Saving Private Ryan (1998) is the recipient of five Oscars for Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), Best Sound (Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Ron Judkins), Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn), and Best Effects-Sound Effects Editing (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns). Inspired by the story of the Niland brothers in Normandy, the movie won 79 awards from 1998-to 2015, where it was added to the OFTA Film Hall of Fame. The movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, who is currently the most commercially successful director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards (with two for Best Director), a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. The movie's numerous accolades place it on the 23rd spot on IMDb's Top 250 list.
The movie follows the story of a group of U.S. soldiers who go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action during the Second World War. The main character, United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller, is played by Tom Hanks. His squad features Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies. Though the film was set in Normandy and its neighboring French villages, principal photography took place in England. The beginning and ending scenes were filmed at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-Sur-Mer and Calvados. The movie's central premise is World War Two, an unforgiving environment for leaders. However, Captain John H. Miller prevails. How is he shown to be a good leader in Saving Private Ryan?
Following the brutal D-Day landings, Miller's squad is assigned a search and rescue mission to find Private James Francis Ryan of Iowa. The three brothers of the latter have been recently killed in action. No one knows if Ryan is alive, so the mission isn't popular amongst the squad. Miller has to get the job done regardless of whether he agrees with the rationale, and he has to bring his team with him too. Miller is constantly on edge, struggling to hold it together under the stress of war and guilt over the loss of men under his command. But, he's also highly respected by his men. Miller is the leader you'd want to take you into battle: tough and authoritative, but caring and approachable. The biggest feat of Miller's is how he succeeded in leading a reluctant squad on a mission none of them believed in.
First, he was open to feedback but was loyal to the chain of command. Miller is comfortable letting his team express their opinions and doubts about the mission despite their negativity and shows empathy with their views. However, he keeps his personal feelings on the mission to himself: "I don't gripe to you. Gripes go up, not down. I send yours up." He never openly criticizes the mission or the rationale behind it because he knows there isn't anything he can do to change the minds of his commanding officers. Secondly, Miller faces a stream of tough decisions, but he never shrinks from them. This is especially evident in the movie's final act when the squad had already found Private Ryan. Still, he refused to leave because he was protecting the bridge. Despite protests from his squad, Miller chooses to stay and fight with Ryan and the squad, saying, "our objective is to win the war." It's also seen in the middle of the movie when Miller is faced with the choice of executing a German captive or setting him free. Once again, despite opposition from his team, he decides to set the soldier free, only to meet him again at the bridge, so maybe that wasn't his best decision.
Finally, Miller is very empathetic. His decision to let the captive soldier go free doesn't bode well with Reiben, who decides he's had enough. The situation escalates to an armed stand-off between Reiben and Horvath. Miller defuses the argument by revealing his trump card: his life before the war. He tells the squad about himself to show how much he's hurting and how, just like them, he just wants to go home. This could also be a foreshadowing moment. Since his best-kept secret is his past, he may have already known that he wouldn't survive the end of the mission, which is why he decided to tell the others about his life.
He ends the discussion by saying, "sometimes I wonder how my wife's ever going to recognize me when I eventually get home to her and how I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today. If finding Ryan is the thing I need to do to get back to my wife, then that's my mission." Miller's mission is one that everyone on the team can identify with: not to win the war, not to save Ryan, but to get home to his family. From that point on, disputes among the squad members are averted, and the team gets back on track. They focus on their personal goals and the primary mission: rescue Ryan and bring him back to his mother.
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