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.
Factual error: Near the end, Melish fires through the wall and kills a German. The blood then streams round the corner way to quickly to be real. It moves at the consistency of water. It then stops abruptly. Not the characteristics of blood.
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.
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.
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.
