Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 film set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II. When it is discovered that three of the four brothers of the Ryan family have been killed in action and that their mother is to receive all three telegrams on the same day it is ordered that the last son, Private James Francis Ryan who has been missing in action, is to be found and returned home. This task has been assigned to Captain John H Miller (Tom Hanks) who assembles six of his men to accompany him. Throughout the journey, the team of men face many hardships and after a short time, Caparzo is shot by a sniper and dies. Though the men are able to take down the sniper, the death takes a mental toll on the men. While they are under direct orders, now their men are dying to save one. The men also struggle with the fact that Private Ryan is missing in action and that they do not simply have to retrieve and deliver him home; they must first find him.
They do eventually find a Private Ryan, but it turns out to be the wrong one and they continue their search. As the men wage on they experience many other obstacles and attempt to continue to do what they can for the war at the same time. When they come in contact with German soldiers, a gun fight ensues and another one of the men, Wade, is fatally wounded. After the shooting has ceased, they discover a surviving German but Captain Miller saves him from execution. This causes many of the men to question Miller’s leadership and even pushes Reiben to consider desertion.
After many battles and close calls, Captain Miller and what is left of his team find Private Ryan defending a bridge in Ramelle. Upon learning of his brothers’ deaths, the deaths of the men sent to find him, and his dismissal from all duties, Ryan is distressed. He can’t believe he’s lost his brothers, but at the same time he does not think it’s fair that he should be dismissed. He decides to stay “with the only brothers [he has] left.”
Throughout the movie the men struggle with the orders they’re given and their instinct of self-preservation. They are risking their lives just to spare one man while also having to protect themselves from Germans throughout the entire journey. On the other hand, Private Ryan is pretty much “ordered” or at least granted the right to go home, but then does not obey and chooses to continue to risk his life. It’s easy to understand both perspectives. In the beginning of the journey Captain Miller and the team were being sent to discharge a soldier. They may have felt some sort of jealously towards Ryan and that they were risking their lives just so he could return home. From Ryan’s perspective, these men just risked their lives, all his brothers have passed away, and now he cannot desert the rest of them; he can’t just turn his back on everyone.
Saving Private Ryan. Perf. Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Edward Burns. DreamWorks SKG, 1998. Film.