Steven Spielberg's 1998 epic war film Saving Private Ryan won acclaim for its groundbreaking, gut-wrenching depiction of combat. Set during and immediately after the D-Day landings, the film centers on a platoon pulled from regular duty to search out, rescue, and return home Pvt. Ryan, the sole surviving brother of a fictional group of sibling soldiers. This Smithsonian Channel documentary asks whether the film was realistic, both in its premise, and in its accumulated details of combat. Saving Private Ryan was partially inspired by the tragic WWII story of the five Sullivan brothers who were all killed on the same ship (leading to the Sole Survivor rule—an effort to assure that at least one family member would survive to guarantee the family's posterity). A more immediate inspiration for the film was the case of the four Niland brothers in WWII, which parallels Saving Private Ryan in many details. The film credits Spielberg for accurately depicting the hellish conditions on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, as many men bailed over the side of the Higgins boats to avoid withering Nazi machine gunfire, only to drown due to their heavy equipment. Less believable are scenes where American soldiers are killed underwater by bullets (bullets slow down and don't follow a predictable trajectory). Other details examined here include the accuracy of long distance sniper's shots, and the deadly shock waves from explosions, which could cause temporary or permanent deafness or even death from "shock lung" (bursting blood vessels in an otherwise untouched soldier). While not common, the film's rescue mission is plausible, and the sole survivor policy continues in the military today. Mixing clips from Spielberg's film, dramatic re-creations, and gun demonstrations, this will appeal to both movie and WWII buffs. Recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)
The Real Story: Saving Private Ryan
(2011) 45 min. DVD: $14.99. Smithsonian Channel (avail. from most distributors). SDH captioned. ISBN: 978-1-5317-0226-7. Volume 33, Issue 2
The Real Story: Saving Private Ryan
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