way, and we never knew where he was until he was right back with us. My mom said he always did that (as if he had made sure the area was secure).
wow i can imagine how this would make you feel extremely emotional. shout out to your grandfather we appreciate him!
This movie got part of its inspiration from the true story of the Sullivan brothers from Iowa. They were all killed during WWII on the USS Juneau in the pacific. Due to the Bixby family having only lost two of the five sons they thought dead in the civil war, the Sullivan brothers were - and remain - the single greatest wartime sacrifice of any American family.
I saw this movie when i was younger. At the end when Capt. Miller says “earn it”. I took that as a message to all of us to earn it, and I have been proudly serving in the military, and always remembering those who came before me, and hope I “earn it” for them.
Yeah, that’s definitely a message to America & the free world.
"I've probably seen one of his movies, but I really couldn't tell you"
> I just went from 44 to 94 years old.
The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell. The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell.
Spielberg researched small details, for instance, Pvt Jackson's right thumb has a black mark on it. That's actually a bruise that many U. S. riflemen had caused from getting their thumb caught in the loading mechanism from not locking the bolt back properly when loading/reloading the M1 Garand rifle. It was called "Garand thumb".
The Hitler Youth Knife is more literary liberty than fact. That knife is a hiking knife given to members of the Hitler Youth Corps, which was much like the Boy Scouts in training while being indoctrinated with the ideology of National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi). The only other group they were issued to were members of the SA. This knife was never part of a soldier of the Wehrmacht. As for the reaction of Carparzo and Mellish, it is highly unlikely an average G.I. would have known what that knife was and its symbolism. The matter of Mellish crying is also not likely as the Allies didn't find out about the fate of Jews in Europe until the first concentration camp was liberated April 4, 1945. The war in Europe ended May 7, 1945. So, following the real timeline, Mellish dies before the Allies knew anything about concentration and death camps. But, after-all, it is Hollywood.
Saving Private Ryan is not based on the Sullivan brothers. Fritz Niland became the basis for Private Ryan. He was dropped behind enemy lines on D-Day and spent five days in the French countryside, eventually earning a Bronze star in combat for taking a French. Robert Rodat first came up with the plot in 1994 when he saw a monument in a cemetery in Tonawanda, New York. The monument was to the Niland Brothers - 4 young American men who fought in the Second World War. When three of the Nilands were reported killed, the surviving brother - Fritz - was sent home. This inspired Rodat to write his movie. The average age of a U. S. troops armed forces personnel during WW II was 26 years old. Selective Service draft age range was 18 years of age to 45 years. The average age in Vietnam War was 22, not 19 as any think.
There are 26 military cemeteries across Normandy, but the most famous and visited site is the poignant Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. In real life with the Nilands, it actually turned out later that another of the brothers was alive - he’d been held captive in a Burmese POW camp. Attempts to point out the "discrepancies" between the stories of Fritz Niland and James Ryan are often misguided, as Ryan is only based on Niland, and is not meant to be (or claimed to be) a completely accurate representation of him. The differences in the two stories seem to stem in part from the fact that the true story of Sergeant Niland and his brothers is often reported inaccurately. The character of Private James Ryan is a mixture of fact and fiction, with some of the fictional elements coming from the erroneous stories about the Niland brothers.
The German credited as "Steamboat Willie" who was released by Capt. Miller is not the German who engaged and killed Pvt Stanley "Fish Mellish during hand-to-hand combat. "Steamboat Willie" was in the Heer (Army) of the Wehrmacht and the other was in the Waffen SS which was a paramilitary organization and not part of the Wehrmacht. Originally, the SS uniform differed from the Wehrmacht uniform-whereas the regular army wore field grey, the SS wore black, head to toe (although later the SS did adopt field grey and often wore camouflage pattern uniform. American troops were brown and they didn't wear jackboots. The lightning bolt SS insignia can be seen on the right collar lapel of the German as he passes Upham and reaches the bottom of the staircase. During the Battle at Ramelle, Upham became shell shocked and was unable to save a .30 cal team from a German soldier because he was too frozen with fear to do anything about it. He carried all the .30 caliber ammo at the battle of Ramelle, but was unable to do his job because he was always either pinned down or too afraid to move. He signified the loss of innocence in war and thought that soldiers could be civil, but he later succumbed to the evils of war and made up for his cowardice when he shot Steamboat Willie for killing Miller even after the latter had shown Willie mercy earlier.
Not only did Upham represent the loss of innocence of war but he also symbolized the "Every-man". His illusion of neutrality faded when he finally had to pick and side and kill Steamboat Willie, his character revelation being how he finally understood the horrors of war. It became clear that Upham had turned into a hardened and true soldier because of the whole experience. Upham's rank was Tech 5 Corporal (E-5), that meant he was technician in a specialty area. His was maps and translator, he was not a combat infantryman and was never trained for front-line duty. Gunnery Sergent Hartman explained it this way in the movie Full Metal Jacket: "It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill.
