American Military Cemetery, Normandy, France (Present Day)
On Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944 -- 0630 Hours
At the Farm House
In the Countryside
In A Village
In the Town
 
 

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General Comments

• Did Spielberg get the name (Upham) from the New Zealander, Charles Hazlitt Upham? Totally unlike the SPR character, Charles Upham was a fantastically brave, and seemingly fearless, infantry officer who earned a Victoria Cross with Bar. He was captured by the Germans near the end of the Battle of Ruweisat, and at one point during his captivity, had 2 machine guns assigned to guard him!! His escape attempts were so numerous that he was transferred to Colditz where he spent the rest of the war. His exploits are well worth reading about. 
  The book about him is entitled, "Mark of the Lion." DL Chute
• What amazes me about the movie is speed of the bureaucratic organization. S. Ryan, the third brother of James is killed on 6 June (D-DAY). Miller dies on 13 June (see headstone at end of movie). Miller and team set out at the latest on 12 June as there looks to be a day, one night in and one day after they set out. So between 6 June and 12 June S. Ryan must have been reported dead (amongst about 1500 or so other us soldier who died at D-day, let alone the 1900 who went missing). Then it has to be discovered that he had two brothers, then the message has to be reported up the hierarchy all the way to Marshall. Then he has to arrange that a unit will be sent to pick up Ryan. All this in 6 days!!! Arno Lutter
• In the scene where they come across the Glider LZ after Wade puts the dogtags away and Miller starts calling out if anyone knowns Ryan a young kid walks by which is no big deal but later as the man who knows the guy who had a German grenade go off right by his ear the same kid walks by. AFIrpirates
• I have read and agreed with a lot of comments of this movie.  saving private ryan is simply in my opinion a lesson in ambiance.  What I mean is; it should never be used as a historical reference.  It is a movie.  It gives you sights and sounds.  If one wants to actually learn, books written by or at least contributed to, by the men that were there are the way to go.  My great uncle was an airborne engineer with the 326th Bat. of the 101st airborne Div.  I learned of his experiences by reading carefully selected books.  Not movies.  Not even the famed Band of Brothers. Blackltac
• One thing that really bothered me about this film and almost any other film that involved German troops during this time period (i.e. Cross of Iron, Battle of the Bulge, etc.) is the lack of panzerfausts. There is a fleeting shot of a panzerschreck in Ryan, but I doubt that it was real. I have one in my collection and the thing is damn heavy. It looks as if the extra is handling it a little too easily. Can anyone who was in the film as an extra let us know if the panzerschreck was real? There should have been at least one scene with troops carrying a Panzerfaust 30 Klein or the early Panzerfaust 60. Steve Hoza
• One area of the movie that bothered me was the scene where the squad was going through the open field before the german track was hit by the bazoka fire.  No infantryman would cross an open area like that!  An MG 42 in the treeline could have cut them to pieces.  A true Ranger/Infantryman would know better than that. Bill
• I was always under the impression that Mellish, "Fish," spoke German.  Because when the Rangers were in a way interrogating "Steamboat Willie" for killing Wade, Mellish had to ask Upham to tell the German machine gunner if he was the one who shot wade.  Quoted in the film as, "Ask this piece of sh*t, if he's the one who shot Wade.  Ask him!" N Waller
• In the later years of WWII, like in Normandy, I think they had the M-1 Carbine with the bayonet lug on it. I've seen a movie on WWII Normandy that the man had bayonet lugs on their Carbines. Please tell me if I'm right or wrong,   Thank you.  Paul Gurtler
• I know the moviemakers tried, but several things that drove me nuts about the depiction of the paratroopers were the inaccurate, huge-mesh camouflage helmet nets most of them wore, the way-too-dark-brown-that-looked-black jump boots, the backwards use of the challenge/password "Flash/Thunder," the comically pudgy and vaudeville-style wisecracking sergeant, the usage of the modern-day SWAT/Special Forces terminology ("Clear up! Clear down!"), and what I consider the worst of all, Ted Danson as the "Oldest Living Pathfinder," on the down side of 50, and all gotten up in 82nd Airborne-style camouflaged jumpsuit and Sicily-era camouflaged (netless) helmet. They did get it right occasionally, though. The guy playing the paratrooper that waits in a room to detonate the strung-together Hawkins mines looks totally authentic top to bottom, one of the few in the movie who does. D Cook
