Saving Private Ryan (1998) is so real! | Movie Reaction and Review

[@VerowakReacts]

Now that I know that who directed this, what is your favorite Steven Spielberg film? 🌞Don't forget to subscribe to the channel kzbin.info 🎥Sign up on Patreon for full length reactions and Patreon polls to choose future movies www.patreon.com/Verowak 🐦Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/verowak ⌚Find clipped reactions on TikTok! www.tiktok.com/@verowakreacts

[@eschiedler]

Fav by far is Raiders of the Lost Ark. He is too melodramatic in the other films, including this one.

[@cruesome2]

Schindler's List.

[@no_rubbernecking]

Minority Report, but honorable mention to Schindler's List, which everyone should at least try to see.

[@drewf8619]

@@no_rubbernecking The movies above yours are good (but predictable) 'Minority Report' is a VERY unique and amazing move.

[@no_rubbernecking]

@@drewf8619 100% agree! 👍🏼

[@numbersasaname2291]

A point that most people (reactors and otherwise) miss in the final cemetery scene is when Ryan's wife reads CPT Miller's name on his tombstone. Her voice tells us that she hasn't heard of Miller before. Now consider this ... she has been married to Ryan long enough to raise children and have teen-aged grandchildren, and yet in all of that time Ryan never mentioning Miller speaks to how traumatic and deep the emotional wounds were in Ryan.

[@johannesvalterdivizzini1523]

I'm not sure that her voice reflects that "she was unfamiliar "with the name. I watched and rewatched the entire cemetery scenes and in the early part he said that his family wanted to go with him, so there was obviously a very compelling reason, since they had all travelled thousands of miles to Normandy. But I certainly accept your premise that he had deep emotional wounds. Every adult I knew growing up had some experience serving (in every capacity from bomber pilot to supply truck driver to VA hospital doctor) , but they never spoke of it. I gathered early on that they all just wanted to get home and get on with their lives, and I knew them 15 or 20 years after the War. (one man I knew had tattooed numbers on his arm from a concentration camp). Deep emotional scarring, some really traumatic, and you just didn't chat about it or brag.

[@CitiZENCAT-ie5dt]

@numbersasaname2291 You're absolutely right. Keen insight.

[@dieseldan5189]

In 1998 my neighbor,Sid, was a Guadalcanal WW2 veteran. We went to this movie together in the theatre. He walked out 10 minutes into the movie sobbing uncontrollably. I went with him. The memories he had suppressed all rushed back, he apologized and we went home.

[@iKvetch558]

Was his last name Phillips?

[@jp1170]

@@iKvetch558came to ask the same question lol

[@joshuawiedenbeck6944]

When this was in theaters, there were a lot more veterans of WWII still alive. There were a lot of stories of them going to see this movie and leaving the theater during the opening scene because it was triggering their PTSD. One account said that watching it caused him to smell everything again. Bodies, water, burning, everything.

[@dagfincarp1113]

My stepfather was in the Army Air Corp during the war. He was a gunner in B-26 bombers. He was haunted by the things he saw in the service and eventually drank himself to death. This movie seems to capture the horrors of battle for the average soldier. Great reaction. Enjoying your channel a good deal.

[@VerowakReacts]

I'm so sorry about your stepfather, the atrocities of war is simply horrific.

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

I watched real footage of Vietnam war. It was a 30 min video, I could watch less than 2 and had nightmares for a week. There was this soldier being carried to an ambulance one entire side half of hus torso was missing, you could see his ribs coming out. Half of his head and brain was missing too. He should be dead in any movie, but he was screaming in panic for help, he did not want to die. I had to stop the video. It makes this movie looks like a spaghetti western compared to that footage.

[@steveg5933]

I was a Navy Corpsman (Doc), I served 10 years, 8 with Marines. Wade's death hit me hard. I saw this on a Tuesday afternoon. There were 12 of us. Myself, and 11 others, all veterans. At the end of the movies, the house lights went up. All of us had teary eyes. One old man stated the following- "As far as war movies go, that was the most accurate depiction I've ever seen . As for the ACTUAL D-Day, it didn't come close" His hat said it all- D-Day Survivor, Purple Heart. I have always deferred to his expert opinion. As bad as you think it was as shown in the movie, it was much, much worse.

[@VerowakReacts]

Oh of course it was much worse, you can't really compare a movie to real life. But it at least gives us an idea of how it was

[@steveg5933]

@@VerowakReacts exactly. Movies can only show so much. The cemetery shown is one of the Normandy cemeteries maintained by the US Battle Monuments Commission. All of the countries involved in that battle, maintain dedicated cemeteries to their fallen. Hallowed Ground indeed

[@craigwhip]

Saving Private Ryan raised the bar for all war movies that came out after it. Another war movie to watch is "1917".

[@VerowakReacts]

That one is on my list! All I know (aside from it taking place in 1917, so during the First World War), is that it is shot and edited as if it's one continuous take throughout the whole movie

[@Xubelo]

@@VerowakReacts I do believe it is edited in moments but for the most part, yes - a simultaneous shot … I saw Saving Private Ryan when I was 11. So when I see grown men buying into anti-Semite hoax conspiracy theories from people like Tucker Carlson, it blows my mind.

[@narcleptik]

Definitely

[@paulcarfantan6688]

@@Xubelo What such conspiracy has he been pushing ? We need more details. I have never heard him say anything close to that. Very strange assertion.

[@griechland]

@@paulcarfantan6688 One example: Tuckers "documentary" called "Hungary vs Soros: The Fight for Civilization". Also referencing the white replacement theory during his shows. Also letting Kanye West have antisemitic rants on his show. Very strange you never picked up on this.

[@omegapsi847]

7:00 They actually said in czech language that they arent Germans and that they were deported from their homeland and forced to fight for the Germans. That was Spielbergs way of saying that in war even apparent saviour make horrible mistakes and that you might not even notice them. 98% of the viewer miss this context because there are no subtitles, but I guess that was Spielbergs point that tragedy happened everywhere without anyone knowing of it. But if you know, you know.

[@rollomaughfling380]

And I've pointed it out many times before but the one American knew they were Czech, as he mocks him in a fake Czech accent, not a fake German one.

[@Gahlahad431]

You beat me to it.

[@gaborszadai1992]

Czechs together with rumanians and serbs tore up my beautiful country with joy and pleasure 25 years before 1944, so the karma just returned upon them. We were treated by them then just like Ukraine is by Russians now😱🇭🇺✌🏻...

[@gaborszadai1992]

​@@rollomaughfling380Czechs together with romanians and serbs tore up my beautiful country with joy and pleasure 25 years before 1944, so the karma just returned upon them. We were treated by them then just like Ukraine is by Russians now😱🇭🇺✌🏻...

[@johannesvalterdivizzini1523]

There were many Czechs from the German ethnic area of Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland) who willingly served in the German Army. It's quite possible that those two were speaking Czech in the hopes of better treatment as they were captured.

[@deanvavra5695]

In real life the beach was 300 yards deep and it took four hours to do what the movie showed in 25 minutes. This beach was selected because the others would be more heavily defended.

[@stianhelldiver3819]

Heavily defended? This one is brutal enough, bloody hell.

[@joshuawiedenbeck6944]

And the reason why they didn't have air support was because they had so many air defense systems defending the beach that an air attack would have been even more catastrophic.

