Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for its graphic and realistic portrayal of war, and for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depict the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944. The film follows United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.

Rodat conceived the film's story in 1994 when he saw a monument dedicated to eight siblings killed in the American Civil War. Rodat imagined a similar sibling narrative set in World War II. The script was submitted to producer Mark Gordon, who handed it to Hanks. It was finally given to Spielberg, who decided to direct.

Saving Private Ryan was well received by audiences and garnered considerable critical acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast, and crew as well as earning significant returns at the box office. The film grossed US$481.8 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the film for eleven Academy Awards; Spielberg's direction won him a second Academy Award for Best Director. Saving Private Ryan was released on home video in May 1999, earning $44 million from sales.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the beginning of the Normandy invasion, American soldiers prepare to land on Omaha Beach. They struggle against German infantry, machine gun nests, and artillery fire. Captain John H. Miller survives the initial landing and assembles a group of soldiers to penetrate the German defenses, leading to a breakout from the beach.

In Washington, D.C., General George Marshall is informed that three of the four brothers of the Ryan family were killed in action and that their mother is to receive three telegrams to inform her of that. He learns that the fourth son, Private James Ryan, is a paratrooper, and is missing in actionsomewhere in Normandy. After reading to his staff Abraham Lincoln's Bixby letter, Marshall orders that Ryan be found and sent home immediately.

Three days after D-Day, Miller receives orders to find Ryan. He assembles six men from his company, Sergeant Horvath, Privates Reiben, Mellish, and Caparzo, sharpshooter Jackson, and medic Wade, plus Corporal Upham, a clerk who is fluent in French and German. Miller and his men move out to Neuville. On the outskirts of the town, they meet a platoon from the 101st Airborne Division. After entering the town, Caparzo is shot by a sniper. Jackson is able to kill the sniper, but Caparzo dies. They locate a Private James Ryan, but soon realize that he is not their man. They find a member of Ryan's regiment who informs them that his drop zone was at Vierville and that his and Ryan's companies had the same rally point. Once they reach it, Miller locates a friend of Ryan's, who reveals that Ryan is defending a strategically important bridge over the Merderet River in the town of Ramelle.

On the way to Ramelle, Miller decides to neutralize a German machine gun position, despite the misgivings of his men. Wade is fatally wounded in the ensuing skirmish. The last surviving German, known only as "Steamboat Willie", incurs the wrath of all the squad members except Upham, who protests the proposed execution of the German soldier. Miller decides to let the German walk away, blindfolded, and surrender himself to the next Allied patrol. No longer confident in Miller's leadership, Reiben declares his intention to desert the squad and the mission, prompting a confrontation with Horvath. The argument heats up, until Miller defuses the situation. Reiben then reluctantly decides to stay.

The squad finally arrives on the outskirts of Ramelle, where they come upon three paratroopers, among whom is Ryan. After entering Ramelle, Ryan is told of his brothers' deaths, the mission to bring him home, and that two men had been lost in the quest to find him. He is distressed at the loss of his brothers, but does not feel it is fair to go home, asking Miller to tell his mother that he intends to stay "with the only brothers [he has] left." Miller decides to take command and defend the bridge with what little manpower and resources are available.

The Germans arrive with infantry and armor. In spite of inflicting heavy German casualties and destroying two tanks with sticky bombs and Molotov cocktails, most of the Americans — including Jackson, Mellish, and Horvath — are killed. While attempting to blow the bridge, Miller is shot and mortally wounded. Just before a Tiger tank reaches the bridge, an American P-51 Mustang flies over and destroys it, followed by more Mustangs, American infantry, and M4 Sherman tanks who rout the remaining Germans. Upham, who was cut off and hid in a ditch, comes out of hiding as the Germans flee and orders them to drop their weapons; he recognizes "Steamboat Willie", and executes him, telling the rest to flee. Ryan is with Miller as he dies and says his last words, "James... earn this. Earn it."

In the present day, elderly veteran Ryan and his family visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-mer in Normandy. Ryan stands at Miller's grave. He asks his wife to confirm that he has led a good life and that he is a "good man" and thus worthy of the sacrifice of Miller and the others.

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Platoon

Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first of film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films by Stone (followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth). Stone wrote the story based upon his experiences as a U.S. infantryman in Vietnam to counter the vision of the war portrayed in John Wayne's The Green Berets.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986. In 1998, the American Film Institute placed Platoon at #83 in their "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies" poll.