"The way the next of kin was notified of their loved one was killed in action during WW II was by Western Union telegram delivered by a bicycle riding messenger. If you were being notified of multiple deaths as was the case in this film, notification was done in-person by a military officer, usually from the same branch of service as the deceased when possible. That's why the mother upon seeing the officer exit the car momentarily froze knowing that meant at least 2 of her boys were either KIA or MIA, as the priest exits the car, she staggers and completely collapsed.The mother speaks no lines in the movie, yet her breakdown brought a flood of tears form movie goers in theaters across the nation. Another important scene is it is clear from the few lines Ryan's wife speaks that she has never heard the name of Capt. John Miller, this means John has never spoken to her about what happened that day in Ramelle. What many missed is listening to Ryan speaking at the Miller's grave of how he thought about what those 8 men did for him every day was not guilt, but commitment.
There are units assigned to recover, bury and mark graves. Usually these were temporary battlefield cemeteries. As hostilities moved farther away, a more permanent site would be selected, at the family's request, whenever possible, the remains would be returned to the United States. At the Normandy Cemetery Visitors Center, you'll find the following inscription: IF EVER PROOF WERE NEEDED THAT WE FOUGHT FOR A CAUSE AND NOT FOR CONQUEST, IT COULD BE FOUND IN THESE CEMETERIES. HERE WAS OUR ONLY CONQUEST: ALL WE ASKED … WAS ENOUGH … SOIL IN WHICH TO BURY OUR GALLANT DEAD.General Mark W. ClarkChairman, American Battle Monuments Commission, 1969-1984
My grandfather fought on the front of “The Battle of the Bulge”. He never ever once spoke to me, my brother or my cousins about it. When we were kids we found an old cookie tin in a drawer filled with military medals. He politely asked us to put them back. I’ll never forget that.
* my dad and his siblings relayed the stories to us kids.
wow that’s amazing your grandfather is awesome !
To gain a more accurate sense of the horrors of D-Day, keep in mind that the allies attacked at 5 different beaches of Normany. The Americans at Omaha and Utah, the Brits at Gold and Sword, and the Canadians at Juno. The allies advanced from the foothold they gained to move inland to free Europe. The Russians advanced toward Germany, eventually taking Berlin, which ended the war.
I read that waiting for something...
I often forget it's only common knowledge to me. Most others don't know this information.
My grandfather landed on that beach 90 days after D-Day, and fought all the way to Germany by the end of the war. I saw this with him in the theater when it came out.
Massive Thank you for his service. God Bless.
Awesome! If someone can watch this movie and not be moved emotionally, then they have no soul. I'm glad you guys did this one.
You have no idea what it’s like to go through this. As a partially disabled combat veteran of the United States Navy, I can tell you that the cause and death was overwhelming. I still dream about it. I wake up in cold sweats. I blame myself for my friends deaths and all of it has cost me my marriage and family. The nightmares never go away. They never go away!
How old are you
What a great movie. Band of Brothers series is done by Hanks and Spielberg, and is f*&#kin awesome, and so is The Pacific.
they do sound good will add to the list
Yes! SPR is fiction. BoB is real, well about 90%. Since the series is 10 hours long you get to know they men really well. TP is darker but just as good. A good use of your time.
Fantastic job, you two! This is the most understanding and comprehensive reaction of this powerful film that I've seen. Thank you so much!
This will always be the most difficult but most important movie I’ve seen. I cry like a baby through the whole thing tbh. People sacrifice everything and more for the possibility at a better future.
i know just at a shot of a better future they are so incredibly brave
No, General Marshall didn’t have the letter to Mrs. Ryan in his book. He had a letter from President Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby, the mother of five Union (the North) Soldiers in the Civil War who were all killed in battle. The President wrote her a personal letter to thank her. He read it to those subordinate offices to tell them that he wanted Ryan found. The cool thing was General Marshall was reading it to them, but didn’t need to look at the paper anymore because he had every word memorized. It was a beautifully worded letter to convey such sincere gratitude to that mother. She lost all five sons, and he didn’t want Mrs. Ryan to lose all of her sons.
And this is why we stand for the National Anthem.
Yalls edits are amazing... thanks for letting us see so much of the movie with yall... ❤
thanks for acknowledging them! we appreciate the feedback
Two parts just get to me so much, the opening at Normandy when the old Ryan is overcome with emotion at the captains grave. The other is when they went out to deliver the news of the three sons to the mother, just can't stop tearing up at those scenes.
those two are intense thanks for watching 😊
Grew up in Iowa and knew many farm wives of that generation. People just don't understand what it was like in that day for a farm family to lose all it's sons like that. It was devastating, family then and there was everything.
Normally, they wouldn’t send a car for notification. The family would just get a telegram.