[@gregmitchell2257]

@@stianhelldiver3819 Yes, he's correct. The allied troops were lucky that the Nazis thought they were landing elsewhere so a majority of their troops were at a different landing zone.

[@nigelhyde279]

@@joshuawiedenbeck6944 At 06.00am on the 6/6/1944 448 American Liberator bombers attacked Omaha beach. Unfortunately they missed the target with only a handful of bombs hitting the beach. They had air support, but it wasn’t as effective as today, and there weren’t enough German air defences to prevent an attack.

[@Iceyman314]

@@stianhelldiver3819 As Greg said, this followed a massive disinformation campaign that essentially meant most defenders were elsewhere, so this would have been even more brutal. Additionally, from my understanding, reinforcements to the beach were delayed by several hours because no one wanted to deliver the news to Hitler and there were lots of internal disagreements among Nazi commanders about allocation of resources, if that hadn't happened, the Allies may not have had time to secure the beaches before getting pushed back again when Panzers showed up from elsewhere in France.

[@elzar760]

Many sad moments, but that “tell me I’m a good man” just shreds me every time.

[@Charlton_Kekston]

I was an usher at a movie theatre when this movie came out and I swear that after every showing at the end, the whole audience stood and applauded. I worked there for almost 2 years when I was a kid and I never seen that type of reaction for any other movie.

[@newsguy5241]

The opening scene depicted D-Day, the Allied invasion of France in WW2. THe alllies (American, British, Canadians) landed some 120,000 men on five beaches. Omaha Beach was the toughest. The U.S, losses there were over 4,000. It really took almost 12 hours to secure the beach.

[@shaggrat]

Actually the Americans lost 9000 men at Omaha.

[@markb742]

My father-in-law was in WW2, and was part of D-Day, although he didn't like to talk about the war much. The Allies landed in waves, and there were something like 100 waves involved. He was in the 17th wave, so the beach might have been pretty much secured by then. Later, in France, his company was camped, and he walked over a small hill to shave, and a V1 rocket hit his unit, wiping out most of them. He had a concussion, with tiny glass shards imbedded in his scalp, but if he hadn't just decided to go shave at that time, he probably would have been killed. My father-in-law said there were two kinds of German soldiers, The Wehrmacht, who were mostly draftees, and the Waffen SS, who would usually fight to the death. After the war ended in Europe, the Army sent my father-in-law to Texas, in preparation to be sent to the Pacific to fight Japanese, but the Japanese had surrendered around that time. My father-in-law died about 10 years ago, but he was a terrific guy, did a lot of things, and he'd make friends with anyone. I miss him.

[@VerowakReacts]

Your father-in-law sounds amazing, it's great that you were able to get to know him. Really sorry about your loss, but on the bright side you had the pleasure of knowing someone like that!

[@heunam3593]

Wow, that hits home. My grandma always told me a story about her dad, he was Italian, fought in WW1. He was with his unit, got up to go to the latrine and a shell hit them, iirc he was the only one of the group to survive. He lived his whole life with a piece of shrapnel still in his leg. I inherited his medals. When he went back home his hair had gone white from stress, he was around 19/20 yo. After that he and his girlfriend came to Argentina, got married, opened a general store and had two daughters. I dont think i can live up to that! Im 23 and i cant even get myself to watch All quiet on the western front. In his shoes i would be worse than Upham for sure!

[@lordmortarius538]

Keep in mind, Upham was likely drafted for his translation skills, so he is A: not a volunteer, and B: not meant as a primary combatant. I don't blame him for freezing in that moment, no one knows how they'd react in a situation like that until they're actually in it. I like to think I'd do the right thing and go charging up those stairs to the rescue, but I could just as easily be shell-shocked in pants-shitting terror like he was. Our military today is an all volunteer service, no one is pressed into service like he was, so it's easier for people today to see his actions and just label him a dirty coward without understanding there is nuance to this story and that things were very different then. Soldiers today CHOOSE that life, he didn't, he just wanted to get back home without getting blood on his hands, which he realized he couldn't do when he saw the German he let go, and then rectified his mistake.

[@ericlefevre7741]

My history teacher in high school told me something that I will never forget. The US war department did a study on soldiers during the Normandy campaign. A soldier was more likely to vomit, wet himself or pass out than fire his weapon. I can't blame them.

[@brianeleighton]

I don't blame him for the stairwell. I blame him for being a REMF (Rear Echelon Motherfucker) and not just letting the combat veteran troops do their thing. If you are a FNG (Fucking New Guy) or a REMF, you have one job in a combat unit. Keep your ears open and your mouth shut. If they had killed the prisoner, Captain Miller would be alive. By the way, the Geneva Convention only requires you to accept a surrender when possible. Once you accept a surrender you can't kill the POW. However, just putting your hands in the air and dropping your weapon isn't a surrender. If you are behind enemy lines, it isn't possible to take prisoners by the way.

[@bighuge1060]

If I'm not mistaken, there was a movie titled The Fighting Sullivans that was based on a true story where all the Sullivan brothers died in combat. I think the incident sparked the practice of not having family in the same unit.

[@Michael-yl2iq]

In WW1 Britain often made up companies from a town or village. The downside soon became apparent when entire companies were lost and simultaneously eliminated an entire generation of a villages men.

[@tomyoung9049]

You're right about the Sullivan's. Five brothers enlisted and got assigned to the same ship. It was torpedoed and they were all lost. The last time brothers could serve together in the military.

[@derekweiland1857]

Correct, but this movie was based off of the story of the Nylund Brothers. While placed in separate units because of the Sullivan incident; 2 of the brothers did die during the Normandy invasion, and one was shot down over Burma around the same time. The surviving brother was an airborne trooper in Normandy as well; though no rescue mission was over assembled for him. When his unit was finally relieved by the invasion forces he was sent home. I don't know if Speilberg changed the name to Ryan because he couldn't get the familys' rights to the story, because he changed it so much with the rescue portion or if Ryan was just a more marketable name. On a happier side note: the brother presumed KIA after being shot down in Burma actually was taken prisoner and survived the rest of the war in a Japanese POW camp. No small feat. Over a year after his mother was told of his death he walked back into her house. That which is lost has been found. Least we forget.

[@tomyoung9049]

@@derekweiland1857 I knew there was another but I couldn't remember the name.

[@frankhumphrey9898]

Not only not in the same unit but not in the same war zone . I had two neighbors that enlisted in the Army out of High School . They were shipped to Vietnam separately , the second after his brother had rotated home .

[@pnwcruiser]

A terrific WWII series is "Band of Brothers", executive producers Spielberg and Hanks. The series follows the true story of Easy Company, an element of the 101st Airborne Division, starting with the Normandy airborne invasion. It isn't a documentary but real world survivors are interviewed during each episode.

[@boki1693]

After that, The Pacific. Also Hanks and Spielberg.

[@bettyleeist]

This is the most realistic of the war movie”s saving Private Ryan.Other war movie’s that I’ve seen in the past(to me,anyway)seemed realistic.I’m talking about the movies 🍿 they made in the 1950”s,and the 1960”s.For a more realistic movie,I’d say watch;War and Remenbrance from;1988.

[@dagfincarp1113]

"Band Of Brothers" is a fantastic series. Even people who aren't fans of war or action shows come away praising it. The actual veterans telling their experiences adds so much, too.