In 1967, Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) has dropped out of college and volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam. Assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border, he is worn down by the exhausting conditions and his enthusiasm for the war wanes. One night his unit is set upon by a group of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers, who retreat after a brief gunfight. New recruit Gardner is killed while another soldier, Tex, is maimed by friendly fire from a grenade thrown by Sergeant "Red" O'Neill (John C. McGinley), with Taylor being mistakenly reprimanded by the ruthless Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes (Tom Berenger). Taylor eventually gains acceptance from a tight-knit group in his unit who socialize and use drugs in a cabin clubhouse. He finds a mentor in Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) as well as the elder King (Keith David) and becomes friends with Gator Lerner (Johnny Depp)

During one patrol, a soldier named Manny is found mutilated and tied to a post while two others, Sal and Sanderson, are killed by a booby-trap. As tension mounts, the platoon soon reaches a nearby village where a supply cache is discovered. Taylor finds a disabled young man and an elderly woman hiding in a spider hole. Taylor snaps, screaming and threatening the man but is shocked to see Bunny (Kevin Dillon) then bludgeon him to death. Barnes interrogates the village chief to determine if they have been aiding the enemy making Lerner translate. Despite the villagers' adamant denials, Barnes shoots and kills the chief's wife due to her persistent arguing. Barnes takes the child of the woman at gunpoint, threatening to shoot her if the villagers do not reveal information. Elias arrives, scolding Barnes and engaging in a scuffle with him over the incident. Platoon commander Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses) orders the men to leave with the villagers and burn the village. As they leave, Taylor stops a group of soldiers from raping two girls.

Upon returning to base, Captain Harris (Dale Dye) warns that if he finds out an illegal killing took place, then a court-martial would be ordered, which concerns Barnes as Elias might give a testimony. On their next patrol, the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight, in which numerous soldiers, including Lerner and Big Harold (Forest Whitaker) are wounded. Wolfe calls in a mortar strike on incorrect coordinates, resulting in friendly fire casualties. Elias takes Taylor and Rhah (Francesco Quinn) to intercept flanking enemy troops. Barnes orders the rest of the platoon to retreat, and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. Barnes finds Elias and shoots him, returning to tell the others that Elias was killed by the enemy. After they take off, a wounded Elias emerges from the jungle, running from a group of North Vietnamese soldiers. Taylor glances over at Barnes and reads the apprehension on his face as Elias dies. At the base, Taylor attempts to talk his group into retaliation when a drunken Barnes enters the room and taunts them. Taylor attacks him but is cut near his eye as a result.

The platoon is sent back into the combat area to maintain defensive positions. King is sent home and Taylor shares a foxhole with Francis (Corey Glover). That night, an NVA assault occurs and the defensive lines are broken. Several soldiers in the platoon including Junior, Doc, Bunny and Wolfe, are killed, while O'Neill barely escapes death by hiding under a dead soldier. To make matters worse, an NVA sapper armed with explosives rushes into battalion HQ, self-detonating and killing everyone inside. Meanwhile, Captain Harris orders his air support to expend all remaining ordnance inside his perimeter. During the chaos, Taylor encounters Barnes, but the wounded sergeant attacks him. Just before Barnes can pummel Taylor, both men are knocked unconscious by an air strike on the overrun base. Taylor regains consciousness the following morning, picks up an enemy Type 56, and finds an injured Barnes, who dares him to pull the trigger. Taylor shoots Barnes, killing him. Taylor then sits, contemplating suicide until reinforcements arrive and find him. Francis, who survived the battle unharmed, deliberately stabs himself in the leg and reminds Taylor that because they have been twice wounded, they can return home. Taylor encounters his and Elias' old friend Rhah one last time, apparently unscathed and returning with American Armor Cavalry, Rhah then bids them farewell with a battle cry. O'Neill, who desperately wants to go home, is given a promotion to platoon leader and is told he will remain in duty and replace Barnes. The helicopter flies away and Taylor weeps after he stares down at multiple craters full of corpses, friend and foe alike.

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Navy SEALs

Navy SEALS is a 1990 action film, directed by Lewis Teague, written by Chuck Pfarrer and Gary Goldman, and produced by Brenda Feigen and Bernard Williams with consultant William Bradley.

 
The USS Forrestal, an aircraft carrier on station in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, receives a mayday from a cargo ship. The ship reports that they have been attacked, are on fire and adrift. A deployed Navy SH-3 helicopter attempts to rescue the crew, but is downed by a gunboat and the aircrew is captured.

Meanwhile, a squad of Navy SEALs (Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Dennis Haysbert, Rick Rossovich, Cyril O'Reilly, Bill Paxton, and Paul Sanchez) are recovering from a bachelor party. Graham (Haysbert) is to be married, but the wedding is canceled at the last minute when the whole Team is paged to return to base to rescue the captured aircrew.

