Just saw "Saving Private Ryan" and did not find it very realistic even though some scenes were gory enough. Some thoughts.
The first thing that struck me is that those guys are old! Most are 35-40 or more. Combat troops in WWII were late teens, early 20s. Company grade officers were early to mid-20s; field grade late 20s to mid-30s.
The whole business was silly. If the War Department wanted to get word to Ryan's commanding officer, they would have sent it by normal commo channels, not with a Ranger squad commanded by a Captain. (Squad leaders were buck sergeants.)
Third, they send the poor slob off without the most basic and necessary piece of info, Ryan's serial number. No identification of a GI was complete without a serial number. (I can still remember mine, and it has been almost 43 years.) And they don't give him written orders. Why should his CO release him to some guy who walks up and says he should go home? Nonsense.
Fourth, he wasn't Private Ryan at all. He was a PFC and no one would have called him private unless it was an officer or NCO directly addressing him.
Then the movie-mandatory deep philosophical discussions in loud voices while watching for Germans. Were Germans supposed to be deaf?
All in all, a silly premise and a silly movie, though not as bad as some. Would not have been worth $9.00; not sure it was worth watching free.
Jim
The first thing that struck me is that those guys are old! Most are 35-40 or more. Combat troops in WWII were late teens, early 20s. Company grade officers were early to mid-20s; field grade late 20s to mid-30s.
The whole business was silly. If the War Department wanted to get word to Ryan's commanding officer, they would have sent it by normal commo channels, not with a Ranger squad commanded by a Captain. (Squad leaders were buck sergeants.)
Third, they send the poor slob off without the most basic and necessary piece of info, Ryan's serial number. No identification of a GI was complete without a serial number. (I can still remember mine, and it has been almost 43 years.) And they don't give him written orders. Why should his CO release him to some guy who walks up and says he should go home? Nonsense.
Fourth, he wasn't Private Ryan at all. He was a PFC and no one would have called him private unless it was an officer or NCO directly addressing him.
Then the movie-mandatory deep philosophical discussions in loud voices while watching for Germans. Were Germans supposed to be deaf?
All in all, a silly premise and a silly movie, though not as bad as some. Would not have been worth $9.00; not sure it was worth watching free.
Jim