[@raymonddevera2796]

I remember Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks said at the Academy Awards this was a memorial to his father and all WW II veterans. Saying that these men were 18 19 year olds and they saved the whole damn world. I saw this movie in a movie theater, I heard sobbing in the back and that were older men in their 70s and 80s. More than half of them left the theater in tears. As a veteran myself I went them and thanked for their service, with a firm handshake, a hug and a salute. What you need to react to next is Band of Brothers. Also by Steven Spielberg. It's a 10 part miniseries.

[@sinistermaul306]

Served 4 years in the US Air Force myself. Didn't see combat at all, but just seeing any kind of war movie, especially this one, just hits home really hard. I had quite a few of my fellow brothers in arms not make it home. Glad to see your reaction to this.

[@VerowakReacts]

I'm glad you didn't have to see combat. I'm always grateful and admire people who serve.

[@Wesley-pk5de]

John McClane - Die Hard. About Saving Private Ryan, this is probably the best intro of a movie that I ever saw.

[@VerowakReacts]

It is John McClane! :D The intro to this movie is just out of this world

[@ogitherat1]

Your guess for what the Captain was before the war was right on :). You got a big brain. Great reaction to a great movie . :)

[@VerowakReacts]

I guessed a profession far from being a soldier and was right. Plus he seems to deal with other people really well

[@gregmitchell2257]

D-Day survivors had to leave the theaters during the Omaha beach scene because it was so realistic it brought back their PTSD.

[@VerowakReacts]

That's amazing, yet at the same time, not great for veterans

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

Only war veterans know the deep sadness that lies in the battlefield. This is why they have my deepest respect. Behind the stress, every bit you see, smell or hear is a tragedy, the most extreme lack of love. This is why remembering brings them tears.

[@cajunsushi]

My father and step father were in Vietnam. My stepfather was an E9 and received the Bronze Star. Both never said a word about the action they saw. Respect to all military personnel.

[@VerowakReacts]

I completely understand not wanting to talk about it. It's definitely not something you wish upon anyone to experience

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

They saw the deep sadness of the battlefield.

[@Possessedpappy]

Great reaction.Wades death gets me every time too. That's some really good acting. You should also consider Hacksaw Ridge It's based on a true story

[@VerowakReacts]

Wade's death was so heart wrenching 😭Hacksaw Ridge will be watched for sure, So many people are recommending it lol

[@kevinprzy4539]

@@VerowakReacts Yes definitely react to Hacksaw Ridge it's a great movie!

[@DestinyAwaits19]

@@kevinprzy4539 Hacksaw Ridge is garbage.

[@G.I.HistoryHandbook]

While it wasn't the first film to use shaky cam, the success of Saving Private Ryan (and its spiritual successor series Band of Brothers) did much to popularize the technique. Shaky cam went on to become a staple of the war movie genre, a seemingly ever-present part of the cinematic vernacular of combat, but in 1998 it was still quite novel for a mainstream film. (And like the Wizard of Oz book-ended its technicolor picture with a sepia opening and ending, SPR’s cemetery scenes were traditionally filmed to contrast with the shaky combat scenes.) Just about every war movie released since this one has been chasing its look.

[@VerowakReacts]

I completely get why the technique is used, it just sucks since I have to look away a lot of times, so I miss some things.

[@G.I.HistoryHandbook]

@@VerowakReacts Oh, I get it. I was just pointing out that this particular film wasn't following a war movie trend; it was very much the trendsetter. (In retrospect, it actually used it fairly sparingly, during the action sequences, compared to many action movies since that went wall-to-wall drunk handheld without seeming to serve any purpose at all. A conversation between two seated characters shouldn't induce vertigo.)

[@VerowakReacts]

@@G.I.HistoryHandbook I enjoyed learning that this movie started the trend. I never really knew where it stemmed from, just knew that it was heavily used in late 90s/2000s movies :D

[@briandubois-gilbert8182]

The “shaky cam” technique that Spielberg used in the film’s combat scenes was his way of paying homage to the brave combat camera men that the US military employed in WW2 who photographed and filmed the war the in the thick of the action with the troops. They used handheld 35mm film cams. Many of them were killed and wounded as well. The effect of the technique on Saving Private Ryan placed the audience in the thick of combat with the assaulting troops with machine gun rounds whizzing by and artillery shells exploding around-with killing and wounding all around the viewer. I remember squirming in my seat at the theater watching this film’s recreation of the assault at Omaha Beach, trying to instinctively avoid “getting hit” by the hail of deadly German machine gun fire from the cliff and bunkers overlooking the beach. Gave the audience, who’s never been at combat, a feeling and view from the soldiers’ perspective of what they faced and went through during combat.

[@brandonparisien2381]

Omg, your Bruce Willis impersonation! Lol Interesting fact: While America was storming this beach, a few dozen kilometers away Canada was storming (gold?) beach; among them was a young James Doohan, who played Engineer Scott on Star Trek :)

[@Leaffordes]

31:04 I wish Upham would've whispered to himself: "Easy does it." while slowly making his way up those stairs. It would've been so good.

[@GeorgeTropicana]

The innocence of not knowing how huge this movie is and that nearly everyone knows it 😂

[@BillO964]

Always amazed by how little young folks know about history.

[@VerowakReacts]

And by history you mean knowing when movies take place?

[@BillO964]

No, just history.

[@mattbiggs1992]

@@BillO964 To be fair, there's more history for us "younger" folks to learn then the older folks 😅 And the older folks seem to be getting worse and worse at teaching it 🤔

[@BillO964]

I would agree with that. And my comment was not directed specifically at Verowak, just a general observation from a 70 year old grump. I was born less than 10 years after WW2, both my sisters are war babies. My dad was a Navy landing craft operator (coxswain) in the D-day landings depicted in this movie. So its natural this is fresher for me.

[@Saltwater_kayak]

I turned it off after. Unbelievable

[@thegorn68]

If anyone reading this visits New Orleans in the future, I highly recommend visiting the National WWII Museum there. There's an exhibit show called "Beyond All Boundaries" in 4D that is awesome and is narrated by Tom Hanks. It really makes you appreciate the Greatest Generation even more and what they went through. I was weeping at the end. Torn between being grateful for what that generation went through and ashamed at how spoiled we have it now.

[@sitting_nut]

its called propaganda.

[@airmobiledivision7759]

@@sitting_nut I believe it was actually called “WWII.”

[@sitting_nut]

​@@airmobiledivision7759 if you know anything about actual ww2 history , you would know movie is mostly propaganda, exaggerating the fighting in so called western front and do called dday, all of which was a side show in ww2.

[@airmobiledivision7759]

@@sitting_nut Are you serious, man? D-day was the catalyst to the Allied incursion into mainland Europe. How the hell can you call the landing of 850,000 troops as a result of the D-day landings a “side show?” Casualties were certainly much higher on the Eastern front, but without the Western Allies’ presence, Germany would have been able to shift their full attention to the Russians. They had the same issue in The Great War. How does the film exaggerate the fighting in Western Europe? There is one, accurately portrayed, depiction of a relatively large-scale engagement: the landings. Some of the specifics of the landings are inaccurate (the short beach, the Rangers not being at Point du Hoc, etc.). However, many veterans have said that the opening scene is the most accurate depiction of warfare ever put to film. The rest of the action throughout the film involves pretty small units in skirmishes. With what, exactly, do you take issue?