In the Mediterranean, the leader of the terrorists that shot at the Navy helicopter, Ben Shaheed, (Nicholas Kadi), orders the execution of the hostages. One crewmember is executed on the spot and another is beaten up, but the SEAL team arrives in time to prevent any further executions. Responding to a suspicious noise, Hawkins (Sheen) breaks silence when he encounters Shaheed in an adjoining room, inadvertently alerting the terrorists. Shaheed claims to be an Egyptian sailor also being held by the terrorists, and is left by the SEALs. As the SEALs evacuate the hostages from the area, Hawkins and Graham stumble across a warehouse containing Stinger missiles. Hawkins attempts to return to the warehouse to destroy the missiles, only to be ordered by Curran (Biehn) to proceed with extraction.

On board an aircraft carrier later that night, the individual Team members are debriefed by Naval Intelligence. Curran's decision to leave the Stinger missiles behind is questioned, but Curran retorts that his primary mission was to rescue the aircrew and that Naval Intelligence did not do their job properly. It is also obvious that Hawkins is highly agitated by the mission and has trouble dealing with the emotional upheaval the mission provided. Curran tries to calm him down but is rebuffed by Hawkins.

At the Pentagon, Shaheed is seen in a video interview. The Joint Chiefs of Staff identify Shaheed and his organization, the Al Shudadah. They also identify the interviewer as Claire Varrens (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), a journalist and author who is half Lebanese. Her questioning of Shaheed yields an admission that he and his group participated in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. Shaheed admits the complicity freely, saying they only sought revenge for the bombing of their homes by Navy ships and warplanes. The Joint Chiefs are briefed on the recent mission and Curran requests permission to destroy the Stingers, but Navy Intelligence has learned they have already been relocated. The SEALs are ordered on R&R and enjoy a game of golf. Curran, brooding over the previous mission, reads a book authored by Varrens. During the golf outing, Graham convinces his fiancée (S. Epatha Merkerson) to try to finish the wedding again, regardless of the hazards of Graham's job.

The team receives their orders for the next mission. Naval Intelligence has heard that the Stinger missiles are on board a merchant ship, the Latanya, off the coast of Syria. The SEALs deploy from a submerged submarine, the USS Nyack, and successfully board the ship, neutralizing two disguised gunmen, only to find out from an EOD team that the missiles are not on board after all.

Frustrated by the recent unreliable intelligence, Curran solicits Varrens's cooperation. Curran takes Claire on a tour of Navy SEAL training and attempts to woo the journalist over an elegant dinner. Claire is initially wary but opens up to Curran after learning that a Stinger has been used to shoot down a peace delegation in Lebanon. Claire provides pictures of men she has encountered who may possibly provide information that may lead the SEALs to the location of the missiles. While trying to identify possible contacts, Claire tells Curran and Hawkins that one of her contacts is missing, most likely having been kidnapped by the Israelis. Inspired by this, and an outburst by Hawkins, Curran presents the idea of kidnapping a potential informant to his superiors who subsequently recommend the proposal at a National Security Council meeting. A CIA executive at the meeting identifies one of the targets as a known CIA informant who could be co-opted if taken into custody. On that basis, the SEALs are authorized to bring him in.

The SEALS infiltrate the area by performing a HALO jump and swimming to shore. Curran leads several of the team inside a house to secure the informant while Hawkins, Ramos, and Graham remain outside. When Ramos is pinned down by patrolling militia, Hawkins disobeys Curran's order to stay quiet and instigates a firefight. Although Hawkins finally succeeds in killing the militiamen, Graham is killed during the firefight.

Curran reluctantly informs Graham's fiancée of his death, and a funeral with full military honors is held. After the wake, the men drown their sorrows at a pizza place/bar. Hawkins gives a toast to Graham for being the best friend a guy could have. Curran scolds Hawkins for his carelessness that caused Graham's death. Later, Claire arrives at Curran's houseboat to find a still grieving Curran. They walk on the boardwalk and Curran tells the woman about the mission, which leads to a night of intimacy. Curran quietly leaves the next morning with Claire in bed.

The SEALs are deployed to Beirut, this time to meet a local resistance fighter who will guide them to the building containing the Stingers. Although Dane (Paxton) is killed while attempting to set up a sniping overwatch position, the SEALs do locate the Stingers in an old school building in a heavily-bombed area of the city. Curran leads Leary (Rossovich) and Rexer (O'Reilly) inside the building to destroy the missiles while Hawkins and Ramos maintain overwatch outside. Hawkins shoots a local gunman questioning him, alerting the terrorists. Leaving the building, Curran gets shot in the abdomen and thigh. Curran is pinned down near the building door and orders Hawkins to destroy the building regardless of Curran's being in the blast radius. Hawkins disobeys the order and rescues Curran while the other SEALs provide suppressing fire before the building is finally destroyed. The SEALs commandeer a car and attempt to exfiltrate from the city while evading pursuit by an enemy BTR-152 with a machine gun. The automobile is eventually hit by gunfire and Rexer killed by a stray bullet to the head. Leary, using a recovered Stinger missile launcher, manages to destroy the APC, and the four remaining SEALs escape to the beach.

