Saving Private Ryan is clearly an anti-war film, and you can tell that just by reading the plot summary. It's about the futility of warfare, the injustice of sending so many inexperienced soldiers to their deaths, and the pure terror that's bred on the battlefield.
In showing the reality of war in all its messiness, following young men unsure of their decisions and mostly just full of fear, Saving Private Ryan reminds the audience that many people who fought in WW2 were just regular people with no military background.
In the epic World War II film, Saving Private Ryan (1998), Army Captain and Ranger John Miller (Tom Hanks) lies dying on the battlefield from gunshot wounds, as Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) looks on in horror and grief. Miller pulls Ryan close and exhorts him with his dying breaths, saying, “Earn this! Earn it!”
No matter the situation--war or peace, authentic leadership and a clear sense of purpose are the key ingredients making the difference. Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) was faced with the almost impossible mission to lead a squad of soldiers to find and bring Pvt. Ryan back home.
Saving Private Ryan confronts us with a conflict between the morality of warfare and the morality of decency. Spielberg shows us clearly the point of each, and its hold on us. He does not resolve the conflict; nor does he try to reconcile the two moralities.
Timothy Upham's role in Saving Private Ryan symbolizes the loss of innocence and psychological trauma experienced by soldiers in war. Upham's intellectual curiosity and sensitivity set him apart from the other soldiers in Captain Miller's unit, making him unfit for combat.
Saving Private Ryan set a new standard for war films, with its intense action sequences and complex characters, making it the blueprint for modern wartime movies. Black Hawk Down borrowed plot devices from Saving Private Ryan, showcasing the influence of Spielberg's film on subsequent war movies.
Q: What did Upham say when he captured the German soldiers at the end of the film? A: Upham (stopping the running group): "Drop your guns--all of you, drop them!" Steamboat Willie then said, "I know this soldier.
Basically the title means that they are going to save a low ranked soldier named Ryan. EDIT: Quora also offers the answer to your comment: It emphasizes the thrust of the movie - that great human expense was made to rescue one 'lowly' soldier, because all his brothers had been killed.
Miller pulls Ryan in with a shaky hand and tells him, "James... earn this. Earn it." Seconds later, Miller is dead, leaving the young Private Ryan with an impactful message he will never forget.
The movie includes several themes that helps captivate the audience and truly help people understand just how horrible war is. The idea of losing loved ones frightens even the toughest of us, and being lost in a foreign land scares many others.
Yes, this is a very violent movie, with very realistic depictions of violence and war. At times this movie is truly horrific, Spielberg refuses to cut away or turn the camera to spare you having to witness the pain and trauma these soldiers endured. BUT THAT'S THE POINT.
In this case, Mellish was both, and Upham was too afraid of getting his hands dirty to save his life. It wasn't even a gunfight. The risk to Upham was nil. But he was too afraid of getting his hands dirty.
As other people have noted, the German spares Upham because the former is a human being who has just survived an encounter with Mellish that would traumatise even the most battle hardened soldier, and we can assume that quite understandably, he has no desire to commit further close-quarters violence once he judges that ...
In the end, Upham shot 'Steamboat Willie' not because he wanted to “prove” that he was not a coward… but because his idealism had perished alongside the rest of his unit.
Saving Private Ryan presents a truncated version of what happened on Omaha Beach. And the film has come under fire for a few often-cited inaccuracies – particularly for side-lining the other Allied nations involved in D-Day. But it's hard to argue with actual veterans' responses to the film.
Upham is a coward in Saving Private Ryan because he is emotionally unfit for battle. All the signs in the movie point toward this fact, so as frustrating as his inaction ultimately is, expecting an act of heroism from him is to completely misunderstand his character.
He breaks down and cries after Caparzo gives him a Hitler Youth Knife taken off the dead body of a very young German soldier. The words uttered by Mellish after he receives the knife are: "And now it's a Shabbat Challah cutter (a Jewish bread knife), right?"
Military Career. Upham was awarded his first Victoria Cross for his outstanding bravery and leadership in May 1941 in Crete. His second Victoria Cross came after his bravery during the First Battle of El-Alamein in Egypt in 1942. The battle left him severely wounded, and he was captured by the Germans.
Because it was a Hitler Youth knife, and it though it represented something so evil, it still didn't change the fact that they just killed some very young soldiers, basically children.
What does the German say to Mellish when he stabs him?
The SS soldier then starts plunging the knife towards Mellish's chest, who pleads with the German to stop. The blade slowly sinks into Mellish's chest as the SS soldier says in untranslated German "Give up, you have no chance. Let us end this. It's easier for you, way easier.
Other combat movies do not play on this emotional chord, at least not with such deliberate intention. Saving Private Ryan proves that films about men and manly actions can also be tear-jerkers. Men not only cry, but they also deserve to be cried over, profusely.
What is the most violent scene in Saving Private Ryan?
The first 27 minutes of the film depict soldiers landing on Omaha beach in Normandy. This is the most graphic and intense part of the film, and the sequence contains bloody, graphic violence, which can be disturbing.
As our heroic medic slips away, he calls out for his mother and tearfully utters that he wants to go home before finally expiring. Wade's death is the most brutal scene in "Saving Private Ryan" because of how the young man goes out — not with a bang, but with a tearful cry to his mother.