[@n0madtv]

I met a WWII Veteran in New Orleans by chance one day in 2006. He happened to be on his way to History Channel shoot (at that museum) and was dressed in his Navy whites with a chest full of medals, while eating crabs at the restaurant I was in. My gf at the time was pretty outgoing and she started chatting him up. Turns out, he was a driver of one of those Personnel Carrier boats. He was a young kid in New Orleans and worked in the factory that made those boats, as soon as he was able to (17) he joined up. He's one of a very small number of people who survived landings at both Normandy and Iwo Jima. His boat was sunk at Iwo Jima. A few months later I was able to watch him on The History Channel give his account. Feeling connected to him a bit really drew me in to learning more about WWII and history in general. I could almost feel how old he was when talking to him... If anyone knows (knew) this man or has a link to that history channel episode, lmk. He was an incredibly rare person so I am certain he made an impression on anyone he met. I just wish I could remember his name!

[@user-rm2my8ew8h]

My grandfather wasn't in the Army, but he was a navy UDT frogman. When he wasn't doing his underwater demolition operations. He was a gunner on a few ships. Growing up I notice he didn't like watching movies with oceans. He wouldn't get Nervous, Angry and Sweat a lot. One day my dad gave him a gift, It was a part from the USS Franklin he was on towards the end of the war. my grandfather told my dad "get that thing away from me."

[@williamberry9013]

His wife said, "Captain Miller? Did you know him?" He never spoke about the bridge with his wife.

[@igloo2158]

When the movie was in theaters, the opening scene actually caused many veterans to have issues due to the realism and sounds. Triggered ptsd all those years later. I saw this with a packed crowd and never heard such silence at the end of a movie. You could just hear people crying.

[@anthonykirsch6482]

going on 30 years old. I've seen this movie more times than I can count. I'm almost moved to tears every time. this movie is an encapsulation of why we call them the greatest generation.

[@scottgraham6910]

So for another Spielberg film, also during WW2 but this time a comedy, try 1941. It’s an all star cast including John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, John Candy, and more. It’s sooo funny and fun and very underrated. Not many reactions to it on KZbin. Would love to see you do it! Thanks.

[@iKvetch558]

Definitely agree...a very underrated Spielberg effort. I would also add Empire of the Sun to the must watch list. 👍

[@scottgraham6910]

@@iKvetch558 yes, another good one. The name of the boy, Jim Graham, is also my dads name.

[@anthonyguadagnino2681]

Spielberg wanted to cast an up and coming actor and picked Damon. Only problem was Damon and affleck wrote Good Will hunting and released it and won an Oscar before saving private Ryan came out. I strongly suggest you react to good Will hunting

[@Jagjeff66]

Of all the beachheads we invaded that day this one was the worst.I was in the theater seeing this and saw an older gentleman get up and make his way out.About ten minutes later I decided to head to the bathroom and he was there crying.He was in the first wave that hit the beach and lost a ton of his buddies and got wounded himself.I gave him a salute and thanked him for his service.

[@davidgagne3569]

This is D-Day in WW2. The Germans controlled France and this coastline was supposed to be impenetrable. But there was no other way into Europe so the Americans and English attacked knowing full well there would be heavy loss of life. They paid the price to break into Europe. Veterans from D-Day say this is the first movie to accurately portray what they went through that day.

[@shinrapresident7010]

Another amazing movie that is totally underrated and no one ever reacts to is Three Kings(1999) starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. It's about the Gulf War.

[@ronweber1402]

Thunder and Flash was a call and response so you knew they were allies. If you came upon an unknown armed person or group you called out Thunder. If they replied with anything other than Flash you start shooting.

[@Possessedpappy]

I thought they were famous French strippers

[@CJ-po8mw]

And German can’t imitate the quote very good because most of them can’t pronounce the “th” sound

[@rollomaughfling380]

The call was "Flash," and the correct response was "Thunder." The screenplay got it backward.

[@texasps91]

As for the opening scene, the actual landing took 6 to 7 hours, we only saw about 25 minutes. My dad was at the landing of Normandy on the USS Frankford providing support fire to take out the bunkers so the soldiers could proceed up the hill. It was learned that the reconnaissance planes coordinates and times were off. They were suppose to take out the bunkers but due to coordinates being off they were delayed.

[@jeffreyfoerster1415]

One thing a lot of people don't know, is that when families say good bye to each other in the states, that might have been the last time to see their loved one. Very, very few that were killed were shipped back to the states.

[@michaelhoward142]

Quote was John McClane in "Die Hard". Great impression! Fantastic review and commentary. For a similar war movie -- with another great cast -- I highly recommend "Fury".

[@VerowakReacts]

Correct, it was John McClane in Die Hard! Fury is a movie that I want to see, for sure!

[@karlfleming7182]

Love all your reactions, you gained a subscriber

[@deancafe4739]

Upham did'nt decide to let go of that german prisoner, Upham just followed the rules of war about surrendering.

[@dmayres]

To see this in theatres is a special experience, I was only 14 when it came out and too young to appreciate it anyway. But, I did catch a 75th anniversary of D-Day screening, which was just incredible. It was like watching it for the first time, such a different experience and you leave the theatre an absolute mess.

[@doctaflo]

33:16 - “that’s the dude that walked, right?” actually, no, although it’s a common misconception (if you’re talking about the guy they were going to execute after losing the medic). watch the scenes back-to-back, and you’ll see they’re different faces with different hairlines, different uniforms, and different ranks. they’re even listed separately in the credits, i think. search “steamboat willie saving private ryan” for more detail.

[@VerowakReacts]

Then how did he know Upham's name? He looks at him and says "Upham" as if he knows him, and the only German soldier that Upham has interacted with is the dude that walked.

[@iKvetch558]

Exactly correct...Steamboat Willie is the Wehrmacht soldier that they captured during the attack on the machined gun that killed Wade the medic. He is also the soldier that Upham shoots...the one that fired the bullet that actually killed Captain Miller. The man that Upham allowed to kill Melish who then walked past him on the stairs was a Waffen SS soldier, and he is listed separately in the credits. 💯

[@doctaflo]

@@VerowakReacts OMG, so: i THOUGHT the answer to your question is that he knew uphman’s name because mellish called it when he was trying to figure out who was in the hall right before the confrontation that ends with his almost-impossible-to-watch death by stabbing. my read on it was herr hans stabby heard the name in the hall and connected it to upham’s face when he passed him on his way out of the building, BUT i went back and checked my source, and, while the stabber IS a different german soldier, the one who shoots Miller, recognizes Upham, and then is executed by him, is in fact the one they let go after the medic died, as you said… which of course makes much more dramatic sense. i‘ve apparently misunderstood this for years, thinking the stabber and the guy who shoots Miller were the same person, and the guy they released earlier was distinct. my bad!

[@VerowakReacts]

@@doctaflo No worries!! I felt like that was the reason why Upham killed him in the end, simply because it was the German soldier they let walk. He didn't kill any other German soldiers, just that one :D

[@garylister]

Nailed the plot of the movie in your opening comment...well done. 1:38

[@grigorione7824]

Memphis Belle ... another movie set in WW2 that also has a cast of people who are now well known. Fantastic Film .

[@Uncle_Neil]

What the younger viewer should understand is for most of the men who landed on D-Day very few survived more than eight weeks. Try to understand that in that time the "rules" of warfare had long since been discarded by both sides. This is normal in human conflict on the battlefield. Verowak's reaction is more a testament of how little people actually understand or know about the nature of war and what happens. In my time, every generation of young men has been asked to go somewhere and do their duty. Most never really recover from the experience. That is not a weakness, instead, it is very reassuring that human beings normal reaction to war is revulsion and a permanent sense of dread. The best person I have ever know survived D-day. He was a generous kind man who was pretty rough around the edges but raised me to be a generous kind man as well. He passed at the age of 82, loved us all and his ranch and his cows and I never remember him doing a mean thing, ever. He taught men so many things, I miss him everyday.

