"Earn This" meant that Ryan should earn the sacrifice they made to save him. In other words -- live a good life and pay it forward. The deeper meaning is that this movie it is a message for all of us -- we should all recognize this sacrifice that all of these men of this generation made so that we can have the lives we have today.
AT 26:49 IT WASN'T BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD NEED THE MORPHINE IT WAS BECAUSE THEY ALL KNEW THAT 2 MORPHINE SHOTS WAS A LETAL DOSE!! THE MEDIC KNEW TOO, THAT'S WHY HE ASKED FOR IT SO HE COULD DIE WITHOUT PAIN!!
Yes, exactly. I can't believe this has to be explained, but Wade knew he was gonna die. When they finally asked how to best help him (at the time, "how can we save you?") and he said, "I could use a little more morphine..." they all knew the subtext of that statement: "there's no saving me. All I can ask for now is a less painful death". It's really incredible to me how many Zoomers cannot pick up context clues. They just can't do it. Even if someone uses an expression you've never heard, most people before this generation can do things like look at mannerisms and facial expressions, observe the big picture to see what's being communicated, watch the ACTIONS the people are taking in a scene and understand the meaning of it, even on a completely subconscious level. We don't even have to think about it consciously and we just get it. But these kids need things completely spelled out for them, and it's just incredible to me. I've been working with kids from Gen Z and Alpha for about 10 years now, and this is a common theme. They can't tell you the meaning of a paragraph that you've just read to them, even when the main idea IS THE TITLE, ITSELF. For example, we'll read a short article about a 9 year old boy who started a business doing yard work for his neighbors. The title of the article is, '9 year old boy starts own business doing yard work for neighbors'. We'll take turns reading it, then I'll ask them what the article was about. Before the inevitable blinking and staring at me while saying precisely nothing, middle school-aged kids will say things like, "a rake". Yyyyesss, there was a rake in the story, but was the story about a friggin' RAKE?! A rake? That's what you got out of this? A one-page article, in giant typeface, where not only the title expressly tells you what the story is about, but the first line as well...is about...a rake. Dude, we're doomed. We're completely doomed. 😂😂😂
Bullshit. Those syrettes wouldn't have such a high dose that a second dose by a second soldier, unaware he's already had one, would kill him. Less than 40 mg each; it would take something like 6+ to reliably kill someone.
The plot of this movie is based on The 5 Sullivan Brothers that all died when the battleship they were on, The USS Juneau, was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the South Pacific. They were from my hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. After they died, Congress made a law that brothers couldn't serve together anymore.
None of us can know for sure whether we would be a coward or a hero in any situation even though we would like to think we wouldn't be a coward. Upham was definitely a coward on that day and it has nothing to do with being a clerk. Plenty of clerks and medics and even journalists have been heroes when they had to.
My father-in-law fought on Okinawa. My husband fought in Vietnam. Just like Private Ryan they both suffered in silence for years. Not just over what they witnessed but with survivor's guilt. It wasn't until decades later, on one Christmas, that my husband and father-in-law opened up to each other at the kitchen table. My mother-in-law said it was the first time she ever heard her husband talk about the war. I thank all veterans and their families every day for the life I am able to enjoy today. I thank all who continue to serve our country and their families so, so many can enjoy freedom.
3 of my Great Uncles fought in both theaters. The one who fought in the Pacific died on Iwo Jima. He was 23. My other great-uncle was part of shooting down Nazis planes, but he survived. I'm not sure what the other did, because he was too young to join much before the end of the war. My grandfather, their youngest brother, was also too young, but he joined the (newly created) Air Force as soon as he could.
My father was There at Normandy as well as Pearl Harbor, the average age of these boys was 20 many of them younger. WW2 Veterans had to walk out of the theater due to the intense pain of watching the opening scene as it depicted Exactly what it was like. My parents and ones represented here absolutely earned the title, The Greatest Generation, because they were. I am so privileged to have been raised by parents of this generation who instilling in me what they held dear and treasured. It is absolutely heartbreaking that kids your age have missed so much of what we experienced in our upbringing. I am so glad my parents instilled the importance of God, family and country we were blessed with.
My grandfather fought in the Battle of The Bulge. Hitler’s last gasp. He never spoke about his time there. He was quite a quiet man. I researched the battle and it was just brutal.
My grandfather fought in the Battle of The Bulge. Hitler’s last gasp. He never spoke about his time there. He was quite a quiet man. I researched the battle and it was just brutal.
I feel like most people are way too tough on Upham. He knew he wasn't cut out for a combat role and tried to tell the Captain that from the start. They brought him anyway. Officially, he was doing what soldiers are expected to do, obeying the lawful rules of war, even when your opponent doesn't. Many surviving soldiers come home from war hateful and/or horribly racist towards the people they were fighting. Upham was determined to resist that kind of dehumanization and hate. He was not a courageous fighter, but he did have moral courage.
It's also true to the realism of the movie. There ABSOLUTELY would've been young men who froze in such horrific situations. Not every man was a brave warrior type. It shows us a pretty realistic freeze response to fear. That's not something you can control. Not when your parasympathetic nervous system takes over. During traumatic events, some people fight, some people flee, some people freeze. Some people go through phases. They might initially freeze, then flee. They might fight, then freeze.
Spielberg said that if he had been in that situation he would have been Uppham. He had no doubt. Very honest about it and important in acknowledging the sheer trauma many experience at the first sight of real combat. It's primal. Loved your openness in response.
It's always funny when people think they'd be a person who's character gets flushed out in the war movie. In reality Spielberg (or any of us) would be the guy at the front of the higgins boat that dies immediately. We never know what type of character he would be or what type of character WE would be in war.
Upham not helping Melish in the end was a metaphor for the USA not getting into the war sooner and in fact for not taking into Jewish refugees around 39.
@@ChadSimpson-ft7yz Maybe subconsciously. I don't think it was an intentional metaphor, but it fit the bill. Everybody wants to think we as the US jumped right in to "help the Jews" (where does that idea even come from???), when in reality we held in check or outright turned refugee ships away because they were predominately Jewish.
I would say most people are not versed in dosage, and the "between the lines" in that scene was subtle in providing a hint to those without much medicinal knowledge. I think it was one of those things where a director doesn't want to hit the viewer over the head with the subtext/clues.@@ChadSimpson-ft7yz
that's why they all looked at each other and didn't react right away. He was asking them for death and they didn't want to lose him. One: because he was their brother in arms and Two: because he was the medic in the group
Some notes for you guys: In the opening, that's the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, the beach where the battle you see in the movie took place. France ceded the land for the cemetery to the U.S. and it is considered part of the United States... meaning the soldiers buried there rest in American soil. I've visited the D-Day beaches many times, especially on June 6th. Throughout the towns in the area you see American, Canadian and British flags flying everywhere... although, American flags predominantly. I especially have paid homage to those who died on another American Beach, Utah, where my uncle, Harry Nelson, came ashore on that day in the first wave. He survived and was one of the soldiers who helped liberate Paris; later fighting in the battle of Bastogne... called the Battle of the Bulge by Americans. This battle involved about 610,000 American forces, with 89,000 wounded and 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II. With that, I would hope you guys don't let your knowlege of this part of American history stop with a movie. If you, the younger generation, remain ignorant of these times, and all that happened, it will only lead to an old adage becoming true for you and your children: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Don't be too harsh about Upham. In those circumstances, two things keep you going- training and your bonds with the other men in your unit. He lacked both, so he froze for one or two minutes. And he'll carry those minutes for the rest of his life. Just remember that he was a National Guard clerk surrounded by paratroopers and Rangers, the elite of the US Army. He failed to keep up. Would you do any better?
We would like to think if we were that age, in that age and thrust into that situation we’d be righteous and heroic. But can we be sure? Upham did not fight in the first wave on D-Day. As was pointed out he was a clerk with a typewriter. He was never really prepped for killing and fighting in-depth. It was interesting that when this movie came out most vets (not all) were not all that critical of Upham’s character - I ‘m guessing - represents the men who found themselves in a horrible untrained or conditioned for it. Upham is a tragic figure
Nah fuck Upham. In the end when he murders the German and lets the POWS go? I mean come on guy does absolutely everything wrong, he literally commits murder, a war crime at the end. He kills the German who showed him MERCY!!!! Fucking insane.
@@1superloki Upham is a fucking war crime committing murderer. I can forgive the cowardice, but murdering a soldier as retribution for killing your CO in combat? That's so fucking heinous it's insane, if I saw that irl you better be damn sure that piece of shit is getting fragged. Psycho shit. And on top of that he lets the dozen or so German POWs go!?!? He lets POWS go so they can kill American GI's later? Nah I can understand being a coward but being a fucking murderer who helps the enemy is insane.
I really struggled watching when the medic is hit. It’s extremely real. I’ve watched someone go like that in a non war time situation and it’s life changing. Fundamentally soul altering sadness that stays with you forever. It’s the pleading for life when I can’t do anything, but it haunts and I can barely put into words that feeling of helplessness
Most people miss the part when they're talking to the guy who was Ryan's friend (the guy that lost his hearing). He tells them they dropped in with the 101'st but they missed their drop by 20 miles. The 101'st was supposed to drop in behind enemy lines the night before and take out those 50ml guns on the beachhead. It went according to plan for the most part on the other 4 beaches but on Omaha they hit bad weather and took anti aircraft fire and missed the drop zone. 2500 young men (about your ages) died on Omaha beach that morning.
