The historian revealed all defects “Save the ordinary Ryan”

He received an Oscar for direction, many other prizes and entered the National Register of US films as a cultural and historically important work. The photo became famous for its realism – especially the landing scene in Normandy. But as the historian and guide remembers the battlefields Mat Maclaclan, the film has sufficient mistakes and inaccuracies.

Too “American” story

The landing of the Allies on June 6, 1944 is not only Americans. On five beaches of Normandy, 160 thousand people fought: British, Canadians, French, Poland, Australians, New Zealanders, as well as soldiers from Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Greece and other countries.

However, the film is completely focused on the US Army. Moreover, in one of the scenes, two American officers mockingly say that the British can be “thrower” with the conquest of the city. Maclaclan explains:

“In fact, the British led an exhausting campaign of six weeks to take, and the battle there was one of the fierce most.”

An equally controversial moment is the explanation that no tank can be planted on Omakh. Permantiegangen nevertheless reached the coast and played a role.

Moreover, the film hardly shows the contribution of the fleet. According to the historian, it was the American naval ships that came close to the coast and shot at German fortifications, so the infantry could break through.

The wrong age of the soldiers

In the Detachment of Tom Hanksa, the viewer sees adult men – the actors at the time of filming were 30 to 40 years old. But the reality was different.

“The average age of American soldiers at the bottom of the landing is 22 years. In elite units such as Rangers, the majority were nineteen or twenty-year-old boys,” Maklaclan notes.

Moreover, the fortifications of the Wehrmacht itself are displayed incredibly solid in the film. In reality, German bunkers were much more modest – compact concrete points and not multi -storey “forts”.

Plot against the logic of war

The most important dramatic line is a mission to save the ordinary James Ryan (Matt Damon), which remained the only surviving brother. History is partly inspired by the real fate of the Niland brothers, but in the film everything is brought to the point of absurdity.

“In the midst of the largest invasion of history, when the outcome of the operation was far from clear, no general would send a whole detachment to the back of the enemy because of one soldier,” says the historian.

According to the plot, Captain Miller and his people pass through the territory for more than 25 miles occupied by the Germans – the task is completely impossible in the first days after landing. Even if the command decided to return the soldier house, these would be the units that were closer to the place of his service, and not randomly detachment of the Omakh beach.