[@dublindutch6346]

beautiful movie and yeah, i remember when the movie launched, and real Normandy and Omaha veterans had to leave the test audience because of it's accurate recreation. Anyway, awesome reaction Vero, hadn't seen this movie inr a while myself, might go see the whole thing again :)

[@VerowakReacts]

It's definitely a movie that I'll rewatch, it's so beautifully made. It's remarkable that it was such an accurate recreation, most impressive

[@iKvetch558]

@@VerowakReacts A better word would be realistic...the movie has a really high level of realism, but there are a significant amount of historical inaccuracies...as I noted elsewhere. Obviously, that would not matter to a sufferer of PTSD or other battle trauma, and a lot of the things that are wrong could not have been shown accurately for practical reasons...such as there being no beach like Omaha Beach other than the real one and they were not able to film there. A lot of the other stuff they got wrong were simple mistakes, and they were obviously fictionalizing the story of Niland Brothers, and most of the historical inaccuracy is pretty insignificant...but not all of it. It is still a classic movie and a landmark film, but Spielberg did take more license than most folks know about.✌

[@hv3926]

You now need to watch The Green Mile. Tom Hanks and the sniper are in it.

[@edwardnowag7145]

Hi there! Scotty from Star Trek was an officer in the Canadian Army which also participated on D day along with Beitish and Americans. He was returning from a night patrol when he got shot by a nervous guard! The burst from a sub gun put four bullets in his legs and a fifth bullet removed the middle finger of his fight hand! The sixth bullit hit him in the chest but was stopped y a cigarette case! He was a smoker at that time! My personal favorites of actors in this film are; Giovanni Ribisi, the music. Ted Danson and Barry Pepper, the sniper. These three are just so natural in all their work!! A movie recommendation is The Patriot with Mel Gibson. This is set during the Revolutionary War! This film is excellent with a truly nasty bad guy which makes the ending very satisfying!

[@STARGATE_SGC]

5:28 In this scene, even with a military helmet, a German MG-42 machine gun would have pierced the helmet and smashed the soldier's head. The best way is to lean my body flat on the ground. Instead, another American colleague would have died. I am a Korean man and have been trained in the Korean army like that. Of course, having military training does not necessarily mean surviving the battlefield. However, the probability of surviving and performing the mission increases.😭 Military helmets are intended to prevent machine bullets flying at an angle, and large and strong machine bullets flying from the front are pierced without being bulletproof when they fly from a close distance.

[@sspdirect02]

You need to watch Schindler’s List.

[@DougRayPhillips]

True, but one can only be pummeled so much at a time.

[@droppedelbow]

Yes, but not as a reaction video. Some films are too important and need to be concentrated on fully. Some experiences should be personal.

[@sspdirect02]

@@droppedelbowTell that to some of the other KZbinrs who reacted to the film.

[@droppedelbow]

@@sspdirect02 um..... no. I personally think that its a film that should be seen for the first time by someone who can give it their full attention. If others don't agree, that's their choice. I don't think graphic scenes of cruelty and suffering in the historical context of the holocaust are automatically a great fit for every reaction channels, but you're free to disagree.

[@TenTonNuke]

It's possible that Upham caused at least 3 of their deaths. He let the guy get stabbed, the guy he helped release shot the captain, and if the Sergeant didn't stop to grab Upham from the stairs, he would have been across the bridge sooner and possibly avoided the bullet. A complete and utter Blue Falcon.

[@Cubdriver88]

It’s usually people who’ve never seen a day of combat that are so quick to judge Upham

[@TenTonNuke]

@@Cubdriver88 I've seen 4 years of combat and Upham should be court-martialed for cowardice.

[@Cubdriver88]

@@TenTonNuke100%

[@sample.text.]

This movie is very loosely based on a true story about the Niland brothers and the extraction of Frederick Niland. The whole mission part of it is obviously just Hollywood, but Spielberg has a way of turning an impossible and almost too fantastic story into believable reality.

[@MichaelPower212]

According to Stephen E. Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" (page 102), Niland's first name was Fritz.

[@Nomad-vv1gk]

"Thunder" and "Flash" are what what's known as the "sign" and "counter-sign". It is how you identify if the person you've come upon is friend or foe. Maybe I can't see you or even if I see you, that doesn't mean you are not the enemy dressed in an allied uniform. So you give the "sign" (Thunder) and the response should be the counter-sign (flash). For instance, the person on sentry duty hears a noise or sees someone approaching, he will give the command "Halt, who goes there"? The person being challenged will then respond with "thunder" the sentry will reply "flash". The sign-counter-sign changed daily. Because the Airborne units were dropped behind enemy lines the night before the invasion, they would not be able to communicate the daily change of the sign. To compensate for that, Airboen units were given what were know as "criketts", a child's toy that made a "click-"click" sound. The "challenge sign" would be 1 click, the reply would be 2 clicks.

[@VerowakReacts]

I read that they used Thunder and Flash because the Germans have a hard time with the "th" of Thunder. It also seems the sign was flash, and the counter was thunder, which makes sense. I just saw those clickers in Band of Brothers!! Seems very smart to use those instead of giving away that people are there by talking

[@Nomad-vv1gk]

@@VerowakReacts The clickers were because the 101st Airborne Division was dropped behind enemy lines, that means any encounters with the Germans would be more under different circumstances than the troops engaged in an amphibious assault. There is also the cost and distribution of supplying only an airborne division as opposed to all the multi-national units taking part in Operation Overlord. Signs and countersigns were also used in the Pacific an in previous wars. That is where the the challenge command "Halt! Who goes there?" comes from. In the movie when they come upon Ryan, the squad leader knows the Rangers didn't have clickers, so he doesn't issue a challenge, but yells out "101st coming out!". The sign and counter sign were changed daily and sometimes during the same day. Ships issued challenges through use of pennants, semaphore and signal lights.

[@gravedigger8414]

To me this is the greatest war movie I have ever seen. Drops you right in, the tension, the production, the acting all straight 10 out of 10. Today a movie like this would be full with ugly cgi and bad oneliners. The battle at the bridge made me shake and shiver because of the suspense and how this whole scene was set up. About friendly fire: In the wars of the past there were many incidents of that. Sadly. My favorite Spielberg movie is Schindlers List. But he made so many fantastic movies that shaped me as a person. By the way: Have you seen Jurassic Park?

[@AR0629.]

Das Boot, Come and see, Stalingrad much powerful than this. This is just an adventure movie in war costume, lot of heroic moves, waiving flags...

[@gravedigger8414]

@@AR0629. I guess every generation has its movies. Mine was this, saw it before all the classics you named. So it had the biggest effect on me.

[@arraymac227]

'Where we're going, we don't need socks.' the cute continues.

[@davidslany9379]

The two surrendering soldiers at the beggining were Czechs and were saying: "I am Czech, I didnt kill anyone."

[@VerowakReacts]

That makes it so much worse ! 😭

[@coinsaver]

"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs." John McClaine (Bruce Willis) quoting Holly Gennaro (Bonnie Bedelia) in 'Die Hard'.

