-
“SAVING PRIVATE
RYAN”
By : Robert Rodat
FADE IN:
CREDITS:
White
lettering over a back background.
The THUNDEROUS SOUNDS OF A MASSIVE
NAVAL BARRAGE are heard.
The power is astonishing.
It roars through the body, blows back
the hair
and rattles the ears.
FADE IN:
EXT.
OMAHA BEACH - NORMANDY - DAWN
The ROAR
OF NAVAL GUNS continues but now WE SEE THEM
FIRING.
Huge fifteen inch
guns.
A SWARM OF LANDING CRAFT
Heads directly into a nightmare.
MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS from
German artillery shells and mined
obstacles tear apart the beach.
Hundreds of German machine
guns, loaded with tracers, pour out a red
snowstorm of bullets.
OFFSHORE
SUPERIMPOSITION:
OMAHA BEACH, NORMANDY
June
6, 1944
0600 HOURS
HUNDREDS
OF LANDING CRAFT
Each holding thirty
men, near the beaches.
THE CLIFFS
At the far end of the beach, a ninety-
foot cliff.
Topped by
bunkers.
Ringed by
fortified machine gun
nests.
A clear line-of-fire down
the entire beach.
TEN LANDING CRAFT
Make their way toward the base of the
cliffs.
Running a gauntlet
of explosions.
SUPERIMPOSITION:
THE FOLLOWING IS BASED
ON A
TRUE STORY
THE LEAD LANDING CRAFT
Plows through the waves.
THE
CAMERA MOVES PAST THE FACES OF THE MEN
Boys.
Most are
eighteen or nineteen years old.
Tough.
Well-
trained.
Trying to block
out the fury
around them.
A
DIRECT HIT ON A NEARBY LANDING CRAFT
A
huge EXPLOSION of fuel, fire, metal and flesh.
THE LEAD LANDING CRAFT
The
Motorman holds his course.
Shells EXPLODE around them.
FLAMING OIL BURNS on the water.
CANNON FIRE SMASHES into
the bow.
THE MOTORAMAN IS RIPPED TO
BITS
BLOOD AND FLESH shower the men
behind him.
The mate takes
the controls.
A YOUNG SOLDIER
His face covered with the remains of
the motorman.
Starts to
lose it.
Begins to shudder
and weep.
His
name is DeLancey.
THE BOYS
AROUND HIM
Do their best to stare
straight ahead.
But the
fear infects them.
It
starts to spread.
A FIGURE
Pushes through the men.
Puts himself in front of DeLancey.
The figure is CAPTAIN JOHN MILLER.
Early thirties.
By far the oldest man on the craft.
Relaxed,
battle-
hardened, powerful, ignoring the hell around them.
He smiles, puts a cigar in
his mouth, strikes a
match on the front
of DeLancey?s helmet and lights the
cigar.
DeLancey tries to
look away but Miller grips him by the jaw and
forces him to lock eyes.
Miller smiles.
DeLancey is terrified.
DELANCEY
Captain, are we all
gonna die?
MILLER
Hell no,
two-thirds, tops.
DELANCEY
Oh, Jesus...
MILLER
I want every one of you to look at the
man on your left.
Now look
at
the man on your right.
Feel sorry for those to sons-
of-
bitches, they?re
going to
get it, you?re not going to get a
scratch.
A few, including
DeLancey, manage thin smiles.
Miller releases his grip on DeLancey
who moves his jaw
as if to see if it?s
broken.
Miller pats him on
the che
ek and moves on to the bow.
MILLER
Looks over the
gunwale at THE HELL IN FRONT OF THEM.
PAN DOWN TO MILLER?S HAND
It quivers in fear.
Miller glances around, sees that none
of the men have noticed.
He
stares at his hand as
if it belongs to
someone else.
It stops
shaking.
He turns his eyes
back to the objective.
THE LEAD LANDING
CRAFT HITS THE BEACH
The six surviving
boats alongside.
