Incredible film. Many horrific scenes but none more heart wrenching than Mrs. Ryan on that porch. On that peaceful farm surrounded by thousand of acres of corn, the true cost of war comes home.

Tom Hanks shaking hand is PTSD, but back then they called it Shell Shock, internalizing the trauma of battle, stuffing it down to concentrate the job he knew he must do.

The two soldiers trying to surrender were not Polish they were Czech and they were saying “Please don't shoot me! I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone! I am Czech!"

General Marshall, the man who read the Bixby letter, was the US Army Chief of Staff. He would later be the architect of the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift, under President Truman. George Marshall was, simply put, the finest man America ever produced. He rebuilt Japan and Western Europe, halted the spread of Stalinism, desegregated the American military, and led the arsenal of democracy. He was America's guiding light in the darkest days of human history, and the leader who led the forces of decency in her greatest triumph. If there were any justice, his birthday would be celebrated as an international holiday. Sadly, most Americans don't even know who he was.

I remember seeing this in the theater. During the opening, several older gents had to leave because of the realism. And, not a dry eye in the house. As we were leaving the theater, the people for the next showing were waiting to go in. I heard several people remark on the looks on our faces. But, yeah, such a GREAT film.

I remember my grandfather wanting to see this film. I rented it on VHS and we watched it together. His reaction was emotional and grateful that someone captured it in perfect, horrific and heroic detail. A week later I brought a bucket of KFC for dinner so he could eat while telling me his WWII stories. So many amazing stories. Last year he died from Covid-19, but I am so proud to be the grandson of a man who fought so bravely in the face of danger for our world.

I think Captain Miller’s shaky hands is a sign of PTSD.

One thing about this movie is that Captain Miller's company was part of the elite and highly trained Rangers, who had seen action from North Africa to Italy and then to France, so they had been in combat for a year and a half. Ryan was from the well-trained and elite 101st Airborne, which was all basically green when they jumped at Normandy.

im 67 years old did 27 years in the army 7 tours of active service. went to see this one day on a whim. i will say no more . thanks for your reaction

Hiya Kev, I saw this in theatres when it released, not because I'm a fan of war movies but because I'd heard how impactful it was. I don't think anyone in that cinema left dry eyed and I've never (before or since) been in a theatre with an audience so silent, so immersed in the realism. This is one of those films that I think everyone *SHOULD* see. History is littered with war, and we've learned nothing. Putting this *kind* of storytelling on screen is important. Nothing about this film glorifies war, atrocities are seen on both sides, the hero of the piece is a school teacher who just wants to go home.

At the end of the movie, where Ryan is in the cemetery and his wife reads the name on the cross, it is apparent she had never heard her husband mention that name before. So many men of that time spared their loved ones the horrors of war, and kept it to themselves.

"How do you repay that?" That's one of the most profound things I've ever heard. Amazing reaction.

My grandfather was in the D-day landings, we never pushed him to talk about his experiences and he never did, but he would often see a piece of footage on the tv and it would reduce him to tears. He took his stories to the grave with him 30 years ago. I’ll miss him forever,

I don't know if anyone mentioned this in the first upload, but it's something I just found from reading trivia about the movie. In the scene where Wade is dying and he says "I could use a little more morphine," the reason they look reluctant to administer it, is because he's literally asking them to kill him. He's asking them to give him more so he'll OD and die and won't bleed out and suffer more. Makes that scene that much more heartbreaking.

I've been to that graveyard - my family was in the RN or RAF at the time, so I have no direct connection - but it was a profound experience, and yes, thank you the young men of the USA who gave their lives to help in ensuring we live with the freedoms we have today.

i am old enough to have seen my father who served during ww2 in the european theatre watching this, and siting there sobbing all the way thru ,i asked him why he didint ask me to stop the movie . he it was his duty for his lost friends to watch it and remeber them ...as a result i cant watch this movie without weeping all the way through in remerbance of my late father who past not long after this was released god bless all soldiers everywhere i cant say it better than the famous poem " they gave their todays, for our tomorows "

The hand-shaking is the onset of battle-fatigue (PTSD)

Just watching that Storming of the beach fills my eyes with tears for the loss, the humanity and just the pain of that moment for so many

The scene with the Ryan's mother is the most brutal for me. Legs going weak on the porch finding out most of your children have died is truly heartbreaking.

