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Saving Private Ryan

 Saving Private Ryan
type
TVTItem
 Saving Private Ryan
label
Saving Private Ryan
 Saving Private Ryan
page
SavingPrivateRyan
 Saving Private Ryan
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Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, and many more Hollywood men.The film's setting is World War II, beginning with D-Day — namely, Omaha Beach, where "hell's doors were open" and Allied soldiers faced the first waves of Nazi resistance. There, a company of the U.S. Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion headed by Capt. John Miller (Hanks) slowly penetrates the German defenses leading to a breakout from the beach.After the Omaha Beach invasion, General George C. Marshall receives the news that three brothers with the last name "Ryan" have all died in combat — two during the Normandy landing, the third in the Pacific — and the location of the fourth, who dropped into France as a paratrooper, is unknown. Miller receives orders to search for the fourth and last Ryan (Damon) so that Ryan can be sent home, and he quickly assembles a small squad to carry out the task.After going through many French cities and losing two men, Miller's unit finally finds Ryan — but there's a problem: Ryan is with a small group of soldiers who have been ordered to protect a bridge from the Germans, and he steadfastly refuses to leave behind "the only brothers" he has left. Outnumbered and outgunned by advancing German forces, Miller and the rest of his squad put it all on the line for the survival of just one man.The film earned near-universal praise from audiences and critics alike; it was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1998 (second-highest-grossing worldwide), and received eleven nominations in that year's Academy Awards (winning five). Notably, the film won Best Director for Spielberg but lost Best Picture (to Shakespeare in Love), a rare occurrence in Oscar history.A co-production of DreamWorks SKG and Paramount, it is now fully owned by the latter as of result of acquiring the original incarnation of the former in 2006. Ironically, Paramount now also owns the US rights to Shakespeare in Love (distributed internationally by Universal) as a result of acquiring a minority stake in Miramax (which in 1998 was owned by Disney) in 2020.
 Saving Private Ryan
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2024-04-08T07:15:39Z
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2024-04-08T07:15:39Z
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Dropped link to TheSquad: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Bowdlerize
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SurvivorsGuilt
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DBTropes
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1235f055
type
Dirty Coward
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1235f055
comment
Dirty Coward: Upham is a debatable example. What isn't debatable is that he freezes in panic during the climactic battle, and as a result Mellish dies. Bringing this up is a guaranteed way to start a massive argument.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1237828f
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Anyone Can Die
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1237828f
comment
Anyone Can Die: "Can" hardly does it justice. Only three men survive the battle of Ramelle. Two don't even make it that far.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_12575a9f
type
Friendly Sniper
 Saving Private Ryan / int_12575a9f
comment
Friendly Sniper: Outside of battle, Jackson is very friendly. In battle, however...
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_127fc252
type
Creator Cameo
 Saving Private Ryan / int_127fc252
comment
Creator Cameo: The white-haired officer advising General Marshall against a Ryan mission ("he's KIA") is Dale Dye, the military technical advisor for the movie who, among other things, ran the actors through a boot camp.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_12ffce31
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Correlation/Causation Gag
 Saving Private Ryan / int_12ffce31
comment
Correlation/Causation Gag: Captain Miller fires his pistol at an approaching tank, which then explodes. He looks at his gun in wonderment before he notices the plane that has just bombed the tank.
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Heroic BSoD
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1439161f
comment
Heroic BSoD: Upham during the final battle, and Wade on Omaha Beach.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_14beeefd
type
Darker and Edgier
 Saving Private Ryan / int_14beeefd
comment
Darker and Edgier: As said above in Contemplate Our Navels, this is NOT your dad's clean war movie from The '60s and The '70s. Established early on in bloody Omaha, when the camera pans around the faces of The Squad in the landing craft, and most of the poor bastards are immediately mowed down the moment it lands. The survivors are killed via graphic ways over the course of the battle, and then you get introduced to the real squad afterwards. From a group of soldiers being blown apart by an anti-aircraft gun, to a GI pleading with a German who has him pinned to the floor and is about to plunge a knife into his chest, this film doesn't shy away from or sanitize the horror of war. It also shows American soldiers committing war crimes, an unthinkable for earlier war movies.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_14ed6ab7
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Does This Remind You of Anything?
 Saving Private Ryan / int_14ed6ab7
comment
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Some viewers have noted that Pvt. Mellish's Nightmare Fuel death via being pinned down and slowly stabbed to death resembles a rape, especially with his sweaty attacker's mushy whispering for him to stop struggling.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1501b4a2
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Flamethrower Backfire
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1501b4a2
comment
Flamethrower Backfire: Done in the opening scene.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1592e954
type
Man Bites Man
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1592e954
comment
Man Bites Man: Mellish bites the hand of the German soldier opposite him in a Knife Fight. This briefly works until the Nazi wrestles the knife out of his hand and gets the upper hand...
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_17ce80aa
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All There in the Manual
 Saving Private Ryan / int_17ce80aa
comment
All There in the Manual: In-Universe. When Miller suggests using a sticky bomb, the soldiers ask him if he had just made it up. Miller points out that it's in the field manual.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_18d15922
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Title Drop
 Saving Private Ryan / int_18d15922
comment
Title Drop: "Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole, godawful, shitty mess."
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_19d06ef7
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A Father to His Men
 Saving Private Ryan / int_19d06ef7
comment
A Father to His Men: John H. Miller, especially during the desertion scene. You get a flash of this along with his despair when he sees Jackson's bell tower position explode from a tank shell in the final battle. He gives another glance after the cut with his mouth hung open in shock before he starts firing at the Germans again. Ted Danson as Captain Hamill. The "other Private Ryan" turns to him for consolation immediately upon hearing the (false) news about his brothers. Captain Hamill is clearly distraught but works hard to comfort the young soldier.
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The Medic
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1bf47ada
comment
Which immediately follows one from The Medic himself when they tell him where the exit wound is, and he realizes that he's going to die.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1c4adce1
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The Siege
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1c4adce1
comment
The Siege: Holding the bridge.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1dcd2d70
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Obstacle Exposition
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1dcd2d70
comment
Obstacle Exposition: The planning of the Last Stand up to the blowing up of the bridge. Also an aversion of the Unspoken Plan Guarantee: you hear all the plans the squad has for fighting the battle of Ramelle, and then get to watch them carry it out.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1e1afc1b
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Framing Device
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1e1afc1b
comment
Framing Device: The opening and closing scenes are an old man bringing his family to the Normandy War Memorial. It's the elderly Ryan, who breaks down when finding Captain Miller's cross and proceeds to tell him he tried to "earn this" in the resulting decades.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_1f963842
type
Bloodier and Gorier
 Saving Private Ryan / int_1f963842
comment
Bloodier and Gorier: Easily the goriest and most violent film Steven Spielberg has ever made, as it's completely unflinching in its portrayal of the horrors of war. Schindler's List is basically kids play compared to this film to put it into perspective.
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Knight in Sour Armor
 Saving Private Ryan / int_21f7ff0f
comment
One of the more severe moments is also the most understated: after finding a crashed plane and a group of soldiers, the squad splits up bags of dog tags of KIA soldiers and starts going through them, hoping to find Ryan's so that they can end their crazy mission. They start slapping the tags around like playing cards and cracking jokes about some of the names, and they're actually pretty funny, even getting Captain Miller to laugh. Then Wade (the medic) notices what they're doing, and furiously runs over to scoop the tags up, angrily pointing out that they're making light of dead soldiers, in full view and earshot of a column of soldiers (who presumably are the dead guys' comrades) marching by. The whiplash is exceedingly strong.
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It Never Gets Any Easier
 Saving Private Ryan / int_22711892
comment
It Never Gets Any Easier: The psychological effects of the war begin to take their toll on the unit as it goes forward. Besides the killing getting easier, the squad starts to make worse decisions as they get overwhelmed by the brutality.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_22f6000b
type
Everybody's Dead, Dave
 Saving Private Ryan / int_22f6000b
comment
Everybody's Dead, Dave: Of the squad sent to find Ryan, only Upham and Reiben survive. The paratroopers are even worse; only Ryan survives.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_231e8193
type
Mistaken Identity
 Saving Private Ryan / int_231e8193
comment
Mistaken Identity: During the mission, the squad find Private James Ryan and prepare to bring him home, telling him his brothers have been killed. The distraught private asks how they died, but when he mentions they're still in grade-school, the squad realize he's actually James Frederick Ryan, from Minnesota. Later, on finding the right Private Ryan, Captain Miller makes sure to confirm he's James Francis Ryan, from Iowa.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_23473ae7
type
Adaptation Expansion
 Saving Private Ryan / int_23473ae7
comment
Adaptation Expansion: The novelization by Max Allan Collins supplies a number of additional scenes such as actually seeing the raid on the radar site that leaves Wade fatally wounded (he drew gunfire away from the rest of Miller's team). Interestingly, it still leaves ambiguous whether or not Steamboat Willie is the soldier who shot Wade.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_237404cc
type
Ironic Echo
 Saving Private Ryan / int_237404cc
comment
Ironic Echo: During part of the Omaha Beach invasion, the action intercuts between Army chaplains praying with dying and wounded soldiers on the beach, and Jackson praying for God's help as he lines up Germans in his crosshairs.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_2470d8fd
type
Steel Ear Drums
 Saving Private Ryan / int_2470d8fd
comment
Steel Ear Drums: Averted. Miller is temporarily deafened several times by nearby explosions, and at one point, we meet a soldier who shouts everything he says because a grenade that went off close to his head has likewise deafened him. The dulled sound is also used to symbolize his temporary disassociation with reality due to the extreme stress of the moment.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_25c7875f
type
Practically Different Generations
 Saving Private Ryan / int_25c7875f
comment
Practically Different Generations: The "other" Private Ryan, as a soldier in the army, is at least 18, whereas his brothers are in elementary school(6-11).