• I thought the film was a good story, and as war films go it was magnificently executed. "War movies" have, in general always portrayed the primary characters as "larger than life" and acting in ways most of us that have actually been shot at wouldn't even think of doing "at the time". Sure, its easy to dream of "How I should have acted", and I think that overall that is "O.K." as far as taking the "bite' out of how we really felt. Johnny O
• The tube-like explosive weapon used on Dog Green was called a Bangalore Torpedo. The weapon was a 'remote' method of delivering a fixed explosive charge, with less risk of exposing oneself to enemy fire, to knock out bunkers, static defenses, (maybe even tanks ?) etc. The first section of tube had the head with the explosive charge mounted on it. Other sections of tube could be screwed on to give a greater range. The charge was set off by a lanyard. The weapon was developed by the British at its military arsenal at Bangalore, in India. I believe it was used by British special forces, the British Army and perhaps also by the Home Guard (during the German invasion scare years?) L N Gown
• 1) I thought US paratroops wore Stars & Stripes brassards on their right upper arms for D-Day as a friendly recognition symbol, yet only one or two in the movie are wearing them. I realize this would also make it easier for Germans to tell friend from foe, but D-Day period photos show either the large cloth patch brassard sewn onto the upper arm or else the 'pin-on' waterproof fabric wrap-around type, in common use for D-Day, both by the 82nd and 101st, so other allies wouldn't shoot at them. Maybe the SPR-paras had removed them to present a less obvious target? 

2) Real pre-invasion photos show various 101st members with the famous Mohawk-style haircut, which presumably was as an elite group recognition 'thing', yet in the movie, they are totally absent. 
3) Famous D-Day period photos show 101st paratroops being presented informally to Gen Eisenhower and they all have very heavily blacked-out faces and necks (like Al Jolson). Yet, all the paras in the movie ( first seen around D Day+3), who have been in constant action since 5/6th June, have had time to scrub off every trace of blacking. 
4) I do not actually know, but were there actually bearded paratroops in the US Army at the time ? Jimmy Ryan's NCO sported a full red set. I thought only the Navy etc allowed full beards and that the army only allowed moustaches (excluding troops in prolonged action such as Far East/Pacific) L N Gow
• In the scene where the airborne Sgt sits down on the board and it crashes through the wall, there is a close up shot of Miller (who was surprised) raising his Thompson to aim at the Germans, then in another zoomed out view, he is facing in another direction, then turns and pulls it up again. I guess they didn't edit the double scene. Sarge
• I was very very impressed that SPR was probably the first movie to show on so many occasions the M-1 Garand rifle clips ejecting w/the distinctive 'ping' noise that it really does make. However, did anyone else listen closely & hear that same 'ping' noise during the climactic end battle scene in Remel when Sgt. Horvath was firing his M-1 carbine & it ran out of ammo? The M-1 carbine doesn't make such a 'ping noise' because it has a detachable/fixed box magazine! Also, why would a Sgt. in the Rangers be carrying an M-1 carbine? Especially a veteran like Horvath who has been in combat since North Africa -- Kasserine Pass to be exact & would surely know of it's very limited stopping power. He instead would be packing a Thompson sub-machine gun or an M-1 Garand rifle. Furthermore, Cpl. Upham would not have been issued an M-1 Garand rifle, for as a member of the rear echelon, he should have have been packing the M-1 carbine for he was the type of person that it was designed for. A personal note--my uncle was a Technical Corporal in the ETO during the war and he was a map-maker just like Cpl. Upham. I have photos of him 'moving-up the line' in France on D+2 and he is shouldering an M-1 carbine, his issued weapon. Incidentally the carbine is a weapon that is still pretty neat despite it's draw-backs. kingdoof
• The mistake I seen occurred during the scene where the War Department clerks discover the letters about the brothers deaths. The one-armed Colonel is wearing a Second Infantry Division former wartime service shoulder sleeve insignia AKA combat patch. The problem with this is that the Second Infantry Division did not enter combat until June 7, 1944. The Colonel may have been in combat with the division in the First World War, but that would have been twenty-six years ago. The Colonel did not look old enough to have been a W.W.I veteran. Edward V. Mulvaney
• What that pipe-like weapon is called that is assembled on the beach, then ignited and pushed over the sandbank? They used it in the Big Red One also. Bangoleer, or something like that they said. I am a weapons buff, but not an educated one. J.R.