This movie rips me up every damn time, I cry like a baby over this. This movie jacks your emotions up like only a few do. Great film, great acting. Great story.

additionally, this is in part based on a Real life incident. 5 brothers were serving together on a ship in the atlantic convoys, and the ship was torpedoed. All 5 brothers were lost. "The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent from Waterloo, Iowa who served together on the light cruiser USS Juneau. They were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942."

unprecedented depiction of the D-Day beach assaults. stunning.

As an American veteran just know, if any country threatens Britain they are also threatening The United States of America. We are kindred nations. We fight together. Cheers from Texas and Happy Thanksgiving.

Movies that hit like this you may wish to see. A Bridge Too Far, Bataan, The Bridge Over th River Kwi, Sands of Iwo Jima, the Guns of Navarone. All have a hard hit to the feels.

The connection with Band of Brothers is somehow deeper - if you get the chance to read the book, it glosses over the friendship of Donald Malarkey and Skip Muck with the Niland brothers and how they met up before Operation Overlord. "Ryan" was based on Fritz Niland who served in the 101st Airborne Division and was close friends with both Malarkey and Muck. Just wanted you to know that tiny tidbit of info.

When Tom Hanks shakes at the beginning of the movie, the term is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or more commonly known as PTSD. It can happen outside of war where people just feel over stress like after events in their lives. Before it was called PTSD, it was called battle fatigue. Another example of this is in the movie Patton. It's also a WWII movie about General George Patton. The first Private Ryan who had the wrong first and middle name also starred in the sci-fi series Firefly about a group of smugglers. The show was funny and serious.

Notice there was no music playing during the beach scene. I also read that veterans who lived thru D-Day had to leave the theatre because it was so real. Absolute masterpiece of film.

I was combat medic. His things he says is what I would say if I was dying. It's so realistic. Thank you for your review your british mates were my mates in war

That medic that was patching himself on the beach, there was that scene where a bullet hit the water canteen and if you look closely you'll see the blood coming out.

Hello finally this masterpiece ♥ .. btw at 14:54 soldier was saying ,,Do not shoot , i didn't kill anyone'' in Czech language .. and this is quite correct , many many men from occupied countries like Czechoslovakia were forced to fight for Wehrmacht . Those who managed to escape Nazi regime were fighting under RAF in UK . Brave men

I really can't get enough of people reacting to this movie, specifically the famous (infamous?) intro, and the very end. So many years later and both those sections never fail to destroy me. 5:12 yeah. Yeah.

As a former member of the 101st Airborne, I look at the lineage of my grandfather's, and ask and hope my family sees I led a good life, and have honored the soldiers that gave their lives before me. Airborne! (Response... all the way).

This movie is so emotional! Great reaction ❤️

Best reaction to this movie I've ever seen. Only one close is the little Russian girl, Dasha, who understood more than most adults and certainly more than my younger fellow Americans.

My heart begs me to mention this: That guy with the role of one of the men, on the right side of video, with white hair around the 18:51st minute is the 78 years old Sergeant Dale Dye. Sgt. Dale Dye IS (as I'm writing this,) still alive and served in the Vietnam War. The reason WHY Dye sounds very naturally as a fantastic actor in that scene where (he's although playing as a likely much higher rank character) is _actual battlefield experience._ Nothing beats real experiences to use as a realtime, highly and easily convincing acting ability like speaking from real situation experience.

Ryan identifies himself as being in the 506th and he's wearing the Screaming Eagle of the 101st Airborne, so he's part of the same regiment as Easy Company from BoB.

Steven Spielberg is a God among men. Anything that man touched was pure gold.