The sad part is the fact that, in every war, it is the young people who are sacrificed for wars started by politicians. If only the leaders and politicians had to fight the wars they start. If that were required, I am sure they would think twice before getting their countries into war. I mean, think about all of life's experiences the young people have not experienced, and never will as they were killed when fighting a war.
I think they are around their early 20s. That is far from the age of the 29th infantry division at Omaha dog green sector who were of the average age of 19 years old. Early 20s soldiers were already veterans like the 1st Infantry Division who were battle hardened from combat in North Africa and Italy since 1942. So we are talking about teenagers here
Gen. Omar Bradley, who led the Omaha forces, actually almost retreated, it got so bad. Almost, but they kept pushing. D-Day, of course, is credited for turning WWII around, but that single epic battle sacrificed the young lives of 4,414 Allied Forces (about 2500 of them Americans, as you said) and roughly 4k-9k Germans (Hitler and Co. didn't keep a good records of the young men they lost), not to mention the thousands more that were wounded. An incredible loss of life, but I also have to wonder how different history would be if Bradley did retreat that day. One thing I do know is war is hell. Never ever forget.
I don't know if you guys will ever read this after 4 months, but here's what happened. The allies land on 5 beaches. On the other four, things were much less brutal, as the Germans were not expecting the invasion to land in Normandy. But at Omaha Beach, the Germans, just by luck, had an entire regiment in the area and were able to get set up right when the allies landed. This movie is realistic, but condensed. In the actual event, the allies started landing at 6:30 AM, but they did not break out till well after noon that day. This was partly because the allied air support kept the Germans from reinforcing and resupplying the troops on the beach, and the troops already there began to run out of ammunition. The allies landed. Two divisions on Omaha Beach, which was about 34,000 men, which would have been close to ten times the number of German defenders, but as the movie accurately shows, the Germans had built such good defenses that the Germans were able to successfully defend the beach for over 6 hours, until the American troops finally broke through. The Americans suffered about 2400 casualties, which includes dead, wounded and missing. That is less than ten percent of the troops who landed that day. Omaha Beach is actually 6 miles long, and all of it was not as bad as the movie shows it to be, but in those places where the German defenses were concentrated, especially early in the day, the movie is a pretty good portrayal of how it actually was for some US soldiers. Less than 10% casualties may not seem so bad on paper, but when you figure that on the other American Beach, Utah Beach, fewer than 200 US soldiers were killed, you can see how Omaha was considered so much worse.
This film was made to honor America's "Greatest Generation." Their courage, unity, and sacrifice is unequaled in this Country's History... It is something we all need to recognize, be eternally grateful for, and strive to emulate always. These men and women were responsible for "Making America The Greatest Country In The World!"
I am an old man now..... I am a man of peace, but I have known war. I've watched this movie numerous times over years, and I have never watched it without crying. The memories it dredges up are just too dark. Just do me one small favor... The next time you are out in town and you see an old man tottering along the sidewalk, with a cane or in a wheelchair, hold the door for him and thank him for his service, especially if they're wearing a "D-DAY" baseball cap. They endured and survived nightmarish things few could imagine and have earned MAD respect for their sacrifices and call to duty. Thank you for your presentation and review of this film. I appreciate your comments and wish you a long and happy life.
Maturity? I like these guys, they’re a lot of fun. Just not for this kind of film. They have to be the least emotionally mature people I’ve seen in this kind of video, with their ignorance of basic facts matched only by their stunted emotional range. Great for comedies, horror movies, but not for drama. Though I admit, they would be great company at a wake.
"earn this" is a lesson for all of us, those men sacrificed their lives for you to be able to live in the comfortable society you live in today... We should ALL take it upon ourselves to EARN what they gave us.
As a veteran myself. I understood "Earn This" to mean. Don't waste your life being an asshole or horrible person. Earn the sacrifice of all these men who laid down their lives to bring you home. Be a Good person and always aspire to be worthy of such a sacrifice.
And I was born on June 06, 1954. Saw this when first released in theaters. Before end credit scenes became popular, no one left until all the credits were finished. And at the end, you could hear grown men crying in the audience.
The letter read by Gen. Marshall is so powerful and emotional. The movie was inspired by two events concerning two sets of brothers. From what I've read on other videos' comment section, some veterans went to see it but they didn't watch it until the end. Those scenes at the beginning have triggered some memories.
The opening battle depicted is of the landing of Allied troops (for this invasion, primarily U.S., Canadian, and U.K. forces) on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It remains the largest amphibious landing in history with 150,000 soldiers landing at five different landing sites code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. The most accurate accounting of Allied casualties for that 24 hour period is 4414 KIA and as many as 6000 more wounded. German casualties were as high as 9000, with 200k taken prisoner. At the end of the first day only 34k men had landed. It wasn't until 6 days later that the 5 beachheads were linked.
@@camandzay A couple of other factors. The Allies had already halted the progress of the Axis forces and were beginning their push through Africa to Italy. They had been fighting to liberate Italy for 9 months and they finally took Rome 2 days before DDay. In order to shorten the war it had been decided in 1943 to open a third front (the Russian front was the second) by invading France. This would force Hitler to have to split his forces in three directions. The major drawback would be establishing the initial foothold. The sort of rule of thumb is that an invading force needs a 3:1 fighting advantage to successfully dislodge a defending force that has had months to dig in and entrench. It had been estimated that some of the initial units (particularly paratrooper which was what Ryan was) could expect upwards of 75% casualty rates.
@@camandzay They obviously teach military tactics at the military academies but there are also think tanks and, of course, munitions makers dedicated to it full time - both to strategy and to promoting war, unfortunately. For an invasion of this size with multiple countries each with their own goals the planning phase was massive. Getting all of the supplies and men and ships in place as surreptitiously as possible (although the Germans obviously knew an invasion would be attempted, just not exactly where and when) took months.
Another subplot The US knew how much the Germans respected and 'feared' General George Patton. The Germans were sure he would be in command of the invasion when it came. The Germans, at least Hitler and his closest high commanders, were also sure the invasion would come in the Pas de Calais area of France since it is closest to England. Working off this knowledge, the Allies built a huge, phony invasion army in the middle of England, far from the real invasion forces in the southern parts. Counter Intelligence let the Germans 'know' Patton had been given command of an army, and the Germans assumed it was the invasion force. In reality we just set up dummy camps, complete with inflatable rubber tanks and trucks, dummy landing craft in harbors, all to fool German reconnaissance aircraft taking pictures. To mislead German radio eavesdropping, a unit was formed to do nothing but send phony radio messages. Germans listening in heard lots of orders being radioed ... requesting supplies, ordering units and even single men to move different assignments, details about court martial proceedings, etc ... everything a real army force would be communicating by radio, and all phony. Worked amazingly well too. Germans deployed their main forces in France in the Pas de Calais area before the invasion, and kept most of them there until a month or more after the invasion, believing Normandy was just a ruse.
As far as joining the Air Force, the 8th A.F. during daylight bombing lost more Airman than the Marines total in the pacific. There is no film from the US landings because it was destroyed when the landing craft they were on returning to the ship was sunk. All the actual footage you always see if from the British and Canadian landings. The bad weather didn't allow fighter cover and the platoon flotation Tanks packages were not affective for the height of the see waves and all sank prior to making it to the beach. Many with the Tank crews inside.
First time watching your channel and I think you did a great job with this movie. There are so many little details that people miss but the overall message is that if these guys didn’t risk their lives then we would be living an entirely different life today. My dad was in WWII. He was drafted just like the guys in this movie when he turned 18. Thankfully he made it out alive but it took such a tremendous toll on him. Younger generations don’t fully grasp what a sacrifice this was but it kept Hitler from taking over and killing millions more people. The reason they show Ryan’s family is to make it clear that he was able to continue his family line for many more generations. If he had been killed with the rest of his brothers then his whole family line would have been sacrificed. Great video guys!
The reason why some of the beaches were a slaughter was bc of bad weather. The German bunkers were supposed to be bombed but bc of heavy cloud cover, the air force had to rely on radar but the navy didn’t trust it yet and feared the bombs would be dropped on friendly forces so they told the air force to hold their bombs for an extra couple of seconds but the bombs landed miles away in fields.
Another great reaction! Don't be afraid of being "wrong", fellas.. there are lots of folks who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experiences with all of us who are watching
Spielberg directed Mellish's death scene as a metaphor for America's hesitance on entering the war in the beginning. Mellish being a Jewish soldier, representing the Jews of Europe in immediate peril, Upham being America refusing or unable to enter the war, and the German soldier obviously representing Nazi Germany
I remember learning how Franklin Roosevelt, who was a close ally of Winston Churchill, seriously wanted to enter WWII years before we actually did, but Congress was against it for so long, believing it wasn't our war and that we were safe, separated from it by oceans. That's what made the attack on Pearl Harbor so necessary. I hate to say it that way, considering all the people that died in that attack, but it unified America in entering the war. Also, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an immediate and direct result of the US Navy setting up a blockade to keep Japan's ships from accessing their own oil reserves in the Pacific Islands. To Japan, Germany's ally, this was seen as an act of war since their entire economy and military depended on this oil to continue fighting and functioning. Ever since learning that, I've felt Roosevelt's decision to block Japan's oil was his way of getting the US into the war, though there's not enough evidence to prove that was his intent.
