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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Story Behind Saving Private Ryans Epic Omaha Beach Scene
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/06/13/behind_saving_private_ryan_s_opening_scene_art_of_the_scene_unpacks_spielberg.htmlSteven Spielberg is often accused of being too sentimental, but that notion is pretty much obliterated by Saving Private Ryans opening scene, a half-hour crucible in which we witness Allied soldiers storm Omaha beach on D-Day. Spielberg cedes little of the screen to acts of heroism or bravery, instead submitting viewers to an uncomfortably realistic barrage of bodies falling, drowning, blowing up, or otherwise being torn apart. Its perhaps the most lauded scene of his career, and the latest installment of CineFixs Art of the Scene series supplies some key insights as to how the director and his crew crafted such an epic set piece.
Maybe the biggest takeaway here: Spielberg didnt storyboard the scene. Thats out of character for the director, and especially peculiar given how intricate the sequence is, but it also explains much of what makes it so good: The improvisational method allowed Spielberg to find the shots that most accurately evoked the brutality of war.
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The Story Behind Saving Private Ryans Epic Omaha Beach Scene (Original Post)
steve2470
Jun 2017
OP
Saving Private Ryan gave my ex's Bronze Star awarded aunt bad flashbacks. The only movie to do it.
TheBlackAdder
Jun 2017
#3
underpants
(182,904 posts)1. I'll never forget seeing that in the theater
Having been in the Army had nothing to do with my questioning IF I could do that. They had no choice I know but ....
The preacher who married us was a Chaplain there that day.
Aristus
(66,467 posts)2. One of the things the film portrayed very well was the agonizing delay in
getting off the beach.
In his book on D-Day, Stephen Ambrose quotes a veteran who was there that day. The veteran said "You know how in the movie 'The Longest Day', the soldiers dash down the ramps of the landing craft and go charging up the beach? That was ridiculous! I was in that water for half an hour!"
TheBlackAdder
(28,222 posts)3. Saving Private Ryan gave my ex's Bronze Star awarded aunt bad flashbacks. The only movie to do it.
redwitch
(14,948 posts)4. That scene is devastating.
As is the last scene: "Tell me I'm a good man."
The entire theater was weeping.