• The thing that bothered me most about this otherwise excellent movie is that the basic premise is all wet.  "Earn this!"  Supposedly Miller's squad underwent much sacrifice trying to save Ryan and they continuously complained that "...he better be worth it." Did they risk any more or fight any more than they would have if they had stayed with their original units? Capt. Miller would never have admonished Ryan to "Earn This."  No Captain would have hung that on a soldier, even if it were a valid conclusion, which it wasn't. tomdanl 
• [Reply to tomdanl: After the fourth time I watched SPR, it hit home to me why they used the whole "Earn it" premise. It occurred to me that, as the old Ryan is speaking to Miller's grave, he says "I hope, in your eyes, I have earned what all of you have done for me". This is a classic Spielberg allegory, the old Ryan is really speaking for every living, breathing American alive today, thanking all those who sacrificed their lives, and the "Earn it" line was necessary to set this up. M. Sadler]
• I recently remodeled part of a house for an old WW2 pilot named Harry Knisely. I enquired about his past and he showed me his medals and flying cross etc. He flew 56 missions over Germany in a P-47. He had 11 citations of honor. He said, "You know that movie.. Private Ryan? Well, that was really realistic, the beginning of the movie on the beach." Then he said, "You know, at the end when the planes came and took out the Germans at the bridge, well, that was us" - meaning him and his fellow pilots. Mark Korzeniewski
  • [Reply to Korzeniewski: First of all the planes were not P-47, they were P-51 and second, Romelle is a fictitious place in France.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, and tell the same thing to that geezer Harry, and also tell him that he must be suffering from some sort of brain disease that makes him believe he actually was in the movie, and he should go back to the "home" before he misses the Bingo tournament.  It's okay Mark, we all make mistakes, remember Hitler? N. Waller]
    • [Reply to N. Waller: Are you for real? What kind of person are you to criticse a person in such a way who gave you the right to say that!  He probably just meant that he was one of the pilots involved in D-day and not at that specific fictional battle. Neil HOLMES]
• As an Englishman, I have become used to war films being "AMERICAN" but the worst offenders by far are The Great Escape (not a single yank there!), Battle of the Bulge (read your history books), Escape To Victory (with an American goalkeeper, yeah right). I feel that filmmakers have to put an American slant on it purely for the sake of the box office. But if the English think they get a raw deal off of Hollywood they should bare a thought for the Polish, the only films I have ever seen them in is A Bridge Too far and the Battle of Britain. Yet it was the Poles who captured Monte Cassino, and closed the Falaise Gap with horrendous losses. Spencer Reeves
  • [Reply to Spencer Reeves: The film is about a 8 man American unit and their story, not a documentary. Think about it you are in combat do you care about a: staying alive or b: what is happening 100 miles away? Neil HOLMES]
• For Miller's groups journey up to Neuville at the far northern edge of the American front, to Ryan's 506th drop zone (few miles inland of the southern edge of Utah beach), to a town on the Mederet river on the western edge of the American front, would have Miller's group criss-crossing over an area that at the time of D+3 or D+4 would have been crawling with American units. Riddiford
• Did the 2nd Rangers actually land on Omaha Beach, I thought they just landed at Pointe du hoc? ATCBAT2
• [Reply to ATCBAT2:  The 2nd Ranger Battalion landed at Point Du Hoc not DOG GREEN SECTOR OMAHA BEACH. Scooby9833]
• [Reply to Scooby9833: You are flat out wrong, Scooby9833. The 2nd Ranger Battalion was split into 3 Ranger Forces on the morning of D-Day. Ranger Force A, consisting of a HQ attachment and D, E and F Companies, 2nd Rangers, one Naval Shore Fire Control Party (NSFCP) were to land at Pointe du Hoc (D Company on the west side, the rest on the east; though they were off course on approach and ran west parallel to shore for a while. They all landed on the east side). Force B was C Co 2nd Rangers whose mission was to land at Dog Green on H-Hour with a combat team from the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and advance rapidly to the western flank of Dog Green and scale the cliffs of Pointe et Raz de la Percee, destroying any installations located there. Force C, consisting of he entire 5th Rangers, an NSFCP, an air support party, and Co A & B of the 2nd Rangers, were to follow C Co Rangers between H + 28 mins. and H + 30 mins., pending the outcome of the attack at Pointe du Hoc. As they approached the beach, conditions were so bad on Dog Green that they turned east towards Dog White, but A & B Co. still went in on the edge of Dog Green. SPR was obviously trying to portray 2nd Ranger C Co.'s landing, as they landed at H-Hour that morning (after A Co. 116th). Anyone interested in learning more about the true story of the 2nd Rangers can find it in the book, "Rudder's Rangers", where all this information comes from. Robert Lane]