 Saving Private Ryan / int_25c7875f
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_264e3bd0
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Sticky Bomb
 Saving Private Ryan / int_264e3bd0
comment
Sticky Bomb: "It's in the field manual."
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_28114487
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Bald of Evil
 Saving Private Ryan / int_28114487
comment
Bald of Evil: The Germans all have buzzcuts, despite the average hair length in the Wehrmacht being 1-2 inches, perhaps to make them look like skinheads. The extras who played the Germans were part of a living history group, and they all had authentic haircuts; they tried to argue about the headshaving, but Spielberg overruled them.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_294ed981
type
Bilingual Bonus
 Saving Private Ryan / int_294ed981
comment
After the Normandy landing, two German soldiers put their hands up and try to surrender, only to get gunned down by American soldiers — made even more horrifying if you catch the Bilingual Bonus and realize that they're Czech conscripts.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_29c480a3
type
Good News, Bad News
 Saving Private Ryan / int_29c480a3
comment
Good News, Bad News: Private Ryan, the bad news is that all of your brothers were killed in combat. The good news is that you got a free ticket home.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_2c67783f
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Pinned Down
 Saving Private Ryan / int_2c67783f
comment
Pinned Down: Captain Miller and the soldiers behind the obstruction on Omaha Beach.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_319e4a2f
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Even Evil Has Standards
 Saving Private Ryan / int_319e4a2f
comment
Even Evil Has Standards: Implied twice: During the first sniper scene, the German sniper has an open shot on Caparzo, but doesn't shoot him because Caparzo is holding a young French girl (he is trying to take her to safety at the behest of his squadmates - "She reminds me of my niece, sir!"). It's only when Caparzo puts the girl down to argue with his squadmates that the sniper takes the shot. During the scene where Mellish fights a German soldier, the German soldier stabs Mellish to death. Upham was right outside the room, able to help, but did nothing out of fear. After killing Mellish, the German walks out and sees Upham on the stairs and apparently pieces together that Upham was there the entire time. Whether he is disgusted by Upham's apparent cowardice and decided he was Not Worth Killing, recognizes that Upham is paralyzed in fear and is not a threat, or was still traumatized over stabbing Mellish and felt he had done enough at this point, he simply walks past the interpreter and rejoins the battle.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_33029735
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Dies Wide Open
 Saving Private Ryan / int_33029735
comment
Dies Wide Open: Several times. Used most chillingly with Mellish and Horvath
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Not Worth Killing
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3346f944
comment
Not Worth Killing: Sgt. Horvath invokes this while briefing the troops before landing on Omaha Beach, advising the soldiers to spread out to make themselves less tempting targets to the German machine guns. Implied by the German soldier who pins and stabs Mellish to death during the Battle of Ramelle. He walks out of the room, finds Upham crying on the stairs and simply walks past the cowering interpreter to rejoin the battle.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_33fa230b
type
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!
 Saving Private Ryan / int_33fa230b
comment
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Early on in the movie, Miller finds a Private Ryan who has brothers, but has a different middle name and hometown.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_35a858b3
type
Cluster F-Bomb
 Saving Private Ryan / int_35a858b3
comment
Cluster F-Bomb: See The Medic. Wade spends a bunch of time stopping bleeding on a soldier shot in the chest. Right after he's done, another bullet goes right through the soldier's helmet. And that was no ordinary soldier that Wade and the medics were trying to save either; that was the battalion surgeon. One can understand why he's cursing so profusely afterward.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_37b5c1b0
type
Big Badass Battle Sequence
 Saving Private Ryan / int_37b5c1b0
comment
Big Badass Battle Sequence: Omaha Beach comes to mind in all its gory glory. Then Ramelle does the same thing.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_392b0ab5
type
Blood-Stained Letter
 Saving Private Ryan / int_392b0ab5
comment
Blood-Stained Letter: Defied. Caparzo tries to give Wade a letter to his father after he's shot, but he wants it recopied so his family won't see the bloodstains on the original.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_3931557e
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Storming the Beaches
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3931557e
comment
Storming the Beaches: The film famously starts with the landings at Omaha Beach.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_39b8d3d6
type
Boring, but Practical
 Saving Private Ryan / int_39b8d3d6
comment
Boring, but Practical: At the tipping point of frustration over not being able to find Ryan, Miller simply yells out Private Ryan's name over and over as a rally of paratroopers walk by. Sure enough, one of Ryan's company recognizes the name and tells Miller that Ryan was part of a troop headed to Ramelle.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_3aec9e5e
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Properly Paranoid
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3aec9e5e
comment
Properly Paranoid: Reiben is against letting their prisoner "Steamboat Willie" walk free on the chance the Germans find him first and he'll be "thrown back into circulation". Which is not only what happens, but the ex-prisoner also fatally wounds Miller.
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You Shall Not Pass!
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comment
You Shall Not Pass!: The Final Battle is making sure that Germans don't cross Ramelle's bridge.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_3dc1e273
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Not Enough to Bury
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3dc1e273
comment
One soldier trying to use an improvised explosive - a shit-ton of Comp B (TNT) stuffed into a sock with a simple fuse, has it blow up in his face while he's trying to attach it to a German tank. There is Not Enough to Bury in the aftermath.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_3f6d2c98
type
Cold Sniper
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3f6d2c98
comment
Cold Sniper: Jackson. Although it's worth noting that while he's emotionally cold when he's actually sniping, reciting Bible verses aloud while calmly lining up his shots. When it comes to his interactions with the rest of the squad, he's one of the friendlier and more courteous soldiers in the team.
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Ungrateful Bastard
 Saving Private Ryan / int_3fe2b13f
comment
Ungrateful Bastard: Steamboat Willie. Of course it is likely that, after being released by the Squad and making it back to German lines, and being thrown back into circulation, he wasn't given a choice about going back into battle. With the war effort, Germany needed everyone able to carry a weapon fighting the Allied offensive. In fact, an Allied soldier escaping his captors and returning to his unit is usually viewed as heroic. But then again, he was the one to fatally shoot Captain Miller, the man who decided to release him - though, again, he had no reason to recognise him before he did.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_40cc0c7e
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Bittersweet Ending
 Saving Private Ryan / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: By the end of the final battle, Upham, Reiben, and Ryan are the only main characters to survive, with the latter two having to witness Captain Miller's death. Ryan gets to go home and live a full life, but he's still haunted by the others' sacrifice and wonders whether his life was worth it.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_40da7cc9
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Urban Warfare
 Saving Private Ryan / int_40da7cc9
comment
Urban Warfare: After the initial storming of Normandy's beaches, much of the combat takes place in parts of destroyed French cities.
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The Magnificent Seven Samurai
 Saving Private Ryan / int_42beac64
comment
The Magnificent Seven Samurai: The film's final act presents an interesting variation. Upon finding the titular Private Ryan, Captain Miller's surviving Rangers as well as Ryan himself find themselves in the role of the Seven with Ryan's fellow Paratroopers playing the role as the villagers as they are tasked in defending the bridge of Ramelle from approaching Waffen SS. True to form most of the Rangers including Miller himself were killed in the subsequent battle although in a twist the Paratroopers with the exception of Ryan himself are wiped out almost to a man, unlike most depictions of the villagers.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_44bd31e2
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Trope Codifier
 Saving Private Ryan / int_44bd31e2
comment
Trope Codifier: Far from the first film to use Jitter Cam — the technique dates back to the 50's at least, and NYPD Blue had been using it to memetic levels for five years at that time, but the ubiquitous use of hand-held "Shakycam" in action sequences in movies, TV and Video Games began here and continued throughout the remainder of the 90's, 2000's, up to the present day. Widespread use of desaturated color, especially in War Movies/TV/video games, also followed.
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War Is Glorious
 Saving Private Ryan / int_44cdd259
comment
However, the film also makes a point that the brutality and suffering the soldiers all endure makes them all the more heroic for it. The ending basically paints the deaths of Miller and his men as a Heroic Sacrifice.
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Honor Before Reason
 Saving Private Ryan / int_44fc28e8
comment
Honor Before Reason: Discussed, as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army George C. Marshall and his subordinates talk about whether risking the lives of more men to save just one even if all his brothers have been killed is the 'right' thing to do. Shortly thereafter, the soldiers who are sent to rescue Ryan examine the situation themselves.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_471b2ede
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Obviously Not Fine
 Saving Private Ryan / int_471b2ede
comment
Obviously Not Fine: Sergeant Horvath claims he's just a bit out of breath when he sits down after being shot multiple times. When the camera pans back to him seconds later he's died.
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Stress Vomit
 Saving Private Ryan / int_47b21ca6
comment
Stress Vomit: Some of the soldiers in the landing craft losing their cookies on their way to the D-Day landing. Though the sea travel likely didn't help, anxiety about invading France to retake it from the Nazis doubtless contributed to their nausea. In reality, most of the soldiers filled up on a hearty meal before boarding the landing craft, which exacerbated their nausea.
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Butt-Monkey
 Saving Private Ryan / int_47fea76b
comment
Butt-Monkey: Upham spends a sizable portion of the movie as this. Especially apparent once the rest of the squad manages to convince him FUBAR is a German word that he, as their translator, should know, only for him to relentlessly search his German dictionary to no avail. It takes him the better part of the movie to figure it out.
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I Want My Mommy!
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I Want My Mommy!: Near-dead soldiers cry for their mothers with their last breaths. Considering the setting, it's not surprising.
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Scenery Gorn
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Scenery Gorn: The urban battle scenes set in bombed-out, burning French towns.