Yeah which I get but I'd prefer he kept Upham's character consistent for the story of the movie as we knew he wasn't battle tested but he definitely wasn't a coward.
The letters in the front breast pockets were what soldiers called death letters. Unlike regular letters they were letters to loved ones expressing what they meant to them and also an attempt to lesson their loved ones pain for the loss. Other men in the unit agreed to mail them in case their friend died. That is why every death scene has a comrade removing the letter.
True that guys had "death letters", but in this movie the letter was just a regular letter Carpazo had been writing to his dad, pulled out of his pocket as he lay there after being shot. Told Fish "It's to my dad, it's got blood on it, Fish". The medic Wade took the bloody letter and was rewriting it in the scene resting in the church, to send it on to Carpazo's dad without the blood. When Wade died, Capt. Miller took it to finish rewriting and mail it. Reiben did the same after Miller died.
@@richarddowns7162 Nope. If it was a regular letter a dying man could care less that it would be mailed. The fact that he was specifically telling his best friend Melish and it was in the front breast pocket is all the proof I need it was a death letter. Why would a dying man care if his Father received a letter about some mundane issues like what he had for breakfast or asking about how his Mom was doing when he would not be around to receive a reply?
@@jcarlovitch My thinking is based on two points. 1- the " last letter " is petty important to a man, most would leave them in a safer rear area with a friend or acquaintance rather than keep it on your person while on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines where you and the letter could be blown to pieces, killed and your buddies cannot recover your body and letter, etc. And 2- Mellish tells him " You're gonna mail it yourself. " when asked by Caparzo to mail it. At least Mellish, his best friend, didn't think it was a last letter. Nobody would mail their own last letter.
Earn this deals with the sacrifice they all did for him. As a 24 year veteran I tell my fellow veterans you owe it to those who didnt make it back to live the best life you can.
I wish to Thank you 2 young men for a good and insightful / Respectful reactions to this movie! I'm a Proud Navy Veteran, and I say; Job well Done fellas!! Thank you 2 for getting it!!
The initial wave was the greatest of The Greatest Generation. That first wave cleared the way for all of the later waves of soldiers that were able to land easily on Omaha Beach and others. It's probably the saddest scene ever in cinema, but those men gave their lives so the rest could save the world.
"Earn this" is not just for the soldiers who survive but is something that those of us at home need to also live by...freedom is not free, and we owe not only those who sacrificed their lives for us but all those who have fought so we can sleep in peace at night.
In case no one mentioned it, you may have missed that the German soldier who killed the American soldier then walk down the stairs, passing Upham was also the same German soldier they let go. That’s why the German soldier didn’t kill Upham.
I would recommend watching "The Best Years of Our Lives." It came out in 1946, and was about the difficulties of servicemen returning home after World War II and readjusting to civilian life. It's not as visceral, but is every bit as emotionally powerful.
@@camandzay John Wood is absolutely correct. "The Best Years Of Our Lives" is a fantastic film with moving performances by a stellar cast and brilliantly directed by William Wyler. It's a little old but holds up very well.
I'll have to check that out. I remember listening to NPR one morning and two parents were talking about the difficulties their 23 year old son had after returning from war. (Sadly, he killed himself.) I generally avoid war movies, so I don't have many points of comparison, but the movie that I thought of that Cam&Zay should watch is Wings (1927), a silent film about two friends who become fighter pilots in World War I.
"Earn this." It goes back to what Miller had been saying to Tom the night before. "This guy better go home and cure some disease, or invent a longer-lasting light bulb." So when he said to Ryan "Earn this!" he meant "Go home and live the sort of life that will make what we did here for you worthwhile!"
Those kids flying those P-51 Mustangs. They probably were around your age. Imagine being 19 years old, and handed the keys to the most advanced fighter on the planet.
Love the like about “screw that I’m joining the airforce” it’s so true. A lot of the guys who signed up viewed getting into combat as doing their duty, but very quickly realized how horrific combat was. E.B Sledge describes that perfectly in his book “With the Old Breed” as he fought in the pacific theater
@@camandzay Spielberg and Hanks are doing a new series now called Masters of Air dealing with the 8th air force over Europe supposed to be out late 22 or early 23 basically part 3 from band of Brothers and The Pacific. Might wanna watch that before you say join the air force.
Oh, and the two men who were shot trying to surrender, were trying to tell them they were Czech and hadn't killed anyone. Czechs were forced into the German army when their country was taken. It is quite likely that they had truly not shot anyone. Fortunes of war. Prisoners could not be secured during that kind of assault. Of course, many troops on both sides made no real effort to kill and often fired randomly. That was common and had been through history. It is known that in the Civil War, many soldiers were reluctant to kill and never aimed at a specific enemy soldier. It was not really until the Vietnam era that training was began to be redesigned to overcome the natural reluctance to take life.
lol...oppehm played that part so well...that is what would literally happen when you take someone who was only meant to be an interpreter and map guy. he had absolutely no combat experience and shows the effect of the shock of battle on new troops or guys just being shot at for real the first time. everyone else was being trained for months with live ammo before the invasion while he was on a radio or drawing maps
Great reaction guys 👍, this is my second favourite film ever, just the realism and when watching it just processing that this actually happened and these men had the biggest balls on planet earth charging those beaches, fully appreciate their efforts throughout 👏.
The Normandy landings actually went a lot better than they should've. Hitler was convinced the allies would land at a major port-city, so defensive installations and resources were spread far too thin to successfully repel an invasion force. Hitler and his advisers didn't know that the allies had developed the Mulberry harbours - which created a temporary port wherever they wanted. Use of false intelligence and inflatible decoys also kept important manpower and equipment away from where the allied landings were targeted. Hitler also refused the advice of his generals and held panzer forces back that could've forced the invasion force back into the sea. But, by the time they were mobilized the allies had secured the beachhead and landed armor to take-on any arriving reinfircements.
Have you guys figured out yet that the German soldier that Capt. Miller let go after the death of Wade was the same soldier that killed Mellich, walked past Upham on the stairs and, finally the German that Upham shot were all the same character?
My grandfather and three of my great Uncles were involved in WWII. One of my great Uncles was captured by the Japanese and endured The Bataan Death March. Another was at The Battle of The Bulge and was in Bastogne when it got surrounded. One of my high school teachers was a medic on the beach on D Day as depicted in the opening scene. When I went to work after high school my first boss was a WWII veteran. That generation was hard core. They endured The Great Deppression, WWII, the Korean War, and sent their son's off to fight The Vietnam War. They didnt take any shit from anyone and didnt give a damn about your feelings. They were the backbone of this country. I miss them and their wisdom.
I dunno if anyone else has said this, but when Captain Miller said "Earn this" he meant live a life that earns the sacrifices that him and the other men in his squad who died to save him gave to let him live
My Dad told me that when He stormed the beach at Normandy that before anything even started, they had to stand in the water for hours holding their guns above the water. I can’t imagine the apprehension of waiting that long , esp in freezing cold water. Also, that scene with the Mom was hard to watch. We lost out son in 2005 in Iraq. He enlisted right out high school after 911 with some buddies . A few weeks before he was scheduled to come home, he was shot by a sniper. There are few things that are worse than seeing those two marines on your doorstep.
When Tom Hanks tells Private Ryan to "earn this" near the end of the movie, he is telling Ryan to go on to live a life worth the deaths of all these guys who fought to save his life - to live an honorable life that was worth the sacrifices that these guys put in so that he could continue his life.
Think back to earlier in the movie when Tom Hanks's character was saying that Private Ryan better deserve this and that he better go on to create something or cure cancer or do something great with his life.
The landing on the beaches is one of the most significant events of WW2.. immense sacrifices made to win every position. Bless all that went through this and its aftermath. You could find some awesome historical video on it and react to that ;)
To you young guns. War is ugly, the absolute worst of humanity. Watch this and think of how many souls lost their lives for all of us to do what we, you are doing. But please never forget!
You guys had to ask where Normandy is and pondered if this was an invasion of Germany. That is truly a sad indictment of the public school system today.
"Men and women"? Don't be afraid to say it was men who were sent into battle. 99.9% anyway. Women made valuable contributions to the war effort. My great aunt was an Army nurse in the Pacific during the war; got malaria twice. But women weren't drafted for combat and men were. It's not "unwoke" to say so.
No, not you have earned this. It is a demand that you, Ryan but; also you & me and everyone in the free world to earn what they sacrificed for us. Not just that did Ryan earn it every single day but that all of us do everything we can to earn and repay the sacrifice they paid for us. Great review boys, keep it up. Upham represented typical civilian sensibilities
I’ve read many books about combat and so many times vets confess their guilt over surviving while their comrades didn’t. I don’t understand it, but I can’t begin to imagine what the experience was like.
i say this on every reaction to this movie, every d-day veteran ive talked with which is only a handful has told me that the d-day scene in this movie is the closest thing youll see other than being there that day
If you had taken the time to learn your history, you would've understood that this is D-Day in Normandy, France - the only option for the Allies (U.S., U.K. Canada, Aus., NZ) was an amphibious assault of the European mainland in 1944.
I know of no high school or hist101 text book that describes the tactics used during WW2 besides "we landed at Normandy." Someone correct me. These guys are commenting on the slaughtering on the beach.
