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.
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In the scene where the American soldiers are about to ambush the Tiger tank, look at the empty belt on the right side of CPL Henderson's machine gun. Its length changes from shot to shot before he opens fire. See more...
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Saving Private Ryan (1998) - 11 trivia entries
Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Adam Goldberg, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel (add more)
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.
The majority of the extras in the movie were from the Irish Army and the F.C.A. (a military organisation). Direct from one of these extras: in the opening scenes where the soldiers are in the boats before docking France against German militia, the soldiers puke their guts out, and we all see this. What you don't know is that it was REAL vomit you see - it was caught on camera perfectly and it was kept...
Director Steven Spielberg reduced the color saturation of the film by approximately 60% to more closely match his artistic vision. This led to a flood of complaints by customers when the movie was broadcast on TV and cable, so the cable and TV companies had to turn the colour gain back up again.
The story James Ryan tells Miller, about his brothers in the barn with Alice Jardin, was not in the script. Matt Damon ad-libbed it and Spielberg decided to leave it in the final film.
The storyline for the movie was very loosely based on the story of Sgt. Frederick (Fritz) Niland from Tonawanda, New York. He and other members of the 101st, were dropped too far inland, but eventually made their way back to their unit. Upon his arrival back, the Chaplain told Niland about the death of his three brothers, two at Normandy and one in the Far East, so the Chaplain arranged his return home, due to the US War Department's Sole Survivor Policy. As it turned out, his brother believed to have been killed in the Far East had been captured, and later returned home as well. The story of Niland and the 101st was written about by the Chaplain, Lt. Col. Father Francis Sampson, in his book, Look Out Below!
The "streaks" that appear in the film when fires or explosions are shown are deliberate. This is a phenomenon that would often appear in actual WWII combat photography and was intentionally emulated when the film was made.
During the scene in which Pvt. Stanley Mellish is being stabbed slowly by the German soldier, the soldier is whispering something to him in German - "Give up. You have got no chance. This way is much more easy for you. Much easier."
The scene where Private Jackson shoots through the German sniper's scope, killing him is based on Carlos Hathcock's 2 mile sniper shot through a Viet Cong's sniper scope with a scoped Browning M2. Carlos Hathcook was very famous for killing a General and later commanded a platoon of snipers.
The movie was shot in chronological order, which is unusual for a film. Spielberg chose to shoot it that way so that the actors would feel like they were going through the experience in the same order as the characters they play, and they lose friends on the way. This helped create the resentment towards Ryan, who doesn't share the journey with them.
The resentment the soldiers feel towards Pvt. Ryan is real: Matt Damon was the only cast member who didn't go through boot camp.
The opening sequences of the Normandy invasion on D-Day were actually shot in Ireland, not in France. The French government would not give permission to the producers to shoot on Normandy beaches.
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