In cases where there were multiple deaths, an Army officer would be sent. So when she saw the car, she knew it was really horrible news.
1. Many WWII vets left the theaters because the D-Day battle scenes were so realistic.
2. The German Captain Miller was talked into letting go is the same one that killed him. Upham finally put him down.
3. The story Ryan tells Miller about the last time he saw his brothers was made up by Matt Damon. He was told to say something interesting, so he did, and it was kept in the movie.
4. There really was a USS Sullivans (DD- 68) dedicated to the brothers lost on one ship.
5. I did 24 years in the US Navy. My favorite character is Private Jackson/sniper and my second favorite is Sargent Horvath. RIP Tom Sizemore😇
6. Sizemore also played Boxman in "Flight of the Intruder", a movie I'm in briefly.
I think there's 3 movies that every single person must watch once in their life (and I understand if they never want to watch it again).
This one
Schindler's List
American History X
All devastating, brutal, horrific, shocking, and grim. We must never forget history lest we are doomed to repeat it
we will watch these 3 for sure
Not only the visuals, but the sound design of this film, stirs a living nightmare I can only image of the troops that endured this and other times of war.
I knew men back in the 1960s who had survived D-Day. Everyone of them if you mentioned it would start to have flashbacks and be in tears. On a couple occasions I heard them talk quietly about among themselves. One of those occasions was after a Christmas night service in the basement (Hall) of a Baptist Church, 8 men seated at a table in the far back remember the events and their friends/fellow soldiers that didn't make it and the events of that day. Most of these men spent 12 - 24 hours before they could get off the beach, it was just 30 minutes or an hour. It was half a day to a whole day before they could overcome the German positions. As Mr. Buttons said, the sea was just red, it was blood. Every inch of those beaches was precited with Artillery (German). Mr. Button made it to a cliff, where he had to climb over 150 feet to get to the top of it. They didn't claim the top of it until the next morning. It took 8 waves of soldiers to take that. They suffered over 80% casualties he said. Mr. Button, said why God chose him and a few other men to live, he did not know. It wasn't winning the lottery to them. They all said, somehow God chose them and they did not know the reasoning involved.
I worked in a movie theater when this came out. A lot of D Day veterans came to see it but had to leave the theater during the beach landing scene because it was too real.
wow i can’t even imagine
I recommend a 1944 movie titled the Fighting Sullivans. That will explain the comment made about the Sullivans.
thanks for watching 😊
An amazing film. I saw this movie first in the theater with my 3 sons. When the film was over no one left until the credits completed. Then the entire crowd stood silently and exited the theater without speaking. I've seen one other film where the reaction was that intense. That would be another Spielberg film. That other film is Schindler's List.
Your reaction as you watched and completed it were terrific!
As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
crazy you saw it with your 3 sons when it was about 3 sons! we will add that to our list thank you from GA!
I just found your site, I must say I've seen several young people react to this film and the understanding and heart you two have is so heartening to see! My dad was there D-Day on the USS Frankford destroyer. He helped take out several of the pillboxes so the soldiers could advance up the hill. Veterans in the theaters had to get up and leave until Normandy scenes had passed. They said it was so accurate all the was missing was the smell of diesel and blood.
Your dad is absolutely awesome. I believe that would be extremely hard to see though, especially bc it felt like something that would not end so i cannot imagine having to relive it. Thanks to your dad for his bravery and his service!
The man who read the Bixby letter was George Marshall.
General Marshall was the Chief of Staff of the US Army and would later become the architect of the Marshall Plan. That master stroke rebuilt war torn Europe and Japan, stopped the spread of Soviet influence, and laid the foundation of seventh five years of global prosperity previously unknown in human history.
George Marshall was a genius and a man of immense conviction and decency. He is, in my estimation, the greatest man this country ever produced. If the world were a just place, cities would be renamed for him.
I always forget Nathan Fillion and Ted Danson are in this. (Fillion was the "wrong" Ryan who had brothers too young to be combatants; Danson shows up as a commander shortly after that scene). Great reaction, guys. Gold content.
I have 4 members of my near family that was in the ww2 my grandfather who a marine in the Pacific and 3 of my grandmother's first cousins one was in Pacific and 2 two who were saw action from North Africa to Normandy, and the Siegfried Line. I as a Vet myself saw this movie in the Theater when it was released, and along with many other vets from WW2 to Present at the time of the movie's release, we had came out of the theater with, for the most part the same reaction to seeing the movie, it was the closest to actually being there, the only thing that was missing was the smell of combat!
The blimps were called "barrage balloons." They were intended to keep enemy fighter planes from being able to fly over the fleet. They also absorbed the impacts of cannon shells in a barrage (cannon attack) so the the bombs would not explode directly on the ships.
A veteran who participated in those beach landings was asked what he thought of the movie when he was coming out of the theater. He replied "They didn't make it bad enough."