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Break the Cutie
 Saving Private Ryan / int_4b316d47
comment
Break the Cutie: Played hard with Upham. The movie goes through great lengths to point out how he is far more innocent and naive than his fellow squad members (which is justified considering he's not actually a ranger himself, but is rather on loan from 29th Infantry Division.) He is also notably the only member of the squad other than Miller who thinks that they should not execute Steamboat Willie, whom he vociferously defends, and is the only one to actually treat the German prisoner with some compassion and respect. Cut to him by the end of the film, where he has watched just about every friend he's made get brutally offed with extreme prejudice, including Captain Miller, who is ironically shot by Steamboat Willie, the very man who he had shown mercy when his entire squad demanded blood. When Upham once again takes Steamboat Willie prisoner, he executes him in cold blood, thus making Steamboat Willie the only character in the film Upham has killed.
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Surrender Backfire
 Saving Private Ryan / int_4bc2e65e
comment
Surrender Backfire: After the Normandy landing, two German soldiers put their hands up and try to surrender, only to get gunned down by American soldiers — made even more horrifying if you catch the Bilingual Bonus and realize that they're Czech conscripts. After his men are massacred in the Final Battle, Steamboat Willie attempts to surrender to Upham. The latter shoots him dead.
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Improvised Weapon
 Saving Private Ryan / int_4de1a4f7
comment
Improvised Weapon: The final scene. With the exception of the Sticky Bombs; though only Miller knows about them here, they were in the soldiers' field manual, as he quickly points out. But smacking 60mm mortar shells on a hard surface to activate their fuses before throwing them fits perfectly. During the same scene Horvath encounters a German soldier whose weapon jams. The German soldier decides to throw his helmet at Horvath, which prompts Horvath to retaliate by throwing his helmet too. Both use the opportunity to draw and fire their sidearms at each other.
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Insert Grenade Here
 Saving Private Ryan / int_4ebb6a0
comment
Insert Grenade Here: Fighting the tanks in the final scene.
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Dramatic Sit-Down
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5123df54
comment
Dramatic Sit-Down: The prologue has the old man kneeling in front of the tombstone, overcome by his emotions. Mrs. Ryan, well aware what the official car coming to her house means, crumples to a sitting position on her front porch.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_5313c266
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Bookends
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5313c266
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Book Ends: The film starts and finishes with a shot of the American flag. The D-Day scene starts when Capt. Miller takes a sip of water from his canteen, his hands nervously shaking. Towards the end of the battle, Miller's hands are shaking again as he opens the canteen, this time in shock.
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Verbing Nouny
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comment
Verbing Nouny: The movie is about a mission where the objective is saving Private Ryan.
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Artistic License – History
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comment
Artistic License – History: Spielberg put it best during his keynote address on the 149th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address: "It's not the job — and in fact, it's a betrayal of the job — of a historian to promise perfect and complete recall of the past, to promise memory that abolishes loss. One of the jobs of art is to go to the impossible places that other disciplines, like history, must avoid." With that in mind...invoked The Omaha Beach scene was filmed at Curracloe Beach in Ireland, as filming at Normandy was not an option for several reasons. Although Curracloe resembles Normandy in most important aspects, the actual D-Day landings were timed with the low tide and thus the German bunkers were roughly◊ 800 yards◊ from◊ the water◊. It's important to stress that using Curracloe's shorter beach was a conscious and pragmatic decision by the film crew, and not an "all too common trap" they fell for, as some critics have claimed. At the time of filming the Omaha Beach scene, Spielberg's film crew was neither able to procure nor reproduce the British LCA vehicles that the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions used in the D-Day landings. They instead opted to use the American-made LCM and LCVP boats, of which seaworthy replicas (and two genuine craft) were readily in supply. To keep some form of consistency, it was decided to have those boats crewed by Americans rather than the Royal Navy sailors who piloted the LCAs. Unfortunately, this has drawn criticism (especially among the British) that the movie "intentionally removes all presence of the rest of the Allies" because of this. The Omaha Beach scene is a Compressed Adaptation: taking over the Dog Green sector took three hours, not half an hour. The breakout itself was also a coordinated attack that was primarily carried out by the 119th Infantry Regimental Combat Team under Brigadier General Norman Cota. The scene depicts it as an improvised action carried out by Rangers. The time between one of the Ryans dying on the beach, to their mother being informed, to the mission to rescue James being ordered is three days (Miller gets the mission on D+3). D-Day casualty notifications didn't reach families in the US until the end of June and into July. The sniper on the church tower in the final battle and the scene where Caparzo finds the French family would not have happened in real life. German Army battle doctrine at the time would have dictated the shelling of the tower from afar due to the fact that it could be used for sniping and reconnaissance. Pretty much every other country's military had a similar doctrine for that matter. And while the argument could be made in the latter scene that the Germans simply hadn't gotten around to destroying the tower yet, that begs the question of why they would send a sniper to the tower if they were going to blow it up. Some military jargon is not period correct, such as "rallying point" and "Clear up/Clear down". Mostly attributed to military advisor Dale Dye being an officer during the Vietnam War, not World War II. While the 2nd SS Panzer Division did fight in the American sector during the Normandy campaign, they didn't arrive in the area until late June and early July 1944 due to Allied air superiority and sabotage of railway lines by the French Resistance. A more appropriate unit for the time which the film takes place would be the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, which were composed of SS mechanized infantry similar to Das Reich, albeit relying more on smaller German tanks like the Panzer IV and self-propelled guns like the Marder III and Stug III rather than the Tiger I. Tiger I Heavy tanks were deployed in separate Heavy Panzer Battalions, not alongside Panzer or Panzergrenadier Divisions like in the film. Speaking of these Heavy Panzer Battalions, at the time of the film's events, all of them would be deployed in the British sector, near Caen, alongside several elite Panzer Divisions. German tanks like the Tiger had bulletproof glass to protect their driver's ports from enemy small arms fire. Such glass is absent during the Final Battle, with Captain Miller firing his Thompson into a Tiger's driver port without any glass in the way. Standard Wehrmacht haircuts were 1-2 inches long, whereas they're shaved nearly bald in this movie. A "living history" group of German actors even brought this point up to Spielberg, but it got overruled. The films premise is based on the story of Fritz Niland, an airborne paratrooper who was the last surviving son of his family following D-Day. While he was pulled from combat, no mission was required to rescue him, he went to the 82nd Airborne Division nine days after D-Day to see his brother, Bob, only to find Bob had been killed in action on D-Day. Fritz was then shipped back to England and then the US and reassigned as military police for the remainder of the war (his eldest brother Edward was missing and presumed dead when his B-25 crashed, but he was actually captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in a POW camp until May 1945).
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Hand Signals
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5a8f3057
comment
Hand Signals: Jackson uses them to update Capt. Miller on enemy movements from his vantage point during the climactic battle. During the D-Day assault, Horvath gives a "cease fire" signal but has to shout it several times before the rest of the soldiers around him acknowledge it and stand down.
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Jitter Cam
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5bdffefe
comment
Jitter Cam: During war scenes. It set the tone for the next few decades of action sequences.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5bdffefe
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Man on Fire
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comment
Man on Fire: A flamethrower is used in the final parts of Omaha Beach (and another is seen blowing up early on and incinerating its user and several others), and several men are immolated with Molotov cocktails in the final battle.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_5fe47c0
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Distracted from Death
 Saving Private Ryan / int_5fe47c0
comment
Distracted from Death: On the beach, while trying to drag Lieutenant Briggs to a medic, an explosion knocks Miller down. When he resumes dragging his wounded comrade, it takes him a second to realise that he was just blown in half. Later, Miller speaks to a radio man, turns away for a moment, goes to talk to the radio operator again and sees that the guy is dead (as in, his face is missing). Also, Sergeant Horvath dies like this too.
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Scope Snipe
 Saving Private Ryan / int_607a4594
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Scope Snipe: Jackson nails a German sniper clean through his scope.
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Freeze-Frame Bonus
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Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look really carefully at the beginning of the film, the old man is wearing a 101st Airborne pin on his jacket, which serves as a Spoiler Opening: Miller's squad is drawn from his company of the 2nd Battalion, US Army Rangers while Upham is a clerk on loan from the 29th Infantry Division. Only one major character was in the 101st Airborne: the eponymous Private Ryan.
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Armor Is Useless
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Armor Is Useless: A field doctor fixes up a wounded man at Omaha, only for another bullet to go through the victim's helmet as he works, defeating the purpose of trying to patch him up. This in part has to do with the fact that the steel helmets of the day were designed to stop the shrapnel and glancing shots commonly faced by entrenched infantry, not direct hits. In what appears to be a subversion, another scene in the sequence has a soldier's helmet getting hit with a bullet. However, being a glancing hit, the bullet bounces off the helmet. Then the poor fool takes off his helmet to look at the mark left by the bullet, without putting his head down. No points for guessing what happens next.
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Manly Tears
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Manly Tears: Private Mellish gives in to the stress of battle on the edge of a captured German trench after the invasion battle is over and breaks down in tears. Moreover, Mellish is hit with the realization that the defenders they all shot were Hitler Youth, i.e, teenage boys. His best friend Caparzo looks away out of respect. The final scene, where Ryan - now an old man with his children and grand children at the Normandy Memorial — is crying at Captain Miller's grave. He asks his wife if he lived a good life, echoing Miller's comments to "earn it". The normally reticent and stoic Captain Miller after Wade dies. Miller can't help but break down and cry at the loss of another one of his men (he remembers the precise number of every man who's died under his command,) and promptly does so, hidden away from his men so none of them can see him cracking.
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Big Guy Fatality Syndrome
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Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Subverted. Tough-as-nails, BAR-toting Reiben is one of the three members of the squad to survive - besides Upham and Ryan.
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Made of Plasticine
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comment
Made of Plasticine: The film generally depicts very accurately the effects of modern weaponry on the poor people on the business end of them, particularly explosives and high-calibre ballistics. A 20mm autocannon meant for shooting down aircraft outright decapitates one man and grotesquely maims two other ones. Soldiers are also shown losing limbs due to mortar shells being used as improvised grenades by desperate defenders.
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Don't Call Me "Sir"
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Don't Call Me "Sir": Upham is warned not to salute Captain Miller, as this will draw sniper fire.
