Saving Private Ryan Essay

Starship Troopers is a classic novel written in 1959 by retired Navy Lieutenant Robert Heinlein. At the time that it was published Starship Troopers was controversial yet won the Hugo Award in the 1960’s for being one of the best science fiction novels. One of the controversies surrounding the book is the main character’s history teacher’s view on violence and how violence “has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” The book had such a cult following that there has been a film adaptation. It is a work of literature that has stood the test of time and is being read in our schools today. This may not seem shocking for such a classic book, but being science fiction it is a true accomplishment.

The film Saving Private Ryan, is about a United States Army Captain (CPT) and his chosen squad that are tasked with locating and recovering Private (PVT) Ryan, after the news of his three brothers’ deaths reaches the Army. The CPT chooses a few specific men to aid him with this mission.

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 film directed by Steven Spielberg dealing with the World War II Battle of Normandy. During its intense first twenty minutes, the film depicts the brutal, gruesome realities of what happened on June 6, 1944 on Omaha Beach. The historically accurate portrayal of the D-Day invasion by Allied Forces is the background for the fictional plot of a rescue mission for a single soldier, Private Ryan. The story of Ryan, his family, and his rescue is not true but it is symbolic of the heroism and terrible losses suffered in this crucial military campaign. Historian Steven Ambrose was a consultant on the film and views this kind of fiction as “the kind that illuminates truth rather than diminishing it.”

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 movie directed by Steven Spielberg about World War II Invasion of Normandy. This film, was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won many other awards among the cast, picture, and so forth. Spielberg did a great job on getting a lot of things correct to what happened in real life. Although, the movie isn’t entirely correct with certain scenes and topics.

In the film, the soldiers fought very hard. They went through a lot in this war. They had to defend themselves and their territory. Often times they ran low on food and water. A ton of men died everyday when they were fighting. The soldiers had to deal with orders that were not necessarily smart orders. They had to protect themselves against Germany.

Beginning my love of reading an early age, I was never the type of child who was drawn to fictional stories. As an 8 year-old child in West Virginia, I was recognized by the local library for my love of biographies, autobiographies and recollections of world events. This love has continued throughout my adult life, desiring to read novels such as “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore rather than watch the major motion picture “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. Even though the motion picture received multiple awards, when reading the recollection of Mr. Moore’s accounts, the feeling of loss, distress, anxiety and fear can be felt in each word that he has written while reliving this horrendous war.

all which I think was a big mistake by the director. I did not feel

gives us simple a wide view, so that we can see lot more scenes and

eyes when he picks up his helmet and puts it on his head and the

“The effective war film is often the one in which the action begins after the war, when there is nothing but ruins and desolation everywhere…”

I read the section about the battles that took place during WWII. It brought to my minds that in real life. There are more important things during a war than finding a private Ryan. War is a huge event and the little things like finding a person to keep the family name going is too small to include in war history. This is what separates the movies from the real life. Another difference is they don't show the actual planning it takes to start an attack or the inelegance that is needed to set up the perfect defense barrier to prevent the advancement of the enemy soldiers. A real battle can last days, weeks, months, or years, compared to movie war that lasts not even a day and has one guy or one platoon take on the entire other side. The casualties of real war is tremendous, rather than movies where you see almost the same characters in the whole movie accomplishing some of the most intense tasks with only one or two dying. Also, in movie war you don't see the other side's horror. You think all the opponents are bad horrible people that deserve to die, when they are just soldiers doing their job and the only reason we are fighting them is because of a bad leader or government. So in the movies every enemy deserves to die and should be shown no mercy, but the actual thing about that is that the enemy is just like any other soldier. And furthermore when the good guys lose a battle in a

There is one scene where the three flag raisers entered a crowded stadium before a football game which typified how an image of war can be so different to the reality of war. The flash photography, the cheering, the roar of the crowd all went to John Bradley’s head and he had flash backs of the fighting on Iwo Jima and the genuine heroes that he had left behind. This scene contrasts what the reality of war, were all the men are dug in and fighting for there life, and the images of war. Ira Hayes says “I know it’s a good thing, raising the money and that, ‘cause we need it. But, I can’t take them calling me a hero. All I did was try not to get shot. Some of the things I saw done, things I did, they weren’t things to be proud of, you know?” Clint Eastwood shows continuously, through his characters physiology shows how one single photo can be so different what really makes up the battle of Iwo Jima. The aim was to get war bonds; the minds of the three main characters through Clint Eastwood’s directing showed a strong insight to how the reality of a war and an image of war can be so contrasting.

In 1998, Spielberg came out with Saving Private Ryan, which captured war in gory and shocking detail as his soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. This again shows his willingness to deal with larger, more serious issues.

The beaches were indeed covered with bodies, and the water was red with the blood of the slaughtered soldiers. The recreation of this battle by Steven Spielberg has succeeded in bringing this war, this battle in particular, out of the history books and into larger than life color on America’s movie screens. Everyone I interviewed already knew of the terrible acts of the Germans during World War II, but hey had not, however, ever really been able to comprehend the degree of loss that many families experienced. They had also never really been able to picture the battles of the soldiers themselves in quite the detail that Saving Private Ryan provided them with. This is one movie that should not be negatively reviewed because of the degree of violence. Saving Private Ryan is about a horrible war, that took place because of a madman’s craziness, and this war was an ugly thing that happened very much like this movie portrayed it. The continuous gore is difficult to watch at times, but leaves the viewer with a greater appreciation of their nation’s military, and the sacrifice of the soldiers who serve willingly.

Mark Bowden is a teacher, columnist for Atlantic Monthly, playwright, and a writer. His book Black Hawk Down A Story of Modern War a world wide bestseller that spent more than a year in the New York Times bestseller list and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Bowden also worked on the script for Black Hawk Down, a film version of the book, directed by Ridley Scott. Bowden is also the writer of the bestseller Killing Pablo The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw in 2001, which tells the story of the hunt for Colombian drug lord billionaire Pablo Escobar. He is the author of Doctor Dealer published in 1987, Bringing the Heat made in1994, Our Finest Day made in 2002, and also Finders Keepers