Saving Private Ryan
Movie, 1998, The '90s, Set in Normandy, 1944
Saving Private Ryan is #18 of 35 in release order and #18 of 35 in chronological order in the Steven Spielberg.
The story
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
Saving Private Ryan recap
Saving Private Ryan (1998) sends a squad of US Army Rangers behind German lines after D-Day to find a paratrooper whose three brothers have all been killed. Steven Spielberg directs a script by Robert Rodat, opening with a long, brutal recreation of the landing at Omaha Beach. Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), a schoolteacher in civilian life whose hand shakes, survives the beach and is ordered by General George Marshall's command to bring Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) home to his mother. He takes Sergeant Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Privates Richard Reiben (Edward Burns), Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), Stanley Mellish (Adam Goldberg) and Adrian Caparzo (Vin Diesel), medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) and Corporal Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davies), a translator who has never fought. Caparzo is killed by a sniper, Wade dies attacking a machine gun nest, and Miller lets a German prisoner walk free, angering his men. Saving Private Ryan comes between Amistad and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Saving Private Ryan ending explained
Saving Private Ryan ends with Miller dying at the bridge in Ramelle. They find Ryan guarding it with a few paratroopers, and he refuses to leave his unit, so the squad stays to hold off a German armoured attack. Most of them are killed, and Miller is shot by the German he released. American planes arrive in time, and Miller's last words to Ryan are "Earn this." Upham shoots the German. Decades later, an elderly Ryan visits Miller's grave in Normandy and asks his wife whether he has led a good life. Spielberg won his second Best Director Oscar.
Post-credits scenes
No. Saving Private Ryan has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is streaming on Paramount+, Peacock, Kanopy, and Hoopla in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 94%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Amistad, before A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
- Chronological order: after Amistad, before A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Cast
- Tom Hanks as Captain Miller
- Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath
- Edward Burns as Private Reiben
- Barry Pepper as Private Jackson
- Adam Goldberg as Private Mellish
- Vin Diesel as Private Caparzo
- Giovanni Ribisi as T/4 Medic Wade
- Jeremy Davies as Corporal Upham
- Matt Damon as Private Ryan
- Ted Danson as Captain Hamill
- Paul Giamatti as Sergeant Hill
- Dennis Farina as Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
Directed by Steven Spielberg.