Into the Breach: 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) (V)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Writer:

Chris Harty (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Normandy | Invasion | France | Drama Filmmaking

Cast

Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
Tom Hanks	...	Himself
Matt Damon	...	Himself
Edward Burns	...	Himself
Tom Sizemore	...	Himself
Stephen Ambrose	...	Himself (as Stephen E. Ambrose)
John C. Harrison	...	Himself (as Judge John Harrison)
Arthur 'Dutch' Schultz	...	Himself
Barney Oldfield	...	Himself (as Col. Barney Oldfield)
James Colella	...	Himself
Barry Pepper	...	Himself
Arnold Spielberg	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Dale Dye	...	Himself ) (as Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.)
Jeremy Davies	...	Himself
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Himself

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Movie Connections:

References Empire of the Sun (1987)

A Moving Tribute To The WWII Soldiers

"D-Day was THE pivot point of the 20th century," says Stephen Ambrose, historian, talking on this bonus feature on the DVD "Saving Private Ryan."

This was a very inspiring "documentary" and the interesting part of it, to me, was hearing the various comments from veterans of this incredible experience. "The fear was incredible," said one honest man.

In the beginning of the movie, it shows guys embarking off those boats that landed on the beaches and were met with unbelievable gunfire. Well, one man in here says he thinks in some of the boats, all those guys were hit "with a wall of steel" and didn't even make it off the boat." That's almost too horrific to contemplate. Hearing those veterans speak of D-Day is very dramatic.

It also was interesting to see "Steve" Spielberg's first homemade movies, ones he made at 13 and 14 years of age that were all war movies. His father helped him a bit and inspired him in this vein, so the famous movie-maker has always been "obsessed," he says, with World War II. "At least half of my films have dealt with the 1930s and 1940s," he commented.

The actors actually went through a vigorous training camp to prepare for this movie and they were battle-ready by the first day of shooting. Edward Burns said "making this film was the worst experience of my life," giving you an idea how tough making this film turned out to be.

Everyone in here, from the vets to Spielberg to the actors all have nothing but respect and admiration for the sacrifice those men made over 60 years ago. This turns out to be a wonderful tribute to these men.