Factual error: During certain scenes in the movie, we see Jackson switching his Weaver M73B1 sniper scope on his M1903A4 sniper rifle with a Unertl sniper scope.  The problem is that the Unertl scope was used exclusively by the U.S. Marines in the Pacific Theatre on their M1903A1 sniper rifle.

Revealing: In the scene in Ramelle, the sniper is taking out Germans from the bell tower and saying "Be my strength" etc. He shoots two guys in quick succession on the corner of a wall. The "shot through the chest" effect goes off on the second actor but perpendicular to the direction of the shot.

Continuity: In the scene where Mellish and the other Ranger hear footsteps coming up the stairs, you hear one set of footsteps. When they call out Upham's name, the footsteps stop. When Mellish fires into the wall, you hear a body drop and blood pool by the room opening. Yet there is no body outside the room, only the 'other' German soldier firing through the wall, shooting the one Ranger in the neck and ultimately killing Mellish. The only soldier outside that room was Upham, still on the stairwell. (Time)

Continuity: During the Omaha Beach scene where Captain Miller is at the front of the concrete bunker and calls upon Jackson to get into one of the impact craters, Miller moves behind Jackson. When Miller makes the move for the diversion he puts his hand on Jackson's right shoulder but in the following shot Miller is at least 2 to 3 feet away from Jackson. (Time)

Continuity: Close to the beginning when they are in a town, and the soldier sits on the ground or a plank, the colour of the plank of wood changes from being old and dark brown to looking like brand new between shots. (Time)

Factual error: When the Americans arrive in the first village (the one where the family is marooned upstairs in what's left of their house) there is a French car. The car's registration plate follows the post-war system, not introduced until 1950.

Revealing: In the final battle scene, where Jackson (the sniper) is in the tower you see him from the side view shooting Germans, and his rifle recoils with every shot; but when you see the Germans through the scope, there is no sign of recoil at all.

Continuity: When Tom Hank's men are in the village close to the start of the film, the soldier knocks down the wall accidentally, and the German soldier at the front picks up his weapon and points it (this can be seen from outside the house looking in). Then when it cuts back to all the German soldiers, he's picking and pointing the weapon again. (Time)

Continuity: In the final battle in the French Village, the Americans are attacked by two Tiger tanks, two Panzer tanks, etc. The Americans use a sticky bomb to turn the first Tiger into a roadblock. If you look at the roadwheels of the tank when the troops are attaching the sticky bombs, you can see that one of them has a large chunk of rubber missing. Later on, when Capt. Miller is staring down the second Tiger as it crosses the bridge, you can see that it too has a large chunk of rubber missing from the same roadwheel - same tank.

Continuity: In the last battle scene in the end, there is a lengthy shot of Mellish, Henderson, and Upham running to a building to cover the right flank with a machine gun. When you first see out of the hole in the wall (the one they use to fire out of) you can see in the background what looks like a Sd.Kfz.124 (tank) moving towards the right. Soon after this (right after they put the sticky bombs on the tank) there is a shot where Mellish is screaming about the flank folding, and once again you can see out of the hole and what looks like the exact same shot of the Sd.Kfz.124 moving towards the right. The tank would have had to go in reverse, and then go forward again, and there is only one of these tanks in the scene. (Time)

Continuity: When Mellish's gun gets jammed he doesn't fix his gun or do anything to it. When the Germans try to enter the room Mellish shoots another shot.

Revealing: Near the end of the movie there is an hand-to-hand combat scene which results in an American solider being knifed in the chest while pleading for his life. You can clearly see that is is a fake cardboard box body with his head poking out.

Other: In the final battle where the two rangers are waiting for Upham to bring them 30cal ammo, they fire their rifles through a hole in the wall. At one point two German soldiers are seen dying from the same shot, even though they are at least five meters (about three feet) apart.

Revealing: In the scene where the interpreter is carrying ammunition around his neck, an unused bullet falls from its shell.

Continuity: WhenMiller has just explained to Ryan that his comrades come to take him back, Miller talks to Horvath alone. While Horvath is talking over his shoulder, you clearly see him moving his hands in the next shot, from an angle just past Miller, his hands are held tight to his gun.

Factual error: In Neuville just after Miller's group joined the other scattered soldiers, they try to get to the other side of the city. One of them tears down a wall with Germans hiding in the building. After screaming at each other, the Germans all get shot by others from above. Some moments after this shootout, you hear this very distinctive M1 Garand "pling" sound. This sound only is to be heard after the last shot has been fired and the clip is ejected automatically. Bang - pling. But in this scene there is no shot. If you unload manually, the pling will not sound.

Continuity: During the scene where Horvath and the BAR are facing down, things are getting out of control with Horvath pulling a .45 on the BAR. In the background, from among the rest of the Ranger group, alternating scenes of Jackson, the sniper, show him with his pistol either raised or holstered.

Continuity: During the beach scene, Miller is kneeling at the rear of a Belgian fence talking about the beach being pre-sighted. There is a soldier in front of the fence who gets shot three or four times. If you look the first scene, he gets shot in the upper leg area, then when Miller moves out from behind the obstacle, the bullet wound has magically disappeared. (Time)

Continuity: When Miller arrives at the bottom of the hill, under the German machine gun, there's a radioman to his left. This solider gets his face shot off, but in a later beach scene, he appears as a different wounded soldier.

Factual error: In the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan" as the soldiers are landing on the beach their rifles are wrapped in plastic wrap. This type of plastic was not invented until the end of the 1940's and later. Water resistant "cellophanes" and wraps were a much later invention by inventors such as Saran and Reynolds.