Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Actors: Barry Pepper (actor), Edward Burns (actor), Tom Hanks (actor), Paul Giamatti (actor), Dennis Farina (actor), Nathan Fillion (actor), Ted Danson (actor), Adam Goldberg (actor), Vin Diesel (actor), John de Lancie (actor), Dale Dye (actor), Bryan Cranston (actor), Matt Damon (actor), Tom Sizemore (actor), Giovanni Ribisi (actor),

Plot: Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...

Keywords: 1940s, act-of-god, ambush, american, american-flag, anti-semitism, army, army-ranger, based-on-true-story, battle
Genres: Action, Drama, War,
Taglines: In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, The Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One. The mission is a man. There was only one man left in the family, and the mission was to save him.

Quotes:

Private Reiben: I got a bad feeling about this one.::Captain Miller: When was the last time you felt good about anything?

[Listening skeptically to German propaganda coming over a loudspeaker]::Captain Miller: "The Statue of Liberty is kaput" - that's disconcerting.

Gen. George C. Marshall: I have a letter here, written a long time ago, to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston. So bear with me. "Dear Madam: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, Abraham Lincoln."

Private Jackson: Sir... I have an opinion on this matter.::Captain Miller: Well, by all means, share it with the squad.::Private Jackson: Well, from my way of thinking, sir, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources.::Captain Miller: Yeah. Go on.::Private Jackson: Well, it seems to me, sir, that God gave me a special gift, made me a fine instrument of warfare.::Captain Miller: Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson.::Private Jackson: Well, 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 of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir... pack your bags, fellas, war's over. Amen.::Private Reiben: Oh, that's brilliant, bumpkin. Hey, so, Captain, what about you? I mean, you don't gripe at all?::Captain Miller: I don't gripe to *you*, Reiben. I'm a captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that as a Ranger.::Private Reiben: I'm sorry, sir, but uh... let's say you weren't a captain, or maybe I was a major. What would you say then?::Captain Miller: Well, in that case... I'd say, "This is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir, worthy of my best efforts, sir. Moreover... I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and am willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men - especially you, Reiben - to ease her suffering."::Mellish: [chuckles] He's good.::Private Caparzo: I love him.::[they make mocking kissy-faces at each other]

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.

Private Reiben: You wanna explain the math of this to me? I mean, where's the sense of riskin' the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?::Captain Miller: Twenty degrees. Anybody wanna answer that?::Medic Wade: Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother.::Private Reiben: Hey, Doc, I got a mother, all right? I mean, you got a mother. Sarge's got a mother. I mean, shit, I bet even the captain's got a mother. [he turns and looks at Miller, who has a bemused expression on his face] Well, maybe not the captain, but the rest of us got mothers.::Upham: "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die."::Mellish: La-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la-la. What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Corporal, huh? We're all supposed to die, is that it?::Captain Miller: Upham's talking about our duty as soldiers.::Upham: Yes, sir.::Captain Miller: We all have orders, and we have to follow 'em. That supersedes everything, including your mothers.::Upham: Yes, sir. Thank you sir.::Private Reiben: Even if you think the mission's FUBAR, sir?::Captain Miller: *Especially* if you think the mission's FUBAR.

Upham: What's FUBAR?::Mellish: Oh, it's German. [he chuckles derisively] Yeah.::Upham: Never heard of that.

Captain Miller: Caparzo, get that kid back up there!::Private Caparzo: Captain, the decent thing to do would be take her over to the next town.::Captain Miller: We're not here to do the decent thing, we're here to follow fucking orders!

Private Reiben: You want to explain the math of this to me? I mean, where's the sense in risking the lives of the eight of us to save one guy?::Captain Miller: Anyone wanna answer that?::Medic Wade: Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother.::Private Reiben: Hey, Doc, I got a mother, you got a mother, the sarge has got a mother. I'm willing to bet that even the Captain's got a mother. Well, maybe not the Captain, but the rest of us have got mothers.

Sergeant Horvath: I don't know. Part of me thinks the kid's right. He asks what he's done to deserve this. He wants to stay here, fine. Let's leave him and go home. But then another part of me thinks, what if by some miracle we stay, then actually make it out of here. Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess. Like you said, Captain, maybe we do that, we all earn the right to go home.