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Pre-War Civilian Career
 Saving Private Ryan / int_6b1feeeb
comment
Pre-War Civilian Career: Captain Miller's backstory is subject to a bet in the company, with Reiben suggesting he was built out of spare parts from dead GIs. To defuse the situation after Wade's death, Captain Miller reveals he was a schoolteacher and coached a junior baseball team.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_6b2b3b59
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The Reveal
 Saving Private Ryan / int_6b2b3b59
comment
The Reveal: The company has a pool going on the background of Captain Miller, who never talks about where he's from and what he did before the war. Five bucks get you in the pool. The squad's general belief is that pre-war he was some kind of badass. Before the war he was a school teacher. The old veteran visiting the tombstone is PVT Ryan himself, and the tombstone is for CPT Miller.
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Artistic License – Military
 Saving Private Ryan / int_6eb4e408
comment
Artistic License – Military: Captain Miller is specifically ordered to assemble a small team to find Ryan, but as a captain, Miller would not have any direct involvement in a mission like that, as he would be needed to command an entire company. This gets a Handwave explanation that his company is so mangled from the landings that it's being folded into another company once Miller gets his pick of the litter.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_6fbe3154
type
Shot in the Ass
 Saving Private Ryan / int_6fbe3154
comment
Shot in the Ass: It's not easy to see, but one of the medics helping the battalion surgeon with Wade takes a bullet to his canteen. You see it leak water... then all of a sudden it leaks bloody water. The medic starts scrambling to stuff a few bandages in his pants.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_6fbe3154
 Saving Private Ryan / int_73e7dcb6
type
Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy
 Saving Private Ryan / int_73e7dcb6
comment
Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy: Sgt. Horvath and a German soldier point their rifles at each other point blank, and both are empty. In a moment of Black Comedy they both drop their rifles and throw their helmets at each other, then start racing to unholster their pistols. Horvath wins... then gets shot by unseen assailants, then throws his gun at the guy he already killed.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_73e7dcb6
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7870735b
type
From Bad to Worse
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7870735b
comment
From Bad to Worse: In-Universe. Over the course of less than a minute Ryan’s mother goes from blandly noticing a car approaching. To realizing it might be a telegram, to realizing if a military car is coming it must be more than one of her sons who has been killed in combat. To outright collapsing when she realizes how horrible the situation must be if a high ranking officer and minister are coming to see her.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_7969f21e
type
No One Gets Left Behind
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7969f21e
comment
No One Gets Left Behind: A large aspect of the movie.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7969f21e
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_7a143509
type
Shell-Shocked Veteran
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7a143509
comment
Shell-Shocked Veteran: It's implied that Captain Miller is this from the way that his hand shakes uncontrollably when he's either anticipating the stress of upcoming combat, or concerned about his mission. He works hard to hide it from his squad, but when they finally get a lead on Ryan and he pulls out his map to show them where they need to go, they all see it, and it clearly unnerves them.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_7a163538
type
Brooklyn Rage
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7a163538
comment
Brooklyn Rage: Reiben, who even has "Brooklyn New York" on the back of his jacket.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7a163538
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Saving Private Ryan / int_7a163538
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7cd6822e
type
Significant Name Overlap
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7cd6822e
comment
Significant Name Overlap: When they find the first James Ryan, they tell the poor guy that all his brothers were killed and he's about to go home, but realize that it's all a mix-up when the guy answers in confusion that his brothers are still in school.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_7cd6822e
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Saving Private Ryan / int_7cd6822e
 Saving Private Ryan / int_80251be3
type
How We Got Here
 Saving Private Ryan / int_80251be3
comment
How We Got Here: An old man shuffles through an American military cemetery in Normandy, his extended family following behind. He comes to one particular grave, drops to his knees, and breaks out weeping. Cut back 54 years to June 6, 1944, and the D-Day landing.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_80ed8406
type
Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough
 Saving Private Ryan / int_80ed8406
comment
Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Literally, with Capt. Miller and Sgt. Horvath.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_80ed8406
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_830b0ac9
type
Final Battle
 Saving Private Ryan / int_830b0ac9
comment
After his men are massacred in the Final Battle, Steamboat Willie attempts to surrender to Upham. The latter shoots him dead.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_83f0971b
type
Mexican Standoff
 Saving Private Ryan / int_83f0971b
comment
Mexican Standoff: A group of American and German soldiers unexpectedly bump into each other in a bombed-out village, and each shouts, trying to tell the other side to surrender. Ted Danson shows up and blasts the Germans, ending the standoff.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_85557b38
type
Reality Is Unrealistic
 Saving Private Ryan / int_85557b38
comment
Reality Is Unrealistic: The storming of Omaha Beach. It's been praised, especially by WWII vets who were there, for its accuracy yet it looks very little like what movie audiences have come to expect from a big battle (except for the massive casualties).
 Saving Private Ryan / int_85557b38
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_863fa679
type
What Happened to the Mouse?
 Saving Private Ryan / int_863fa679
comment
What Happened to the Mouse?: While the scenes in the present day show that Ryan eventually married and had several children and grandchildren, the fates of Reiben and Upham after the final battle are not revealed.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_863fa679
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_875615dd
type
Truth in Television
 Saving Private Ryan / int_875615dd
comment
Justified and Truth in Television with the Battle of Omaha Beach, where American soldiers are running headlong into horrific slaughter against machineguns and defenses with no support, and only prevail by sheer weight of numbers. The preceding naval bombardment of the German defenses was largely ineffective, and the ingenious British-made amphibious tanks that proved so decisive at Sword and Juno were sunk in the stormy sea as a result of overly-cautious American command deploying them too far away.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_8797239c
type
Bait-and-Switch
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8797239c
comment
Bait-and-Switch: The way the film is edited at the beginning leads the audience to believe that the old man at the Normandy War memorial is Miller and the graves triggered a flashback of his memories of D-Day. Then Miller dies in the final battle, and it's subsequently revealed the old man is actually Ryan visiting Miller's grave and thinking of everything that Miller and the others did to get him home.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_8797239c
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8879db82
type
Badass Crew
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8879db82
comment
Badass Crew: Everyone in Miller's squad has their moments.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8879db82
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Saving Private Ryan / int_8879db82
 Saving Private Ryan / int_88ebc539
type
Always a Bigger Fish
 Saving Private Ryan / int_88ebc539
comment
Always a Bigger Fish: The sniper kills wave after wave of German infantry without fear of retribution - until he stares down the barrel of a Marder in the final battle. From a clocktower, no less.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_8b606a51
type
There Is No Kill Like Overkill
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8b606a51
comment
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: At one point, the characters throw mortar shells as improvised grenades. Said mortar shells have almost twice as much explosive power as a frag grenade, and most of the throws landed at the feet of single soldiers. In the same battle, the Germans use a Flak 38, a gun designed for shooting down aircraft, against infantry. The results were particularly... realistic.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_8ba5626c
type
Distressed Drink Jitters
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8ba5626c
comment
Distressed Drink Jitters: Following the capture of Dog Green Sector on Omaha Beach, Captain Miller, suffering from a mix of combat fatigue and shell shock, shows his distress with shaking hands while grabbing and drinking water from his canteen. This helps to clue in viewers that Miller is a Shell-Shocked Veteran by this point in time that we are introduced to him.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_8ba5626c
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8d344091
type
Headgear Headstone
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8d344091
comment
Headgear Headstone: After the paratroopers killed near the radar station are buried, Capt. Miller marks their graves with their helmets and M1 rifles. He removes the trigger group from each weapon so they can't be used by the Germans.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_8d344091
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_90f6d157
type
Confessional
 Saving Private Ryan / int_90f6d157
comment
Confessional: During the Omaha Beach scene, a dying soldier recites an act of contrition to a Catholic chaplain: "Oh, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. I detest my sins for having offended thee, O Lord..." This is immediately followed by a shot of a different soldier reciting the Hail Mary in Latin while holding a rosary. (The act of contrition was because the soldier was on death's door, and the chaplain was trying to hurry things along before the soldier perished.)