• Where it says "Das Reich wasn't even in the area, it was fighting the British around Caen" it should say: "Das Reich wasn't even in the area, arriving in Normandy only at the end of June". Gunnar Einarsson
• The halftrack at the bridge battle is owned by the second battle group, who played an active role in the filming. Check out their website: www.thesecondbattlegroup.co.ukSpencer Reeves
• Does anyone know what happened to the Sdkfz 251 (Half Track) that drove by right before the Tiger? What happened there? Did it sprout wings and fly off to attack the Mustangs? Thad Fuller
  • [Reply to Thad Fuller: If you had watched the film more carefully you will notice that the sniper signals that they are going on an outflanking manouvere to the right. Indeed during the Alamo scene the half track does appear - from the right! Neil HOLMES]
• When Riven (?) pulls the pin from the grenade and passes it to Horbath, he throws it over the wall, then he pulls a pin from his own grenade and throws that after. But there's only one explosion?! Why does Riven bother passing it to Horbath? Why not throw it himself? I thought there were Germans when the grenades went off, but you see no remains or bodies when they go check. Chris Ryan
• Here's an error which a lot of people haven't picked up.. when Mellish and the Cpl are kneeling in that room and hearing that German walking up the stairs.. first, why would the German walk up really slow? I thought the Germans were experts at storming places, close quarter battle, and the like.. so they'd run up the stairs really fast. And why make a real loud noise as well, .i.e, footstep noises being so loud so as Mellish and Cpl could hear it? Weren't those stairs concrete? If so, why -when that German is walking up the stairs- can you hear the noise of footsteps on Wood?! Or is it just me? Chris Ryan
• Why does Miller's squad medic run along with them on their frontal, uphill assault on the German machine gun nest? This is ridiculous and totally unnecessary. The medic would have/should have "lingered in the rear," to use Miller's phrase, with the combat rookie Upham. The assault itself is of dubious tactical validity (i.e. frontal, uphill) and both it and the medic's death are merely dramatic, cinematic devices. Drew Cook
• I was wondering what the German said while killing 'Fish' in the room at the top of the stairs. D Fate
• I would like to address a few things in defense of Mr. Spielberg. The one which is most in my mind it the attack on the town Remel. Some person criticized the strategy that was used by the Germans in attacking the town.  Maybe the group that's attacking the town is the remains of a division going somewhere else to regroup to hold off the American advance and they just happened to be coming thru the town on their way to the rendezvous point. If this group is cut off from their command and in a retreat (which they probably should have been considering the size and magnitude of the joint allied invasion), then couldn't this explain their poor tactics in attacking the town? Blake Broadway
• [Reply to Blake Broadway: In expansion of your point, I never did see any evidence of any high ranking officers amongst the German force, perhaps another reason for their lack of co-ordination? Neil Holmes]
• What bothers me is this: there are no black men, no English, no Canadian, etc. There should have been a scene where they would be fighting together. Kenneth
• [Reply To Kenneth: Yes, the movie missed a golden opportunity to show the diversity of the U.S. fighting forces at D-Day. With all the hundreds of barrage balloons floating above Omaha beach, you'd swear one of Spielberg's crack military advisors would have recognized the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, which was the only black combat unit present at D-Day. Couldn't just one of the 800 man unit been represented on the big screen? More than one thousand black quartermaster, transportation and engineering personnel were also present at D-Day. C Paul Moore]