Jah bless. Another great movie that I remember vividly from seeing in theaters. My Gaga who served in the United States military for decades took me and my friends to see this. He went in the service when he was 18. We walked to the movies that day to see something completely different but ended up going to see this. The only time I ever throughout my life saw him show any emotion. He didn't say a thing but his face said it all. He was a straight soldier until the day he died.
The letter from Lincoln is real, and considered an Art and Literary masterpiece and work of art.
After this movie Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg made two true miniseries based off of memoirs “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” both are must watches. Truly amazing and accurate recreations of the war
And a third series coming out soon called “Masters of the Air” about the 8th Bomber Air Corps (before it was the Air Force)
My Dad served I the Pacific during the war. He was in the(in combat zones) Coast Guard and earned 2 purple Hearts. When Pearl Harbor and this movie came out, he told us he lived it and he didn't want see it. Obviously he wasn't he wasn't at either spot but, combat. He lost two brothers during the war.
So a little backround on Millers unit. It's not directly said but if you know WW2 history you can parse out their experience level. Sgt Horvath on Normandy fills a tin up with sand from France. Along side the tins are two others marked Africa and Italy. Also Sgt Horvath says he's been with Miller since Kasserine Pass, which was a major battle in Tunisia. So Captain Miller has been commanding his unit from 1942 through North Africa invading Sicily and then Italy before landing on Normandy. They have bee fighting for 2 years prior to Normandy. They were an experienced and elite company.
Some scoff at the German who died sitting on the table, saying that it wouldn't happen. Not so. As a cop, 20 or so years ago, I investigated the death of a 17 year old boy. He knelt on the floor and put a 20 guage shotgun, probably in his mouth. When found, he was still kneeling. The upper half of his head was gone. The lower half fell open, like a flower, with his brain stem sticking up like a stamen. But, he was still kneeling.
God bless all the courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! Tom Hank’s admonition to Private Ryan to “Earn this!” applies to each and every one of us. It reminds us of the great debt we owe to our nations’ war fighters because of the tremendous sacrifices they have made on our behalf. God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
I'm glad you didn't hate on Upham as much as some reactors do. I think anyone who hates Upham after watching this movie has totally misread Spielberg's intent toward the character.
He wasn’t a soldier at heart, but he was there and he at least did that, it’s easy to pretend everyone e was so brave, but the point is he was there, in real life. And reality is hard, people freeze up. I can’t speak to bad cause I’ve never had to face death in that way. Thank god
My father was in World War 2 and Korea, his father in World War 1. Some of my ancestors were in the American Revolution, and some in the Civil War. I know that all they ever wanted was to go back to having lives as civilians in peace.
wow that is crazy, your whole family tree has been at war for us, thank you and thank them!
I am a combat veteran . Thank you for this and God bless you both.
A touch of Spielberg’s genius and knowledge is when the two American Rangers, having survived the beach landing shoot two soldiers in German uniforms trying to surrender. They’ve got their hands up, they’re in German uniforms, but they can clearly be heard to be speaking, from memory, Czech. This is historically accurate. The beaches were defended by a mix of German units and units filled with Eastern European men, essentially, ‘pressganged’ into service by the Germans as they had moved eastward 3 years before. There were ‘volunteers’ from virtually every country the Germans had gone through, including Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Slovenians and many more. We’re talking thousands of men, so they’re isn’t just one version of the story but, basically, they were given the choice of putting on a German uniform or being sent to a POW camp or killed. These ‘Ost’ or Eastern Battalions were sent to ‘quiet’ areas, like Normandy. So, pro/con those men’s experiences, why don’t we? Well, they spent 3 years on the Normandy coast digging ditches and stringing barbed wire and such. Compared to German soldiers who were actively fighting in North Africa or Russia, they didn’t have it so bad. However, they were barely paid, in units considered ‘unreliable’ and yet, still expected to fight against the men from the US, England & Canada, three nations these men had no beef with, when they came. If they failed to fight, ran away or failed to follow any other order, they could be summarily executed by the German sergeants and junior officers placed over them. Since we’re talking thousands of men, so, again, not one story applies to all of them. Spielberg has the two men trying to surrender trying to explain that they’re NOT German….. but were killed anyway. I can imagine some of these men did fight, I can imagine many dying, whether they fought or not, I can imagine many fighting until they ran out of ammunition, then trying to surrender. We know many successfully surrendered. A few joined the Allied armies after that. I might imagine some even turned their guns on the closest Germans they could find once the shooting started.
