May 27, 2024 • 5 mins
Memorial Day is when we remember and pay tribute to those who have served and sacrificed in the U.S. military in order for us to be free. In the film world, no movie does that better than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN .
Director Steven Spielberg has said he made Schindler's List for his m other and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN for his father. His father Arnold served in India and the Pacific in World War II in the Signal Corps. The film puts the compassion for a mother who has lost three sons on display alongside the horrors of war and the price of freedom. Please listen to my commentary on this great film and reflect on and appreciate the sacrifices of American soliders on this Memorial Day.
Thanks for listening and please follow the podcast so you never miss what's going on here on TRUE FILM FAN. Thanks!
John Wesley Downey
JohnDowney2@iheartmedia.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm John Weissy Downey, and thisis a special holiday presentation of true film
fan Memorial Day is the day setaside for remembrance and appreciation of those American
military personnel who have served and sacrificedfor the rest of us and helped preserve
our freedom, and of the moviesthat serve that same function. For me
personally, no movie does that betterthan Saving Private Ryan. Not only is
(00:24):
it one of the greatest movies evermade and one of the greatest war films
ever made, it's maybe the bestfilm ever to convey on the screen what
real life combat is like. It'sthe movie that, in its year of
release in nineteen ninety eight, ignitedan interest in World War II among younger
generations, and it put a spotlighton those who served in it around the
(00:44):
world. If you don't know thestory of Saving Private Ryan, it's quite
simple and it's virtually contained in itstitle. Three sons of the Ryan family
in Iowa have died in combat,and their mother will receive all three telegrams
in one afternoon. When Armie Brass, the chief of Staff, and learns
of this, they decide that thelast living son, played by Matt Damon
(01:06):
parachuted into France on D Day,must be located and sent home to America
because the Army has a sole survivorpolicy. This is real. This wasn't
part of the basic story of savingPrivate Ryan is fiction, but the policy
they're describing here, the sole survivorpolicy, was real. It was implemented
in World War II when five membersof the Sullivan family died together while serving
(01:33):
in a single unit. They decidedthat that wasn't going to happen again.
No family should sacrifice all of theirsons, so, in an effort to
avoid another Sullivan family tragedy, theBrass decides that they're going to send a
team headed by Captain John Miller playedby Tom Hanks, to locate Ryan.
All they know is he's somewhere inFrance. While the mission appears heroic at
(01:53):
first glance, the team immediately questionsthe wisdom of risking their lives to save
one life. After all, asone of them points out, everybody on
the team trying to save Ryan hasa mother as well, and this begins
one of the themes in the film, War is Complicated. There are no
easy answers. The film's opening scenedepicts the D Day Invasion on June sixth,
(02:15):
nineteen forty four. It presents thisevent on a scale that is unprecedented
in movies, and it is ano holds barred presentation. It's very visceral
and intense, gut wrenching and eyeopening. It lets you know that saving
Private Ryan will be unflinching in showingyou the face of war and its many
complications and moral dilemmas. Interestingly,the movie explores not just courage under fire,
(02:42):
but at times it touches on thesubject of cowardice as well. While
the story's gold is achieved, andin that sense there is a happy ending,
it is achieved with a great dealof sacrifice and some bittersweet irony.
To say the least. The performanceis by all of the actors in the
cast are uniformly great. When Isaw this film in the theater at the
(03:04):
end, when the credits were on, I got up with my friend to
leave, and we looked up inthe upper seats of the theater and there
were about a dozen older men,clearly World War Two veterans, many of
them wearing VFW hats things like that. They were crying. Apparently, they
definitely saw something of themselves in thisfilm. I can recall on the internet
in nineteen ninety eight when Saving PrivateRyan came out, many many young people
(03:29):
around the world under the age offorty had ongoing conversations on the net talking
about fathers and grandfathers who had participatedin World War Two but would never talk
about it, but after seeing SavingPrivate Ryan, they understood why it was
just too painful. The opening andclosing scenes of the film were filmed at
(03:49):
the Normandy Cemetery and Memorial in Colville, France, very close to where the
events in the film took place atleast the initial invasion. Other locations were
on the coast to Ireland and inEngland. Saving Private Ryan was a huge
commercial success. It earned about fourhundred and eighty five million dollars worldwide on
a budget of about seventy million dollars, and in doing research for this commentary,
(04:13):
I found at least twenty seven majorawards before I stopped counting. It
won Best Picture and Best Director awardsat the Golden Globes. It won Academy
Awards including Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing,
and Best Sound Design, and StevenSpielberg won for Best Director. However,
(04:35):
controversially, it did not win BestPicture. That went to Shakespeare in
Love, and there was a greatdeal of controversy about that. Spielberg did
win the Director's Guild Award for BestDirector, and it won lots of other
awards from film critic groups. Itwon British Academy Awards, it won Toronto
Film Festival Awards. It was anaward winner. It was a juggernaut,
(05:00):
and it's an unforgettable film. Alot of people I know that have seen
Saving Private Ryan say they liked itand it's an impressive film, but they
would never watch it again because itis emotionally just to devastating. To sum
