Things you didn't know about Saving Private Ryan

Hufflepuff · #1 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 12:16 AM

I: Many of the extras used in the film are Irish Army reservists. Over 4,000 participated in the production, many of whom were veterans of "Braveheart."

II: The Omaha Beach sequences were shot on the coast of Ireland. The majority of the rest of the film was shot at a set of a ruined French village in Hatfield, England.

III: Steven Spielberg shot 3 movies in quick sequence in 1998, the year S.P.R. came out: Lost World, Amistad, and S.P.R. The most break time he had during all three productions was six weeks.

IV: The two Tiger tanks seen near the end of the film are not authentic Tiger tanks; they are actually scratchbuilt Tiger turrets mounted on the chassis of T-34 tanks. The easiest visual way to tell this is by the wheels on the treads: the T-34 treads are lined up straight, unlike the Tiger wheels, which overlap each other.

V: Tom Hanks was 41 when he was involved with S.P.R., 15 years older than the average US Infantry captain in WWII.

VI: The medic character, Wade, served on the vocal recordings of the video game 'Call of Duty.' He gave the vocals for the character of Pvt. Eldar of the 101st Airborne.

Martin Bull · #2 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hufflepuff

II: The majority of the rest of the film was shot at a set of a ruined French village in Hatfield, England.

And, to paraphrase Rumsfeld, something you didn't know you didn't know....

: the set was built on the site of the old De Havilland factory and airfield, where most of the Mosquitoes were built and flew from in WWII.....

Skipper · #3 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 11:47 AM

I didn't know about some of these. The call of Duty recording is my favorite scoop! Thanks for posting this.

CDTSSGTVARNER · #4 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 02:27 PM

wow you know if the video games would pay more atteion to some o the stuff we find on the internet they wold be so much more interesting

ghost_of_war · #5 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 10:16 PM

There are also several movie errors and historical errors in thi smovie as well. I hate to admit that due to it being one of my favorite movies of all time, but as an example:

They would use THUNDER before FLASH, when in turn it supposed to be the other way around. Glad they corrected that when they filmed Band Of Brothers....

Hufflepuff · #6 (**permalink**) February 13th, 2008, 11:39 PM

Also a lot of the hand signals are inaccurate

travelinbabs · #7 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2008, 04:03 AM

And Ryan had only two brothers KIA -- not three.

~~PactOfSteel~~ · #8 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2008, 04:20 AM

I want the uncensored cut of Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg had to cut out more than five minutes of violence to get a R-rating or else it would have gotten a NC-17 rating.

ww2dude · #9 (**permalink**) February 18th, 2008, 07:45 PM

If I may add 3 things.
1. Tom Hanks carries a military version of a Thompson submachine gun, while a typical Ranger commander carried an M1 carbine.
2. While the 5 Sullivan brothers are mentioned in the movie, Saving Private Ryan was inspired by the four Niland brothers of Kenmore, New York. One went missing and presumed dead in the Pacific (he actually became a POW and survived the war), two others were killed at Normandy. The fourth named Frederick was a member of the 101st Airbourne Division and was sent home when it seemed like all his brothers were dead
3. A final error is the age of the men. Most would have been too old to actually hold the ranks they did. Clint Eastwood did an excellent job avoiding this when he made Flags of Our Fathers.

Hufflepuff · #10 (**permalink**) February 18th, 2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PactOfSteel

I want the uncensored cut of Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg had to cut out more than five minutes of violence to get a R-rating or else it would have gotten a NC-17 rating.

Just a note to everyone out there, there is no uncesored cut of SPR. You can get the regular DVD or the 60th D-Day Anniversary Collector's edition, which features many special features on how the film was made. The uncensored version apparently has never been released to the public.

ghost_of_war · #11 (**permalink**) February 18th, 2008, 10:13 PM

Would have been interesting to see.