• [Reply to Kenneth: No, there shouldn’t. The Canadians and Brits landed and fought on their own beaches, several miles to the east. US and Commonwealth forces adhered to different commands and mainly did not participate in the same battles in Normandy. Moreover, Hank and the boys are walking westwards and then slightly north up the Cotentin peninsula, i.e away from the British sectors. Because of US racial prejudice, Negroes were often denied active combat service in WWII, although there was at least an entirely black division fighting in Italy. Their record was a distinguished one. I do agree however, if this was your point, that American self-centeredness in war-movies suck. Not long ago a popular movie depicted Americans capturing a German encryption device, known as the 'Enigma'. In reality this feat of heroism was carried out by the English. Also, there is the Nazi monster stereotype, prevalent in Hollywood cinema since the mid-forties, which never really has been challenged (not in Ryan either) and this is, of course, pathetic in every sense. Snafu]

• Dog Green was expected to be a tough nut to crack, so 130 men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion were detailed to be the so called "Point of the spear" and lead the assault. They were the first to walk into the buzz saw, all other units landed after the Rangers. The Rangers suffered 62 casualties (As a sidelight, the 5th Rangers lost 135 out of 225 men in their assault up the cliffs at Point-Du-Hoc). jschleicher
• [Reply to jschleicher: The Rangers were also supposed to link-up with the Rangers at Point Du Hoc once on the beach. Jeremy Waters]
• This was the most awesome display of capturing what I think how it must have really been that day. I went home from the theatre with feelings I did not know I had, from the belly wound scene of the medic, calling for his Momma, and also the chest stabbing scene when the German soldier slowly stuck the knife in that boys chest as he begged him not to. The movie did what it was supposed to do - let people know that WAR IS HELL. It doesn't show partiality or sorrow or any type of remorse, WAR IS CARNAGE, kill or wound the enemy until he can't go on. I have seen about every war movie on WW2 and this was the most awesome display I have ever or probably will ever see. Mike H
• [Reply to Mike H: A second viewing should've confirmed all the major historical and military errors. Jeez, you could pick little errors out of any movie. Nobody has ever told me, with a straight face, that Mary Poppins violated the laws of physics. I think that more German film makers should have a hand in making WW2 films, since their portrayals are about ten times more accurate than most American films. My opinion is, this movie sucked. The only saving grace were the first 30 minutes. After this, we have 2 and a half hours of sap, and ridiculous fighting sequences. If Spielberg had a T-Rex with a Swastika on it's side walking down with the two Tigers, and if E.T. was piloting that P-51, the movie wouldn't have been less believable. I'm personally tired of clichés like 'War is Hell', or the 'nightmare' of Omaha beach. These things are obvious to anyone, and repetition dullens the real impact that war has on everyone involved. Cyrus Clennon]
• [Reply to Cyrus Clennon: I don't think this movie is a repetition of previous ones. Nor there a many examples making this clear that, indeed, war is hell. Despite the errors, it is more accurate then any other movie handling the European war theatre. Only drawback is scene of Miller being shot in the end. Many other scenes could have happened that days the way shown but are better a display of how fighting likely worked out on individuals personally. To succeed in passing a fraction of this sense of horror to the minds of the major part of the public makes this movie an exceptional one. 95% including thrill-seeking young people did not see any error or ET in a Mustang but felt uncomfortable heading home after watching it. The nightmare of Utah or the impact of war had not been that obvious to them some 3 hours  earlier. M. Middlekoop]
• The biggest problem I have with Saving Private Ryan is the almost cartoonish way US soldiers act during combat. Charging up hills at machine gun nests and taking on Panzer companies with 'sticky bombs' and snipers in bell towers (the enemy would never think to look there) is typical Hollywood nonsense. The special effects and gore were a hundred times more realistic than anything I'd ever seen before but the psychology of the soldiers was only slightly more accurate than a bad episode of The A Team. A. Rosetti
  • [Reply to A. Rosetti: Hmm no more accurate than the A-team. That's were no-one gets killed? Not SPR then is it?  And the enemy did take out the bell tower once they knew there was a force there. Neil HOLMES]