[@VerowakReacts]

Quote-ception!

[@bobbybingo7962]

John McClane in "Die Hard" while in the ventilation and lit by the light of his cigarette lighter.

[@VerowakReacts]

Correct! 😊

[@otto7707]

My grandfather was a combat medic during WW2 , he landed on those beaches and was there the first day on the landings. After the War he became a practicing doctor. Unfortunately he passed when I was very young and I have little to no memories of him. I wish I remembered more of him and actually got to talk to him. I actually have his footlocker from the war its been passed down through the family.

[@STARGATE_SGC]

19:18 If I throw a grenade at an enemy from a close distance, the Army Training Center instructs me to remove the safety pins, safety clips, and safety handles of the grenade and throw it in 2 seconds. The reason is that my enemies can take the time to throw grenades at me. For your information, the grenade explodes after 5 seconds as the safety handle falls off when the safety pin and safety clip are removed and thrown. Then I have three seconds left.

[@VerowakReacts]

Definitely makes sense to wait, but I imagine in the heat of battle it may not always be easy to remember

[@STARGATE_SGC]

@@VerowakReacts Depending on the situation of the battle, instructors teach soldiers to do so if possible. Depending on the situation of the battle, instructors teach soldiers to do so if possible.🥰🤩

[@Parallaxus]

I've always said, and maintain, two superlatives about this movie. One is that it's the best war movie there is, and second is that of all scenes in all movies, or at least all war movies, the D-day beach invasion scene is the hardest watch. I can't remember any other movie leaving me feeling as traumatized after watching a certain scene as that scene. The red waves of the bloody sea, the masses of dead fish, dead American soldiers laying everywhere, many with limbs blown off, a man turning over to reveal his face is gone, it just felt like the brutality was not going to end. The first time I watched the movie, I immediately went home after the movie to look up online how many men died that day, because the movie made it look like it could have been anywhere from several hundred to tens of thousands. Rough watch. I have always had a little more respect for anyone who even watched the movie.

[@VerowakReacts]

Granted, I haven't seen many war movies, but to me this one was done so well. The opening scene is just phenomenal, and just so disheartening to see. I haven't met anyone who has gone to war, so I don't have any first hand accounts of what happened. I really appreciate the work that Spielberg puts in to envision and create something like this

[@NOxSPLOOSHxPLANE]

You don't know how angry I get every time I see him freeze up on the staircase and just let his battle buddy die... And then to be frightened enough to allow him to pass him by on the staircase as well

[@johannesvalterdivizzini1523]

He was a completely green clerk and was obviously terrified. Miller and his men were veteran soldiers in the elite Army Rangers, and Ryan's unit were the highly qualified and trained 101st. Airborne--it's a fact that Upham was more or less a civilian along on this shockingly intense combat mission.

[@allsorts-]

I don't usually enjoy reaction channels but you always view the story with empathy and take me through a film with fresh eyes.

[@TimSmith-uc4pk]

If Capt. Miller had made it home I think that there is no doubt that he would have all of that trauma for the rest of his life.

[@stephenweaver7631]

My father was a WWII veteran of Europe. Fought with the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. He started talking to me about the war in the '60s' when he started going to his unit's reunions. Just before he died, I saw him have a flash-back. It was a bitterly cold and snowy day in 1985, he was looking out on our orchard. He said "those poor, boys, those poor boys." Remembering the orchards they would bivouac in the extreme cold of 1944-45 Europe. He laid his head on the table and cried. I had never seen him cry in all my, at that time, 25 years. The trauma never goes away!

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

Behind the stress of survival, everything you see in the battlefield is tragedy, a deep sadness, an extreme lack of love. This is why vets have my deepest respect.

[@umaiar]

11:58 - "oh, don't kill him" Unfortunately realistically, the sniper's goal wasn't to kill him, it was to draw out support, then kill them. He turned the soldier into bait.

[@violatorut2003]

Yup, wound 1 soldier and you have just taken 3 soldiers out of the fight. The 1 who was shot and 2 to carry him. It’s pretty smart.

[@crawdaddy2004]

In high school, I had to write a paper about this film as a makeup assignment. I watched it three times in a single weekend. It was over a decade later that I could watch it again.

[@blakewalker84120]

Remember that the opening scene is a bunch of U.S. troops landing on an ally's beach. France is an ally. They wanted us to succeed to liberate them from German occupation. They helped us pick the very best beach for the best chance of success. We landed on more than one but all were selected for the best access from the ocean and the hardest for the Germans to defend. if this looks hard, imagine what the other, worse beaches might be like.

[@MrPeteTheGamer]

Bruce Willis in Die Hard! Recognized it right away! Not a bad impression, too!

[@Ewelllad]

Coming from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I grew up knowing some of the men who landed on Omaha Beach on D Day. They were the soldiers of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 115th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. My great uncle also landed on Omaha while serving with the 1st Infantry Division. Another gentleman I knew piloted one of the landing craft. They never spoke of what they experienced that day. Sadly, they are all gone now. This movie is based on a true story.

[@Ugo2sleep]

Good to be able to say you knew those men. I heard alot of veterans confirmed the accuracy of the chaos conveyed in the film. Somehow the reality is still unimaginable...

[@PatriotRebel]

I'm glad that you got to meet some of those brave men that served, but this movie is not based on a true story.

[@Ugo2sleep]

@@PatriotRebel pretty sure it is actually based on a true story bud.

[@PatriotRebel]

@@Ugo2sleep No, it is not, sorry.

[@MichaelPower212]

@@Ugo2sleep According to Stephen E. Ambrose, the author of "Band of Brothers" (page 102-03), Niland's first name was Fritz with 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. Warren "Skip" Muck, E/506, was a best friend of Niland. It was Muck who told Ambrose the story about Niland. On June 15, Fritz had gone to the 82nd Airborne to see his brother Bob only to learn he was killed in action. Fritz next hitched a ride to the 4th Infantry Division position, to see another brother. He too had been killed on D-Day, on Utah Beach. Father Francis Sampson was looking for him, to tell him that a third brother, a pilot in the China-Burma-India theater, had been killed that same week. Fritz was the sole surviving son, and the Army wanted to remove him from the combat zone as soon as possible. Fritz had just enough time to seek out Muck and tell him that he was going home. Father Sampson escorted Fritz to Utah Beach, where a plane flew him to London on the first leg of his return to the States.

[@Hamstar78]

It was an amazing experience watching this movie in the theatre! Now you will need to react to Band of Brothers and The Pacific hopefully in the future ;)

[@VerowakReacts]

It must have been insane to watch in the theatres. A surreal experience. I'll be starting Band of Brothers on Patreon in August!!!

[@Hamstar78]

Thats awesome looking forward to that :)

[@user-fj4qp5eo5j]

The actual battle for Omaha Beach lasted six hours, and four separate waves of troops assaulted the beach. There were approximately 10,000 casulaties on D-Day. It was one of the most significant events of the 20th Century. The fate of the Free World literally hung in the balance. I studied this in High School and College. I had relatives (all deceased now) who were involved in the battle. One survived Bastogne after losing all of the other members of his squad. Twice.

[@razorgee2873]

That opening scene was WWII on D-Day when the allied forces attacked the beaches of Normandy, France. Keep in mind that the entire coastline was attacked on 5 beaches simitenously. The Americans at Omaha and Utha, the Brits at Sword and Gold and the Canadians at Juno. This was the beginning of the invasion of France. Eventually, the allied forces took on the Germans to free France.

