Saving Private Ryan

Factual error: After the soldiers' initial disembarkment they are shown crouching in groups near the shore and later running towards the bunkers. Unlike the movie shows, anything even as simple as crouching behind the tank traps, let alone actually standing up and running, was impossible at Dog Green Sector and indeed for anyone when pinned down by a machine gun from a high far-away position. In the real-life landing at Dog Green within 7-10 minutes all the officers of the landing company were dead and the survivors inert. They could do nothing except throw away all their equipment and slowly crawl up the beach, shielded from bullets by the incoming tide and dead bodies. 1 hour 40 minutes after landing twelve (known) survivors made it to the base of the cliffs. Only 2 had enough strength left to go on and fight with another group. (The second wave, apart from one boat which was almost entirely killed, opted to land elsewhere when they saw the fate of the first wave.) In this way the movie rather poorly represents what it meant to make a properly opposed landing on D-Day - although whether this is justified or not is another matter. (00:07:00 - 00:07:40)

Factual error: In the very beginning as the landing craft approaches, and they then begin to disembark, no-one has their helmet chip strap secured. Then attacking the beach, and much throughout the movie, no chip straps. There is no way in real battle you would not secure your lid.

Factual error: During the final fight at Ramelle, Mellish and Henderson are displacing from their first machine position to the next; almost getting shot by a Tiger tank gun. When they run, Henderson grabs the barrel of the 1919A4 Browning Machine Gun. He had just fired a long burst, the barrel would be too hot to grab it.

Matdan97

Factual error: When Upham and Mellish are conversing before the fight at Ramelle, Mellish is seen placing Mk. 2 Pineapple grenades into Upham's helmet. The "spoon" on the grenades does not look to be the correct type. The ones in the film appear to be modern, folded, sheet metal painted dark green; World War II era ones are a simple piece of stamped, sheet steel. The modern ones are angular while World War II ones have a slight curve.

Matdan97

Saving Private Ryan mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Miller is shocked, we see him in a close up with his hair slicked into a point on his forehead. Camera shows a few people taking shelter under a tank trap and back to Miller. In this shot, his hair is arranged completely differently. He didn't touch it himself, as he is supporting himself on a tank trap with one hand and holding his helmet in his second hand. (00:09:15)

Ssiscool

Factual error: Miller and his men finally find Ryan in the scene where Ryan destroys a German half track with a bazooka. The camera does not show Ryan firing the bazooka, but you hear the blast and see the effect of the shot hitting the half track, firing twice in about a three second interval. The problem is that a bazooka is a single shot weapon, and must be reloaded by hand. This takes time, perhaps 20 seconds if not more.

Bruce Trestrail

Other mistake: When Melish is stabbed by the German soldier, Melish's body isn't consistent with the floor. It's almost as if he his lying underneath the floor.

Tony

Saving Private Ryan mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the start we see a close up of Ryan's face and in the background is a couple walking away. The bloke has a blue baseball cap on and dark shirt while the woman has got a light blue top and what appears to be a cream coloured skirt on. The camera then shows Ryan back as he is walking and now this couple are in front of Ryan about to walk past him. (00:01:15)

Ssiscool

Revealing mistake: The shot of the eight members of the group is reused later in the film when there should only be seven.

jbrbbt

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Suggested correction: This is much too vague. Where is the repeated shot used?

Continuity mistake: Sunlight changes from shot to shot during the machine gun nest scene. One second it's like cloudy, in the next you see the sunshine and long shadows.

Factual error: Near the end of the movie when an American fighter saves the day, it's a P-51 Mustang. In June, 1944 the most likely ground support fighter would have been the P-47 Thunderbolt. Also, American planes were still painted olive drab at that point. The Mustang in the movie did have black and white invasion stripes, but it's the wrong plane and the wrong color.