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_916c72b3
type
Rule of Symbolism
 Saving Private Ryan / int_916c72b3
comment
Rule of Symbolism: Some reviewers have noted the scene during the Final Battle where the Jewish GI is helplessly pinned to the floor in the upstairs bedroom and stabbed to death by a Nazi soldier while a cowardly gentile sits outside, aware of what is happening but reluctant to do anything about to stop it, works well as a Holocaust metaphor. Whether it was intentional or not on the part of the director is unclear.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_916c72b3
 Saving Private Ryan / int_91cab736
type
Major Injury Underreaction
 Saving Private Ryan / int_91cab736
comment
Major Injury Underreaction: Played realistically, as a result of adrenaline and shock. Sgt. Horvath says "Just got the wind knocked out of me" after he's been shot several times, and a GI on Omaha Beach picks up his arm that has been severed at the shoulder and walks away with it.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_92d6110b
type
Grenade Hot Potato
 Saving Private Ryan / int_92d6110b
comment
Grenade Hot Potato: Mellish has to do this when a German "potato masher" lands right in his lap. Done by the German MG42 crew during the machine gun nest assault.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_950bbfa7
type
Take a Third Option
 Saving Private Ryan / int_950bbfa7
comment
Take a Third Option: When the squad finally finds Ryan, he adamantly refuses to leave Ramelle, as it'll leave the defense of the bridge even more undermanned. Miller mulls over his two options: forcibly drag him off the battlefield as was ordered or just leave and say that they couldn't find him. He decides to keep the squad there and helps make further plans to hold the bridge.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9521acf7
type
The Scourge of God
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9521acf7
comment
The Scourge of God: Jackson apparently thinks himself this. Of course a sniper's job is the sort to make people seem a wee bit odd, anyway.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9521acf7
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_953a8ee8
type
Age Cut
 Saving Private Ryan / int_953a8ee8
comment
Age Cut: The epilogue, in which Pvt. Ryan is revealed to be the old man at the cemetery.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_953a8ee8
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_967edd3a
type
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene
 Saving Private Ryan / int_967edd3a
comment
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: There are a couple, in between the sequences of terrifying combat. One has the men talking in a church, with Miller talking about all the men who've died under his command and Wade sharing memories of his mother. There's also the long scene right before the climactic Ramelle fight where they listen to Édith Piaf on a phonograph and talk about home, with Reiben sharing a story of a busty woman trying on a bra in his family's store, and Ryan remembering a comic scene in which he and his brothers caught the oldest brother making out with a girl in the barn.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9751f6eb
type
Tanks, but No Tanks
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9751f6eb
comment
Tanks, but No Tanks: Mostly averted; the Tiger and Marder mock-ups are actually quite good. While the Marders — self-propelled anti-tank guns — were definitely not the kind of thing you should try fighting infantry in an urban environment with, it can be excused as the Germans just using whatever they had on hand at that point in the war. If you know where to look, it's quite easy to tell that the "Tigers" are dressed-up T-34s. The sniper confusingly refers to the Marders as "Panzer tanks, two of 'em" but that's actually Truth in Television: to your average GI all AFVs were tanks and all German tanks were panzers; the only identification they really cared about was shoot/don't shoot. Also, American soldiers had never encountered the Marder before Normandy.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_97926168
type
Rewatch Bonus
 Saving Private Ryan / int_97926168
comment
Rewatch Bonus: In the church, Miller had a conversation with Upham where the corporal quotes Emerson and Miller picks it up without prompting. We later find out why he was so conversant in Emerson: Miller's a schoolteacher, and his subject is English composition.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_97926168
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b06e314
type
Greater-Scope Villain
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b06e314
comment
Greater-Scope Villain: As this is a movie set in World War II, Adolf Hitler himself is the one responsible for all the massacres and destruction that the war entailed; the horrible suffering that Cpt. Miller and his team endure to find and save Ryan all being just a very small cog in the machine. He never appears and is scarcely mentioned, but his influence is easily felt everywhere.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b0f37de
type
Contemplate Our Navels
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b0f37de
comment
Contemplate Our Navels: The film ruminates a lot on the purpose of heroism, duty and valor, like many war films.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b0f37de
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b1e50bd
type
During the War
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b1e50bd
comment
During the War: World War II, to be exact.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9b1e50bd
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9bca83eb
type
Death by Irony
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9bca83eb
comment
Death by Irony: Many of the main characters' fates are ironic in some way. Miller is killed by the very same German prisoner he mercifully spares at the midpoint of the movie. Steamboat Willie (the German who kills Miller) is coldly executed by Upham (the only other American to defend him) after he witnesses him shoot Miller fatally in the chest. Mellish is killed by his own knife (after previously claiming a Hitler Youth knife from a German on Omaha Beach) after a struggle with a Waffen-SS soldier. Wade, the team's medic, is mercy-killed via morphine overdose. Reiben and Upham, respectively the one who vocally disagreed with the mission the most and the other a completely new arrival to the squad with absolutely no combat experience whatsoever, end up the only members of the squad who survive the entire movie and successfully bring Ryan home to his mother safely. Some bureaucrat somewhere decided to weld an iron plate underneath the seat of a general on board a glider. Unfortunately nobody bothered to tell the pilot this rather useful information which of course made an object designed to be as light as possible incredibly heavy causing the glider to crash and kill the General. And most of the others on board as well.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9bcd82c0
type
Took a Level in Badass
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9bcd82c0
comment
Took a Level in Badass: Upham, after his Heroic BSoD. When he snaps out of it, he single-handedly disarms six German soldiers and executes the one he had released earlier.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9c20a410
type
Knife Fight
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9c20a410
comment
Knife Fight: Noted for being rather psychologically disturbing.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9c20a410
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d0730f8
type
Badass and Child Duo
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d0730f8
comment
Badass and Child Duo: Subverted, after Miller attempts to defy it. Miller's squad finds a French family in a partially destroyed house in a combat zone, and the parents try to give their children to the soldiers to take care of, with the father lowering his little girl to them from the second floor of the house. Caparzo steps up and takes the girl despite Miller forbidding it. Then a German sniper shoots Caparzo, which leaves him lying mortally wounded in the street before he could have any meaningful interaction with the child or do anything badass. As soon as the fight stops, the sobbing girl (who didn't want to leave her parents in the first place) climbs back up to her family and is very angry at her father.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: While dealing with Reiben's griping, Captain Miller sarcastically quotes, "I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan, and I'm willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you, Reiben, to ease her suffering." Guess who the sole surviving Ranger is... Along with the Freeze-Frame Bonus mentioned down page, the old man at the Normandy cemetery has very bright blue eyes. A closeup of Captain Miller's eyes later on shows they are green, another hint that it's not Miller in the opening scene. When we meet Ryan, though, his eyes are that same bright blue. Hmm...
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d17b859
type
Made of Iron
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9d17b859
comment
Made of Iron: Sgt. Horvath is shot several times over the course of the Battle of Ramelle to little clear effect, and takes a shot clean through the back while retreating back over the bridge, which only slows him down briefly. He brushes it off with "I just got the wind knocked out of me, I'm fine!" The next time we see him, he's succumbed to his wounds.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9da6354b
type
Reality Has No Subtitles
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9da6354b
comment
Reality Has No Subtitles: Besides the American troops, the movie also encounters German, French, and Czech people as it follows Miller's company. None of the non-English dialogue is subtitled.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9da6354b
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Saving Private Ryan / int_9da6354b
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9dd2329c
type
Camera Abuse
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9dd2329c
comment
Camera Abuse: Dirt on the lens happens many times. There's also blood on the camera lens in the Omaha scene.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9dd2329c
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_9edbda07
type
Elite Mooks
 Saving Private Ryan / int_9edbda07
comment
Elite Mooks: The Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers encountered late in the film. Compared to the Heer Infanterie that Miller's squad comes up against for most of the film, these soldiers are better trained, more heavily armed, and have the support of half-tracks and armored fighting vehicles to boot.
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Framed for Heroism
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Framed for Heroism: A wounded Miller starts firing his pistol at a tank. It blows up... because relieving US Army units have arrived.
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My God, What Have I Done?
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My God, What Have I Done?: Mellish, after surviving D-Day and getting handed a Hitler Youth knife, realising he had just shot a bunch of teenage boys. Truth in Television: Crying in the immediate aftermath of a battle is a fairly common and is mentioned in surviving texts dating back to the times of ancient Sparta.
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Wouldn't Hurt a Child
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During the first sniper scene, the German sniper has an open shot on Caparzo, but doesn't shoot him because Caparzo is holding a young French girl (he is trying to take her to safety at the behest of his squadmates - "She reminds me of my niece, sir!"). It's only when Caparzo puts the girl down to argue with his squadmates that the sniper takes the shot.
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Multiple-Choice Past
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comment
Multiple-Choice Past: Miller, due to the wild speculation of his men.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_a4c37cbe
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Mood Whiplash
 Saving Private Ryan / int_a4c37cbe
comment
Mood Whiplash: All over the place. Many scenes have the mood lightened by Black Comedy or the soldiers telling funny jokes, only for the horror/sadness to kick in right afterwards. One of the more memorable early scenes takes place in the emotional cooldown period following the initial Omaha Beach landings. Adrian Caparzo finds a Hitler Youth knife on the corpse of a young German soldier, and offers it to the (Jewish) Stanley Mellish, evidently in the expectation that, as a Jew, he'd feel pleased with being the first squad member to take a Nazi war prize. Mellish, apparently not the vengeful type, is instead overwhelmed with sadness; not only does the knife remind him of the terrible fate suffered by the Jews under Hitler, but also that he's just been forced to kill a brainwashed teenaged boy who was as much a victim of the Nazi war machine as his own people were. He half-heartedly jokes that the knife is now a "Shabbat challah cutter", before bursting into wracking sobs (still clutching the knife) as the suddenly-chastened Caparzo glumly watches on. Used again later for Mellish with his harrowing death from being slowly stabbed through the heart after a tense and graphic melee with a German soldier. The scene then cuts to Horvath getting into a comical fight with a German where they throw their helmets at each other. One of the more severe moments is also the most understated: after finding a crashed plane and a group of soldiers, the squad splits up bags of dog tags of KIA soldiers and starts going through them, hoping to find Ryan's so that they can end their crazy mission. They start slapping the tags around like playing cards and cracking jokes about some of the names, and they're actually pretty funny, even getting Captain Miller to laugh. Then Wade (the medic) notices what they're doing, and furiously runs over to scoop the tags up, angrily pointing out that they're making light of dead soldiers, in full view and earshot of a column of soldiers (who presumably are the dead guys' comrades) marching by. The whiplash is exceedingly strong. A masterful example which manages to be funny, heartwarming and sad occurs during Reiben's story about a woman with large boobs. It starts off as a low brow raunchy tale about Reiben convincing the woman to wear a bra that's too small and the other soldiers laugh. Reiben escalates it into more sexual territory before suddenly mentioning how the woman told him, in an almost motherly fashion, "If you get scared or see anything over there that upsets you, I want you to think about [my boobs]." The men immediately become subdued and silent as the sexy humour vanishes, all of them reminded of things that have happened in the war that have traumatised and upset them. Like the above, Ryan telling Miller about how his brother's attempt at romancing an ugly girl that went downhill due to himself and the other brother interfering, complete with a burning barn, goes from funny to sad when Ryan recalls that the week after, the brothers started being drafted by the Army. Averted when the “Wrong Private Ryan� finds out that he’s not the private Ryan they’re looking for. He isn’t relieved at all, rather is now terrified that something has happened to his young brothers and he’s overcome with the realization of just how far from home he really is.