• Is there some errors in the quality of the picture when camera shoots Uphams face after he had shot the German in the final scene at the bridge, or is it only on my DVD? V. Pitkänen
• saving private ryan is most likely the most accurate portrayal of WWII Combat put on film, yes, it has it's errors, but overall, compared to the movies before it, it's pretty accurate. jschleicher
• Another thing to consider was the fact that the Allies had implemented a brilliant diversionary tactic, causing the Germans to think that the landing spots were far to the East. I don't know how large the forces were there, but I know that most or all of the Panzer tanks in France were there and Hitler did not let the tanks out for some time. J D
• Just to clarify some of the supposed mistakes that people have pointed out. The movies focus is 8 men of the US Army 2nd Ranger Battalion. Why then should the  focus include the British forces? For a detailed listing of the British forces contributions to D-Day, consult a history book, not a Hollywood movie. Also, the section of beach that is assaulted in the movie was held by members of the 352nd infantry division. A veteran unit with combat hardened soldiers. Not all of the beach was held by conscripts or kids. That is a myth started then and believed, obviously, to this day. Echelon
• Could someone translate what translator Upham said in German to the freed German soldier before he shot him toward the end. I know the German said something like "I know this soldier" and "I know this man".  Then Upham said "Und haltet die schnauzen".  ???. Was this meaningful? They could have at least translated this in the DVD subtitles. Mike

[Send translations to EZpopstar@hotmail.com]
• [Reply to Mike: Upham says, "And hold the lips" to the German man. KKimparsons]
• [Reply to Mike: I think that he says something to the effect of: "You shot my captain." I'm not sure if it is the same line that you asked about, but it is in that scene. J D]
• [Reply to Mike: "Und haltet die schnauzen" seems to mean "shut up" or "and hold your lips". Then the German says "Upham" and gets shot.  I confirmed this on an AOL chat room from Berlin. Hagens]
• [Reply to Mike: "Und haltet die schnauzen" means "And hold the lips". Tim C.]
• [Reply to Mike: You've already got a translation of your question but my wife, who IS German, tells me that "Und haltet die schnauzen" means roughly "Shut the f**k up."  Halt = stop, schnauze = snout (as in the snout of a dog or pig). It's considered VERY rude and since then, I've used it several times with German friends of mine. :) - W. Steiinmann from Stuttgart, Germany]
• [Reply to Mike: I found your translation question while surfing the web. I don't know the film, but I can tell you the following: he must be talking to more than one person because he is speaking in plural and is saying "SHUTUP (YOUR MOUTHS!)". SCHNAUZE is the meaning of an animal's mouth. Referring to another person to be quiet it is very rude. Arnd from Konstanz, Germany]
• [Reply to Mike: "...Und haltet die schnauzen."  Is translated, "shut your f***ing mouth." K. Matthews]
• [Reply to Mike: "Und haltet die scnauzen" is a very abusive and derogatory way to say shut up. It has the connotation that one has a pigs snout. H. Otwell] 
• In scenes where the American machinegunners are carrying belts of ammo around their necks, no way the weight of the bullets would stretch the canvas belts thus causing jamming in the machine guns. DHitJug 
• If you watch the scene where the Rangers meet up with the Paratroopers (the one where they send the runner), shortly after this they are all walking through rubble, paras and rangers, the Paratrooper loses his rope out of his rucksack. You actually see it fall, but in the next shot, hey, presto, it's back! Spencer Reeves
• Here is a good one, when they are all walking through the town (the one right before Caparzo dies). They show a 101st airborne guy walking with them, with a BAR, I don't think they would have sent a paratrooper with a gun that heavy! Diane Joy
• [Reply to Diane Joy: On a full combat equipment paratroop jump in 1978 as a weapons sergeant in the Special Forces, I jumped with an M-60 belt fed machinegun strapped to my MC1-1B harness.  An M-60 is heavier than a BAR by far, and are in addition much bulkier by default than the BAR. The M-60 typically combat fires from a 100 round bandoleer of .308 caliber disintegrating metallic link belts, while the BAR fires only 20 rounds from a box magazine filled with larger 30'06 rounds. My M-60 was placed within a padded M-1951 individual weapons jump case that hooked on a quick release buckle to a harness ring on my left side.  I snaked a few hundred rounds inside, that was hard packing.  Padded jump cases were in use in WWII. Extra ammo would have been mass dropped. Sergeant E-5 Richard D. Johnson]