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Suggested correction: The P-51 was one of the most commonly used fighter planes in the USAF by mid-1944. These planes had been flying in Europe since 1942, starting with the RAF, its original user. There are colored pictures of Mustangs with the paint job depicted in the movie from mid-1944 as well.

lionhead

Continuity mistake: During the final battle, they stop the tank in its tracks and several approach it. Captain Miller runs up with them. He is about to start shooting into the view finder but doesn't. The scene cuts and the tank shoots at the area where Ryan and Reiben are. Cut back to the tank and Captain Miller is still standing next to the tank, and he shoots in the view window, repeating the action from the previous shot.

manthabeat

Other mistake: Private Mellish and another fellow Airborne soldier are manning the .30 cal belt fed machine-gun, and they're quickly running out of ammunition. Private Upham is the ammo bearer, he's supposed to be "Johnny on the spot" with the ammo. After Mellish displaces and sets up a new field of fire he tells Upham to get more .30 cal and to tell the Captain the flank's going to collapse. As Upham is dodging German gunfire he runs by a wall covered with fresh red blood spray. Nobody from that crew was shot yet. (02:15:29 - 02:17:00)

Factual error: Captain Miller screams the tank is "still in this fight" and he gets on top of the SdKfz 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Tank, and fires his Thompson .45 ACP sub-gun into the view port of the Tiger. Those tanks' viewports were defended by 50-80mm of bulletproof glass and an armoured steel shutter for the driver and commanders cupola. That whole action would have achieved nothing. (02:17:00 - 02:18:00)

Factual error: The M1 Garands throughout the film all have post-War era rear sights. The type used during WW2 were called "Lock Bar," distinguished by a "bar" that ran across the right sight knob. M1 Garands manufactured or refurbished after WW2 will lack these types of sights.

Matdan97

Continuity mistake: At the end when Ryan brings the wounded sergeant to the other side of the bridge, Reiben starts to make his turn to provide covering fire for the Captain. He repeats the exact same movement two shots later.

manthabeat

Audio problem: When Ryan and Miller make their way to the bridge, they reload and fire their weapons behind sandbags. Miller begins to fire his Thompson but it jams and we see him try to rack the charging handle to fix it. He then tries to fire again but the gun fails to do so; all while we hear the sound of the Thompson firing. The editors added the sound of it firing despite the fact that it jams in the final cut.

Matdan97

Continuity mistake: When we see Ryan walking at the very start, he walks past a group of 3 people walking in the other direction. Camera cuts to show the front of Ryan and behind him and the people have miraculously disappeared. There is no way the could have walked out of sight, and there is no way they couldn't have arrived in sight either. (00:01:10)

Ssiscool

Continuity mistake: When Mellish is stabbed, at first there's no blood on his shirt, but then there is, even before the knife touches him.

MikeH

Audio problem: On the beach, a soldier with a B.A.R. puts his arm around Captain Miller's neck and says they don't have a chance. His line carries over to the next shot of Miller unwrapping his Thompson, but we can see that soldier behind Miller, and he's not talking. (00:16:00)

Scott215

Private Jackson: What I mean by that, sir, is if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile from Adolf Hitler... With a clean line of sight... Pack your bags, fellas. War's over. Amen.

More quotes from Saving Private Ryan

Trivia: Some of the extras in the film were real amputees with one arm or leg missing so the effect of seeing someone blown up and lose their limb was as realistic as possible, as opposed to having a leg or arm "tucked away." There was uproar in Ireland because of this, but the extras loved meeting the actors and getting paid handsomely as well.

pierpp

More trivia for Saving Private Ryan

Question: When they are preparing to attack the machine gun emplacement guarding the radar, Captain Miller asks 'Who's going left?' There's a long silence and finally Jackson responds that he'll do it - he'll go left. What is the significance of going left? I'm assuming that it is more dangerous, but if this is the case, why? Also, why does Captain Miller ask for volunteers for someone to go left? (As he picks himself and Mellish to go middle and right, respectively).

bbarrington

Chosen answer: There's no tree cover to the left. Whoever goes that way will likely be spotted and targeted before the others and get gunned down, but it's their best chance that one of them will make it into grenade range of the nest before they're all killed. It's not a job anyone sane would volunteer for, and the Captain is trying to get someone to volunteer so he doesn't have to potentially order TWO men to their deaths on a mission that all of them, including him, think isn't worthwhile.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Most people are not ambidextrous so running left means you'll have shoot left or use the right shoulder to shoot as you're running left which is much harder to do, try this out.

Answer: As I seem to remember, the squad a viewing the gun position from the side and the gun is viewed pointing from their right to left, correct. So if someone is going to the left and is by the MG crew they, as said MG crew turn the gun to bring them under fire, would more than likely be the first target in line.

More questions & answers from Saving Private Ryan

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