I saw this movie in a movie theater. After the movie was over, I found out that the person sitting next to me was a D-Day veteran. I asked him how accurate the landing scene was. He told me that there was some Hollywood but for the most part it was accurate.
In addition to “storming the beach,” the paratroopers were parachuting into the land, behind the beach. See the series Band of Brothers for more on their mission. Also the film The Longest Day covers the multiple efforts made on D-Day. Several years of planning by the Allies went into the massive operation to establish a foothold on European territory.
The beaches that were stormed, by the Allied Forces on D-Day, were the least fortified beaches on the French coast. The Allies sent fake messages beforehand, so the Germans would intercept them, and defend the wrong beaches. Paratroopers were dropped inland, and battleships barraged the beaches, before they sent the troops in. Despite how horrific D-day was, it was the best case scenario.
Upham had no combat experience, he was there to make maps and translate. He shot his rifle whenever boot camp took place and who knows how long ago that was. He was already frozen watching from behind a cow in the one scene looking through his spyglass. I understand why people are mad at him, but they miss the point the director is trying to make with his character. He might not have been one of the people that wanted to go to war in the first place and got drafted. Upham will be completely different after he saw true combat and took that guy's life. He will have that "thousand yard stare" people talk about.
It is a war crime to kill an enemy soldier who is hors de combat, that is, one who has surrendered or who is clearly unable to fight. There are many circumstances in the heat of battle in which is is unclear whether the enemy soldier has indeed surrendered or is indeed unable to fight; a hasty, incorrect decision may lead on the one hand to a war crime (the killing of a POW) or on the other hand to the death of the soldier making the decision. Once a POW is in custody, the situation is much clearer. He can be killed if he is mutinying against his captors (this includes any form of violence against captors); he can also be executed after trial for any crime that warrants execution, which could include espionage. The formal requirement is a fair trial according to the law of the captors.
They were invading Europe with the aim being to defeat Germany, and the route was through France. There were five invasion beaches and the US took 2 while Britain, Canada and commonwealth troops took 3. There were massive preliminary bombardments to destroy defences as well as a disinformation campaign to confuse the enemy (which worked very well in the grand scheme of things) but at Omaha they weren't particularly effective and US troops had the terrible job and suffered hugely. It was touch and go for a while but bravery and sacrifice won.
Those "blimps" are called barrage balloons. The balloons were held aloft, over troop concentrations and vital supply areas, by steel cables. These cables were to deter any enemy aircraft that wanted to do dive bombing, or strafing runs, by getting entangled in things like aircraft propellers, or to simply cut off parts of the aircraft, like wings and canopies.
The two surrendering soldiers at the beginning who were murdered were saying, "We are Czech! We didn't kill anyone!" They were two of the thousands of Czechoslovakian men enslaved by the Nazi army.
i have seen countless of SPR reaction vids, is my guilty pleasure. you seem to be the first and only one comprehending with the final attack, the bog issue is not the 50+ infantry, but the 4 tanks. loved your responses! you guys are asking all the right questions you should
It's so great to see two young men watching what the older generation of men went through. In this day and age it's easy to shame masculinity and forget how good we got it. I hope you two young men take that message and "earn it" and go do amazing things in your life.
One position at a time is how to approach enemy positions without getting wiped out. The naval bombardment didn't effectively shut down German machine gun and artillery positions, so it was the dog-faces who had to weed the heights of German defenders. Fish concussed by the artillery bombardment from the Germans on land. As in "Game of Thrones," juice of the poppy (morphine) was a cure for more than pain -- it was also a "tender mercy." The sound of the tanks approaching brings to mind the sound of helicopters in Vietnam; a distinct warning that "something wicked this way comes." P-51 Mustang to the rescue, the air cavalry of sorts. Pvt. Ryan: Earn the rescue, deserve the rescue.
"Earn this, earn it" Speaking to Ryan in the present tense, not like you have earned this. Telling him to not let their sacrifice be in vain - live your life knowing that the freedom you have was purchased, paid for by those of us who gave their lives for it.
We got a lot of guys buried over there, and on Pacific islands. A lotta navy guys buried at sea. We just didn't have the logistics to bring all of our dead home, and win the war. That's just the way it was.
“Earn this” means “you lived through this because of the men who came to rescue you. Earn it. Earn it everyday.”. Tom Hanks explains this on Inside the Actors Studio.
They show the sniper through the scope shot. That actually happened in Vietnam. The top U.S. sniper at the time (SGT. Hathcock) was sent against the top NVA sniper. That was his kill.
There's a mishap in this scene. When captain Miller puts on his blood soaked helmet he's on the shore. When he's telling his men to move up the beach he's in deep water.
Average age of the 29th infantry division at Omaha beach where the most treacherous defenders were on the entire D day landing coast line was 19 years of age. Eisenhower the supreme allied commander in Europe selected that division to spearhead the assault because they were youthful and had no war experience and would not cower under fire as much as experienced veteran divisions that had fought in Africa and Italy. The reason why veteran divisions would not perform as well was the fact that they knew what bullets and mortars and artillery would do to bodies and they would freeze up. The 1st infantry division spearheaded the flanking beach zone at Omaha to the 29th and were selected to lead because they were the premier division of the entire Army and also one of the most veteran and experienced. Even the 1st division with all the experience were shred to absolute pieces which shows how deadly the Omaha beach section was. It was a meat grinder and almost a one way ticket for most in the first few waves.
Good choice and good reaction..a very well crafted war film with unforgettable characters and moments. I only viewed this once ever and i think it was enough to leave an impression..cool to see your thoughts.
The allied forces spent many months making Germany think that they were going to invade through the English Channel from the west. So the Germans prepared for that. They didn’t know we were going to storm the beaches from the south. So most of Germany’s defenses were on the west coast. It may seem like it was illogical for us to storm Normandy, but it was actually quite awesome. You have to remember, we had ti get a lot of men and supplies to Europe. We did a lot of that in a very short amount of time. D-Day is one of the greatest military tactics during that time. It was very effective.
"Earn This" meant that Ryan should earn the sacrifice they made to save him. In other words -- live a good life and pay it forward. The deeper meaning is that this movie it is a message for all of us -- we should all recognize this sacrifice that all of these men of this generation made so that we can have the lives we have today.
100%
Men and women, everyone threw in for the war effort.
Absolutely agree!
Well said.
Eloquent and elegant said, thanks.
AT 26:49 IT WASN'T BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WOULD NEED THE MORPHINE IT WAS BECAUSE THEY ALL KNEW THAT 2 MORPHINE SHOTS WAS A LETAL DOSE!! THE MEDIC KNEW TOO, THAT'S WHY HE ASKED FOR IT SO HE COULD DIE WITHOUT PAIN!!
Ahhh that makes sense! Wow thank you!
Yes, exactly. I can't believe this has to be explained, but Wade knew he was gonna die. When they finally asked how to best help him (at the time, "how can we save you?") and he said, "I could use a little more morphine..." they all knew the subtext of that statement: "there's no saving me. All I can ask for now is a less painful death". It's really incredible to me how many Zoomers cannot pick up context clues. They just can't do it. Even if someone uses an expression you've never heard, most people before this generation can do things like look at mannerisms and facial expressions, observe the big picture to see what's being communicated, watch the ACTIONS the people are taking in a scene and understand the meaning of it, even on a completely subconscious level. We don't even have to think about it consciously and we just get it. But these kids need things completely spelled out for them, and it's just incredible to me. I've been working with kids from Gen Z and Alpha for about 10 years now, and this is a common theme. They can't tell you the meaning of a paragraph that you've just read to them, even when the main idea IS THE TITLE, ITSELF. For example, we'll read a short article about a 9 year old boy who started a business doing yard work for his neighbors. The title of the article is, '9 year old boy starts own business doing yard work for neighbors'. We'll take turns reading it, then I'll ask them what the article was about. Before the inevitable blinking and staring at me while saying precisely nothing, middle school-aged kids will say things like, "a rake". Yyyyesss, there was a rake in the story, but was the story about a friggin' RAKE?! A rake? That's what you got out of this? A one-page article, in giant typeface, where not only the title expressly tells you what the story is about, but the first line as well...is about...a rake. Dude, we're doomed. We're completely doomed. 😂😂😂
Bullshit. Those syrettes wouldn't have such a high dose that a second dose by a second soldier, unaware he's already had one, would kill him. Less than 40 mg each; it would take something like 6+ to reliably kill someone.
The plot of this movie is based on The 5 Sullivan Brothers that all died when the battleship they were on, The USS Juneau, was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the South Pacific. They were from my hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. After they died, Congress made a law that brothers couldn't serve together anymore.
I think it's easy to forget that Upham wasn't there to fight. He was just a clerk.
None of us can know for sure whether we would be a coward or a hero in any situation even though we would like to think we wouldn't be a coward.
Upham was definitely a coward on that day and it has nothing to do with being a clerk.
Plenty of clerks and medics and even journalists have been heroes when they had to.
My father-in-law fought on Okinawa. My husband fought in Vietnam. Just like Private Ryan they both suffered in silence for years. Not just over what they witnessed but with survivor's guilt. It wasn't until decades later, on one Christmas, that my husband and father-in-law opened up to each other at the kitchen table. My mother-in-law said it was the first time she ever heard her husband talk about the war. I thank all veterans and their families every day for the life I am able to enjoy today. I thank all who continue to serve our country and their families so, so many can enjoy freedom.