• [Reply to Diane Joy: SURE THEY WOULD. A squad or platoon of paratroopers had a BAR gunner on it's TO&E (Table of Organization and Equipment)  L. Bishop]
• [Reply to Diane Joy: My father served with the 82nd airborne from Sicily through to the end of the war, and yes he most definitely used the Browning Automatic Rifle. It was a good weapon for him. GJDale]
• Capt. Miller and squad (not platoon - 36-45 men :-) ) walking over an open field in hostile territory wouldn't afford liberties of speaking that volume or amount of speech without risking enemy detection. In another words, a single Wehrmacht (not Wermacht) sniper would have picked them off their butts in turns from a hidden position. But in another note, the conversation included in this scene was probably created to cheat boredom, another words, to make it more exciting. Huy Dang from B.C., Canada
• As Lt. Miller's (Hanks') platoon walks through a battlefield in the evening sometime after being sent off on their mission to find Ryan, off in the distant horizon, there are multiple flashes that are a result of heavy artillery. Unfortunately, the distant 'crump' sound occurred at the same instant as the flashes... Sound travels at about 1000fps, so the delay should have been on the order a few seconds. Doug Hall
• [Reply to Doug Hall: It is true that movies frequently have sound and distant action coincide.  Most viewers would think there is something wrong with the sound editing if there was an appropriate delay.  In the case of the sniper shot the German sniper would not have heard the shot anyway.  Perhaps one of the most glaring examples of this "error" is in the movie Midway, when the sound of explosions occurs coincidentally with the bomb hits on Japanese ships, heard by aviators that are 1000s of feet above, and would probably not have been able to hear the explosions over the engine, radio and etc. Richard T. Ellis]
• [I am in the military and have been in combat and the explosions, and gun fire both near and far are the most accurate I have ever heard in a movie. Jeremy Waters]
I can't figure out any reason why Upham would be carrying those .30 caliber machinegun belts around. Wouldn't it have made more sense to put all the ammo with the guns? If one ran out and needed more, then you might want to move it, but otherwise you just wouldn't move it. I think the screenwriter just wanted to give Upham the chance to show his cowardice and to have him interact with the other soldiers. T. Locker
• I loved the movie but something that always bothered me is why they used the sticky bombs.... they had a bazooka with several rounds and that would have been far more effective at knocking off the tiger tanks tracks and at a safer distance. Andrew Ferguson
• The only really serious error of the movie that shouldn't have been allowed:  All the American G.I.'s are wearing black boots. The U.S. military only wore brown footwear (boots and shoes) until the late 1950's. Kenneth Kops
  • [Reply to Kenneth Kops: Oh well that just ruins the whole movie then! Neil HOLMES]
• Why are the paratroopers, all of the  101st, AND the two 82nd laying dead along side the path adjacent to the radar site wearing "BLACK" jump boots? Jump boots during World War II were  russett "BROWN", not "BLACK" in color! The army did not go to black jump boots until 1958! Any WWII buff knows this! And, don't give me this bull that the anti-poison gas goop that was applied to them made them turn black. Color photos from June 7th, 1944 and after of the 101st, and 82nd, as rare as they may be, clearly depict the boots to be brown in color, even with the "goop" applied. Anonymous
• [Reply to Anonymous: I was one of four guys to be dressed up as 82nd dead at the radar site until they decided to use dummies. I can assure you that the boots being worn are exact copies of the Corcoran boot worn by U.S. paratroopers. They only appear brown because they were polished with a dark polish and broken down in colour by the wardrobe department to look worn in. M Frye]
• The Waffen SS fighting until the very end of the war? In fact, most of their ranks were the first ones to give up the ship. Most of the last ditch fighting was waged by Hitler Youth and what was left of the Wehrmacht. It is noted that some patched units of Hitler Youth and Wehrmacht, which fought side by side, held out for as long as two weeks after the war was over until they were ordered to lay down there arms. Most of the hard fighting Waffen SS troops (the best of the best) were all used up on the eastern front and were replaced by volunteers from other countries or German youth that were not trained properly as the original formations were. B.A.