As a veteran I am proud to see today’s interest in the military genre of movies. The advances in special effects have presented such an immersive visual effect, those without military experience can get a little idea of the “HARSH REALITY” our military can face. I had the honor to attend a special showing of “Saving Private Ryan” the second week of its theatrical release. The first two rows (floor level and one up) were reserved for WWII veterans & family. Just before the coming attractions showed, approximately 20 people were ushered to their seats. At the end only subdued sniffles and sobs could be herd with NOONE moving to leave. After a brief pause the first of the veterans got up to leave, while the rest of us in attendance gave them ALL a standing ovation as they left. There seems to be a flow-over effect of people watching some older movies; “Full Metal Jacket”, “Platoon”, “M*A*S*H”, “Apocalypse Now” etc. I think these movies are great but need to be viewed with the filter of social commentary for the time they were made.
I would like to see reactions to two older movies, based on two of the most decorated war heroes. These movies, though not posing the fantastic special effects of today’s movies, contain just as much interest by the simple act of storytelling.
The first is the story of one of the most decorated soldiers of WWI. The main character of the story (Alvin C York) chose actor Gary Cooper to portray him. Released in September 1941, just before America entered WWII, “Sergeant York”.
The second story is about the MOST DECORATED soldier of WWII. The movie not only adapted from his autobiography (Audie Murphy) but starred him as well. From October 1955, just over ten years after the end of the war “To Hell and Back”.
thanks for the comment we appreciate it and we will def add it to the list ! thanks for watching 😄
You say the Omaha invasion force knew they were going to die but they did not. The naval bombardment was supposed to destroy the hardened enemy positions but failed to do so making the assault far more deadly than it should have been. They were soldiers and they expected a fight but they did not expect to be failed by their higher ups and dropped into a meat grinder.
My grandfather 18 at the time was an infantryman in the 1st infantry division who was one of the first to land ashore. He fortunately survived the events of dday and went on to fight in many battles in france. He was wounded in action whilst saving a soldier who was hit by shrapnel from artillery fire. It is with great pride that i can say he did his duty with the utmost courage and devotion. He was medically discharged afterwards and lived to tell his stories most are hair raising but most he could not talk about. He set an amazing example for me and i also can proudly say that i also today serve in the first infantry division just as he did those many years ago. God bless my country God bless all.
100% thanks for watching 😊
The Normandy sequence is one of the great sequences in war films of all time, if not THE greatest. It's hard to top. Spielberg hit this one outta the park.
100% thanks for watching 😊
You guys did a fantastic job. I've seen a bunch of reactions to this and yours is easily one of the best. Just a great job, thoughtful comments, well edited. Thank you guys.
Wow, thank you! We appreciate the feedback!
Well said, I agree. The invasion on that beach was the most brave, hard, sacary, painful of all times in the history of Wars.
My dearest Georgia friends, I’m SUPER proud of y’all for watching this one. I’ve visited the cemetery there above the beach. My family had come from Paris and we’d seen Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles just before. I remember being so much more moved by the beaches. I stood on the cliffs and was shocked that somebody, somewhere said, “Yeah….. we can do this!” I was so much more moved by the beaches because that grand palace at Versailles was all about one man, one king. These beaches where so many young men made the ultimate sacrifice just blew me away. Picture the average kid that died: he was 17-19 years old, just coming out of the Great Depression. He probably had never traveled more than 50 miles from wherever he was born. He joined the Army or was drafted after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He goes away to training somewhere, rides a ship across the Atlantic to a country he’s never been to, England, then goes ashore in another country he’d never been to and probably didn’t speak a word of French. Only to lose his life, possibly, minutes after arriving to the beach. It’s just truly humbling.
In the plans for D-Day the vast majority of American troops had not yet seen combat. It was calculated that veteran troops would be too keen to find cover and not advance. The planners sent, essentially, rookies, figuring their lack of experience would actually be an asset.
Now, on the scene with the shot medic and the morphine, morphine was issued in single dose ampoules or syrettes. It had the squeezable bulb with morphine in it and a needle. The training went to every single service person. The short hand of the training was “One for the pain, two for forever.” Everyone was trained to issue the morphine, then mark anyone getting it with pen, mud or blood with a large capital ‘M’ on the forehead. Two doses in too close a time was fatal. The medic above all would have known what asking for a second dose of morphine meant. The medic would also have known what a damaged liver meant, as well. Today things could be done. Back then, no care was available for that wound.
On the paratroop misdrops, that’s accurate. The two American airborne divisions, the 82nd (‘All American Division’) and the 101st (‘Screaming Eagles’) dropped into Normandy. Planners projected 90+% casualties. The paratroopers were loaded down with up to twice their own body weights in gear. Follow on forces could grab gear, weapons, ammo off the corpses of the Airborne. Both airborne divisions rode into battle in slow, UN armored transport airplanes. Of the two, the 101st landed more intact of the two. The 82nd was very badly scattered. The fact that they were so scattered turned out to be a godsend: the Germans knew the Allies were coming and when reports came in from all over the countryside, the Germans didn’t know where to send their units. There are accounts of German units marching for hours at a time, then being informed to march back where they came from. Small groups of paratroops did what they were trained to do. Every service member is trained that “if you’re cut off…. You have no one to tell you what to do….. you’re lost….. first, go win the war!” It means do SOMETHING. Don’t just hunker down and do nothing. Pee in the gas tank of an enemy vehicle. Change road signs around. Do SOMETHING useful to our side, harmful to the enemy. Enough paratroopers did that that it, essentially, paralyzed the German forces. One of the accounts that moved me the most was a waddling, overloaded paratrooper was about to load the transport plane as the sun was setting, turned to the East and said, “Look out Hitler, here we come!” 90-95% casualties projected and that’s what he came up with.