3 of my Great Uncles fought in both theaters. The one who fought in the Pacific died on Iwo Jima. He was 23. My other great-uncle was part of shooting down Nazis planes, but he survived. I'm not sure what the other did, because he was too young to join much before the end of the war. My grandfather, their youngest brother, was also too young, but he joined the (newly created) Air Force as soon as he could.
My father was There at Normandy as well as Pearl Harbor, the average age of these boys was 20 many of them younger. WW2 Veterans had to walk out of the theater due to the intense pain of watching the opening scene as it depicted Exactly what it was like. My parents and ones represented here absolutely earned the title, The Greatest Generation, because they were. I am so privileged to have been raised by parents of this generation who instilling in me what they held dear and treasured. It is absolutely heartbreaking that kids your age have missed so much of what we experienced in our upbringing. I am so glad my parents instilled the importance of God, family and country we were blessed with.
Thank you to your father so much for his service!
You said this beautifully. I feel the same.
My father was at Normandy too. 10 years ago I walked Normandy beach. It is amazing anyone survived. God Bless your father
My grandfather fought in the Battle of The Bulge. Hitler’s last gasp. He never spoke about his time there. He was quite a quiet man. I researched the battle and it was just brutal.
My grandfather fought in the Battle of The Bulge. Hitler’s last gasp. He never spoke about his time there. He was quite a quiet man. I researched the battle and it was just brutal.
I feel like most people are way too tough on Upham. He knew he wasn't cut out for a combat role and tried to tell the Captain that from the start. They brought him anyway. Officially, he was doing what soldiers are expected to do, obeying the lawful rules of war, even when your opponent doesn't. Many surviving soldiers come home from war hateful and/or horribly racist towards the people they were fighting. Upham was determined to resist that kind of dehumanization and hate. He was not a courageous fighter, but he did have moral courage.
It's also true to the realism of the movie. There ABSOLUTELY would've been young men who froze in such horrific situations. Not every man was a brave warrior type. It shows us a pretty realistic freeze response to fear. That's not something you can control. Not when your parasympathetic nervous system takes over. During traumatic events, some people fight, some people flee, some people freeze. Some people go through phases. They might initially freeze, then flee. They might fight, then freeze.
Spielberg said that if he had been in that situation he would have been Uppham. He had no doubt. Very honest about it and important in acknowledging the sheer trauma many experience at the first sight of real combat. It's primal. Loved your openness in response.
So interesting about Spielberg! And thank you!!
It's always funny when people think they'd be a person who's character gets flushed out in the war movie. In reality Spielberg (or any of us) would be the guy at the front of the higgins boat that dies immediately. We never know what type of character he would be or what type of character WE would be in war.
Upham not helping Melish in the end was a metaphor for the USA not getting into the war sooner and in fact for not taking into Jewish refugees around 39.
@@ChadSimpson-ft7yz Maybe subconsciously. I don't think it was an intentional metaphor, but it fit the bill. Everybody wants to think we as the US jumped right in to "help the Jews" (where does that idea even come from???), when in reality we held in check or outright turned refugee ships away because they were predominately Jewish.
One to make the pain go away, two to make it all go away...
The medic knew exactly what the result would be when he asked for more morphine.
Such a heart wrenching scene.
Who didn't know the meaning of multiple rounds of morphine?
I would say most people are not versed in dosage, and the "between the lines" in that scene was subtle in providing a hint to those without much medicinal knowledge. I think it was one of those things where a director doesn't want to hit the viewer over the head with the subtext/clues.@@ChadSimpson-ft7yz
that's why they all looked at each other and didn't react right away. He was asking them for death and they didn't want to lose him. One: because he was their brother in arms and Two: because he was the medic in the group
Some notes for you guys: In the opening, that's the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, the beach where the battle you see in the movie took place. France ceded the land for the cemetery to the U.S. and it is considered part of the United States... meaning the soldiers buried there rest in American soil. I've visited the D-Day beaches many times, especially on June 6th. Throughout the towns in the area you see American, Canadian and British flags flying everywhere... although, American flags predominantly. I especially have paid homage to those who died on another American Beach, Utah, where my uncle, Harry Nelson, came ashore on that day in the first wave. He survived and was one of the soldiers who helped liberate Paris; later fighting in the battle of Bastogne... called the Battle of the Bulge by Americans. This battle involved about 610,000 American forces, with 89,000 wounded and 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II. With that, I would hope you guys don't let your knowlege of this part of American history stop with a movie. If you, the younger generation, remain ignorant of these times, and all that happened, it will only lead to an old adage becoming true for you and your children: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Don't be too harsh about Upham. In those circumstances, two things keep you going- training and your bonds with the other men in your unit. He lacked both, so he froze for one or two minutes. And he'll carry those minutes for the rest of his life.
Just remember that he was a National Guard clerk surrounded by paratroopers and Rangers, the elite of the US Army. He failed to keep up. Would you do any better?
Yeah you make a good point, he was just a National Guard clerk. It got lost on me personally, thanks for the reminder!
We would like to think if we were that age, in that age and thrust into that situation we’d be righteous and heroic. But can we be sure? Upham did not fight in the first wave on D-Day. As was pointed out he was a clerk with a typewriter. He was never really prepped for killing and fighting in-depth. It was interesting that when this movie came out most vets (not all) were not all that critical of Upham’s character - I ‘m guessing - represents the men who found themselves in a horrible untrained or conditioned for it. Upham is a tragic figure
Nah fuck Upham. In the end when he murders the German and lets the POWS go? I mean come on guy does absolutely everything wrong, he literally commits murder, a war crime at the end. He kills the German who showed him MERCY!!!! Fucking insane.
@@1superloki Upham is a fucking war crime committing murderer. I can forgive the cowardice, but murdering a soldier as retribution for killing your CO in combat? That's so fucking heinous it's insane, if I saw that irl you better be damn sure that piece of shit is getting fragged. Psycho shit. And on top of that he lets the dozen or so German POWs go!?!? He lets POWS go so they can kill American GI's later? Nah I can understand being a coward but being a fucking murderer who helps the enemy is insane.
Nah bruh, Fuck Upham....
I really struggled watching when the medic is hit. It’s extremely real. I’ve watched someone go like that in a non war time situation and it’s life changing. Fundamentally soul altering sadness that stays with you forever. It’s the pleading for life when I can’t do anything, but it haunts and I can barely put into words that feeling of helplessness
I straight teared up, it’s a heart wrenching scene.
Wow, Alec Not Alec. Tears for you brother.
Most people miss the part when they're talking to the guy who was Ryan's friend (the guy that lost his hearing). He tells them they dropped in with the 101'st but they missed their drop by 20 miles. The 101'st was supposed to drop in behind enemy lines the night before and take out those 50ml guns on the beachhead. It went according to plan for the most part on the other 4 beaches but on Omaha they hit bad weather and took anti aircraft fire and missed the drop zone. 2500 young men (about your ages) died on Omaha beach that morning.
Absolutely tragic.
The sad part is the fact that, in every war, it is the young people who are sacrificed for wars started by politicians. If only the leaders and politicians had to fight the wars they start. If that were required, I am sure they would think twice before getting their countries into war.
I mean, think about all of life's experiences the young people have not experienced, and never will as they were killed when fighting a war.
I think they are around their early 20s.
That is far from the age of the 29th infantry division at Omaha dog green sector who were of the average age of 19 years old.
Early 20s soldiers were already veterans like the 1st Infantry Division who were battle hardened from combat in North Africa and Italy since 1942.
So we are talking about teenagers here
Gen. Omar Bradley, who led the Omaha forces, actually almost retreated, it got so bad. Almost, but they kept pushing. D-Day, of course, is credited for turning WWII around, but that single epic battle sacrificed the young lives of 4,414 Allied Forces (about 2500 of them Americans, as you said) and roughly 4k-9k Germans (Hitler and Co. didn't keep a good records of the young men they lost), not to mention the thousands more that were wounded. An incredible loss of life, but I also have to wonder how different history would be if Bradley did retreat that day. One thing I do know is war is hell. Never ever forget.
He's great in this, Remember The Titans and particularly We Were Soldiers.
I don't know if you guys will ever read this after 4 months, but here's what happened. The allies land on 5 beaches. On the other four, things were much less brutal, as the Germans were not expecting the invasion to land in Normandy. But at Omaha Beach, the Germans, just by luck, had an entire regiment in the area and were able to get set up right when the allies landed. This movie is realistic, but condensed. In the actual event, the allies started landing at 6:30 AM, but they did not break out till well after noon that day. This was partly because the allied air support kept the Germans from reinforcing and resupplying the troops on the beach, and the troops already there began to run out of ammunition. The allies landed. Two divisions on Omaha Beach, which was about 34,000 men, which would have been close to ten times the number of German defenders, but as the movie accurately shows, the Germans had built such good defenses that the Germans were able to successfully defend the beach for over 6 hours, until the American troops finally broke through. The Americans suffered about 2400 casualties, which includes dead, wounded and missing. That is less than ten percent of the troops who landed that day. Omaha Beach is actually 6 miles long, and all of it was not as bad as the movie shows it to be, but in those places where the German defenses were concentrated, especially early in the day, the movie is a pretty good portrayal of how it actually was for some US soldiers.