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The Art of Bra Removal
 Saving Private Ryan / int_a5b971c9
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The Art of Bra Removal: Alluded to but not seen when the night before the final battle Ryan tells Miller a story about the last evening the four brothers were together. The three youngest peep at the eldest having trouble getting his girl's bra off.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_a6b14ee1
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Hollywood Tactics
 Saving Private Ryan / int_a6b14ee1
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Hollywood Tactics: There are a number of "tactically unsound" moments throughout the film, but in many cases they're Justified and even Truth in Television. Some examples— The assault on the radar tower's machine gun nest. The tactics used are historically accurate and sound for an infantry squad — it's a three-pronged attack that has pairs of runners dash from cover to cover, covered by Reiben's Browning Automatic Rifle until they come to grenade range. However, Miller could have employed Jackson's sniping skills instead, which he had previously used at Omaha Beach to eliminate an MG-42 nest. Not doing so is the whole point of this scene — to show that combat weariness is getting to Miller, and that he's making bad decisions. Although bell towers are great sniping spots, they (and other obvious vantage points) were often demolished by both sides with extreme prejudice for that very reason — not to kill snipers already in them, but to deny access to them in the first place. Furthermore, any sniper would know it is never advisable to take position in an isolated place that does not have a means of rapid escape, and Jackson's fate provides an excellent demonstration of why. During the Battle of Ramelle, the Germans field lightly-armored and vulnerable tank destroyers in addition to the heavy Tiger tanks. This actually serves to demonstrate the state of Germany's forces toward the end of the war — they're using vehicles unsuited for urban combat because it's all they have on hand. Also during the Battle of Ramelle, the Panzergrenadiers that should be ahead of them are in fact hiding behind them as cover. This kind of thing actually happened in the real war, either due to poor timing, poor training, or stark terror on the infantry's part. Captain Miller also baits the German tanks in the form of Reiben on the back of a Kettenkrad with his BAR, further adding to the disarray. Upon viewing the Battle of Ramelle, the real-life Major Richard Winters (of Band of Brothers fame) told Spielberg he would've blown up the bridge as a first resort then have Engineers replace it later. Spielberg told him it wouldn't have been dramatic enough for a movie. Instead, the Airborne and Rangers rig it to blow as a last resort if they can't hold the line. Justified and Truth in Television with the Battle of Omaha Beach, where American soldiers are running headlong into horrific slaughter against machineguns and defenses with no support, and only prevail by sheer weight of numbers. The preceding naval bombardment of the German defenses was largely ineffective, and the ingenious British-made amphibious tanks that proved so decisive at Sword and Juno were sunk in the stormy sea as a result of overly-cautious American command deploying them too far away.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_a6c69bd
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MacGuffin
 Saving Private Ryan / int_a6c69bd
comment
MacGuffin: The eponymous Ryan. And later the bridge at Ramelle.
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America Won World War II
 Saving Private Ryan / int_a7c904c3
comment
At the time of filming the Omaha Beach scene, Spielberg's film crew was neither able to procure nor reproduce the British LCA vehicles that the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions used in the D-Day landings. They instead opted to use the American-made LCM and LCVP boats, of which seaworthy replicas (and two genuine craft) were readily in supply. To keep some form of consistency, it was decided to have those boats crewed by Americans rather than the Royal Navy sailors who piloted the LCAs. Unfortunately, this has drawn criticism (especially among the British) that the movie "intentionally removes all presence of the rest of the Allies" because of this.
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Shell-Shock Silence
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Shell-Shock Silence: Happens twice, and is a possible Trope Codifier.
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The Dead Have Names
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ac7471b0
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The Dead Have Names Also serves to humanize Ryan immediately: rather than quickly apologizing for their deaths, he wants to know who they were so that he can bear that burden.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_acecb17d
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Chekhov's Skill
 Saving Private Ryan / int_acecb17d
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Chekhov's Skill: Capt. Miller comments that he used to coach a kids baseball team at the school he worked at. Later during the Battle of Ramelle, he's show pitching mortar shells as improvised grenades with deadly accuracy.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_ad1db87c
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Oh, Crap!
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ad1db87c
comment
Oh, Crap!: Jackson, right before he gets blown up by a German tank. Likewise on the part of The Squad when The Medic requests morphine. He is the only one that can help them treat his wounds, something he can't do if he is given morphine. They realized then they had moved from saving him to making his death less painful. Which immediately follows one from The Medic himself when they tell him where the exit wound is, and he realizes that he's going to die. Mellish gets one during the Ramelle battle when a German grenade flies through a hole in the wall of the house he is defending and lands right in his lap. He gets another during a tense melee with a German soldier when the larger man pins him to the floor, seizes the knife and very slowly inches it down closer to his chest. Nobody comes in to save him.
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Take a Moment to Catch Your Death
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ae3a3b36
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Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: A soldier on Omaha Beach has a bullet go right through his helmet without touching him. He takes off his helmet and stares at it in wonder — and is plugged right in the unprotected forehead.
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What You Are in the Dark
 Saving Private Ryan / int_afc6df04
comment
What You Are in the Dark: When Miller and his squad come across a German machine gun nest set up to ambush any approaching Americans, his squadmates point out that they can easily bypass the Germans and nobody would ever know that they were there. However, Miller decides to take out the machine gun nest because he can't live with himself knowing that the next group of troops to go through the area might get ambushed by the machine gun. Also, Miller's squad could have easily just scrubbed the mission and returned to base saying they couldn't find Ryan, but they ultimately decide to stick through it to the end.
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Bottomless Magazines
 Saving Private Ryan / int_b2cdd776
comment
Bottomless Magazines: In the climactic battle of Ramelle, Jackson shoots seven Germans without reloading, even though the M1903 Springfield can only hold five rounds. Inverted with Miller's M1911 pistol which fires six shots before locking empty, one less than the actual capacity.
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Acronyms Are Easy as Aybeecee
 Saving Private Ryan / int_b2f78aac
comment
Acronyms Are Easy as Aybeecee: A Running Gag throughout the film is how all of the other soldiers, especially Miller's team, are amused about Private Upham does not understands the word "FUBAR" . The novelization by Max Allan Collins even spells it as foobar so the audience won't catch wise quickly, and adds a scene where Upham thumbs through a German dictionary trying to find it after being told it's German word as a lark. It's not until the Final Battle that he is told that it's the acronym for "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition".
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_b39b94da
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Born Lucky
 Saving Private Ryan / int_b39b94da
comment
Born Lucky: Reiben says this about himself as the final battle in Ramelle begins. This is not an empty boast, as he does not sustain a single injury of any kind over the course of the entire film, and survives every combat engagement he is involved in.
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Too Dumb to Live
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Too Dumb to Live: That one soldier on Omaha Beach just has to take off his helmet right away to see the damage from a bullet on it. On the battlefield. With bullets flying every which way. Without ducking down first. You can see where this is going. Of course, considering what his mental state must have been at the time, it's completely understandable (and in his defense, the result would have been the same regardless of whether he was wearing his helmet, as they were to protect against shrapnel, not direct bullet hits; continuing to expose himself was the mistake).
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Ignored Expert
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comment
Ignored Expert: General Marshall's aide (an unnamed colonel, played by the film's military advisor, retired USMC Captain Dale Dye) speaks against trying to rescue Ryan, saying that if a rescue team is sent, the most likely outcome is all the men being killed. Except for Reiben, this is exactly what happens.
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Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?
 Saving Private Ryan / int_bce16d24
comment
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: The Squad had a sniper with them and a clear shot of the nest, yet no one suggests he just shoot them then and there and avoid running directly at the nest.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_bdc94cd9
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Compressed Adaptation
 Saving Private Ryan / int_bdc94cd9
comment
The Omaha Beach scene is a Compressed Adaptation: taking over the Dog Green sector took three hours, not half an hour. The breakout itself was also a coordinated attack that was primarily carried out by the 119th Infantry Regimental Combat Team under Brigadier General Norman Cota. The scene depicts it as an improvised action carried out by Rangers.
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Alliterative Name
 Saving Private Ryan / int_be009bbc
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Alliterative Name: Richard Reiben
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Anti-Hero
 Saving Private Ryan / int_beb9a361
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Anti-Hero: It's implied that killing surrendering enemies is a very common occurrence within the 2nd Ranger. At least three surrendering soldiers (the two Czechs and the one German who got singled out for some reason) are killed during the Omaha storming. Horvath has to shout multiple times for his men to stop firing on the surrendering Germans in the pillboxes' trench system. When Miller refuses to execute Steamboat Willie, the squad nearly mutinies.
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New Meat
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New Meat: Upham never fought before Miller asked him to join the squad and hasn't handled a weapon since basic training.
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True Companions
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c313d43a
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True Companions: A clear cut Band of Brothers example. The squad even begins to accept Upham towards the end. Which makes it all the more tragic that he is one of only two squad members to make it to the end of the movie.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_c335b9ec
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Irony
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c335b9ec
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While dealing with Reiben's griping, Captain Miller sarcastically quotes, "I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan, and I'm willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you, Reiben, to ease her suffering." Guess who the sole surviving Ranger is...
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Boom, Headshot!
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c3585f4a
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In what appears to be a subversion, another scene in the sequence has a soldier's helmet getting hit with a bullet. However, being a glancing hit, the bullet bounces off the helmet. Then the poor fool takes off his helmet to look at the mark left by the bullet, without putting his head down. No points for guessing what happens next.
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Soldiers at the Rear
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Soldiers at the Rear: When Miller needs a new translator, the only one available is a green corporal who's spent the entirety of the D-Day landings at a desk drawing maps and hasn't fired his weapon since basic training.
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Hope Spot
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c3c18143
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Hope Spot: During the Battle of Ramelle, Captain Miller and his troops are holding their own against the German column, having knocked out one Tiger and both Marders. Then the Germans roll in a 20mm antiaircraft gun and repurpose it as an antipersonnel gun... with horrifying results.
