Mum's Monday: Saving Private Ryan

On the 6th June it will be 75 years since the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches in France. This film starts off with the beach landings. The first approximately half hour, from the graveyard scenes until after the beach scenes, are so well done and realistic, cleverly using amputees when it needed to show limbs being blown off bodies. As a result of it being so good, I personally cannot watch this part of the film.

It is heart-warming to see that the army authorities realised that three letters on the same day would be devastating. However, all is not lost hence the name of this film.

There is an amusing part where the interpreter tries to carry all his equipment including his ‘Typewriter’ Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) holds up a pencil to him.

An interesting part to hear is when Private Carparzo (Vin Diesel) tells Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies) not to follow army procedure, as it makes the Captain a target. This certainly makes you think.

This film high-lights the thin line between helping a family (humanity) and following orders. The horrors of war are the way it was.

During the second world war it was said that ‘Walls have ears’. In this case a wall literally did have, the discovery after a wall came down certainly makes you see why there were such phrases and more during the conflict.

So when looking for someone, with so many men fighting there is bound to be two or more with the same/similar names. If you are to pass on bad news it is best to give it to the right person.

It is sad to see the squad become what seems to be immune to the horrors of war, when they momentarily forget that each dog tag is a life lost.

Sometimes the simple ways are the most effective, just yell.

The horrors of war continue, it is good to see that sometimes it got to the soldiers and they just needed a bit of ‘Time out’. It is also shows that someone would do and say anything to save their own life, sincere or not, Captain Miller has a mission to complete and gave him the benefit of the doubt, however misguided in warfare. As tensions mount, Captain Miller opens up about his life and the mission, even if it is for his own benefit. It is lovely to hear that basically not killing other soldiers makes Captain Miller feel closer to home.

Having found Private Ryan (Matt Damon) although it is good to see his squad regarded as family, I still feel for his mother.

It is good to see the rescue squad help out and offering new ideas.

After some fun, yet tragic story telling a rumble starts. The suspense is just enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

This film is so intense that it shows that if you just make ‘One’ shot, make it count. This is both seeing a justice served and compelling.

So did Private Ryan earn it? Answer yes, a big YES! A lovely ending.

A big thank you to Roy Hudson for helping with this Blog post.