EXPLOSIVE PROPELLED
GRAPPLING HOOKS FIRE
From the landing
crafts.
Arc toward the top
of the cliffs.
THE LEAD CRAFT RAMP GOES
DOWN
A river of MACHINE GUN FIRE pours
into the craft.
A dozen men
are INSTANTLY KILLED.
them, DeLancey.
MILLER
Somehow survives.
Jumps into the breakers.
MILLER
MOVE, GODDAMN IT!
GO!
GO!
GO!
EXPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE
THE
GERMANS
On the edge of the cliff.
Rain down MACHINE GUN FIRE
and GRENADES.
THE AMERICANS
Struggle through the surf.
FIRING up as best they can.
Making for the base of the cliffs.
INCENDIARY GRENADES, HURLED FROM ABOVE,
EXPLODE, SPREADING FIRE
MILLER
Ignores the
EXPLOSIONS and BULLETS.
Uses hand signals and curt orders.
MILLER
THERE!
ROCKS!
THERE!
HOOKS THERE!
FIRE SQUAD, THOSE
THE MEN
Obey instantly.
Set the grappling hooks.
Take position.
Return fire.
THE SOUNDS OF
BATTLE
Among
Drown out most voices.
Except the SCREAMS OF THE WOUNDED AND
DYING.
THE MEN
Know what
they have to do.
Start up
the ropes.
Into the teeth
of the German defenders.
MILLER
Back-straps his Thompson sub-machine
gun.
Starts climbing with
the first group.
THE CLIFF FACE
The Americans swarm up the ropes.
Taking turns firing up at
the Germans.
MILLER SEES A STALLED
CLIMBER
A soft-faced boy.
Grabs him by the back of his collar.
Roughly yanks him up.
Nearly choking him.
They boy climbs on.
HALF-WAY
An American private
is HIT.
FALLS, taking two
others with him.
All three
land on the rocks below.
Another way to die.
NEAR THE
TOP
Less steep.
They leave the ropes.
Free climb, scrambling up the rocks.
MILLER
Joins half-a-dozen
pinned down men.
Others
bottleneck behind them.
Miller scans the route and the
defenders.
Sees an open gap.
Deadly.
Beyond is a protective overhang.
With a clear line to the
top.
MILLER
That?s the
route.
Miller motions to six
men huddled near him.
MILLER
Go!
THE SIX MEN
Take an instant to get ready.
Then SCRAMBLE into the gap.
MILLER AND THE OTHERS
Do
their best to cover them.
POUR FIRE up at the Germans.
Bad angle.
No Germans are hit.
THE SIX
MEN
Are CUT TO RIBBONS by MACHINE GUN
FIRE.
All KILLED.
They fall to the rocks
below.
SARGE, mid-
twenties,
experienced, Miller?s rig
ht arm and
best friend, dives into the rocks next to Miller.
SARGE
That?s a goddamned
shooting gallery, Captain.
MILLER
It?s the only
way.
MILLER
Turns
to the next half-dozen men.
MILLER
YOU?RE NEXT!
THE
SECOND SIX
Move to the head of the gap.
Miller moves for a better
angle against the machine guns.
Calls to
JACKSON, a tall,
gangly Southern country boy, sharp-shooter.
MILLER
JACKSON, PICK OFF A
FEW OF THEM, WILL YOU?
JACKSON
(heavy Southern accent)
You
betcha, Captain.
Miller signals others
where to direct their cover fire.
Turns to the second six.
MILLER
GO!
THE
SECOND SIX
Take deep breaths.
Head into the gap.
MILLER AND OTHERS BLAST SURPRISING FIRE
JACKSON, NAILS a pair of Germans.
MILLER CUTS DOWN two more.
SARGE gets one.
Not
enough.
THE
SECOND SIX
Are RAKED BY MACHINE GUNS.
All are KILLED.
MILLER
Turns, looking for
the next six.
His eyes fall
on Sarge and REIBEN who is a cynical, sharp, New
Yorker.
Reiben smiles.