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Needle in a Stack of Needles
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Needle in a Stack of Needles: Said after the Omaha Beach landing. What are the odds of finding one soldier in a huge army in the middle of a battle?
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Cunning Linguist
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c4942576
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Cunning Linguist: Upham, who also serves as a Translator Buddy. He speaks limited French and German, which is better than the rest of the squad who only speak English.
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Bulletproof Vest
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Bulletproof Vest: The helmet case.
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Gunship Rescue
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c558da6a
comment
Gunship Rescue: The Cavalry at the ending.
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Offscreen Moment of Awesome
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c5b47b36
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Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The raid on the radar site that leaves Waid fatally injured is mostly (un)seen by Upham looking through a telescope.
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Shout-Out
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c75df49a
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Shout-Out: Upham is chastised for saluting Captain Miller, as it identifies him as an officer to the German snipers. In Forrest Gump, the roles are reversed, as Lieutenant Dan chastises Forrest (Tom Hanks' other notable live-action performance as a soldier at the time) for saluting him, as it makes him a target for the Vietcong snipers.
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Retirony
 Saving Private Ryan / int_c8a8c595
comment
Retirony: Just as the soldiers find Ryan, they need to engage in a battle for him. There's also Reiben's hilarious story about a customer in his mom's shop, just before he shipped out, showing him her boobs for comfort. And he's one of the few who survive.
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Canned Orders over Loudspeaker
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comment
Canned Orders over Loudspeaker: The Nazi propaganda tower, shouting out things to encourage the Germans and discourage the Americans.
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Introdump
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Intro Dump: Reiben, Jackson, Melish, Caparzo, and Wade are all introduced at once as what is left of Miller's platoon rallies behind a little cover on the beach. That's followed by a quick cut to Wade trying to save another member of the squad, establishing that he is the medic.
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Spoiler Opening
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comment
Spoiler Opening: See Freeze-Frame Bonus above.
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Dude, Not Funny!
 Saving Private Ryan / int_cdd835ce
comment
Dude, Not Funny!: At one point, the squad is joking about all the dog tags they’ve found and are going through (looking to see if one of them is Ryan's), until Wade walks over and chastises them for doing this right in front of Airborne Soldiers who are likely squad mates of the guys they’re joking about.
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type
Just Plane Wrong
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ce1c73e2
comment
Just Plane Wrong: Downplayed. While the P-51 Mustang was capable of carrying bombs and rockets for ground attack, most P-51s during the Normandy invasion were relegated to escort fighter duty for the 8th Air Force. A more appropriate aircraft would have been the P-47 Thunderbolt, of which most units flying the type during the Normandy invasion were assigned to the 9th Air Force, which was assigned the role of ground attack and close air support for the invasion forces.
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War Memorial
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comment
War Memorial: The movie is bookended with scenes of the elderly Ryan visiting the American Cemetery in Normandy in the present day.
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Hoist by His Own Petard
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d397657d
comment
Hoist by His Own Petard: One of the soldiers in the American squad during the final battle lights his sticky bomb too early, thus he ends up blowing himself up instead of the Panzer he intended to put the sticky bomb on.
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type
What the Hell, Hero?
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d39e327f
comment
What the Hell, Hero?: A good part of the squad calls Miller out on his decision to take out the machine gun nest, even though they could have easily bypassed it or had Jackson take out the entire crew with his sniper rifle. In the ensuing direct assault, Wade ends up getting killed.
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type
That's What I Would Do
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d48c0702
comment
That's What I Would Do: The Squad comes under attack by a sniper in a French village. The squad's sharpshooter Jackson spots a tall church tower and says, "That's where I'd be." (Also Foreshadowing in that Jackson does later use a church tower and dies there).
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d48c0702
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Saving Private Ryan / int_d48c0702
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d5c7b415
type
Elites Are More Glamorous
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d5c7b415
comment
Elites Are More Glamorous: The main characters are Army Rangers and Ryan is a member of the 101st Airborne. Played with with Upham, who is not a Ranger himself, but on loan from the Twenty-Ninth Infantry and has absolutely no combat experience. And boy, it shows.
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type
Bulletproof Human Shield
 Saving Private Ryan / int_d7e68c39
comment
Bulletproof Human Shield: During the Omaha Beach scene, medics use the body of a dead soldier to successfully shield a wounded man from machine gun fire.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_d7e68c39
 Saving Private Ryan / int_db33bc7e
type
Ludicrous Gibs
 Saving Private Ryan / int_db33bc7e
comment
Ludicrous Gibs: The entire film has many instances, including the famous D-Day scene. The part where the Germans use a 20mm anti-aircraft flak gun on American infantry leaves a harrowing aftermath. One soldier trying to use an improvised explosive - a shit-ton of Comp B (TNT) stuffed into a sock with a simple fuse, has it blow up in his face while he's trying to attach it to a German tank. There is Not Enough to Bury in the aftermath.
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type
Red Herring
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dbca2c99
comment
Red Herring: At the beginning of the film, a World War II veteran collapses in front of a grave and apparently is reliving WWII, and pans to Captain Miller, initially implying that the veteran was Miller as an old man. It is later revealed that Miller was actually killed during the war, and that the veteran was none other than the eponymous character of the film.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_dbca2c99
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type
Inelegant Blubbering
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dc031fde
comment
Inelegant Blubbering: Absolutely terrified that the GIs are going to shoot him for killing Wade, Steamboat Willie is reduced to groveling and babbling in broken English, stereotypical American slang and how much he loves America. The sight is pathetic.
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type
Sparing the Final Mook
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dc1b5212
comment
Sparing the Final Mook: When the Rangers try to take down a machine gun nest, they capture a single German alive, but between the fact that Wade was shot and killed in the action and that the German is likely to get picked up by his own side, most of the men are inclined to just kill him. Upham argues for sparing the captive, and eventually Miller agrees. Their former captive comes back in the final battle, killing several Americans including Miller.
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type
Death Notification
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dc3df63a
comment
Death Notification: A montage early on as Mrs. Ryan receives a series of death notices for invokedall but one of her sons.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dc3df63a
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type
Just Following Orders
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dca97045
comment
Just Following Orders: When Caparzo tells Miller that taking the French child to the nearest safe place is the only decent thing to do, Miller angrily says, "We're not here to do the "decent thing"! We're here to follow fuckin' orders!"
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dca97045
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1.0
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Saving Private Ryan / int_dca97045
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dcbe8a6e
type
Chekhov's Gunman
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dcbe8a6e
comment
Chekhov's Gunman: The Nazi machine-gunner who shot Wade and was released by the Americans returns later in the final battle. He's the one who ends up killing Miller. The last 15 minutes of the film could be characterized as going down with Chekhov's Guns blazing.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_dcbe8a6e
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1.0
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Saving Private Ryan / int_dcbe8a6e
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type
Sergeant Rock
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e061d153
comment
Sergeant Rock: Horvath.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e061d153
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1.0
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Saving Private Ryan / int_e061d153
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type
Cigarette of Anxiety
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e3847ee8
comment
Cigarette of Anxiety: Everyone is waiting nervously for the Germans to show up at Ramelle. Upham takes a long drag on a cigarette, and then chuckles and says that when he first shipped out, he and the other office clerks were offered packs of cigarettes and Upham said no, because he didn't smoke.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e3847ee8
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Saving Private Ryan / int_e3847ee8
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e3c36782
type
Call-Forward
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e3c36782
comment
Call-Forward: "That's where I'd be."
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e3c36782
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Saving Private Ryan / int_e3c36782
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e4b69188
type
Very Loosely Based on a True Story
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e4b69188
comment
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Based on the Niland brothers. The Sullivan brothers, another sad Real Life tale, are name-dropped, explaining why the Ryan brothers were split up into different units. The key differences are that the Niland brothers were, in fact, all killed on the same day (or close enough) and the surviving Niland brother was indeed a paratrooper, but he was easily evacuated a few days after D-Day, with no search and rescue operation needed. He was even able to say goodbye to his friends in the Airborne before he left. Additionally, at the end of the war a second Niland brother was discovered alive in a Japanese POW camp.
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Saving Private Ryan / int_e4b69188
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e50987a9
type
Reconstruction
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e50987a9
comment
Reconstruction: Of War Movies. Following The Vietnam War, most American war movies focused on the futile or dehumanizing nature of war. This movie definitely has a War Is Hell mentality with much more visceral violence than Spielberg's other efforts in the action genre; the sheer brutality of the D-Day landings and honest portrayals of shell-shocked soldiers clearly communicate the horrors of war. Yet, this all only served to further highlight the valor of those fighting. Several of the more heroic Military and Warfare Tropes are played without irony. Captain Miller is a classic Father to His Men, and none of the military leaders are portrayed as foolish, cowardly, mean-spirited or dangerously gung-ho. Though the soldiers mock Upham for trying to apply the Band of Brothers trope to them, they all essentially interact this way. Finally, the movie is bookended by scenes at Normandy, which honors the sacrifice of American soldiers, alongside a huge American flag. This was probably buttressed by the film coming out after both the 50th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and the quick glorious American victory against an unambiguously in-the-wrong foe in 1991 during The Gulf War.
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type
Gorn
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e542d889
comment
Gorn: Several instances in the film, but most of it is found in the Omaha Beach sequence (which almost borders on Splatter Horror territory). Since that's the way it was, it's just honest filmmaking. The soldier calmly searching for his torn-off arm, for example. There are many anecdotal stories of World War II vets who watched this film and said that the depiction of bloody Omaha was spot on. Canadian actor James Doohan fought at Juno Beach and remarked that the Omaha scene was "exactly what it was like", and Juno in real life wasn't half the slaughter Omaha wasnote The British developed amphibious "Duplex Drive" tanks and provided them to the allies for the assault; at Juno these tanks made it to the beach and provided invaluable fire support and cover, while at Omaha these tanks sunk as they were deployed into the sea too far out, and the few that reached the beach were quickly destroyed..
