Interesting Facts on the Movie Saving Private Ryan

Introduction

Saving Private Ryan, written by Robert Rodat and direct by Steven Spielberg, is registered as an epic war file of America which was released in the year 1998. The plot of this movie revolves around the attack of Normandy during World War II. Cherished for its realistic climax and breathtaking graphics, this movie portrays an impressive beginning of 27 minutes and dramatically illustrates the Omaha Beach attack that took place on 6th June 1944.

In short, Saving Private Ryan is focused on 8 soldiers namely, Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Adam Goldberg, Jeremy Davis, Vin Diesel and Giovanni Ribisi and their quest for the paratrooper James Francis Ryan (character portrayed by Matt Damon) who was the last surviving sibling among 4 leading servicemen.

History

This article highlights some interesting, “behind the scene” facts that are unknown to most fans.

Firstly, as everyone knows, Saving Private Ryan earned approximately US $481.8 million all over the world and was titled as the highest earning movie of 1998. No doubt, it was nominated in for the Academy Awards and Spielberg bagged the Academy Award for Best Director, for the second time.

Although most people believe that Saving Private Ryan is a fiction film however some factual elements have been incorporated in the movie. For example, the storyline regarding Ryan family has been derived from historical facts. As portrayed in the movie, both the kids of Ryan’s were sent on war. While the first son was killed on the war day itself, the second who was a paratrooper, had been missing since then. One similar incident was recorded in the history where one brother died, the second one was lost and the third was sent for his rescue.

Likewise, the character of General George C. Marshall (performed by Harve Presnell), actually existed in history.
An interesting thing to note about Saving Private Ryan, in the first 27 minutes was that approximately 30 soldiers who were hired for the Omaha Beach sequence were actually handicapped. Prosthetic limbs were used in scenes where they were shown fighting and the next few scenes were shot without limbs to create a realistic effect that they actually lost their limbs during war.

Features

The producers went extravagant in shooting the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan and it cost them around $11 million. 1000 extra characters where hired for this scene.

It was a special appeal from the director that theater managers were asked to amplify the sounds of Omaha Beach scene so as to add a touch of realism to the movie. Moreover, the gates were shut down as soon as the movie began and nobody was allowed to enter or exit the theatre while it was being played on the screens.

The invasion of Normandy which was depicted as a pivotal scene in Saving Private Ryan was actually one of the major turning points in the history of Europe.

Comments

Most Recent Articles