Analysis of Saving Private Ryan

Maribel Carrillo

Dr. Harvey

Film Paper

Analysis of Saving Private Ryan

In the following paragraphs I will analyze the film Saving Private Ryan directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998 starring Tom Hanks. I choose this movie because I enjoyed the family based values that the movie represented by trying to salvage what could be saved from a family that had already lost so much.

As I said above, I choose this movie because the whole point of this film was to save a family by saving the last son still alive. The Ryan brothers, four of them, were all serving in the army and three of them died relatively close to each other. When this was discovered, General George Marshall ordered the rescue and delivery of the last Ryan brother. Tom Hanks who plays Captain John Miller was sent out for this mission with his team. The entire crew consisted of eight soldiers and the soldiers were not pleased to be going after “one” man and in the process sacrificing some of their own men. While Captain Miller and his men set out, they encounter some problems like losing one of their men and finding the wrong Ryan soldier. Once they do find the right Ryan brother in Normandy, they come across yet another problem. Ryan refuses to leave his place next to his fellow soldiers and nothing can change his mind. Meanwhile the Germans are closing in on Normandy and Captain Miller has a decision to make. Go back with out Ryan and fail at his mission or stay and help fight the Germans and then take Ryan back with him. He finally decides to stay and help when Germans invade Normandy. I like the fact that when watching this movie, a lot of the facts such as the dates and events seem to be pretty on cue with what we have learned from history. When reading facts on the Second World War, we can visualize this movie and see how the movie makers were correct in their facts and planning of the movie. Now this actual movie was not based on a true story but there was a story of a family of five brothers, the Sullivan brothers, who all died when a boat was sunk and all the males in the Sullivan family died in World War II. Saving Private Ryan was based upon a mother and a government who did not want