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The Oner
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e7e558
comment
The Oner: Some long takes help the battles get more engaging.
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type
Moe Greene Special
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e81f5639
comment
Moe Greene Special: Jackson gives a sniper a round through his scope.
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Epic Movie
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e9784ee6
comment
Epic Movie: The iconic Omaha Beach scene alone would qualify. It was done with over 1000 extras and filmed over a period of four weeks. The rest of the film also has elements of this, with a near 3 Hour runtime with countless more extras and large sets.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_e9784ee6
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_ea92aeb0
type
Concealment Equals Cover
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ea92aeb0
comment
Concealment Equals Cover: Averted. In the final battle, Mellish and Henderson shoot through a wall killing at least one German soldier on the other side. The Germans properly shoot back through the wall and hit Henderson in the throat.
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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
 Saving Private Ryan / int_eb8f64a6
comment
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Private Caparzo attempts to take a little French girl named Jacqueline with the rest of the squad, at the urging of her parents, because she reminds him of his niece, with the rest of the squad yelling at him not to do it. He gets shot by a sniper for his troubles. That German that Upham convinced Miller to spare and caused the mutiny crisis? He ends up killing Miller later.
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Explosive Stupidity
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ec9d3eb7
comment
Explosive Stupidity: One soldier lights his sticky bomb too early and takes too long with trying to plant it on an approaching tank. This results in the bomb blowing him into pieces.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ec9d3eb7
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type
Naïve Newcomer
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ed05cfee
comment
Naïve Newcomer: Upham, a rear-echelon soldier who is drafted into Miller's squad because he speaks French and German. He has no combat experience and doesn't fit in with the other hardened veterans that go off to find Pvt. Ryan.
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type
Dwindling Party
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ed68bcc9
comment
Dwindling Party: Out of the original squad sent to find Ryan as well as the entire paratrooper force defending the town of Ramelle, only two members of the original squad and Ryan himself survive when Allied reinforcements finally arrive. Miller's squad: Pvt. Caparzo: Shot by a sniper in Neuville and bleeds out before anyone can help him. Medic Wade: Mortally wounded by Steamboat Willie and given a morphine overdose by Horvath so he'll die in less pain. Pvt. Jackson: Gets a Marder's 75mm shell to the face in Ramelle's bell tower. Pvt. Mellish: Stabbed in the chest by a German soldier. Sgt. Horvath: Shot repeatedly while retreating over the bridge, dies after taking cover. Capt. Miller: Shot in the chest by Steamboat Willie at the bridge; dies while talking to Ryan. From the paratroopers (the named ones at least): Cpl. Henderson: Shot in the throat just before the death of Pvt. Mellish. Pvt. Parker: Blown up alongside Pvt. Jackson in Ramelle's bell tower. Pvt. Toynbe: Either killed by the 20mm cannon or shot to death in the retreat across the bridge.
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Mundane MacGuffin Person
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ee5bd902
comment
Mundane MacGuffin Person: Private Ryan. The search for him in the warzone is the plot.
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Homage Shot
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comment
Homage Shot: Omaha Beach includes citations to Gallipoli, Catch-22 and Ran.
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War Is Hell
 Saving Private Ryan / int_f1d6144a
comment
War Is Hell: The Omaha Beach opening pulls no punches at showing what battle during World War II was like. Both the Americans and the Germans regularly slaughter each other in highly grotesque and even morally-outrageous ways, and there's never a sign that there's any good to be taken from the experience. After the opening, the soldiers frequently express a desire to just end the conflict and\or go home, and most dialogue just mentions how the world is downright insane during a war. All this while the devastating carnage continues. However, the film also makes a point that the brutality and suffering the soldiers all endure makes them all the more heroic for it. The ending basically paints the deaths of Miller and his men as a Heroic Sacrifice.
 Saving Private Ryan / int_f1d6144a
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_f3626b09
type
Mercy Kill
 Saving Private Ryan / int_f3626b09
comment
Mercy Kill: Inverted with the burning Germans on D-Day ("Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!"). Played straight by the Germans who shoot the unfortunate victims of the 20mm meatgrinder. Also played straight with Wade, who gets shot in the liver after a firefight deep behind enemy lines miles from any surgery or help, and realizing he's finished, asks the squad for "a little extra morphine", i.e, to overdose him.
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 Saving Private Ryan / int_fc225bec
type
Artistic License – Physics
 Saving Private Ryan / int_fc225bec
comment
Artistic License – Physics: One notable scene from the beach landing is two Rangers struggling underwater being killed by bullets from a German heavy machine gun (an MG42, firing 7.92mm cartridges). This has been repeatedly demonstrated to have been impossible, as the bullets would slow to zero velocity after traveling through three feet of water due to a phenomenon known as pressure dragnote Among others, the Mythbusters demonstrated this. In fairness, Spielberg has admitted being aware of this, but felt that Rule of Drama made it acceptable as a means of demonstrating how nearly hopeless the situation was.
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Shown Their Work
 Saving Private Ryan / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: The film did a very accurate recreation of the D-Day landings with many veterans praising the realistic portrayal of the action.
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Saving Private Ryan

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Shakespeare in Love
seeAlso
Saving Private Ryan
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
A Real Man Is a Killer / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Acronyms Are Easy as Aybeecee / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
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Action Prologue / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
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After-Action Healing Drama / int_b5f08143
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Age Cut / int_b5f08143
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Ain't Too Proud to Beg / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Always a Bigger Fish / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
America Won World War II / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Armored Coffins / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Arrow Cam / int_b5f08143
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Backed by the Pentagon / int_b5f08143
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Badass and Child Duo / int_b5f08143
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Badass Teacher / int_b5f08143
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Band of Brothers / int_b5f08143
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Bathos / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Bearer of Bad News / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Big Badass Battle Sequence / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Big Guy Fatality Syndrome / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Blast Out / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Blood Is Squicker in Water / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Blood-Stained Letter / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Boom, Headshot! / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Bottomless Magazines / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Brooklyn Rage / int_b5f08143
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Bulletproof Vest / int_b5f08143
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California Doubling / int_b5f08143
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Canned Orders over Loudspeaker / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Chandler's Law / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Cheated Death, Died Anyway / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Chromosome Casting / int_b5f08143
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hasFeature
Cold Sniper / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Color Wash / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Combat Breakdown / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Communications Officer / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Concealment Equals Cover / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Confessional / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Content Warnings / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Correlation/Causation Gag / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Cradling Your Kill / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Cunning Linguist / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Death Notification / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Deliberately Monochrome / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Dies Wide Open / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Dig Your Own Grave / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Dissonant Serenity / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Distracted from Death / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Distressed Drink Jitters / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Don't Call Me "Sir" / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Don't Split Us Up / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Dramatic Sit-Down / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Dwindling Party / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Elites Are More Glamorous / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Epic Movie / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Especially Zoidberg / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Event Title / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Every Bullet is a Tracer / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Every Car Is a Pinto / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Explosive Stupidity / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Fatal Family Photo / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Films of 1995–1999 / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Final Battle / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Firing One-Handed / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Flamethrower Backfire / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Floating Head Syndrome / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Framed for Heroism / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Frankenstein's Monster / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Gay Bravado / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Grave-Marking Scene / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Grenade Hot Potato / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Gunship Rescue / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Hand Signals / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Hat Damage / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Headgear Headstone / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Hero of Another Story / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Hold the Line / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Hollywood Tactics / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Holy Hitman / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Homage Shot / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
I Want My Mommy! / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Impromptu Tracheotomy / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Improv / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Innocence Lost / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Insert Grenade Here / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Instant Death Bullet / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
It's Going Down / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
It's Raining Men / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Jitter Cam / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Kill It with Fire / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Knife Fight / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Last Request / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Ludicrous Gibs / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Major Injury Underreaction / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Man Bites Man / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Man on Fire / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Mexican Standoff / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Military Salute / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Moe Greene Special / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Mood Dissonance / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Mundane MacGuffin Person / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Naïve Newcomer / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Named Like My Name / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Needle in a Stack of Needles / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
New Meat / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Not Worth Killing / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Obligatory War Crime Scene / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Obstacle Exposition / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Obviously Not Fine / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
One Bullet Left / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Outranking Your Job / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Pendulum War / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Political Overcorrectness / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Pre-Battle Banter / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Pre-War Civilian Career / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Pretty Fly for a White Guy / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Rage Breaking Point / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Ranger / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Real Is Brown / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Real Men Love Jesus / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Reality Has No Subtitles / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Record Needle Scratch / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Right-Handed Left-Handed Guns / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Scope Snipe / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Secondary Character Title / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sergeant Rock / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Shoot the Medic First / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Shoot the Messenger / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Shooting Superman / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Shot in the Ass / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Significant Name Overlap / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sniper Duel / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Soldiers at the Rear / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Southern-Fried Private / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sparing the Final Mook / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Spoiler Opening / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sticky Bomb / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Sticky Situation / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Storming the Beaches / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Stress Vomit / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Strolling Through the Chaos / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Stunt Casting / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Surrender Backfire / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Survivor Guilt / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Take a Moment to Catch Your Death / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Tanks, but No Tanks / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
That's What I Would Do / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The '40s / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Blank / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Cavalry / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Dead Have Names / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Engineer / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Magnificent Seven Samurai / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Medic / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Oner / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Quiet One / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Siege / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Thousand-Yard Stare / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Tokyo Rose / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Tourist Bump / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Underage Casting / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Underequipped Charge / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Urban Warfare / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Verbing Nouny / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
War Crime Subverts Heroism / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
War Memorial / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Weapon Tombstone / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Weapons Understudies / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
You Are Already Dead / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
You Are in Command Now / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Cliché Storm / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
Late to the Punchline / int_b5f08143
 Saving Private Ryan
hasFeature
The Centerpiece Spectacular / int_b5f08143