Metallica :: Fade To Black

[postlink]http://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2013/01/metallica-fade-to-black.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E94VOZStcMwendofvid
[starttext]

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Certificate: R 169 min  -  Action | Drama | War  -  24 July 1998 (USA)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Robert Rodat
Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore

Saving Private Ryan, the 1998 Oscar winning war epic from legendary film maker Steven Spielberg, is widely considered to be the most realistic depiction of the D-Day landings ever bought to the screen. A box office smash in the cinemas, no expense was spared in recreating the horror experienced by the American troops on Omaha Beach, and the film’s opening scene has gone down in cinema history as one of the greatest sequences ever made. The film unfolds to tell the story of the daring rescue of Private Ryan, the last surviving brother in his family. But just how accurate really is the landing scene? And was there a real Private Ryan?

In Saving Private Ryan – The True Story, Historians, eye-witnesses and weapons experts reveal amazing new insights into the detail of Spielberg’s graphic depiction of the landings. Veteran Harley Reynolds was one of the first men to make it off Omaha Beach on D-Day and gives us his powerful eyewitness testimony. Pete Niland tells why his family story is thought by many to be the inspiration for the film, and why his uncle is the real Private Ryan. We take to the seas in one of the last surviving landing boats, see the real effects of an exploding mortar shell on the human body and test whether a sniper really can shoot an enemy straight their scope as shown in the film.

NILAND BROTHERS

Saving Private Ryan is loosely based off the Niland Brother's experiences during WWII. The Allied invasion to liberate Europe is the backdrop to the main plot of film, which revolves around Tom Hanks’ character Captain Miller and his small unit of men as they are sent to rescue Private Ryan played by Matt Damon. Ryan is the last of four brothers left alive, the others all killed in action. Although the story of Captain Miller’s rescue mission is fictional, the story of the Ryan brothers and the military policy that leads to Private Ryan being bought home are based on incredible, and tragic, true stories.

The sole survivor policy was introduced in 1942 and it’s this ruling that allows Matt Damon’s Private Ryan – the last Ryan brother - to be rescued from the frontline. This policy, designed to prevent an entire family being wiped out, was bought into force after the tragedy of the five Sullivan brothers. Professor of military history Geoff Wawro uncovers the dramatic events that led up to all five of the Sullivan brothers being killed in the South Pacific and the creation of the army policy.

One family which benefited from the sole survivor policy and was spared the ultimate tragedy of losing all their children were the Niland family. In a case that is strikingly similar to Saving Private Ryan, three of the four Niland brothers took part in the D-Day landings, but only one came back. The surviving brother, Fritz Niland was bought home from the front, but the real story has an incredible twist not even Hollywood could imagine.

Plot

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the beginning of the Normandy invasion, American soldiers prepare to land on Omaha Beach. They struggle against dug-in German infantry, machine gun nests, and artillery fire, which cut down many of the men. Captain John H. Miller, the company commander of Charlie Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, survives the initial landing and assembles a group of soldiers to penetrate the German defenses, leading to a breakout from the beach.

In the United States Department of War in Washington, D.C., General George Marshall is informed that three of four brothers in the Ryan family have all died within days of each other and that their mother will receive all three telegrams on the same day. He learns that the fourth son, Private First Class James Francis Ryan of Baker Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division is missing in action somewhere in Normandy. After reading to his staff Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, Marshall orders that Ryan be found and sent home immediately.

In France, three days after D-Day, Miller receives orders to find Ryan. He assembles six men from his company (Horvath, Mellish, Reiben, Jackson, Wade, and Caparzo), plus one detailed from the 29th Infantry Division (Upham), a clerk who speaks fluent French and German, to accomplish the task. With no information about Ryan's whereabouts, Miller and his men move out to Neuville. On the outskirts of Neuville they meet a platoon from the 101st. After entering the town under heavy rain, Caparzo is wounded by a sniper in the chest, and slowly bleeds to death, since nobody can go out into the open without getting hit. Jackson is able to kill the sniper after Caparzo dies. They locate a Private James Frederick Ryan from Minnesota, but soon realize that he's not their man. They find a member of Charlie Company, 506th, who informs them that his drop zone was at Vierville and that Baker and Charlie companies had the same rally point. Once they reach it, Miller locates a friend of Ryan's, who reveals that Ryan is defending a strategically important bridge over the Merderet River in the town of Ramelle.

On the way to Ramelle, Miller decides to take the opportunity to neutralize a small German machine gun position close to an abandoned radar station, despite the misgivings of his men. Wade, their medic, is fatally wounded in the ensuing skirmish. The last surviving German, known only as "Steamboat Willie", incurs the wrath of all the squad members except Upham, who protests to Miller about the proposed execution of the German soldier. "Steamboat Willie" pleads for his life and Miller decides to let him walk away, blindfolded, and surrender himself to the next Allied patrol. Viewing Miller's decision as letting the enemy go free, and no longer confident in Miller's leadership, Reiben declares his intention to desert the squad and the mission, prompting a confrontation with Horvath. The argument heats up, until Miller defuses the situation by revealing his pre-war occupation as an English teacher, a question upon which the squad had set up a betting pool. Reiben then reluctantly decides to stay.

The squad finally arrives on the outskirts of Ramelle, where they come upon three paratroopers ambushing a German half-track. Among the paratroopers is Ryan. After entering Ramelle, Ryan is told of his brothers' deaths, and their mission to bring him home, and that two lives had been lost in the quest to find him. He is distressed at the loss of his brothers, but does not feel it is fair to go home, asking Miller to tell his mother "when you found me I was here, I was with the only brothers I have left," looking at the small band whose duty it was to defend a bridge and destroy an approaching German mechanized unit. Miller decides to take command and defend the bridge with what little manpower and resources are available.

The Germans arrive in force with more than 50 men supported by armor. In spite of inflicting heavy German casualties and destroying two tanks with sticky bombs (explosives stuffed into socks and then coated with axle grease) and Molotov cocktails, most of the Americans—including Jackson, Mellish, and Horvath—are killed. While attempting to blow the bridge, Miller is shot and mortally wounded. Just before a Tiger reaches the bridge, an American P-51 Mustang flies over and destroys it, followed by more Mustangs and advancing American infantry and M4 Sherman tanks who rout the remaining Germans. Upham, who was cut off from the Americans and hid in a ditch next to the advancing Germans, comes out of hiding as the Germans flee and orders them to drop their weapons, before executing one of them ("Steamboat Willie" from the radio tower, who had wounded Miller) and telling the rest to flee. Ryan, Reiben, and Upham are the only surviving Americans of the battle. Ryan is with Miller as he dies and says his last words, "James... earn this. Earn it."

In the present day, Ryan, now an elderly veteran, and his family visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-mer; Normandy, France. Ryan stands at Miller's grave. He asks his wife to confirm that he has led a good life and that he is a "good man" and thus worthy of the sacrifice of Miller and the others. He then salutes Miller's grave.

[endtext]