Less than 10% casualties may not seem so bad on paper, but when you figure that on the other American Beach, Utah Beach, fewer than 200 US soldiers were killed, you can see how Omaha was considered so much worse.
Great info! Thanks.
This film was made to honor America's "Greatest Generation." Their courage, unity, and sacrifice is unequaled in this Country's History... It is something we all need to recognize, be eternally grateful for, and strive to emulate always. These men and women were responsible for "Making America The Greatest Country In The World!"
100% Agree!
America's greatest generation is living right now.
@@DestinyAwaits19 Sit down cupcake
I am an old man now..... I am a man of peace, but I have known war. I've watched this movie numerous times over years, and I have never watched it without crying. The memories it dredges up are just too dark. Just do me one small favor... The next time you are out in town and you see an old man tottering along the sidewalk, with a cane or in a wheelchair, hold the door for him and thank him for his service, especially if they're wearing a "D-DAY" baseball cap. They endured and survived nightmarish things few could imagine and have earned MAD respect for their sacrifices and call to duty. Thank you for your presentation and review of this film. I appreciate your comments and wish you a long and happy life.
You guys handle this with maturity and respect. Well done. Theres hope for us after all.
Maturity? I like these guys, they’re a lot of fun. Just not for this kind of film. They have to be the least emotionally mature people I’ve seen in this kind of video, with their ignorance of basic facts matched only by their stunted emotional range.
Great for comedies, horror movies, but not for drama. Though I admit, they would be great company at a wake.
I think Cam & Zay are doing a fine job. Watch their review of 12 Angry Men some time.
"earn this" is a lesson for all of us, those men sacrificed their lives for you to be able to live in the comfortable society you live in today... We should ALL take it upon ourselves to EARN what they gave us.
Agreed, thank you!
The last thing Spielberg intended was for us to hate Upham. People just don't think that through sometimes.
I don’t think we hated him, as much as we were just very frustrated with him.
What's not really appreciated is he experienced a fear which was literally paralyzing. He couldn't move.
@@williamberven-ph5igI don't mean to be crude, but all of them are fucking fighting their way through this shit.
As a veteran myself. I understood "Earn This" to mean.
Don't waste your life being an asshole or horrible person. Earn the sacrifice of all these men who laid down their lives to bring you home. Be a Good person and always aspire to be worthy of such a sacrifice.
Yes I always thought it meant that these men died to make sure you make it out...don't let it be in vain.
And I was born on June 06, 1954. Saw this when first released in theaters. Before end credit scenes became popular, no one left until all the credits were finished. And at the end, you could hear grown men crying in the audience.
I don’t doubt it for a second
The letter read by Gen. Marshall is so powerful and emotional. The movie was inspired by two events concerning two sets of brothers.
From what I've read on other videos' comment section, some veterans went to see it but they didn't watch it until the end. Those scenes at the beginning have triggered some memories.
You two will love the Band of Brothers series. You want a longer character study of the soldiers, BOB would give you that.
Thank you! 2nd suggestion for it! We’ll definitely consider it!
The Pacific is better in my opinion.
The opening battle depicted is of the landing of Allied troops (for this invasion, primarily U.S., Canadian, and U.K. forces) on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It remains the largest amphibious landing in history with 150,000 soldiers landing at five different landing sites code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. The most accurate accounting of Allied casualties for that 24 hour period is 4414 KIA and as many as 6000 more wounded. German casualties were as high as 9000, with 200k taken prisoner. At the end of the first day only 34k men had landed. It wasn't until 6 days later that the 5 beachheads were linked.
Thank you for this, Absolutely astonishing!
@@camandzay A couple of other factors. The Allies had already halted the progress of the Axis forces and were beginning their push through Africa to Italy. They had been fighting to liberate Italy for 9 months and they finally took Rome 2 days before DDay. In order to shorten the war it had been decided in 1943 to open a third front (the Russian front was the second) by invading France. This would force Hitler to have to split his forces in three directions. The major drawback would be establishing the initial foothold. The sort of rule of thumb is that an invading force needs a 3:1 fighting advantage to successfully dislodge a defending force that has had months to dig in and entrench. It had been estimated that some of the initial units (particularly paratrooper which was what Ryan was) could expect upwards of 75% casualty rates.
That’s wild, I wonder how many different specialists are involved in figuring these statistics out like historians, mathematicians, etc…
@@camandzay They obviously teach military tactics at the military academies but there are also think tanks and, of course, munitions makers dedicated to it full time - both to strategy and to promoting war, unfortunately. For an invasion of this size with multiple countries each with their own goals the planning phase was massive. Getting all of the supplies and men and ships in place as surreptitiously as possible (although the Germans obviously knew an invasion would be attempted, just not exactly where and when) took months.
Another subplot
The US knew how much the Germans respected and 'feared' General George Patton. The Germans were sure he would be in command of the invasion when it came. The Germans, at least Hitler and his closest high commanders, were also sure the invasion would come in the Pas de Calais area of France since it is closest to England.
Working off this knowledge, the Allies built a huge, phony invasion army in the middle of England, far from the real invasion forces in the southern parts. Counter Intelligence let the Germans 'know' Patton had been given command of an army, and the Germans assumed it was the invasion force. In reality we just set up dummy camps, complete with inflatable rubber tanks and trucks, dummy landing craft in harbors, all to fool German reconnaissance aircraft taking pictures. To mislead German radio eavesdropping, a unit was formed to do nothing but send phony radio messages. Germans listening in heard lots of orders being radioed ... requesting supplies, ordering units and even single men to move different assignments, details about court martial proceedings, etc ... everything a real army force would be communicating by radio, and all phony.
Worked amazingly well too. Germans deployed their main forces in France in the Pas de Calais area before the invasion, and kept most of them there until a month or more after the invasion, believing Normandy was just a ruse.
As far as joining the Air Force, the 8th A.F. during daylight bombing lost more Airman than the Marines total in the pacific. There is no film from the US landings because it was destroyed when the landing craft they were on returning to the ship was sunk. All the actual footage you always see if from the British and Canadian landings. The bad weather didn't allow fighter cover and the platoon flotation Tanks packages were not affective for the height of the see waves and all sank prior to making it to the beach. Many with the Tank crews inside.
Damn that’s rough, thank you for this piece of knowledge though!
First time watching your channel and I think you did a great job with this movie. There are so many little details that people miss but the overall message is that if these guys didn’t risk their lives then we would be living an entirely different life today. My dad was in WWII. He was drafted just like the guys in this movie when he turned 18. Thankfully he made it out alive but it took such a tremendous toll on him. Younger generations don’t fully grasp what a sacrifice this was but it kept Hitler from taking over and killing millions more people. The reason they show Ryan’s family is to make it clear that he was able to continue his family line for many more generations. If he had been killed with the rest of his brothers then his whole family line would have been sacrificed. Great video guys!
Thank you so much! And yes there sacrifice drastically altered history, thankfully!!
The reason why some of the beaches were a slaughter was bc of bad weather. The German bunkers were supposed to be bombed but bc of heavy cloud cover, the air force had to rely on radar but the navy didn’t trust it yet and feared the bombs would be dropped on friendly forces so they told the air force to hold their bombs for an extra couple of seconds but the bombs landed miles away in fields.
US Army Air Corps. We didn't have an Air Force yet.
Oh wow! That’s some bad luck, glad it didn’t ruin the overall mission.
@@williamjones6031 Cam's grandfather was in WW2 and flew B-24 Liberators. You are correct..He was in Army Air Corps
Bad weather helped in other ways though as Rommel was absent that day as he figured they wouldn't risk invading with those conditions.
Another great reaction! Don't be afraid of being "wrong", fellas.. there are lots of folks who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experiences with all of us who are watching
That's really nice.
Spielberg directed Mellish's death scene as a metaphor for America's hesitance on entering the war in the beginning. Mellish being a Jewish soldier, representing the Jews of Europe in immediate peril, Upham being America refusing or unable to enter the war, and the German soldier obviously representing Nazi Germany
Wow what amazing symbolism!
I remember learning how Franklin Roosevelt, who was a close ally of Winston Churchill, seriously wanted to enter WWII years before we actually did, but Congress was against it for so long, believing it wasn't our war and that we were safe, separated from it by oceans. That's what made the attack on Pearl Harbor so necessary. I hate to say it that way, considering all the people that died in that attack, but it unified America in entering the war.
Also, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an immediate and direct result of the US Navy setting up a blockade to keep Japan's ships from accessing their own oil reserves in the Pacific Islands. To Japan, Germany's ally, this was seen as an act of war since their entire economy and military depended on this oil to continue fighting and functioning.
Ever since learning that, I've felt Roosevelt's decision to block Japan's oil was his way of getting the US into the war, though there's not enough evidence to prove that was his intent.
Yeah which I get but I'd prefer he kept Upham's character consistent for the story of the movie as we knew he wasn't battle tested but he definitely wasn't a coward.
"Fury" is a must see, I think. One of my favorite films to watch people react to.
I’ve seen it, I’m not sure if Zay has I’ll have to ask, but man is that movie good!!!!
The letters in the front breast pockets were what soldiers called death letters. Unlike regular letters they were letters to loved ones expressing what they meant to them and also an attempt to lesson their loved ones pain for the loss. Other men in the unit agreed to mail them in case their friend died. That is why every death scene has a comrade removing the letter.
