Question: When Captain Miller told Ryan, "You might want to take some time with this, if there's some place you want to go," did he mean he could go off to the side to quietly grieve away from the other men, or did he mean that they could go look at whatever he wanted to they were passing by on the way back to the boat?
Brian Katcher
11th Sep 2023
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
15th Aug 2005
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: Jackson, the sniper of Miller's crew, states that if he was in a mile of Adolf Hitler, he would kill him. So, as they were driven to the beach, why didn't Jackson and other snipers try to pick off the the German guys who were firing the at the boats as the Americans left them?
Answer: Sniping needs stability - the movement of the waves under the boat would disrupt their aim so badly that they wouldn't have much hope of hitting anything.
Answer: Also, the machine gunners were under heavy cover. No one had a good shot at them.
1st Sep 2020
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: Near the end of the movie, Miller says "James, earn this. Earn it." What is he talking about?
Answer: A great number of soldiers died to save James' life. Miller is telling him to go on to live a life worthy of that sacrifice. That's why elderly James desperately asks his wife if he'd lived a good life.
I'm sure James was grateful that Miller, and his men were willing to risk their lives to save his.
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Answer: He means he could go off in private and mourn without being watched. The death of three brothers would be a huge blow, and he might need some time to compose himself.
Brian Katcher