There’s a VERY famous photo taken of Gen. Eisenhower amongst the paratroopers before they embarked on the transport planes. Their faces are blacked out, many of them had shaved mohawk haircuts into their head standing around talking to their Supreme Commander. ‘Ike’ knew the projections and felt he needed to be amongst those soon to be dead men. Ike’s D-Day experience is, actually, really interesting. D-Day was on June 6 but it had been planned for the 5th. Stormy weather caused a delay and the weather was barely marginal for the 6th. Worse was a bad storm due to hit Normandy in the days following the 6th. Eisenhower’s staff, the air, land and sea commanders gave their opinion as to whether to go on the 6th or delay again. Eisenhower’s top generals were evenly split between go or delay. The weather report was just too dodgy. Hundreds of thousands of men, tens of thousands of aircraft, ships and land vehicles are waiting on Ike’s decision. Ike turns to an RAF meteorologist, a lowly captain whose just a weatherman with a uniform, a Captain Flagg or Stagg from memory, and asks his opinion. The RAF Captain says the official projection is no better than 50/50 but adds his personal opinion: he THINKS there will be a window where the seas won’t be too rough. Ike walls off alone with his head down, thinking, turns and says, “Ok, we go!”
That’s the ONLY order Ike gives for the landing. After that, it’s all out of his hands. The Supreme Allied Commander, as soon as he says that, becomes, essentially, a spectator. Ike goes to a small field desk, pens a letter saying, basically, “The invasion has failed…. The men did everything they could….. this was all my fault and all my responsibility,” and places it in his pocket. That letter, forgotten, is in Eisenhower’s Presidential Library in Kansas today. How glad are we all that he didn’t have to read/release that letter?
It was a series of moral dilemmas. Not just the saving private Ryan, but the strategic sacrifice of life at the d day invasion knowing the inevitable loss of life, to the decision not to shoot the burning enemy and end their suffering, to the shooting of surrendering soldiers, to trying to save the girl, taking out the machine guns rather than going around it, shooting only the enemy who was released only to come back in circulation as predicted, Ryan not leaving his company when he was ordered to do so, to the sitting on Ryan to keep him out of danger…just a masterpiece on the absurd but very real ethics of war. And of course the ethical responsibility we all have to earn the gifts of life and freedom we have because of so many who gave their lives so we could enjoy these gifts! Thank you and God Bless all of our service men and women!
My Dad served in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific during WWII, he never talked about it. Unfortunately he passed away when I was 8 years old (1973), so he never got to see me enlist in the Army right after high school in 1983.
TY and yours!
Thank you, for playing the majority of the "Bixby letter". It was an epically-emotional part of the movie, and not many reactors play much of it.👍
I was on Juno Beach a few years ago, you can't take 2 steps without seeing rocks with bullet holes or impact damage. It was mind blowing!
wow! even still? that’s insane!
You mentioned that you hadn’t seen any Steven Spielberg film; some of his more well-known were Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., the Indiana Jones movies, etc. But highly recommended as an equal to “Saving Private Ryan” is “Schindler’s List.” Also an extraordinary series that he and Tom Hanks produced is “Band of Brothers,” considered one of the greatest series ever made for tv.
To the brave men that stormed Normandy, we all will never forget. Also the same thing went through the Brave fireman, Ems, police that stormed up those stairs on 9/11 , you could see it in every fireman's face as tbey made tha walk to the building and up the stairs. We will never forget you all either 343 people died tha day, selfless and determined. As they were on the beaches of Normandy.
Brothers Rwst in Peace 343
Our Flag Represents Our Fallen Patriots & Servicemen .. This is why we get so upset when people Burn it, take a knee to it, or Disrespect it in anyway 😢 Even though they have a right to do so 😢 But I bet Our Fallen Patriots would be the first to Defend them & their Freedoms that we all take for Granted 😢
❤GOD Bless you all my Sister's & Brothers from other Mother's I ❤Love you all .. In ❤JESUS name i pray 🙏Amen. 😗💋😍😊🇺🇸🙏😇👍
Well, now you have unknowingly committed yourselves to watching Band of Brothers eventually. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were just beginning with this masterpiece. They trolled us so hard by the eye fade in the intro making us think Private Ryan was Captain Miller. Well played Spielberg. There are a million things I could say and corrections to be made but I won't. It can and will speak for itself. Legendary film making.
