Saving Private Ryan

I've seen a few inaccuarcies with this film. I'm not talking about likelyhood or fighting tactics, just pure, straightforeward inaccuaracies.

1) I know that no officers of Captain John Miller's (Tom Hanks), rank landed on the first wave of the invasion.

2) Captain Miller would never would have worn those bars on his helmet so indicate his rank, that;s just a bullseye for snipers.

3) The Tiger tank NEVER fires either of its front machine guns despite a multitude of infantry targets.

4) Also about the Tiger, a US soldier sticks his thompson smg into he view port of the tank and fires. Didn't Tigers have thick, bulletproof glass inserts in the view ports?

I'm not sure about the the last one, but the first three I'm sure of. Can anyone else see any problems, or confirm deny iem #4?

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Who's peppy? I am!!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Peppy:
Didn't Tigers have thick, bulletproof glass inserts in the view ports?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes they did. The scene is absurd!

Andreas Larka
Vantaa, Finland

 

Certainly, there are many errors...

One of them is when that piece of wood falls and hits the wall. There are some German soldiers who were standing inside the wall.

Come on, how come they didn't hear the Americans getting near, when they were shouting "THUNDER or I'll shoot you"...

 

Now Captain Miller was quite a wise man.

He let that German soldier go away, his subordinates wanted to shoot the prisoner.

On other scene, when they were under fire, the Germans killed the second messenger who was running to get help. An american soldier exclaimed something like this: "damn germans, they're shooting our messenger". Capt. Miller replied: "We would have done the same thing!"...

 

Peppy you are wrong on a few counts.

Why do you say that captains did not land in the first wave? What is your source for this?

There are period photos of 2 Ranger Bn showing that the rank insignia WAS painted on helmets and worn on D-Day. I believe Jon Gawne's book "Spearheading D-Day" has proof of this.

A Tiger tank will not fire its bow machine gun if the gunner is dead, the crew is short handed, or they are out of MG ammo. Tanks don't always go into action fully equipped, and casualties DO happen in war time. Perhaps the crew of the Tiger in the movie got caught outside the vehicle by a Jabo, before moving to Ramelle and had to go into action with only 4 men. With a driver, gunner, loader and commander, you would have no way of firing the bow MG. If the coax jammed on top of that...it's possible, anyway, so not necessarily a faux pas.

Firing the Thompson into the driver's hatch seemed silly to me too; I believe you are correct about the bulletproof glass but have no source to confirm that.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh:
Firing the Thompson into the driver's hatch seemed silly to me too; I believe you are correct about the bulletproof glass but have no source to confirm that.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Please check out this link: http://tiger1e.com/saumur/English/driver.html

There You'll see the driver's vision block with it's thick bullet-proof glass.

About SPR; I think that the best part of the film is the Normandy landing scenes, the rest is quite typical "who cares about reality" american action...

Andreas Larka
Vantaa, Finland

 

Hi everybody!

I am new on this website and I was reading this chat about the movie Private Ryan

I think that the barrets on the Miller's helmet is not an error. I have a lot of pictures of officers with this kind of barrets on the helmet. I have even a pic of General Moseley commader of the 502th PIR ready to jump over sainte Mère l'Eglise on 6th june with his barrettes on his helmet.

I think that this kind of practice, desapeared just few weeks later, during the batlle on the "boccage" and the increasing efficacy of the germans snipers.

So I don't think is a mistake or an error

PS: Sorry for my bad english!

Comet

 

Here is a LONG list of errors in this movie: http://www.themorningrush.com/mrryanbooboo.html

/Marcus
Third Reich Factbook http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/

 

Re: Captains on the beach. This is from SLA Marshall's 1960 article on Omaha Beach:

"Captain Taylor N. Fellers and Lieutenant Benjamin R. Kearfoot never make it. They had loaded with a section of thirty men in Boat No. 6 (Landing Craft, Assault, No. 1015). But exactly what happened to this boat and its human cargo was never to be known. No one saw the craft go down. How each man aboard it met death remains unreported. Half of the drowned bodies were later found along the beach. It is supposed that the others were claimed by the sea."

 

You guys ever heard of Where the Rangers got their slogan "rangers lead the way"?

This was when that colonel (actually i do beleive he was the CO for dog green area or whatever area the Rangers were in with the 29th) he got up and made his famous line "Listen up! Only two men are staying on this beach! Those that are dead, And those that are gonna die!" and then he was able to rally men forward to attack so ya, they did have high ranking officers on the beach.