[@tucsonbandit]

I saw this movie opening weekend and there were many WW2 veterans with their hats w/ what units they served in-- some had to walk out, most did not, but it was obvious they were very affected by the movie, as was I...but I was just a young person at the time, so it was not at all the same thing. I just thought it was the most 'realistic' looking depiction of war I had ever seen, as far as I could tell. I was blown away and was not expecting it...the sound was a big component of it I remember. I had never experienced sound like that in a war movie, with the bullets whizzing, and bouncing off metal etc..I am not sure it has ever really been matched.

[@SilentBob731]

There are a million praiseworthy things about this absolutely classic movie, but the sound of the tank coming down at 31:59 is like the end of the world.

[@VerowakReacts]

That would be terrifying!! That scene is just fascinating to see

[@johnej8286]

10:23 they used “thunder” and “flash” as code words during the d-day landings/airdrops as a signal to identify other friendly troops. But it’s actually one of the inaccuracies of this movie. In reality, they would shout “flash” before “thunder” as it was difficult for a native German speaker to pronounce the english “th” sound

[@09makiful]

when she said "put it back on put it back on" the soldier would have died even with the helmet still in his head

[@jokerz7936]

The 2 soldiers shot who were surrendering were saying "We're Czech, We're not German. We didn't kill anyone, We're Czech.". During WWII the Nazis forced men from occupied countries into conscription. Also, the story is slightly referencing the 5 Sullivan brothers they joined the Navy under the request they'd serve together. They did and all 5 died when their ship sank. The Military now has rules against siblings serving together to minimize the effects on a family.

[@davidevans3175]

My dad - now 98 years old - was an infantry medic in WW2 - landed north of Normandy Beach and marched all the way into Germany, winter of 1944. At one point all medics were ordered to paint over the white cross on their helmets because the Germans were targeting medics.

[@Turican76]

every army do that

[@rollomaughfling380]

This doesn't add up. The first Allied infantry Division fighting on German soil in late 1944 was the famous 30th Infantry, at Aachen, and they had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day +5. Not north of "Normandy Beach," whatever that is. Maybe he was a replacement, but this sounds like a misrembrance.

[@davidevans3175]

@@rollomaughfling380 ​ I'll give you my dad's phone number, he's 98 and can barely hear, but you go ahead and tell him "this doesn't add up". Were you there? I didn't think so.

[@rollomaughfling380]

@@davidevans3175 No, but I can read history, and asked an honest question. You made the assertion-YOU do the work, and You provide the proof. That's how things work in the real world, kiddo.

[@adamalexander4883]

The figures around World War II are absolutely staggering. It’s impossible to pinpoint a precise number, but it is estimated that between 70 and 85 million people were killed in that war. Military casualties were almost entirely men, and the average age was 23. I also read somewhere a few years back that roughly 80% of Russian men born in 1920 died in that war. I think of myself at that age, how immature I was, and even now when I’m getting closer to 40 than 30, I’m certain I would not be able to handle the horrors of such a colossal war, much less when I was so young. I’ve had the honor of meeting a few veterans of that war, and a holocaust victim. Their stories will stay with me for my entire life. I will forever admire the men of that generation, and I truly pity future generations that will never have a chance to speak to them.

[@josepablolunasanchez1283]

I once was working in a call center and became friend of a WWII vet. Talking to him brought him joy as I could provide useful info on how to understand his PTSD. I ruined my metrics but it was worth it. Then I was told not to talk to him anymore. I remembered his phone number for a few days but US has laws on personal data, so I could easily get into trouble if I tried to contact him. So I forgot the number and I could not talk to him again. It would have been nice to be a friend of this good old man to make him feel my appreciation. But it was not possible. My respect to him.

[@Ceractucus]

Fantastic reaction! Just discovered this channel. Subbed, and looking forward to more. Keep up the great work! Saving Private Ryan takes place in WW2 and the event at the beginning is the landing at Normandy beach. The beach was split up in 5 sections, named Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword and Juno. American soldiers landed at Omaha (the beach featured in the movie) and Utah. English land at Gold and Sword and the Canadians landed at Juno. The heaviest fighting was on Omaha. The location in Normandy was not only one of the best places they could have landed a very successful intelligence operation succeeded in convincing the Germans they would land somewhere else. Also each beach had been bombed by bombers and shelled by ships and the night before the landings 13,000 men parachuted into the country to try and take key points to restrict enemy movement and silence enemy artillery, so it could have been unimaginably worse. The troops who landed on the beach had to move forward. As horrible as it was for them there were several more waves of soldiers waiting to land. When the two guys try to surrender and get shot and the American soldiers says "look I washed for supper" they said in Czech "we are Czechs, not German we didn't shoot at anyone. A lot of the people defending the beaches in D-Day (like those two Czechs) were conscripts from a nation Germany had conquered. Are the letters the government sent truth or lies? I would say a lot of both. Certainly if a soldier was loved by his fellow soldiers and gave up his life to save his comrades that letter would be completely true. But soldiers were also unpopular with their own men, or died running away against the orders of his own Captain etc. what they wrote would have to be mostly or all lies. America had a massive propaganda campaign targeted against it's own people to make sure our desire to go to war did not falter, and hearing that Uncle Bob died in the war because he got drunk and walked into an American minefield or ran over by an American tank and nobody had anything nice to say about him is not something our government wanted to be heard. This movie is not based on a true story, but parts of many stories. The idea about guy with three dead brother is loosely based on the Sullivan brothers. Five brothers signed up at the start of the war and wanting to stay together they all joined the Navy and got assigned to the same ship. One Japanese torpedo later and all five brothers were dead. The rules were changes so this kind of thing would never happen (so easily) again. When you hear some Americans yell thunder and another group yell flash, this is real. The Germans had quite a few men that spoke English and this signal was used so you knew you were talking to another American. Snipers often targeted men to injure, but not kill their enemy. This would cause his buddies to try and save him and also get shot.

[@KdotLINE]

2:25 - Saw the confusion face, so I thought I'd chime in. This definitely confused me when I first saw it. There is a lot of contention online, but from what I can gather, armor piercing rounds (which they would have used to fire at the boats unloading the troops) can go through water for like 5-7 feet, so enough to kill someone. The other factor is the angle. If a bullet is fired straight down from above water, it will slow down almost immediately, but at a 30 degree angle, a bullet will travel way further. Since the MG42's are elevated above the beach, they could likely hit people in the shallow water like they show in the movie. Myth Busters even did an episode about shooting a bullet into water, though I can't remember if they brought up this scene or not.

[@VerowakReacts]

I know mythbusters busted a scene like this (not sure if it was this one or from another movie)

[@mrwidget42]

Bruce Willis Diehard. This show was so powerful that veterans of ww2 could not finish due to PTSD.

[@blakewalker84120]

10:20 "Thunder" and "Flash" were code words told to every U.S. soldier. If one of us heard somebody else moving around but couldn't see them to be sure if they were ally or enemy, he would shout "Thunder". If the other person immediately answered "Flash", they were friends. If not, then shoot them because they're German. There was some gray area for French civilians, but if you kick down a door and the people inside are mostly old men, women, and children with no guns, then you don't need to shoot them. It was mainly a way to make sure U.S. troops were not shooting each other.