I have to add this, I implore you to also see "The Fallen of World War 2" it will give you more perspective on the War. Not to take anything at all away from these men in the West. But by comparison it was a drop in the bucket of blood. I have to say as well...despite all of the death, destruction and action, the most painful scene to me is with the knife. It's intimacy is heart wrenching when he is pleading for his life. It brings home the senselessness of War to begin with. Also, he is not the prisoner they let go. Which everyone thought including me.
The pre-radar site attack is a great study in the breakdown of leadership.
Captain Miller starts by asking, "You want to leave it so they can attack the next guys ?"
To insults, "When was the last time you felt good about anything ?"
And, "The way you run ?"
A few years ago, due to some airplane crashes,
teaching the team mentality became more prominent.
Captains interact with #2 and the crew.
And there are techniques to deal with a captain who does not.
Those two surrendering soldiers in the beach seen who got shot, are actually speaking Czech. They were press ganged into joining the German army when their country was annexed by appeasement. Most people forced to fight for the Germans surrendered as soon as possible because they don't want to be there.
Normally I roll with you two on the movie reactions but as a retired vet , this one I have to bow out because of some of the combat scenes. Hope you understand. Keep doin what you do though.
understandable really !
First. My dad was an army officer for almost 40 years. Classic movie & thank you all veterans!
this was on your list!
@TheOctobersReact I think I said it before but this definitely an all time classic, anybody would probably recommend it. Lol I kind of like my more under-rated films. I do have other war movie recommendations if ya need any 👍. And yeah it is an all-time classic.
For the military buffs in the audience, there is a slight spoiler in the first scene.
The focus on the eyes is meant to make you think he is Capt Miller - because the do similar shots with his eyes, but the military buffs know it is Ryan early in the film because the old man is wearing a 101st "Screaming Eagles" pin on his jacket. Ryan was the only major character who was a paratrooper - Capt Miller and his men were all Rangers.
So you got a pretty good hint that the mission to save Private Ryan was a success.
It is truly a moving experience to go there and walk the Cemeteries I traced My Grandpa and Great Grandpa's travels from both WWI and WWII Great Great-Grandpa was KIA in 1916 in the Somme, France he has no known grave Grandpa survived WWII landing in Normandy after the beaches were secured went on to fight in France and the on to Holland getting wounded in Holland in 1944 Grazed by a bullet on the left side of his face that left him with a big scar he never talked about his time in Europe always told me it was shaving accident and that I had to be careful when I grew up and started to shave we found a ton of stuff his time in the army in the chest that was always locked letters and his medal for getting wounded. I can't picture Grandpa firing a weapon in anger as he was so kind and gentle with us grandkids after reading his letters I am so proud of him and the rest of the men and even the women from this generation are and always will be The Greatest Generation may they all rest in peace.
"Tell me I'm a good man". That's all I ever wanted. I've done everything to live my life for those I lost and I don't know that I lived up to their expectations. All I can do is pray and hope,
absolutely
Upham had the best character arc, besides Norman, in Fury! Also, the squad didn't like upham because, even tho he was useless, he outranked them all except the captain and sergeant. When I was in, I had severe disdain for anyone that out ranked me, but they weren't infantry or at least a field mos. I can definitely say, if ur a field soldier...u can be in the mountains, dessert, sand, heat, snow, wherever. Spending a ton of ur field time, in the rain? Nothing is worse!
Here's a amazing bit of history. Teddy Roosevelt grandson was a officer...full bird Colonel or general. He had a severe limp and walked with a cane. He WALKED on shore during the invasion. He eanted to show his men, if i can do it, u can. And he didn't get shot or blown up. God was watching out for him!
I always think about the Ladies who typed up all those letter, the pain and sadness they must have gone home with everyday is overwhelming to even think about. I am sure it had a serious emotional toll on them foe the rest of their lives.
You guys are stronger than I was. The first time I saw that movie I was devastated.
14:47 It meant so much to him that he memorized it. He didn't look at it toward the end.
This has to be the most intense and historically accurate depiction of the Normandy invasion..
There was a true story and they made a movie about this exact happening. But the names of the boys were "The Sullivans " this story line was true in"" Private Ryan" but of you both should get a chance, the movie is an old one and its called "The Sullivans" very good movie.
35:44 Morphine is more than a "pain reliever". Tylenol is a pain reliever, morphine is a pain killer. It's basically synthetic heroin, and produces an extreme sense of euphoria. Unfortunately, it also slows your respiration and heart rate, which is why they were hesitant to give Wade any more, in his condition, considering it would almost certainly kill him, which it did. But it also made the end of his life, much more comfortable than it would've been, otherwise, which is why Captain Miller gave it to him. He realized there was nothing more they could do for him, so they might as well make him as comfortable as possible, on his way out.
aw that is so sad 😞 thanks for watching 😄
I went back to a work mates flat in London one night to drink and his sister was there chilling. I was an Aussie fresh off the boat and mentioned I’d like to visit the D Day landing sites during my adventures . She grabbed her photo album and turns out she was a make up and props artist, she created the beach characters missing half bodies etc. Looked real even in the album with smiling actors laying on the sand chatting to her.