If anyone reading this visits New Orleans in the future, I highly recommend visiting the National WWII Museum there. There's an exhibit show called "Beyond All Boundaries" in 4D that is awesome and is narrated by Tom Hanks. It really makes you appreciate the Greatest Generation even more and what they went through. I was weeping at the end. Torn between being grateful for what that generation went through and ashamed at how spoiled we have it now.

Tom Hanks hands were shaking out of pure fear.

It has been 4 months since you did this reaction. And probably won't see this. But I see many reactors ask about the shaking hand. I havent seen anyone in the comments answer it. Now, I could be wrong, but I believe the shaking is a symptom of shell shock.

Interesting to note that before the movie went on general release it was shown to a group of D-Day Veterans who said that the beginning on the beaches was very close to how it really was on the day, My Father was at D- Day with the Durham Light Infantry on with Gold or Sword Beach and he never spoke of it some things are better left unsaid, He went on to be among the first British Troops to find Belsen concentration camp then fought through to Berlin as many others did, But how they got off the Beaches American and Allied Soldiers alike is a testament to their bravery and training.

42:57 The funny thing is, there's actually a few clues throughout the movie that Miller was a teacher - in a few scenes, you can see that Miller is able to instantly recall the names of soldiers who aren't in his outfit, even in the heat of battle. At first this could be dismissed as just a requirement of being a CO, until you realize it's exactly the same skill that a school teacher would develop as a survival strategy for dealing with unruly and inattentive kids (and it's likely the reason that he was chosen for the role to begin with).

Those long "poles" they were carrying were called Bangalore Torpedoes, essentially a cylinder full of explosive, designed to have several joined together, and then fired electrically, causing a shaped burst which was specifically intended to clear a way through barbed wire entanglements or other beach obstructions...

I have a soft spot for the Airborne as well. My avatar is the shoulder patch of the 17th Airborne. My father was a Glider Trooper, 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne division and a combat veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhineland Campaign and Operation Varsity. He saw a LOT of combat and survived only because as a replacement he was hooked up with a battle hardened veteran Sargent who kept him alive for the 5 months he fought.

9:19 WAIT I never noticed how the guy following Capt. Miller got shot. I really need to rewatch this frame by frame, the details man

Ive had great respect for the men who experienced this since i was a child and first heard about it, This movie kind of let you visualize to a small degree what it must have been like and my respect has gone through the stratosphere for these men and all the vets of all wars, just awful.

Dale Dye, who had a cameo here in GEN Marshall's office, runs a training group who gives the actors Boot Camp and period instruction on tactics, etc. Spielberg & Hanks also had Dye give the BOB actors training. Some of them wanted to quit, but said Tom did it for SPR, so we have too also. The knife fight was also the guy they let go, which is why he let Upham go. Miller and his men were from the 2nd Ranger Battalion and were part of the assault against Pointe du Hoc to scale the cliffs to take out artillery; acting as a reserve offshore. The Rangers of Dog Green were in support of the Pointe, then ended up going ashore with the 29th Infantry Division as seen here. I mention that because once the bangalores cleared a hole through, BG Norman Cota of the 29th turned to and said "Rangers, Lead The Way" and that became the Rangers motto that endures today.

I read somewhere that the two guys trying to surrender towards the beginning were saying "don't shoot, were not German, were polish, they forced us to fight" which really adds to the darkness of the scene when the Americans mow them down and make a joke about it

"great dialog" you said after Matt's brother story..... was NOT in the script at all.... created it on the spot and was left in the film... is also the reason u see Tom Hanks so surprised and laughing like "what the he**" .... ;))))) SO BRILLIANT....

During WWII a telegram was sent to inform you that your loved one was dead, unless there was more than one then they would be delivered by military personnel and a chaplain. As soon as she saw the car she knew more than one of her sons were dead.

One of my favorite war films along with: - The Great Escape - Inglorious Basterds - Glory - Master and Commander

I’m an old bloke father of four ,the mother scene always gets to me to m8 i couldn’t imagine the heartbreak

@15:11 You are correct. The two soldiers illegally shot while trying to surrender were Czech conscripts not Germans. They were speaking Czech.

