Saving Private Ryan Critique :: essays research papers

June 6th 1944 is known as the day that turned the tides of World War II. Allied military personnel both Para dropped and landed on French occupied territory via the English Channel. For skipper John Miller, the beach was enough, but after only triple short days of recovery, Miller and his squad of men are sent in search of what has become a very important soldier. Receiving his orders from the very occur, Miller and his men set out in search of a James Francis Ryan from Iowa. Along the way, Germans kill two of Millers men, provoking the question, How many a(prenominal) men are worth one mans life? As the movie progresses, Captain Millers team fin tout ensembley finds hugger-mugger Ryan, the man they were sent to save. John explains to him that all three of his brothers were killed in action, and as a result of this, James Ryan, the last surviving brother of the Ryan family, is ordered to be returned home so that he may carry on the family name. However the conflict arises when James is reluctant to leave and is determined to stay with the only brothers he has left, in order to defend a strategic bridge whos defense is vital in determining the immediate tide of the war. Again, Captain Miller, after already loosing two of his men, decides that Ryan and his fellow soldiers cannot hold the point on their own, and that he and his men will aid the already weakened defenders in hopes of not only defending the bridge from the Germans, but also to save Private Ryan from what would other-wise be his inevitable death. After hasty preparations and decisive planning, the French ghost townsfolk previously torn apart by war, erupts to life once again with the sounds of conflict. The town of Rommel is slowly but surely being overtaken by the Germans, their numbers alike great for Millers men to fend off. On top of that, Captain Millers squad is diminishing by the minute and all hope seems lost. John gives the order to fall back to the predetermined point of retreat ca lled the Alamo. This is the point of no return, and their last resort is to blow the bridge in order to prevent the Germans from gaining a strategic stronghold in the region. With bullets whizzing by and ricocheting in every direction, Captain Miller stands up, thus revealing himself to enemy fire, and moves to pull in the device needed to trigger the bridge to explode.