Shaheed steals a boat from a pier-side fisherman and follows the SEALs across the water. He spots Curran's body floating in the sea. As he attempts to pull the body from the water he is attacked by the SEALs and, in an underwater fight, Hawkins kills Shaheed. The other SEALs take out the remaining topside terrorists and destroy the small boat. With the mission finally accomplished, the designated exfiltration submarine surfaces, recovering the SEALs.

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Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines is a 2001 action and war film directed by John Moore and starring Owen Wilson and Gene Hackman. The film tells the story of an American naval flight officer who is shot down over Bosnia and uncovers genocide during the Bosnian War. The plot is loosely based on the 1995Mrkonjić Grad incident that occurred amid the war. The film was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil andBehind Enemy Lines: Colombia, which was co-produced by WWE Studios. Although it did well commercially, Behind Enemy Lines received generally negative reviews from critics.




In the final stages of the Bosnian War in 1995, U.S. Navy flight officer Lieutenant Chris Burnett (Wilson) and pilot Lieutenant Jeremy Stackhouse (Macht) are assigned a reconnaissance mission. They spot suspicious activity in the demilitarized zone where NATO aircraft and the warring factions are prohibited from engaging in military activity. Burnett persuades Stackhouse to fly their F/A-18 Hornet off-course to get a close look and photograph the target. They are unaware that they have photographed mass graves, and Serb soldiers have seen the jet. The local Bosnian Serb Army commander, General Miroslav Lokar (Krupa), is conducting a secret genocidal campaign against the local Bosniak population. Not wanting the mass graves to be discovered, Lokar orders that the jet be shot down.

Despite trying to outmaneuver the missiles shot at them, their jet is hit and both men are forced to eject. Briefly after touching ground, a Serb patrol finds Stackhouse and interrogates him. Stackhouse is then executed by Sasha (Mashkov), one of Lokar's men. Burnett, who was observing the Serbs' interrogation of Stackhouse from a hill, exposes his location. Wanting Burnett dead as well, Lokar orders both his deputy, Colonel Bazda (Igonda), and Sasha to find him. Admiral Leslie Reigart (Hackman) orders Burnett to move to a certain location in order to be extracted. However, Admiral Piquet (de Almeida) warns Reigart of the political ramifications of rescuing Burnett in the no-fly zone. When Burnett reaches the extraction point, Reigart informs him that he must move to a safer location miles outside of the demilitarized zone in order to be rescued.

Immediately after being informed, Burnett sees a Serb patrol, led by Bazda, looking for him. Running from them, he falls into the mass grave that he and Stackhouse had photographed and hides under a dead body. When the Serbs are out of sight, he continues to run. On his way to the new extraction point, Burnett has a near-encounter with Sasha, but he encounters Bosniak guerrillas in a pickup truck who offer him a ride. The guerrillas inform Burnett that they are heading to Hač, which is supposedly a safe haven but turns out to be a war zone. During the battle, Serb troops believe that they have found Burnett's body, but Burnett had switched uniforms with a dead Serb soldier and escaped Hač.

Although they recognize that Burnett escaped, Sasha and Lokar present the corpse wearing Burnett's uniform to the media saying he was killed. Their ruse works and a mission to rescue Burnett is aborted just when he gets a view of the helicopter. Burnett then notices the angel statue near where his ejection seat had landed. He returns to his seat and activates the rescue beacon. Though the carrier group notices his signal, Burnett has also alerted the Serbs to his location.

Knowing he risks being relieved of command, Reigart prepares a task force to rescue Burnett. Bazda and Sasha are ordered to find Burnett and kill him, but Bazda steps on a landmine and is killed. After Sasha finds the ejection seat, Burnett ambushes him and the two men engage in hand-to-hand combat until Burnett stabs Sasha in the chest with a flare, killing him. Lokar arrives with armored vehicles and infantry who open fire on Burnett. Three U.S. Marine Corps "Huey" helicopters arrive and fire on the Serbs. After retrieving the hard drive containing the photos of the mass graves, Burnett escapes with the task force.

Lokar's war crimes eventually put him on trial in front of the ICTY, while Reigart's actions result in him being relieved of command. Burnett continues his career in the Navy.

 

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