  • [Reply to B.A.: You are incorrect when referring to Hitler Youth as the single SS formation along with a few Wehrmacht outfits fighting to the end. SS Nordland [the bulk annahilated in Courland], survivors fought to the death in the Defense of Berlin. SS Niederland wiped out as a fighting formation in Courland fought to the death. SS Charlemagne fought with suicidal fury to the end in Berlin. Guderianadjuant]
• How about the symbolism? When the SS guy stabs the Jewish guy and the American guy turns away on the stairs... the SS helped run the death camps which killed Jews and at the time America knew about and did nothing. W1037
• [Reply to W1037: You are right about symbolism on that scene, but the SS soldier mentioned was in the Waffen-SS - the Armed-SS, highly trained elite. The SS who guarded the concentration camps and extermination camps were in the larger structure of the political Allgemeine-SS - the SS-Totenkopfverbande (SS Deaths Heaad organization). Madcap7
• [Reply to W1037: The allies may well have known about the death camps, but what could they have done about them? Their knowledge came largely through the use of breaking German codes such as Enigma. The allies knew full well that revealing knowledge of such camps could have lost them the code and this would lead to a war-winning weapon being lost. Had this been done early in the war it is certain that even more people would have died as a result of this. It may not have been an easy choice, but with hindsight it is easy to criticize. Neil Holmes]
• When Mellish is shooting his rifle at Germans through the hole in the wall of the room, he takes about 2 shots and yells that he is jammed. This is odd because when the Germans return fire through the wall after Henderson does, Mellish lets off 2 shots from the same rifle he claimed was jammed, killing an SS soldier. S M Bunn
• A hand-to-hand combat scene Question: In the hand-to-hand combat with the SS soldier, Mellish screams "you killed my best friend". The paratrooper with him was shot through the hole in the wall, not by the Germans on the staircase. Who is he referring to? Or did the SS soldier bother to finish off the mortally wounded US para? Why didn't the SS soldiers in the staircase just lob in a grenade at Mellish and the para? A P H Steineck
• [Reply to A P H Steineck] Because that would be showing the Germans to be fighting too intelligently, which would be totally unsuitable (hehe). J Khalili
• The wehrmacht stick grenades do not have a 10-15 second fuse, they have an eight second fuse. Jason
• The time fuse on the stick bombs would burn at 30-40 seconds per foot. I guess lighting it with a lighter is more dramatic than using a standard fuse lighter. Time fuse would need a blasting cap crimped to it in order to detonate TNT. If they had blasting caps and time fuse they would most likely have had the fuse lighters. H G Snyder
• Composition B would not have been used for demolition. Composition B is used in bombs. Composition C or C-2 and Tetrytol would be available in addition to the TNT blocks used in the "sticky bombs". H G Snyder
• The number of entries show how much we like this movie and have STUDIED it. It's the only war movie worth doing so. As for people or characters in the movie not acting logically at various times, one can only say that battle is confusion and fear. How many of us have read first hand accounts of WWII combat?? We all know that strange things, odd things, and mistakes happen in real  combat. Things often do not progress logically. A soldier, checking or getting ready to reload his Tommy gun, may actually aim it with no clip in it when suddenly confronted by an enemy. How many times have I read of tank crews bailing out of a tank when it's hit, fearing being burned alive, only to find the vehicle's not really damaged?  A lot of this has been nit picking. It's a good movie. I find many of the inconsistencies to actually reinforce it's believability. There's always going to be some technical mistakes when making any movie. As for the 1st and 2nd SS Div.s being elsewhere at certain times and other such glaring errors, Hollywood is ignorant. In a big way. And biased. There's no excuse. I think they've given it  a good effort in this instance. Lance
• This has to be the greatest war film ever made. Of course you can sit there and cut down all the errors in it after you watch it 40 or 50 times like I have. However, this movies shock value was amazing the first time I saw it in theatres. Before then I had a little interest in WW2, but not much. After I saw this I am becoming a WW2 history buff. I want to know everything about war, and it even sparked interest in learning about history in general. I beg anyone to respond to this with feelings as strong as I have. Mike Mahony
• I must agree with the fact that this was a story about an "American" situation. From what I have gleaned from the history books, and from the Veterans of that war that I have personally spoken with, the U.S. military was extremely conscience of the opinion of the American people as to how the war was progressing at that time. As I understand, the situation at that time was after two years of high casualties during the daylight bomber offensive and to the demise of the Sullivan brothers in the Pacific. So, I do not feel that any "dis' was intended by the film. Johnny O