Oh wow thank you for this piece of knowledge! That’s wild they had it prepared like that but totally makes sense!
True that guys had "death letters", but in this movie the letter was just a regular letter Carpazo had been writing to his dad, pulled out of his pocket as he lay there after being shot. Told Fish "It's to my dad, it's got blood on it, Fish". The medic Wade took the bloody letter and was rewriting it in the scene resting in the church, to send it on to Carpazo's dad without the blood. When Wade died, Capt. Miller took it to finish rewriting and mail it. Reiben did the same after Miller died.
@@richarddowns7162 Nope. If it was a regular letter a dying man could care less that it would be mailed. The fact that he was specifically telling his best friend Melish and it was in the front breast pocket is all the proof I need it was a death letter. Why would a dying man care if his Father received a letter about some mundane issues like what he had for breakfast or asking about how his Mom was doing when he would not be around to receive a reply?
@@jcarlovitch My thinking is based on two points.
1- the " last letter " is petty important to a man, most would leave them in a safer rear area with a friend or acquaintance rather than keep it on your person while on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines where you and the letter could be blown to pieces, killed and your buddies cannot recover your body and letter, etc. And 2- Mellish tells him " You're gonna mail it yourself. " when asked by Caparzo to mail it.
At least Mellish, his best friend, didn't think it was a last letter. Nobody would mail their own last letter.
I'm confused.
Earn this deals with the sacrifice they all did for him. As a 24 year veteran I tell my fellow veterans you owe it to those who didnt make it back to live the best life you can.
Totally agree, thank you so much for your service!
I wish to Thank you 2 young men for a good and insightful / Respectful reactions to this movie! I'm a Proud Navy Veteran, and I say; Job well Done fellas!! Thank you 2 for getting it!!
This means so much to us, thank you. More importantly though, thank you for your service! Glad we have people like you in this world!
@@camandzay Thanks Men!! Again, good reaction! Keep em' rolling!!
The initial wave was the greatest of The Greatest Generation. That first wave cleared the way for all of the later waves of soldiers that were able to land easily on Omaha Beach and others. It's probably the saddest scene ever in cinema, but those men gave their lives so the rest could save the world.
"Earn this" is not just for the soldiers who survive but is something that those of us at home need to also live by...freedom is not free, and we owe not only those who sacrificed their lives for us but all those who have fought so we can sleep in peace at night.
Great reaction. Really appreciated the mature and intelligent way you handled a dark subject, great work keep it up lads.
Thanks so much for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed!
My daddy was a WW2 Marine
"tell me I'm a good man" dropkicked me right in the throat
What a heavy hitting line.
In case no one mentioned it, you may have missed that the German soldier who killed the American soldier then walk down the stairs, passing Upham was also the same German soldier they let go. That’s why the German soldier didn’t kill
Upham.
I would recommend watching "The Best Years of Our Lives." It came out in 1946, and was about the difficulties of servicemen returning home after World War II and readjusting to civilian life. It's not as visceral, but is every bit as emotionally powerful.
Wow that’s an old one! Thank you for this suggestion!
@@camandzay John Wood is absolutely correct. "The Best Years Of Our Lives" is a fantastic film with moving performances by a stellar cast and brilliantly directed by William Wyler. It's a little old but holds up very well.
I'll have to check that out. I remember listening to NPR one morning and two parents were talking about the difficulties their 23 year old son had after returning from war. (Sadly, he killed himself.) I generally avoid war movies, so I don't have many points of comparison, but the movie that I thought of that Cam&Zay should watch is Wings (1927), a silent film about two friends who become fighter pilots in World War I.
"Earn this."
It goes back to what Miller had been saying to Tom the night before. "This guy better go home and cure some disease, or invent a longer-lasting light bulb." So when he said to Ryan "Earn this!" he meant "Go home and live the sort of life that will make what we did here for you worthwhile!"
Those kids flying those P-51 Mustangs. They probably were around your age. Imagine being 19 years old, and handed the keys to the most advanced fighter on the planet.
Love the like about “screw that I’m joining the airforce” it’s so true. A lot of the guys who signed up viewed getting into combat as doing their duty, but very quickly realized how horrific combat was. E.B Sledge describes that perfectly in his book “With the Old Breed” as he fought in the pacific theater
I don’t blame them! And thanks for the book name!
@@camandzay Spielberg and Hanks are doing a new series now called Masters of Air dealing with the 8th air force over Europe supposed to be out late 22 or early 23 basically part 3 from band of Brothers and The Pacific. Might wanna watch that before you say join the air force.
Oh, and the two men who were shot trying to surrender, were trying to tell them they were Czech and hadn't killed anyone. Czechs were forced into the German army when their country was taken. It is quite likely that they had truly not shot anyone. Fortunes of war. Prisoners could not be secured during that kind of assault.
Of course, many troops on both sides made no real effort to kill and often fired randomly. That was common and had been through history. It is known that in the Civil War, many soldiers were reluctant to kill and never aimed at a specific enemy soldier. It was not really until the Vietnam era that training was began to be redesigned to overcome the natural reluctance to take life.
Oh wow, damn that’s a shame about the Czech. Interesting about the random shooting to avoid taking a life, thanks for the information!
I think “Earn this…” means earn this life. That is, we have sacrificed everything for you, so you better do us proud…
lol...oppehm played that part so well...that is what would literally happen when you take someone who was only meant to be an interpreter and map guy. he had absolutely no combat experience and shows the effect of the shock of battle on new troops or guys just being shot at for real the first time. everyone else was being trained for months with live ammo before the invasion while he was on a radio or drawing maps
Great reaction guys 👍, this is my second favourite film ever, just the realism and when watching it just processing that this actually happened and these men had the biggest balls on planet earth charging those beaches, fully appreciate their efforts throughout 👏.
Thanks so much, and yeah, the BIGGEST!
The Normandy landings actually went a lot better than they should've. Hitler was convinced the allies would land at a major port-city, so defensive installations and resources were spread far too thin to successfully repel an invasion force.
Hitler and his advisers didn't know that the allies had developed the Mulberry harbours - which created a temporary port wherever they wanted. Use of false intelligence and inflatible decoys also kept important manpower and equipment away from where the allied landings were targeted.
Hitler also refused the advice of his generals and held panzer forces back that could've forced the invasion force back into the sea. But, by the time they were mobilized the allies had secured the beachhead and landed armor to take-on any arriving reinfircements.
Good thing it played out the way it did, thank you for this!!
Here’s a few classics. Good will hunting, Shawshank redemption, braveheart, tropic thunder
Thank you for these!
Since you guys liked this video, you should go watch FURY. It's not just real and gritty, but it's from a tank crews perspective of ww2
Have you guys figured out yet that the German soldier that Capt. Miller let go after the death of Wade was the same soldier that killed Mellich, walked past Upham on the stairs and, finally the German that Upham shot were all the same character?
Mellish was killed by SS. Steam Boat Willie (the one who killed Capt. miller) was just a regular German soldier.
My grandfather and three of my great Uncles were involved in WWII. One of my great Uncles was captured by the Japanese and endured The Bataan Death March. Another was at The Battle of The Bulge and was in Bastogne when it got surrounded. One of my high school teachers was a medic on the beach on D Day as depicted in the opening scene. When I went to work after high school my first boss was a WWII veteran. That generation was hard core. They endured The Great Deppression, WWII, the Korean War, and sent their son's off to fight The Vietnam War. They didnt take any shit from anyone and didnt give a damn about your feelings. They were the backbone of this country. I miss them and their wisdom.
I dunno if anyone else has said this, but when Captain Miller said "Earn this" he meant live a life that earns the sacrifices that him and the other men in his squad who died to save him gave to let him live
Yup, such powerful words! Thank you!
My Dad told me that when He stormed the beach at Normandy that before anything even started, they had to stand in the water for hours holding their guns above the water. I can’t imagine the apprehension of waiting that long , esp in freezing cold water. Also, that scene with the Mom was hard to watch. We lost out son in 2005 in Iraq. He enlisted right out high school after 911 with some buddies . A few weeks before he was scheduled to come home, he was shot by a sniper. There are few things that are worse than seeing those two marines on your doorstep.
When Tom Hanks tells Private Ryan to "earn this" near the end of the movie, he is telling Ryan to go on to live a life worth the deaths of all these guys who fought to save his life - to live an honorable life that was worth the sacrifices that these guys put in so that he could continue his life.
Think back to earlier in the movie when Tom Hanks's character was saying that Private Ryan better deserve this and that he better go on to create something or cure cancer or do something great with his life.
Yup, I totally agree, thank you for the comment!
I highly recommend checking out 1917, if you haven't already. Incredibly gripping and made to appear as though it's filmed in one continuous shot.
I’ve seen it, absolutely beautiful film, Zay has not seen it, I hope to show it to him one day, definitely on this channel! Thanks Titanz!
Crazy to think that Shakespeare In Love beat this movie out for best picture at the Oscars. What a sham!
The landing on the beaches is one of the most significant events of WW2.. immense sacrifices made to win every position. Bless all that went through this and its aftermath. You could find some awesome historical video on it and react to that ;)
Yeah seriously, bless them immensely. What a wild thing to have to go through, hard to put into words.