[@wwk68tig]

Upham on the staircase is the toughest scene to watch in movie.........kudos to Spielberg..........we assume everyone on battlefield is a hero, but deep down we know that's not true...........one of my favorite movies........thanks for posting.

[@VerowakReacts]

It's good seeing all kinds of characters. Good ones, evil ones, even those who are scared!

[@Harv72b]

Long comment coming. Probably not the only one. 😃 2:25 I saw that look. 😁 Spielberg and his team went to great lengths to make this as historically accurate as possible, but they did take a couple of liberties for dramatic effect. The bullets slicing through the water to kill those soldiers was one of them; water is highly effective at blunting the travel of bullets, so that would not have happened. *Many* soldiers did in fact drown during the landings, though, going over the side of their landing craft to avoid being mowed down by machine guns and instead being weighted down by their equipment so much that they never managed to surface. Likewise, the waters along Omaha beach really did turn red after the battle because of all the blood spilled into the ocean. 3:50 Everybody knew that the Allies would land somewhere in France at around that time. The military tried using deception to convince the Germans that the landings would take place elsewhere, and succeeded to an extent, but by that point in the war the Germans had had ample time to prepare defenses at _every_ likely landing spot. Omaha beach was just one of several used during the Normandy landings, and was by far the most tenaciously defended; other troops landing just a few miles away encountered little or no resistance. 7:02 This was something of an Easter Egg that Spielberg put into the film. The two enemy soldiers trying to surrender are not speaking German, but rather Czech, and are saying something along the lines of "We are not Germans we are Czechs, we did not shoot anybody!". The German government of that time period forced many able-bodied men in occupied countries into the German army, under threat of execution and/or a trip to the concentration camps if they refused or deserted (them and their families). 8:10 To the extent that operational security allows, they are all true. Every soldier fills out paperwork after joining the military which includes naming a next of kin to contact in the event they are seriously wounded or killed. Given the number of casualties the United States was suffering every day of World War 2, and particularly during the Normandy invasion, they were mainly form letters giving few details; for example, "We regret to inform you that your son was killed in action during fighting in Europe," followed by various niceties meant to soften the blow as much as possible. They did and still do hand deliver as many as possible, with a military chaplain accompanying the duty officer to console the bereaved. 9:05 You're probably going to get a few comments saying it was based on or inspired by a true story, many of them revolving around the Sullivan brothers, but it was not. The arguments that the silver-haired officer makes are 100% accurate, and with the fate of the entire war hanging in the balance the Army would never have dispatched much-needed troops to "rescue" one other soldier like this, no matter how noble the cause. 20:30 Killing the German prisoner would have been a war crime. The Geneva Accords prohibit mistreating enemy prisoners of war, which makes sense for all the nations who agreed to them because you normally _want_ enemy soldiers to surrender rather than fight to their last breath (probably killing more of your own troops in the process). If the enemy believes they'll just be shot anyway if they surrender, they have no reason to surrender. That being said, as this movie showed on multiple occasions this rule was frequently disregarded by all sides in World War 2 (and in other conflicts). 34:00 Upham was Army intelligence, and as such was never really trained or prepared for combat beyond basic training, whereas the rest of the soldiers in Captain Miller's detachment were all elite Army Rangers with combat experience (or elite airborne soldiers with combat experience, once they found Ryan). Nobody ever truly knows how they'll react to the stresses of combat until they experience them first-hand, and no amount of training can ever truly replicate real action. He was thrust into a role he'd never even thought about being in and did the best he could, but froze in fear when he could have made a difference in the battle. I was never in combat, but I did experience that level of fear once on an obstacle course; I have a terrible fear of heights, and on one obstacle which required you to jump, catch hold of a board above, and pull yourself up I literally froze in place. No amount of willpower could force my legs to make that jump, and believe me I tried. So at least in that sense I can sort of understand what Upham went through on that staircase. The film as a whole was Spielberg's (and Hanks', and others') ode to the surviving veterans of the Second World War, who in the late 1990s were already dying off in great numbers just due to age. The filmmakers wanted to show the public as much of what those men went through as they could, so that those who were left could receive a tiny bit of the accolades they deserved before they, too, perished. Another excellent Spielberg film set in World War 2 would be "Schindler's List", but if you decide to react to that one make sure you have some tissues handy. 😢

[@rollomaughfling380]

Well spoken.

[@rbloomquist69]

Earn this. Its a message to all generations that followed. Also, notice how Ryan's wife didn't recognize Captain Millers name. He never told her about him.

[@Proteus2905]

I remember watching this movie in a huge cinema with a really powerful sound system, giant speakers all over the theater. At the final battle, when they all wait for this first german tank, I swear the entire cinema started shaking. I became smaller and smaller in my seat waiting for a real tank breaking through the cinema walls. It was amazing... and pretty scary.

[@mahliz]

Die Hard, said by Bruce Willis(John McLain) while crawing in a air drum, with a lighter in his "right" hand. "come down to the coast, get together we have a few laugh" Nathan Fillion (firefly dude). An amazing movie and a great reaction.

[@VerowakReacts]

Nathan Fillion, that's him!! And yes it's Die Hard, for sure :D I read that the Department of Veteran Affairs in the USA had a hotline for veterans that were affected by this movie. It's such a very well made movie, even 25 years later

[@mahliz]

@@VerowakReacts Yeah I removed that part that you answered to when I heard you read the trivia section. Problem with writing stuff and pressing send before I finished the full video.

[@VerowakReacts]

@@mahliz A lot of people stop watching as soon as the movie reaction itself is done, so I never know if someone pressed send early or just didn't watch the full video 😂 I appreciate you watching all of it!!

[@matthewhale-gy9ux]

Bruce willis - Die hard. Iconic scene

[@VerowakReacts]

Correct! That movie is just great

[@yourarseismine1016]

The US soldiers used to say Thunder as a safe code hoping for either response be the password: "Flash" or "Lightning". It was one of the safest way to try and identify friendlies from foe as the Germans had trouble pronouncing flash or lightning even if they tried because of their accent.

[@scottdarden3091]

When Captain Miller says "how do I tell my wife about days like today" that's the thing, she'll tell you that you have to talk about it. Everyone will tell you that you have to talk about it. But they don't really want to hear it. You need to talk to another veteran about it.

[@VerowakReacts]

There are people who do want to hear it, that have not been to war. Some veterans don't want to hear it, and want to forget about it all. Every person is different

[@Josh86_925]

In the opening scene , D-Day battle, they airborne & stormed into Normady, France in 5 different beachs. This beach is what the U.S. called "Ohama Beach." It by far had the most casualties out of the 5... thousands died. Hitler & the Nazi Regime built what they called "The Alantic Wall." It stretched from the bored of Spain & France, all the way to the entire coast of Norway. That whole stretch of coastline was defended like what u see in the film. Beyond crazy ! In the battle, u had a 1&4 chance of surviving.. 1&10 if u were in the 1st wave. The average age was 18-20yrs old

[@ysmith494]

The quote is by John McLain, played by Bruce Willis in the movie, Die Hard.

[@VerowakReacts]

It is, yes! A great Christmas movie

[@regaubade8329]

I think this was the first movie that had 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Hearing the bullets behind you in your home was something special.

[@rollomaughfling380]

You're very wrong about that. Look it up.

[@regaubade8329]

@@rollomaughfling380 TF is that supposed to mean? Most people bought a surround system because of that movie. I'm not _very wrong_ about that. Go bother someone else now with your ridiculous replies.