Summary
- Historian John McManus takes issue with parts of
Saving Private Ryan
‘s ending, including Capt. Miller shooting his pistol at a tank. - P-51 planes are incorrectly identified as tank-busting planes, when the P-47 was better suited to this task.
-
Saving Private Ryan
‘s ending moments, despite some inaccuracies, make for a more powerful story and make sense from a character perspective.
Saving Private Ryan‘s ending battle features some Hollywood inaccuracies, reveals a World War II historian. Released in 1998, Steven Spielberg’s epic World War II drama follows Tom Hanks’ Capt. Miller and his unit as they embark on a mission across occupied France to rescue the last surviving brother of the Ryan family. Saving Private Ryan has been widely lauded due to Spielberg’s impressive filmmaking and the movie’s commitment to historical authenticity, including for its depiction of the D-Day Omaha Beach landing and the fight in the town of Ramelle near the end.
In a recent video for Insider, historian John McManus breaks down select scenes from throughout Saving Private Ryan, taking issue with some moments toward the film’s ending.
While he calls Saving Private Ryan “one of the most brilliant movies ever made,” McManus reveals that some moments during the Ramelle battle’s climax are too “Hollywood” for his tastes, including Miller’s decision to shoot at an advancing tank with his pistol. Also notable is that the film identifies the P-51 Mustang plane as a “tank-buster,” when another type of plane was actually better suited to that task. Check out McManus’ comments below:
“I want to say this respectfully because I think this is one of the most brilliant movies ever made. I think these parts are beneath a movie of this brilliance. We also see the captain, certainly groggy and out of it because of acoustic trauma, snapping off shots at a tank, apparently a Tiger tank, with a pistol. Again, a little too Hollywood for me. I remember the first time I saw this, I thought, ‘They’re not going to say that the pistol did that. That would be absurd.’ So fortunately, it’s a plane that does it.
“And when you look at German accounts of the Battle of Normandy, usually one of the first things they’re mentioning is how suffocating Allied air could be. The planes that are portrayed though are probably not the ones you would’ve used for this purpose. I think these are P-51s, and Brian even says a little later in the clip that they’re tank-busters. Actually, the major tank-busters were P-47 Thunderbolts that tended to be better at this kind of job.
“So I like that they showed the aircraft having a key role in the outcome of the battle, but I think the way it’s done is not all that realistic.
“A ground unit comes to save the day and that’s a little bit Hollywood too. But, you know what, that’s not terribly unrealistic for what did happen sometimes in Normandy where you have some embattled formations, especially airborne guys, and they’re going to have amphibious landed infantry units or armored units link up with them at a pretty good time.
“This part only I’ll give it a seven out of 10 because of the things I’ve mentioned and the sort of cheap Hollywood-isms of shooting a pistol at a tank and all that. Overall, though,
the Ramelle battle scenes I’ll give a nine out of 10
. I often say, I like these scenes, the town fighting scenes, better even than the famous Omaha Beach scenes because I think they’re very true to the Battle of Normandy, exactly the way it would have looked.”
In Defense Of Saving Private Ryan’s Ending
Why Capt. Miller’s Actions Make Sense In The Context Of The Film
Saving Private Ryan’s Omaha Beach sequence was so intense and realistic that the Department of Veterans Affairs set up a hotline for Veterans who experienced bouts of PTSD from watching it. While the town of Ramelle is fictional and the film’s final battle isn’t a recreation of any real historical event, the climax generally puts forth a vision of World War II warfare that feels just as true to history. The general setup for the battle is that Miller’s unit stays to help Ryan’s (Matt Damon) unit defend a bridge in the town from advancing German forces.
To enhance historical authenticity, members of the
Saving Private Ryan
cast
were sent to a version of military boot camp to train prior to filming.
After numerous members of his unit have been killed, Miller attempts to blow up the bridge, suffering a fatal gunshot in the process. He then props himself up against a piece of debris and takes out his pistol to shoot at the tank before the vehicle blows up from a P-51 Mustang that comes to the rescue. From Miller’s perspective, he doesn’t actually expect shooting the tank to do anything. Miller knows he’s dying and yet he still isn’t throwing down his hands in defeat. It’s a character moment, not a historical accuracy moment.
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While the timing of the rescue does perhaps feel a little like Hollywood magic, the movie, at this point, has already shown audiences the severe nature and consequences of war; Miller is essentially dead along with most of his unit. Saving Private Ryan, however, is still a movie that needs to conclude its story on a note that’s satisfying for audiences. The film’s final moments also pave the way for Miller to say “earn this” to Ryan, which is something Ryan carries with him for the rest of his life.
Source: Insider