And as far as the Stripes go, for the most part if miller had been a green soldier i would have believed that he would wear his helmet with the stripes but if he were a veteren of Africa and Italy as the film portrayed him as i doubt he would have been wearing it. The Germans liked to use the Medics cross on the helmet as a Bulls eye so im sure the Officers knew about the Helmets and their targets but perhaps assumed the risk knowing that being able to be identified by their men was more important then not being seen by the enemy.


AS far as the Panzer glass goes, I dunno maybe the reason he was shoving his M-1 through the port was to shoot out the glass (at that close range the glass had to have given way) and maybe he didnt through a grenade through the port because the glass was there?
When i was watching it, i was like "Damn why doesnt he just toss a grenade through the port!"

 

Yeah.. SPR is an amazing film, but thats my opinion, I respect all yours.. anyway, here's a minor plot hole I noticed :

When Upham is talking to the German officer (after they capture him) he's sharing a cigarette with him...

LATER... (the last battle)

Upham tells his friend that they offered him a cigarette and that he doesnt smoke...


hmmmm....

thats just a little one though.

 

the tiger was a T34 which was converted to look like a tiger. if you look closely you can see the T34 undercarriage and you will notice that the turret is too much to the front of the main body.

there were no SS units in the first few days of fighting, since hitler refused to deploy the panzer divisions until later in the campaign.

The top hatch of the tiger would have been sealed from the inside, so pulling it open to shoot down it and throw a grenade in it was not likely either.

the Atlantic wall was a joke in the movie. 1 bunker and 1 sandbag position. all other trenches were behind the coastal cliffs. it makes no sense. I have seen the normandy beaches and it is littered with bunkers

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*** We shall not retreat, nor shall we surrender. If we cannot stay here alive, we shall stay here dead***

 

Mart-
I've also read about the holding back of SS units until later in the D-Day invasion, but I believe that when they were fighting in the final battle, it was somewhere around 5 days later. Heck, even when they (the American Ranger unit) were deployed it was D-day + 2 or something like that. Just a thought.
Also, I believe the tank crewman opened the hatch from the inside, as he came out looking stunned, coughing, and strating to hold his hands up.....before he was promptly shot in the face by the horde of GIs climbing on.

 

The Waffen SS were held back for a short time. I know that the 2nd Waffen SS "Das Reich" and that the 12th Waffen SS "Hitler Jugend" Divisions, were used in the area. They also were decimated in the Falise Pocket battles-especiall the 12th SS Pz Div.

One of Michael Wittmans claims to fame was several days after the landings when he knocked out about a dozen or so allied tanks, with many of that number in a single engagement. He was killed not much longer after D-Day, a few days-weeks-months? not sure.

Also, Ernst Barkmann (another KC recipient) from Das Reich, had some claim to fame with in days after the landings. I think this was against the British.

 

About the smoking thing, he is talking to Melish and he says 'I remember before embarkation there was this guy handing out packets of cigaretts and I said 'no thanks, I dont smoke'' but he is smoking while he says it, the point being that he has only started since he got to france.

 

I must get my two cents in.
Captain John H Miller was in fact a true to life soldier who did land with the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Dog Green Sector in the first wave and was nominated for teh Medal Of Honor-which to the best of my knowledge-he never received-posthumopusly or otherwise.
Also, the 2nd SS Panzer-DAS REICH-was nowhere within the vicinity of Ramelle on June 13th 1944. Also, the US troop who hods the "TIGER" hatch open with his M1 Carbine must be very strong-they weighed a hefty amount-much to heavy to have been held up with his gun barrel-it is the greatest movie of all time however!!!!

 

That hatch looks like a garabage can lid.

 

Panzerknacker, I'd be interested in where you got your information regarding a real John Miller. To the best of my knowledge this is a completely fictional character. C Company of the 2nd which landed on Dog Green right behind A Company of the 116th Infantry Regiment was commanded by Captain Ralph C. Goranson, the platoons were led by Lt's Bill Moody (KIA June 6th) and Sid Salomon (WIA).

A and B Companies of the 2nd which landed a little later in the morning were led by Captain Joseph Rafferty and Captain Edgar Arnold. The other elements of the 2nd (D,E,F Companies)landed at Pointe Du Hoc. Also the roster of the 2nd Rangers does not list any John Miller. (source: Ranger Battalion Association of World War Two)

While it's possible some of the D-Day exploits of SPR's Miller are based on Ralph Goranson, he was not a real character.