I saw this in theaters when it came out and I was squirming and flinching throughout every battle sequence thinking how did we win the war?

The two German soldiers who were shot near the beginning was Czechoslovakian conscripts. That was Czech they were speaking, they were telling them they were forced to serve.

Souvenirs of landings. NORTH Africa, Sicily, Salerno Italy, Anzio,Italy, and Normandy. Ref background see Wikipedia article on zomaha Beach. 101st and 82nd Airborne and gliders landed early morning, and spread all over Normandy by misdrops. They were supposed to block reinforce,ends from coming in.

As always, great reaction. Apparently Ryan's monologue about the brothers the night before leaving home was improvised by Damon.

They guy who went dead from the German grenade is also the actor for Beta in TWD

If you are interested, you should look up the Sullivan brothers, they died together in ww2. I think that’s why the writers and Steven spielberg made this - to retrieve the last brother of a family of 4 brothers.

Schindler's List. If you haven't seen it, I honestly think it's Steven Spielberg's greatest work. He went back to finish his college degree in 2002 after 33 years. Schindler's List is the film he turned in as his student film requirement.

The shaking hand is from combat fatigue ,what is now referred to as ptsd .

Tom Hanks in Greyhound is a recommended. That is my father's navy, but he missed the war by one year.

That call of duty game I believe was called "world at war" which like you said had a really similar beach scene

Saving Private Ryan This movie is a fictional film of WWII’s D-Day invasion … in which three of four brothers are KIA (killed in action) and a squad / platoon (8 men) search for the remaining live brother. D-Day remains the LARGEST amphibious invasion in history … the transfer of 39 divisions (22 American), over 1 million soldiers to Normandy France. The Allies began their invasion at 6:30am and repelled the Germans by days end … at a cost of more than 10,000 KIA & MIAs. American soldiers that survived the first days invasion attested to the films accuracy in the nature & brutality of combat. A slightly unknown factoid is that German machine gunner that was depicted firing down onto Americans landing at Dog-1 … massacring them before they could even get off their LST. That machine gunner identified himself well after the war as Heinrich Severloh, an 18 year old son of a farmer, that was conscripted by the Germans. Heinrich admitted that he believed he killed more Americans in a single day than any other soldier … more than 1000, possibly over 2000 … and for the rest of his life, the nightmares would never stop! Another surreal oddity was the character of the typist Upham …. his character oddly reflects the character of our nation …. America. From 1937, years before America was attacked at Pearl Harbor (and beyond) …. America sat back, failing to act as Germany began exterminating 6MILLION men, women, children, and elders because of their race, using them as reasons for German failings …. We sat back, refusing to involve ourselves in Europe’s ‘Problem’ …. while Germany invaded and overwhelmed every other country except England. We finally pulled ourselves together and entered the combat! In combat, EVERY man (boys 17-20) reacts differently …. assimilates combat differently …. but, EVERYONE is afraid! We all lock our horrors away in the recesses of our minds …. only later to have to deal with them again! Back to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, I would hope that you & EVERY American would sit down a day or two before every Memorial Day & Veterans Day and rewatch this film (or, Hacksaw Ridge). But, next time rejoin the film, mentally doing so AS AN UNSEEN MEMBER OF THE SQUAD … to mentally & emotionally connect to the other soldiers as friends, buddies … hopefully, to understand all of the veterans combat problems. America, the people (the 97% never experiencing war, are now highly insulated from soldiers / veterans … stunned into remembering the wounded, maimed & dead … but seem to never comprehend those with invisible wounds … those that returned with PTSD, the veterans that choose to be homeless because feel they don’t deserve to continue living a good life, those 22 that are committing suicides every day. This movie was produced loosely on a true story and several similar situations. I’m not seeking compassion … rather a realistic understanding of WHY we returned as we did! Even though we got back to family & loved ones. They only recognized our shell, but found strangers with in. Some of us got back … but, not really, not completely! Others couldn’t accept the peaceful life, their friends couldn’t return to … and chose life on the streets as self-punishment. Movie done, how did you make it??? How’s that ‘assimilating combat’ working for you? Not so good for me and others.