it up, Saving Private Ryan conveysthat old saying war is hell, and
it also conveys the saying that freedomis not free, as the Tom Hanks
(05:23):
character tells Private Ryan earn it.Freedom must be earned, and this movie,
above all others, teaches us thatlesson. I'm John Weissy Downey and
this is True Film Fan. Ifyou like our commentaries, reviews and interviews,
please subscribe for free to True FilmFan get the podcast all the time,
(05:44):
and we appreciate you listening
I'm John Weissy Downey, and thisis a special holiday presentation of true film
fan Memorial Day is the day setaside for remembrance and appreciation of those American
military personnel who have served and sacrificedfor the rest of us and helped preserve
our freedom, and of the moviesthat serve that same function. For me
personally, no movie does that betterthan Saving Private Ryan. Not only is
(00:24):
it one of the greatest movies evermade and one of the greatest war films
ever made, it's maybe the bestfilm ever to convey on the screen what
real life combat is like. It'sthe movie that, in its year of
release in nineteen ninety eight, ignitedan interest in World War II among younger
generations, and it put a spotlighton those who served in it around the
(00:44):
world. If you don't know thestory of Saving Private Ryan, it's quite
simple and it's virtually contained in itstitle. Three sons of the Ryan family
in Iowa have died in combat,and their mother will receive all three telegrams
in one afternoon. When Armie Brass, the chief of Staff, and learns
of this, they decide that thelast living son, played by Matt Damon
(01:06):
parachuted into France on D Day,must be located and sent home to America
because the Army has a sole survivorpolicy. This is real. This wasn't
part of the basic story of savingPrivate Ryan is fiction, but the policy
they're describing here, the sole survivorpolicy, was real. It was implemented
in World War II when five membersof the Sullivan family died together while serving
(01:33):
in a single unit. They decidedthat that wasn't going to happen again.
No family should sacrifice all of theirsons, so, in an effort to
avoid another Sullivan family tragedy, theBrass decides that they're going to send a
team headed by Captain John Miller playedby Tom Hanks, to locate Ryan.
All they know is he's somewhere inFrance. While the mission appears heroic at
(01:53):
first glance, the team immediately questionsthe wisdom of risking their lives to save
one life. After all, asone of them points out, everybody on
the team trying to save Ryan hasa mother as well, and this begins
one of the themes in the film, War is Complicated. There are no
easy answers. The film's opening scenedepicts the D Day Invasion on June sixth,
(02:15):
nineteen forty four. It presents thisevent on a scale that is unprecedented
in movies, and it is ano holds barred presentation. It's very visceral
and intense, gut wrenching and eyeopening. It lets you know that saving
Private Ryan will be unflinching in showingyou the face of war and its many
complications and moral dilemmas. Interestingly,the movie explores not just courage under fire,
(02:42):
but at times it touches on thesubject of cowardice as well. While
the story's gold is achieved, andin that sense there is a happy ending,
it is achieved with a great dealof sacrifice and some bittersweet irony.
To say the least. The performanceis by all of the actors in the
cast are uniformly great. When Isaw this film in the theater at the
(03:04):
end, when the credits were on, I got up with my friend to
leave, and we looked up inthe upper seats of the theater and there
were about a dozen older men,clearly World War Two veterans, many of
them wearing VFW hats things like that. They were crying. Apparently, they
definitely saw something of themselves in thisfilm. I can recall on the internet
in nineteen ninety eight when Saving PrivateRyan came out, many many young people
(03:29):
around the world under the age offorty had ongoing conversations on the net talking
about fathers and grandfathers who had participatedin World War Two but would never talk
about it, but after seeing SavingPrivate Ryan, they understood why it was
just too painful. The opening andclosing scenes of the film were filmed at
(03:49):
the Normandy Cemetery and Memorial in Colville, France, very close to where the
events in the film took place atleast the initial invasion. Other locations were
on the coast to Ireland and inEngland. Saving Private Ryan was a huge
commercial success. It earned about fourhundred and eighty five million dollars worldwide on
a budget of about seventy million dollars, and in doing research for this commentary,
(04:13):
I found at least twenty seven majorawards before I stopped counting. It
won Best Picture and Best Director awardsat the Golden Globes. It won Academy
Awards including Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing,
and Best Sound Design, and StevenSpielberg won for Best Director. However,
(04:35):
controversially, it did not win BestPicture. That went to Shakespeare in
Love, and there was a greatdeal of controversy about that. Spielberg did
win the Director's Guild Award for BestDirector, and it won lots of other
awards from film critic groups. Itwon British Academy Awards, it won Toronto
Film Festival Awards. It was anaward winner. It was a juggernaut,
(05:00):
and it's an unforgettable film. Alot of people I know that have seen
Saving Private Ryan say they liked itand it's an impressive film, but they
would never watch it again because itis emotionally just to devastating. To sum
it up, Saving Private Ryan conveysthat old saying war is hell, and
it also conveys the saying that freedomis not free, as the Tom Hanks
(05:23):
character tells Private Ryan earn it.Freedom must be earned, and this movie,
above all others, teaches us thatlesson. I'm John Weissy Downey and
this is True Film Fan. Ifyou like our commentaries, reviews and interviews,
please subscribe for free to True FilmFan get the podcast all the time,
(05:44):
and we appreciate you listening
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