Cover for the movie
The movie starts on an Elderly man walking along a WWII cemetery while followed by his family. Soon after you find out that the elderly man is Ryan as he kneels before the grave of John Miller, the captain of the squad that saved him.
The story flashes back to the D-Day invasion on a crew just before they land on Omaha Beach. heavy casualties begin to take place the moment the lander's door drops down, and the point of view starts to center on Captain John Miller as he and many others dash up the beach. After taking out a German bunker and mg nest, Miller and a makeshift squad of soldiers lead the charge to clear the upper beach. Once the beach is taken, the story switches to Washington, D.C. where General Marshall learns that three of four brothers in the Ryan family were KIA and the mother is to receive all three telegrams at once. Marshall, after debating with other Generals, orders that the last surviving brother, James Francis Ryan, be found and brought home immediately.
The story goes back to Miller as he receives the order to find Private Ryan. He quickly assembles a squad from his company, along with a translator from another, and sets out to complete the mission. Skirmishes and mishaps occur along the way, from sniper duels and mg nest charges, to a mislead named James Fredrick Ryan. With the cost of two lives from his squad, Miller finds Private Ryan and a small squad trying to defend a key bridge at Ramelle. Though Ryan is informed of his brothers deaths and the deaths among Miller's squad, he is determined to stay "with the only brothers (he) has left" and defend the bridge until reinforcements arrive.
Miller and his squad decide to stay and defend the bridge with Ryan and his squad. The squads are ill-equipped, though, as they only have two .30 cal machine guns, a bunch of high explosives, and a couple small arms to stand against an approaching Panzer Division of four tanks and 50 German soldiers. The battle commences as the Americans ambush a tank, disabling it and killing the men close behind. Though Miller and the others fight bravely, the Germans gradually gain ground until they reach the bridge. Miller, Ryan, and the few remaining survivors make their last stand here as the Germans quickly close in on them. They are stopped, though, when American reinforcements arrive and drive them out of Ramelle. Miller, mortally wounded, says his last words to Ryan, "Earn this. Earn it."
The story then fades back to Ryan before Miller's grave in the present day. Ryan asks his wife if he had led a good life and was a "good man" and thus worth the sacrifice of Miller's squad. She responds, "You are."
My first view of the movie, the first 10 minutes, was of just how gruesome war really was. It was more graphic than I had thought it would have been, but it's good because it reminds you of the horrors of war and what the American soldiers had to deal with. This movie is one of the best WWII related movies I've seen; It defiantly deserves a 10 out of 10 and a thumbs up for just how realistically it was.
Gunned down at Omaha Beach
Jackson the sniper
Miller's last stand
Comments
Excellent write up! Be sure to not just copy and paste pictures in. You have to use the little picture icon. They won't disappear that way.