To you young guns. War is ugly, the absolute worst of humanity. Watch this and think of how many souls lost their lives for all of us to do what we, you are doing. But please never forget!
You guys had to ask where Normandy is and pondered if this was an invasion of Germany. That is truly a sad indictment of the public school system today.
"Men and women"? Don't be afraid to say it was men who were sent into battle. 99.9% anyway. Women made valuable contributions to the war effort. My great aunt was an Army nurse in the Pacific during the war; got malaria twice. But women weren't drafted for combat and men were. It's not "unwoke" to say so.
No, not you have earned this. It is a demand that you, Ryan but; also you & me and everyone in the free world to earn what they sacrificed for us. Not just that did Ryan earn it every single day but that all of us do everything we can to earn and repay the sacrifice they paid for us. Great review boys, keep it up.
Upham represented typical civilian sensibilities
Thank you so much! Yeah that was totally meant for all of us!
Earn this, make sure me and my men didn't die to save someone who turns into a worthless d-bag.
The "blimps" are called barrage baloons. There were suspended at different altitudes to prevent strafing aircraft from getting low.
I’ve read many books about combat and so many times vets confess their guilt over surviving while their comrades didn’t. I don’t understand it, but I can’t begin to imagine what the experience was like.
i say this on every reaction to this movie, every d-day veteran ive talked with which is only a handful has told me that the d-day scene in this movie is the closest thing youll see other than being there that day
Thanks for watching it means a lot. (US Army - Retired)
Thank you for your service, it means so much more!
First time watching you two. Excellent! Great commentary and showed best parts. Really enjoyed it.
If you had taken the time to learn your history, you would've understood that this is D-Day in Normandy, France - the only option for the Allies (U.S., U.K. Canada, Aus., NZ) was an amphibious assault of the European mainland in 1944.
I know of no high school or hist101 text book that describes the tactics used during WW2 besides "we landed at Normandy." Someone correct me. These guys are commenting on the slaughtering on the beach.
I saw this movie in a movie theater. After the movie was over, I found out that the person sitting next to me was a D-Day veteran. I asked him how accurate the landing scene was. He told me that there was some Hollywood but for the most part it was accurate.
In addition to “storming the beach,” the paratroopers were parachuting into the land, behind the beach. See the series Band of Brothers for more on their mission. Also the film The Longest Day covers the multiple efforts made on D-Day. Several years of planning by the Allies went into the massive operation to establish a foothold on European territory.
Dudes! Ain't no funeral scene. Ha!
😂realized that after!
The beaches that were stormed, by the Allied Forces on D-Day, were the least fortified beaches on the French coast. The Allies sent fake messages beforehand, so the Germans would intercept them, and defend the wrong beaches. Paratroopers were dropped inland, and battleships barraged the beaches, before they sent the troops in. Despite how horrific D-day was, it was the best case scenario.
Glad it played out the way it did! Otherwise we may all be speaking German by now
He's saying earn the sacrifice they all made to get him out. Live a good life to honor them.
Yup! Thank you!
The "look, I washed for supper" guy was speaking Czech. He was forced to fight by the Germans.
Upham had no combat experience, he was there to make maps and translate. He shot his rifle whenever boot camp took place and who knows how long ago that was. He was already frozen watching from behind a cow in the one scene looking through his spyglass. I understand why people are mad at him, but they miss the point the director is trying to make with his character. He might not have been one of the people that wanted to go to war in the first place and got drafted. Upham will be completely different after he saw true combat and took that guy's life. He will have that "thousand yard stare" people talk about.
I was watching this movie at the theater when I was 25 too!!! 25 years ago and this movie has become one of my top 10 movies at all times.
I watched this in the theatre and it was insane to hear and see elderly men weeping and leaving the theatre from ptsd.
It is a war crime to kill an enemy soldier who is hors de combat, that is, one who has surrendered or who is clearly unable to fight. There are many circumstances in the heat of battle in which is is unclear whether the enemy soldier has indeed surrendered or is indeed unable to fight; a hasty, incorrect decision may lead on the one hand to a war crime (the killing of a POW) or on the other hand to the death of the soldier making the decision.
Once a POW is in custody, the situation is much clearer. He can be killed if he is mutinying against his captors (this includes any form of violence against captors); he can also be executed after trial for any crime that warrants execution, which could include espionage. The formal requirement is a fair trial according to the law of the captors.
Thank you so much for this information!
They were invading Europe with the aim being to defeat Germany, and the route was through France. There were five invasion beaches and the US took 2 while Britain, Canada and commonwealth troops took 3. There were massive preliminary bombardments to destroy defences as well as a disinformation campaign to confuse the enemy (which worked very well in the grand scheme of things) but at Omaha they weren't particularly effective and US troops had the terrible job and suffered hugely. It was touch and go for a while but bravery and sacrifice won.
Those "blimps" are called barrage balloons. The balloons were held aloft, over troop concentrations and vital supply areas, by steel cables. These cables were to deter any enemy aircraft that wanted to do dive bombing, or strafing runs, by getting entangled in things like aircraft propellers, or to simply cut off parts of the aircraft, like wings and canopies.
The two surrendering soldiers at the beginning who were murdered were saying, "We are Czech! We didn't kill anyone!" They were two of the thousands of Czechoslovakian men enslaved by the Nazi army.
i have seen countless of SPR reaction vids, is my guilty pleasure. you seem to be the first and only one comprehending with the final attack, the bog issue is not the 50+ infantry, but the 4 tanks.
loved your responses! you guys are asking all the right questions you should
It's so great to see two young men watching what the older generation of men went through. In this day and age it's easy to shame masculinity and forget how good we got it. I hope you two young men take that message and "earn it" and go do amazing things in your life.
Thanks so much for the kind words! We hope so too!
One position at a time is how to approach enemy positions without getting wiped out. The naval bombardment didn't effectively shut down German machine gun and artillery positions, so it was the dog-faces who had to weed the heights of German defenders. Fish concussed by the artillery bombardment from the Germans on land. As in "Game of Thrones," juice of the poppy (morphine) was a cure for more than pain -- it was also a "tender mercy." The sound of the tanks approaching brings to mind the sound of helicopters in Vietnam; a distinct warning that "something wicked this way comes." P-51 Mustang to the rescue, the air cavalry of sorts. Pvt. Ryan: Earn the rescue, deserve the rescue.
"Earn this, earn it"
Speaking to Ryan in the present tense, not like you have earned this.
Telling him to not let their sacrifice be in vain - live your life knowing that the freedom you have was purchased, paid for by those of us who gave their lives for it.
We got a lot of guys buried over there, and on Pacific islands. A lotta navy guys buried at sea. We just didn't have the logistics to bring all of our dead home, and win the war. That's just the way it was.
“Earn this” means “you lived through this because of the men who came to rescue you. Earn it. Earn it everyday.”. Tom Hanks explains this on Inside the Actors Studio.
It is apparent at the end that Ryan had never even told his wife the story. She had no idea who Captain John Miller was. Incredible.
Steven Spielberg made this movie inpart, because his father was a WW2 combat veteran ,as was mine. It's his tribute to his father.
They show the sniper through the scope shot. That actually happened in Vietnam. The top U.S. sniper at the time (SGT. Hathcock) was sent against the top NVA sniper. That was his kill.
The insane opening D-Day scenes were filmed on a beach in Ireland, which (maybe ironically) was neutral ground during WW-II.
There's a mishap in this scene. When captain Miller puts on his blood soaked helmet he's on the shore. When he's telling his men to move up the beach he's in deep water.
Didn’t even notice! Thanks for this!
When he asked for more morphine, everyone knew he wasn't going to make it. Morphine overdose was a painless death
Average age of the 29th infantry division at Omaha beach where the most treacherous defenders were on the entire D day landing coast line was 19 years of age.
Eisenhower the supreme allied commander in Europe selected that division to spearhead the assault because they were youthful and had no war experience and would not cower under fire as much as experienced veteran divisions that had fought in Africa and Italy.
The reason why veteran divisions would not perform as well was the fact that they knew what bullets and mortars and artillery would do to bodies and they would freeze up.
The 1st infantry division spearheaded the flanking beach zone at Omaha to the 29th and were selected to lead because they were the premier division of the entire Army and also one of the most veteran and experienced. Even the 1st division with all the experience were shred to absolute pieces which shows how deadly the Omaha beach section was.
It was a meat grinder and almost a one way ticket for most in the first few waves.
The word FUBAR is an acronym for the phrase “Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition;” Another version of FUBAR is “Fucked Up By Assholes in the Rear.”
Ahhh gotcha thank you!!
And the joke is. "All personnel with three brothers take one pace forward.", "Where are you going Ryan?".
Good choice and good reaction..a very well crafted war film with unforgettable characters and moments. I only viewed this once ever and i think it was enough to leave an impression..cool to see your thoughts.
Thanks so much! Very well crafted indeed!
"Mum" or any variant, is the most common thing that a dying soldier says.
The allied forces spent many months making Germany think that they were going to invade through the English Channel from the west. So the Germans prepared for that. They didn’t know we were going to storm the beaches from the south. So most of Germany’s defenses were on the west coast. It may seem like it was illogical for us to storm Normandy, but it was actually quite awesome. You have to remember, we had ti get a lot of men and supplies to Europe. We did a lot of that in a very short amount of time. D-Day is one of the greatest military tactics during that time. It was very effective.