So sickening watching that German soldier beg for his life, the knife going in during the hand-to-hand. So tearful watching Mother Ryan collapse on her porch, the captain say "earn this," and old Ryan ask his wife "tell me I've lived a good life, tell me I'm a good man." Notice the only murder of the film? All that killing is war. Only one murder: Upham murdered that German because he killed Capitan Miller: for revenge.

You’re absolutely right the two German soldiers surrendering in the beginning of the movie with their hands in the air were check u salivan captures and forced to fight for the German army . They were saying please don’t shoot I didn’t kill anybody. I’m not German great reaction.

as always, your reactions are genuine, heartfelt and respectful. I have always considered this movie one of the greats, and it always fascinates me to see other peoples reactions to it....I appreciate your reactions because you seem to get so much out of the movies you watch, the emotions, and the drama pull you in, and you seem to "experience" the movies rather than just "watch" them....its impossible to watch a movie like this and not take the time to think for a minute of the men who were there and did things like this for real.........I'm an ex-serviceman myself, fortunately never involved in any combat, but I honour and respect those who did... and your similar respect and admiration for the real heroes, does you great credit.. keep up the good work! cheers....

What a great reaction. Just really great. Thank you. I really like your channel. Subbed. Cheers from the US 🇺🇸🍻

Loved your reaction Kev! You really do have the best ones I've seen and are so authentic. The first time I saw this film I went into it both curious and nervous. I knew it would be realistic but wasn't prepared for how unfiltered in terms of depicting the war it was. My parents said to me prior to me watching it, that when it was released in 1998 they went to see it in theatres and said that the audience in their screening was in gasps at the beginning with the brutality, blood and gore of the opening scenes. They said that by the time the film ended the entire audience was in tears. She said it was the first time she had ever seen my dad cry at a film before as she was also in tears. Truly amazing and scary what these people went through during World War 2. Such an incredible film by Spielberg.

This is absolutely a story that did happen. The family name was Sullivan, I believe. And they did go find the last one and brought him home. The movie is not based on actual events but the story is true.

Great reactions as usual, my friend! I first saw this epic film in its initial theatrical release in the summer of 1998. So powerful. Seen it countless times since. One of my all time favorites.

Best review I’ve seen….every time I watch this movie it’s like first time I’ve seen it. Thank you for showing true emotion

The surrending soldiers who were shot weren't speaking German, you're right, it is Czech actually. They were explaining that they aren't German.

There is a clue to the identity of the elderly man in the beginning of the movie. He has a 101st airborne pin on his jacket breast

On a side note, did you notice that his wife doesn't recognize the Captain's name? This would imply he never told his family what happened.

He was shell shocked 😢

Thanks for sharing that you have seen bits of the movie. Im a firm beliver in that I wana watch peoples REACTIONS to a movie rather then thoughts about the movie as we go thru it. And usually I click away as soon as I hear I seen this movie before "even if its long time ago" or they faking it and I notice something sus. But I will give your video a chance and see how it is ^^

I like how you say, "oh I don't want to see this" ahead of the scene where the Ryan mother gets the telegrams from the war department, and then suck it in to prepare for it. I only have respect to those reactors of this movie who do get emotional from that scene.

You really don't know who you are until you get shot at but I can say my british mates were my best friends I ever had.

if u understand that all those people do their duty military and civilian , sacrifice their life... u understand we don t have right to forget....

From the Capt's POV, it made extra sense to stay and guard the bridge. We saw from the machine gun nest scene that the Capt is has a larger view of the mission, to beat the Germans and save Americans. If Ryan doesn't want to leave, well, that's fine because it's for the greater cause to guard the bridge.

so glad you had the mother part in the reaction. a good emotion from knowing whats going to happen. great movie and never gets old. my grandpa was there and he died before this movie came out. he didnt like to talk about the war and i was to young to ask.

