I'd say the first 20 mins of SPR were the closest Ive come to being overwhelmed by a film. I remember the first time I saw it the theatre was so full I had to sit in the first rows and the audio kinda blew me away. What was the reality of the film? We all know there was a 6 Jun '44 invasion, there really was a Dog Green sector at Omaha beach,really was a C-company Rangers who were supporting the 116th of the 29'th Division. The slaughter portrayed in the film, of the higgins boat dropping its ramp and the entire company being slaughtered by the Germans MGs was actually A company ,116'th, which had landed to far east, 1 KT, due to the heavy seas. This unfortunate landing spot put them right in the teeth of the heavy German Firepower of the Vierville draw. In this unfortunate unit virtually the entire population of fighting age men from Bedford Virginia were killed in the first 15 mins of the attack.
However the movie took several libertys. Tom Hanks company, attached to 2nd Rangers, actually landed west of Dog Green in Charlie sector. The cliffs they were shown climbing the actual company did useing rapelling ropes. While they did clear trenches and attack pillboxes, as shown in the movie. What wasnt shown is they did it all day, they were in a non-stop firefight against numerous German positions which were constantly reinforced thruout the day. There actuall was no time to trade knifes,collect french dirt,cry, or look down the beach. The movie also failed to show the outstanding gunnery of American destroyers, some coming so close to the beach for fire support they scraped their bottoms on the sandbars. The movie did accuratly portray the critical contribution 2'nd Rangers made to opening the Vierville Draw. It just didnt portray how they actually did it.
As to the films story, that of fighting inland to bring back a airborne pvt whose brothers had died? There really was a surviving "brother" ,Fritz Niland, who was dropped inland and whos three brothers had been reported dead, two in Normandy and one in Burma. However there was no rescue of Fritz. He wondered around for a week or two fighting in the Carentin peninsula,helped by French civilians, and was eventually found by an army chaplain who had been looking for him. His one brother in Burma "Eddie" actually turned out to be alive. He had been shot down in a bomber, taken prisoner, and he escaped. He ended up surviving the war. In the real story, Niland aka PVT Ryan, had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the war. He didnt want to desert his buddies despite the loss of his brothers.
SPV was probably the most heavily critiqued war movie in history by history buffs. Its true Spielberg took heavy literary license. But he also came about as close to captureing the terror of war on film as anyone has,"mind you I know what its like to be under fire but not about being in a war". I am speaking "historically" only, the only war I was in was The Cold War. But I have known veterans, both American and German, who actually fought at Omaha. I used to belong to an Amvets my dad tended bar at, and also drank at a German bar where many Wehrmacht veterans hung out at, after emigrateing to America after the war. It was a fascinating peek into actual history for me.
And the general opinion of these survivors of that terrible battle is that no movie will ever come close of what actually happened that day, that week, that war. To put it into proper perspective, as compared to the war were in today, almost 30,000 Americans died in the battle of Normandy alone. The Germans lost 30,000 men, had 80,000 wounded, and 210,000 missing. The USSR lost 20,000,000 of its soldiers and citizens in the war, the Germans over 7,000,000,China over 11,000,000,Poland almost 7,000,000, France 850,000, Japan 2,000,000, Britain 500,000, and America almost 300,000 dead soldiers,marines,sailors, and airmen.
In all roughly 50,000,000 Human Beings lost their lives in WW-ll.............................take care..............Rich