Saving Private Ryan

original title:
Saving Private Ryan
other titles:
(Der Soldat James Ryan)
country / year of production:
USA / 1998
original length:
170 min. , color
premiere:
21 July 1998, Westwood, Mann Village & Brum Theaters
genre:
adventure
based on:
Stephan E. Ambrose. Band of Brothers. New York: Simon & Schusters, 1992.
director:
Steven Allan Spielberg
film script:
Robert Rodat
producer:
Steven Allan Spielberg , Ian Bryce , Mark Gordon
cinematographer:
Janusz Kaminski
editor:
composer:
John Williams
cast (role):
Tom Hanks (Captain Miller) , Matt Damon (Private James Francis Ryan) , Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (Staff Sergeant Michael Horvath) , Edward J. Burns Jr. (Private 1st Class Richard Reiben) , Barry Robert Pepper (Private Daniel Jackson) , Tom Hanks , Joerg Stadler , Dennis Farina , Vin Diesel , Ted Danson , Matt Damon , Adam Goldberg , Barry Robert Pepper , Edward J. Burns Jr. , Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. , Max Martini
more:
plot synopsis:
During the allied landing in Normandy two of the four Ryan brothers are killed. The third dies on New Guinea fighting against the Japanese. When the army administration realizes that the fourth and youngest brother is missing behind enemy lines in France, it atarts a rescue mission. A small group of soldiers under the command of Captain Miller, an experienced Ranger officer, is ordered to find Ryan and bring him home safely. It is supposed to be Miller's last mission before he will go on leave. Soon his soldiers began to doubt whether it makes sense to risk all of their lives to one single soldier.
When they finally find Ryan, the group has lost two its members. Instead of taking the opportunity to return home Ryan refuses to be led home. He is decided to stay with his unit which suffered severe losses. They are assigned to defend a bridge at all costs in order to slow down the avancing German troups. Miller and his men have no choice but join the group in defending the bridge if the want fulfill their mission. Eventually during the decesive battle Miller dies on the bridge in Ryan's arms in the same moment that American troups arrive as a reenforcement.
keywords:
D-Day , comradeship , infantry , MIA - missing in action
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
Christopher Caldwell. „Spielberg at War“. In: Commentary 106 (1998), 4, 48-51.

Tom Carson. „...and the Leni Riefenstahl Award for Rabid Nationalism Goes to ...(Saving Private Ryan)“. In: Esquire 3 (1999), 131, 70.

Jean-Pierre Coursodon. „‘Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan’. La mort et rien d’autre“. In: Positif 452 (1998), 40-43.

Franz Everschor. „Stahlgewitter am Horizont. Eine neue Kriegsfilmwelle rollt an“. In: Film-Dienst 11 (1998), 51, 48-50.

Megan Grant. „War is Hell? (war according to Hollywood)“. In: Arena Magazine (1999), 70.

David E. James. Soldat James Ryan. Die Männer, der Auftrag, der Film. Nürnberg: Burgschmiet-Verl., 1998.

Neil McDonald. „Revitalizing the Combat Movie“. In: Quadrant March 3 (1999), 43, 71.

Thomas F. Schneider. „Die Re-Installation eines `neuen´ alten Kriegsbildes. Steven Spielbergs `Saving Private Ryan´ und die deutsche Sicht auf die `Realität des Krieges´“. In: Ursula Heukenkamp (Ed.). Schuld und Sühne? Kriegserlebenis und Kriegsdarstellung in deutschen Medien der Nachkriegszeit (1945-61), Bd. 2. Rodopi: Amsterdam/ Atlanta. 2001. 813-827.

Thomas F. Schneider. "Giving a Sense of War As It Realy Was" - Präformation, Marketing und Rezeption von Steven Spielbergs `Saving Private Ryan´. In: Heinz-Peter Preußner (Ed.). Krieg in den Medien. Amsterdam/ New York: Rodopi, 2005 (Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Neueren Germanistik; 57), 351-390.

Adi Wimmer. "`Soldat Ryan´. Der Anspruch des cineastischen `Realismus´". In: Thomas F. Schneider (Ed.). Kriegserlebnis und Legendenbildung. Das Bild des `modernen´ Krieges in Literatur, Theater, Photogrphie und Film, Bd. 3: `Postmoderne Kriege?/Krieg auf der Bühne/Krieg auf der Leinwand. Osnabrück: Rasch, 1999, 1063-1074.
remarks:
Compare: http://www.sproe.com/
availability:
VHS, DVD, CD