Great Pod cast Thank you Hand Salute from an Old Nam Veteran 1971
'SdKfz 2' German Army, the Kettenkrad was an ingenious half motorcycle, half-tracked vehicle, hence its name - 'ketten' meaning tracks, 'krad' meaning motorcycle.”
My grandfather was in the first wave at Normandy.He never wanted to talk about it
The old vets get you brotha😆. As a former Army Vet I get chocked up too seeing old vets breakdown.
11:35 The fish were killed by the pressure waves from bombs not bullies.
12:53 That was "the sole survivor rule." Adopted by the U.S. in 1942.
50:25 Over 78,000,000 people died in WWII 67% of them were civilians.
53:55 "A prisoner of war is a man that tries to kill you, failed and then asks you not to kill him" - Winston Churchill
thanks for all of that and thank you for watching 😊
@@TheOctobersReact your welcome. Saving Private Ryan is one of my favorite movies and I'm always curious to see how other people see it.
"I bet surviving that would feel like winning the lottery" - Sadly, and somewhat proudly, the vast majority think anything but. They're genuinely torn apart inside, because they lived, while others didn't. You'll notice that many WW2 veterans when they spoke, never referred to any of their own actions as heroic, or praise worthy. It's just what had to be done. But they'll say so about their fellow soldiers. Also, they save the highest praise for those who never made it back.
But yeah, few of them consider it a lottery. From the outside looking in, it seems like what they earned was a lifetime of survivors guilt. An entirely separate layer of heartbreak.
The soldier who was with Tom hanks and took a round in the chest appeared on the Graham Norton show in the red chair. Hanks who was a guest straight away said “do we know each other?” And talked about their experiences in Ireland filming this scene.
If you haven’t already you should watch the band of brothers mini series as it’s the natural follow up to this. 10 episodes with an 11th unofficial which is a documentary. Genuinely worth watching. Also you’re the only reaction channel I’ve seen so far that noticed the medic taking the hit in the canteen, props to you guys. That was a really impactful scene for me when I first watched the movie and it sorta kills me inside that no one seems to notice it
The reason why the German MG42 machine gun was so lethal was because of the intense fire rate and the fact that they could swap the barrel of the gun to stop over heating problems and the barrel from melting. This meant that crews could fire for long periods of time without stopping. Only for reloads.
They are still used in conflicts today.
YALL NEED TO WATCH THE POWDER MOVIE WITH THE BOY WHO'S MOM WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING WHILE PREGNANT
The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent from Waterloo, Iowa, who were serving together on the light cruiser USS Juneau, were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942.
this movie is loosely based on the Niland btoyhers
My grandfather served on the USS Niblack DD-424 as a sonar officer, tasked with escorting supply convoys across the North Atlantic to Britain. My family has comm recordings of the events of the ship answering a distress call from one of their fellow destroyers that had been torpedoed by a German U-boat, and the screams, the frantic orders, the explosions and gunfire, it's harrowing. Very proud of that man for his role in hunting down those bastards and giving them what for.
I saw this movie in theaters when it came out. I sat in the first row. And in 1997, the Dolby Sorround was loud as fcuk... You can imagine that we were shocked.
I was 11 years old when I first saw this movie. I am 37 now, and I still have not gotten over Wade's death.
If you like this, Tom Hanks and Spielberg made two ten episode miniseries called "The Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific". You have got to watch those. I'm a combat veteran and I attest that those are the best military history shows/movies ever. Told straight from the mouths of survivors. Band of Brothers is about air dropping into Normandy and then the subsequent battles through the European campaign and The Pacific is about the Marines and the island hopping campaign. The actors and writing do an amazing job of bringing those stories to screen.
I Saw it when it came out. And still is hard to believe they made this almost 26 years ago.
This is what your Grandfather/ Great Grandfather, went through between the ages of teenager to mid 20s. Highest respect in the world for theses men.
The real Veterans say it was a 1000 times worse than this, an it went one for hours.
i believe it
Of their 9 children as Italian immigrant from 1912, 4 of my uncles served, dad during Korea, all returned, they never spoke of it. My father would tell me don't ask. Then as an adult I found out. Now even at 68 years old, I'm ready to stand in the breach for what they've done for me and mine. I know I'm NOT the only one. God Bless America and it's patriots.
The grave in the beginning said RAY M MC CLURE:) This is one of the most realest war depiction ever along with Band of Brothers. You guys should watch Band of Brothers.