Check out Lone Survivor. Its an incredible movie based on a true story that I am sure will have you feeling similar ways to this one. Love the reaction as always Kev!

Awesome reaction man! Thanks so much!

I remember 2 stories about this movie that I believe to be true...Tom Sizemore (Sgt. Mike) was an A-List actor prior to the filming..He was on a downslide of his career due to his drug addiction, which pretty much made him persona non grata around Hollywood...He lobbied for the part pretty hard to get his career back on track. Spielberg said ok under one condition; that he be tested everyday, and if he came up dirty once he was off the film, even if it meant he'd have to stop filming, hire another actor, and reshoot every scene involving his character...Also, prior to shooting the core group was drilled hard for 3 intense weeks, to get them fighting ready. Spielberg deliberately didn't want Damon anywhere near them, so he wasn't invited on the set until his part came up..He wanted the core group to actually resent him, and they gave him the "Big Star" silent treatment. He said they made him feel very uncomfortable being around them, for real...Truths, or not, pretty cool stories.

This one of those ensemble pieces where within 10 years even the supporting cast members become well known. Vin Diesel’s an obvious one but my favorite is Nathan Fillon because I had just finished Firefly for the first time when I saw this for the first time

There actually were soldiers from german conquered countries in German uniform who had been forcefully conscripted into the German army. I cannot remember how many, but in some areas of the german lines on D-day there were significant percentages of the soldiers conscripted from countries the germans had conquered. The guy who cried when he got the german youth dagger was Jewish. I guess that was why it was emotional for him

Great input…. Great reaction!!!

this literally felt exactly like Call of duty world at war summed into a movie, one of the best movies ever made.

Nice reaction, heartfelt. Its more than a movie really, its an event and a lesson for everyone. We can see in Ukraine that this sort of thing is going on today. Hanks and Spielberg have returned to the subject matter and are currently filming (in the UK) Masters of the Air based on some famous WW2 US bombing crews, i think.

1:00:30 Lt. Ilonov 1:04:57 Captain McCain

He decided to let Upom live with the guilt, worse than death.

I remember hearing a few months ago that when this movie first came out in theaters there were WWII veterans that watched it & they had to leave the theater because of how realistic it is oh yeah & here's a little WWII fun fact back then there were actually members of the U.S. mafia families that fought in the war

Excelente reacción amigo. (SALUDOS DESDE ARGENTINA) 👍👍👍🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷

Unlike other films that claim to be realistic, this one IS the epitome of the all. Spielberg and Hanks made sure to have as much accuracy as possible. With that being said, one of the few Hollywood glamor shots was the sniper through the eye. Only one confirmed instance of that ever happening was in Vietnam. (As far as I’ve been able to find through research) And the worst part about the sniper knowing they did that was that the other sniper had him in his sights but he was quicker on the trigger. Also, mythbusters tried to debunk it and it came down to that it could be possible, but it would take that one in an astronomical chance to do it. Your reaction was the best I’ve seen yet, don’t apologize for the swearing. Oh, and as a last comment, kudos for actually knowing what FUBAR stood for.

Interesting Ryan never discussed Miller or the war with his wife or family.

Upham's disposition wasn't compatible with war...killing the German soldier at the end was the end of his innocence and now he'll have to live his life knowing he couldve done more...What's right vs what's necessary is an interesting argument.

Over 80 million people lost their life in World War II

You need to watch latest "All quiet on the western front" (2022, original language german with subtitles), it's epic cinematic gold from netflix about WW1.

Great sincere reactions to this movie. I consider this movie to be one of the best war movies ever. It showed the whole spectrum of what war is really like and the God awful horror that war brings. Band of Brothers was excellent. Another great one is Pacific. About the island hopping in the Pacific. I think it comes in 8 parts. I believe that the same people who made Band of Brothers also made Pacific. They didn't want people to forget that hell was happening in another place. PS. It's not for the faint of heart. A lot of the characters were based on real life soldiers. Well worth seeing.