Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The Omaha Beach sequence – specifically Barry Pepper as the sniper with Hanks using the homemade mirror, Pepper touching his cross then picking off targets.
• Chris: The defense of the bridge at Ramelle (final battle) – more coherent and rewatchable than the harrowing opening.
• Sean: The radar sequence leading to the sniper duel.
• The Vin Diesel death / surprise standoff.
• Ribisi's death scene.
• The Sizemore-wants-to-shoot-Burns confrontation leading to Hanks's big speech.

• The movie's title – '10 out of 10, no notes.'
• Tom Hanks's performance – his most underrated; should have won the Oscar over Roberto Benigni.
• The young cast before they were huge: Damon, Giamatti, Cranston, Diesel.
• Sizemore's dirt collection (tins of sand from different countries).
• The 'we should have killed that guy when we had the chance' gimmick.
• Dennis Farina's appearance.
• Old Matt Damon – the actor looks exactly like aged Damon; that image became the meme for 'how quickly someone aged.'
• Kaminski's cinematography techniques.
• Ed Burns making jokes during his scenes.

• 'Tell me I led a good life' – universally panned by the hosts as the worst line in the movie.
• 'Earn this' – never quite became the iconic catchphrase it was intended to be.
• The son taking photos at the cemetery while his father is having an emotional moment.

The 13 minutes between the end of Omaha Beach and the introduction of Hanks's mission (the mother in Iowa, the letter, General Marshall). Goldman was right about this. Great pee break.

Bill: Ed Burns is really good in this and should have been a bigger mainstream star. Could have done 'Long Island's version of 'The Town'.'

• Chris: The mother walking out of the kitchen with the Searchers-style doorway framing as the car drives up; the wide shot of the squad on the steps listening to the record player (looks like a Robert Capa photo).
• Sean: The soldier shot in the head whose helmet deflects the bullet, removes his helmet, then gets shot again.
• Bill: The underwater photography in the opening battle.

• Captain Miller: Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were rumored. Hanks was perfect – Ford would have been 'the grouchier version.'
• Private Ryan: Ed Norton was asked but chose American History X instead.
• Sergeant Horvath: Billy Bob Thornton turned it down (afraid of water). Michael Madsen was offered and recommended Sizemore.
• Private Jackson: Garth Brooks was briefly considered.
• Director: Michael Bay was approached but declined (eventually did Pearl Harbor).

• If made in 2022: No clear Tom Hanks equivalent. Discussed Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenhaal, Leo DiCaprio, Ryan Gosling.
• Chris suggests Matt Damon himself, 20+ years later, which Bill likes.
• Heath Ledger identified as the great loss who would have filled Hanks-type roles.

• Bill: Ryan Hurst ('Gary from Remember the Titans') as the deaf soldier.
• Sean: Max Martini (real Marine turned actor).
• Chris: Dale Dye.

• Bill: Nathan Fillion as 'fake Private Ryan' – has to fake cry for two minutes, not convincing.
• Chris: The German soldier digging his own grave and singing 'Oh Say Can You See.'

• Spielberg: No – already achieved it earlier ('Jaws', Schindler's List).
• Hanks: No – already peaked mid-90s after 'Forrest Gump'.
• Barry Pepper: Bill says yes.
• Janusz Kaminski: Yes.
• World War 2 movies / filmed combat: Yes.
• Giovanni Ribisi: 'Definitely Apex Mountain for Ribisi.'

• The unreliable narrator: Old Ryan's eyes dissolve into Omaha Beach, but he wasn't there. Goldman was furious.
• Jeremy Davies's character suddenly becoming the POV character midway through.
• Ryan refusing to leave after the squad lost men finding him.
• Letting the German prisoner go is indefensible.
• Davies going from a meltdown on the stairwell to corralling prisoners and shooting someone – the light-switch flip strains credibility.

• Based on the book 'D-Day June 6, 1944'; Rodat found the Niland family story.
• 10-day boot camp for the cast; Damon trained separately so the cast would resent him.
• Omaha Beach filmed in Ireland, cost $12 million, 1,500 extras.
• 255 deaths in the film.
• The Bixby letter was 'kind of fake news' – only 2 of 5 sons actually died.
• Spielberg shot much of it handheld, sometimes holding the camera himself, often without a shot list.

• Chris: The tin of sand from Omaha Beach (Sizemore's dirt collection).
• Bill: The full Sizemore knapsack with dirt from all the different countries.

• War is hell.
• Kill the bad guy when you have the chance.
• 'Earn this.'

• Sean: Patton (similar themes about what war does to men).
• Chris: A Midnight Clear (1992, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise).
• Bill: Nothing – you don't want to watch another movie after this.

• What does 'earn this' really mean?
• Did Ryan really earn it? What did he do with his life? (Probably a car dealership.)
• When Miller tells Ryan his brothers are dead, Damon gives the exact same reaction as 'Good Will Hunting' – does he only have one move?

• All three: Steven Spielberg.
• Chris adds Ribisi then Hanks. Bill would go both Spielberg and Hanks.