A historian analyzes D-Day scenes from Saving Private Ryan in which American soldiers clear out German bunkers, and the film gets a few things wrong. Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed World War II drama was released in 1998, chronicling the journey of Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his unit across occupied France to bring home the last surviving brother of the Ryan family. Saving Private Ryan was a major success and has gone down as one of the best war movies of all time, due in no small part to its depiction of the American landing at Omaha Beach.
In a recent video for Insider, World War II historian John McManus breaks down the laters parts of Saving Private Ryan‘s Omaha Beach sequence in which Miller and his unit clear out German bunkers before moving onto a fortified trench system.
According to the historian, the film gets a few key things wrong, including falling into the “dumb German” trope, in which the German soldiers don’t act logically while under attack. Check out selections of McManus’ analysis below, as well as his score for these specific sections of Saving Private Ryan out of 10:
“This is not my favorite scene in the movie. Quite far down the list. You have here the sort of classic example of the ‘dumb German.’ Someone has just thrown a grenade into your bunker, and you’re just going to sort of beetle out of there without looking to see who’s out there?
“There’s also not, strictly speaking, any real evidence that we ever had a flamethrower team clear out a pillbox or bunker with their weapon at Omaha Beach on D-Day.
“This is really well portrayed in terms of the terrain. There were trenches like this. The Americans were trying to clear them out. This last part here, with the Americans catching them like fish in a barrel, those who fought around the Vierville draw would have loved to have had a scenario like that on D-Day, but to my knowledge, there just wasn’t a lot of that where the Germans were caught that badly.
“One of the things I really like in this clip, too, is that it portrays the non-Germans who are in German uniform at Omaha Beach. In this case, I think these guys were Czech, and they’re trying to explain that to the Americans, saying ‘Don’t shoot.’ And ironically, that’s what gets them shot. Now, if we’re thinking about 100% accuracy, it’s far more likely that the Americans would have encountered non-Germans who came from Russia, Ukraine, or Poland. Those were the three primary ethnic groups that you would’ve had in uniform for the Germans at Omaha Beach on D-Day.
“I’d give it an eight [out of 10].”
Saving Private Ryan’s D-Day Sequence Is Still A Triumph
Why The Steven Spielberg Film Stands The Test Of Time
Though the film isn’t 100% accurate, Saving Private Ryan‘s D-Day sequence still succeeds as an astonishing and harrowing portrayal of war. Even if select details are wrong here and there, the opening Omaha Beach sequence, especially, has been said to capture what actual combat felt like to those involved in World War II. Spielberg’s film depicts the chaos and the horrors of wartime fighting in a way that no other film had at that point, and there’s an argument to be made that it hasn’t been topped since.
This accuracy when it comes to the soldiers’ experience is exemplified by the fact that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs actually set up a hotline not long after the film was released because the D-Day sequence was triggering episodes of PTSD among Veterans. This not only speaks to Spielberg’s skill as a filmmaker, but also his commitment to authenticity with Saving Private Ryan. To this end, he also sent much of the core cast to military boot camp to prepare for their roles.
Saving Private Ryan‘s D-Day sequence may be one of the standout parts of the film, but there are a handful of other sequences throughout Miller’s journey that are also impactful. The ending battle, for example, may not be of the same scale as the Omaha Beach assault, but it’s arguably just as intense and effective. Though Saving Private Ryan makes some deviations from real history, it was and remains one of the most powerful war movies ever made.
Source: Insider