Shangas · #12 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2008, 02:56 AM

More stuff you didn't know -

- Some of the ammunition seen in the film is actually made of wood, since authentic ammunition made of metal would've been too heavy.

- The sound-effects were recorded using real WWII-era firearms.

T. A. Gardner · #13 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2008, 04:09 AM

The fighter-bombers that attack right at the end of the movie are P-51s and in the colors of the 78th FG. This unit was in 8th AF and used as bomber escort not ground attack with XIX TAF. In fact, P-51s were fairly rare as ground attack aircraft mostly P-47 and P-38s were used in this role.

I would also note the lack on the part of the US troops the use of the M9A1 rifle grenade and its HE counterpart along with the non-use of the HE version with a 60mm mortar round. These were very commonly used by US infantry units and often in preference to the bazooka, particularly in urban fighting.

Hufflepuff · #14 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2008, 01:18 PM

Also true, Gardener; the P-51 looks like "Big Beautiful Doll," which was not even built until 1945.

bigfun · #15 (**permalink**) February 22nd, 2008, 03:07 PM

It always amazes me that some of the things that are mentioned here are overlooked byt the film makers! if we know these things why don't they? Some of these producers should be fired!

FramerT · #16 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2008, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T. A. Gardner

The fighter-bombers that attack right at the end of the movie are P-51s and in the colors of the 78th FG. This unit was in 8th AF and used as bomber escort not ground attack with XIX TAF. In fact, P-51s were fairly rare as ground attack aircraft mostly P-47 and P-38s were used in this role.

I never thought much of their colors, but you're right. Ryan says "they're tank-busters,Sir."
A P-51 is'nt a tank-buster. Even so, if a Mustang dropped a bomb to knock out that Tiger, I'd think the shrapnel would have torn both Ryan and Hanks to pieces.

arneken · #17 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2008, 06:28 PM

But still one hell of a movie ...

Right they made some errors in the movie but do we actually expect that those scenarists know what that or that squadron had or what Soldier what carried or what age a common ww2 sergeant or captain had???

It's not that they invent new guns for the movie or new tanks or so.

sommecourt · #18 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2008, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shangas

More stuff you didn't know -

- Some of the ammunition seen in the film is actually made of wood, since authentic ammunition made of metal would've been too heavy.

That's not true - they were made of rubber. Many of the weapons carried by the actors and extras were also rubber. I know the company that made these and have handled many of them. The good ones are pretty convincing, even close up.

Hufflepuff · #19 (**permalink**) February 23rd, 2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arneken

But still one hell of a movie ...

Right they made some errors in the movie but do we actually expect that those scenarists know what that or that squadron had or what Soldier what carried or what age a common ww2 sergeant or captain had???

It's not that they invent new guns for the movie or new tanks or so.

No offense to anyone, but if we know all this, can't millionaires at hollywood know it too?

I'm not saying at all that SPR is bad or anyhing (quite the contrary; great film), but there are little errors that detract somewhat from the historical experience of the film.

Martin Bull · #20 (**permalink**) February 24th, 2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sommecourt

Many of the weapons carried by the actors and extras were also rubber. I know the company that made these and have handled many of them. The good ones are pretty convincing, even close up.

Yes - a lot of rubber M1s and K98s suddenly appeared for sale at cheap prices at Beltring the following year. Up to about 6ft away, they were very convincing......

JCFalkenbergIII · #21 (**permalink**) February 25th, 2008, 03:33 AM

Just a few sites on SPR.

Goofs for SPR
Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Goofs

Saving Private Ryan (1998) - 90 mistakes
Saving Private Ryan mistakes, goofs and bloopers

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Hufflepuff · #22 (**permalink**) February 25th, 2008, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Bull

Yes - a lot of rubber M1s and K98s suddenly appeared for sale at cheap prices at Beltring the following year. Up to about 6ft away, they were very convincing......

In the special features of the 60th Aniv. edition the Armorer said that it took them six months to gather the 8,000 weapons needed for the movie.