REIBEN
(heavy Brooklyn
accent)
Captain, can I put in for a
transfer?
MILLER
Sure,
meet me at the top, we?ll start the
paperwork.
THE THIRD SIX
Moves into place.
Sarge and Miller exchange a look.
They both see the madness
of what they?re doing.
MILLER AND THE OTHERS
OPEN
UP on the Germans.
MILLER
GO!
SARGE
Rolls
his eyes, takes a breath.
Scrambles into the gap.
The other five right behind.
IN THE GAP
BULLETS
EVERYWHERE.
Three are HIT.
Then another.
POTATO MASHER GRENADES bounce down.
EXPLODE below.
THE GERMAN MACHINE GUN swings toward
Sarge and Reiben.
Miller
sees them about to get it...
MILLER
STEPS OUT INTO THE OPEN.
A perfect
target.
Captain?s bars
glinting.
FIRING.
TRYING TO DRAW THE GERMAN
FIRE.
THE GERMAN MACHINE
GUNNER
SEES MILLER STANDING IN THE
OPEN.
Too much to pass up.
He swings the machine gun
away
from Sarge and Reiben, toward
Miller.
A ROW OF GERMAN BULLETS
approaches Miller...he?s an instant from
death.
SARGE AND REIBEN DIVE
Under the overhang to safety.
MILLER DIVES BACK TO COVER, BARELY
MAKES IT, HIS BOOT HEAL IS BLOWN OFF.
UNDER THE OVERHANG Sarge and Reiben
untangle themselves.
REIBEN
I?ll be Goddamned!
I?m not dead!
Sarge hollers back to Miller.
SARGE
CAPTAIN, IF YOUR
MOTHER SAW YOU DO THAT, SHE?D BE
VERY
UPSET!
MILLER
I THOUGHT YOU
WERE MY MOTHER.
Quick smiles.
MILLER AND HIS RANGERS lean
out and FIRE.
HIT more
Germans.
SARGE AND REIBEN run up the
path, under the overhang.
Stop near the top.
Pull pins on grenades.
Count.
Both
throw long, arcing over the crest, perfectly
aimed.
THE TWO GRENADES EXPLODE.
Putt out the two worst machine gun
nests.
MILLER
Crosses the
gap.
His men follow.
AT THE CREST
The Americans
swarm over the top.
FIRING.
TWO DOZEN GERMANS FIRE BACK as they
retreat.
Abandoning the perimeter
defense of the bunkers.
The
Germans are CUT DOWN.
MILLER motions to
WADE, a small, wide-eyed, d
emolition
man who?s struggling under the weight of
half-a dozen satchel charges.
MILLER
Okay, Wade, your
turn.
WADE
Captain, I love
it when you say that.
Miller, Sarge,
Reiben and Jackson cover Wade as he races to the
first of three bunkers.
Dodging bullets
from inside.
Wade tosses a SATCHEL
CHARGE into a gun port.
A
HUGE, MUFFLED EXPLOSION,
rocks the
bunker.
MILLER AND SARGE
Survey the field.
SARGE
What the hell were you doing?
Drawing fire!
MILLER
Worked, didn?t
it?
SARGE
You
tryin? to get yourself ki
lled?
MILLER
Don?t need to, the
Krauts go that covered.
Sarge shakes his head at Miller, then
he looks over the cliff at the scores of men,
their shattered, burning
bodies
covering the rocks and the beach below.
He?s clearly
affected.
Miller coldly
glances at the dead and wounded.
Then he moves on, leading his surviving
men toward the
two remaining German
bunkers.
The SOUNDS OF BIG
GUNS and MACHINE GUNS FIRE surround
him.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. WAR DEPARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
The SOUND OF CLATTERING MACHINE GUN
FIRE SEGUES TO that of CLATTERING
TYPEWRITERS.
A
huge government building stands in the heart of
Washington, D.C.
SUPERIMPOSITION:
WAR
DEPARTMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
JUNE 8, 1944
INT.
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE - WAR DEPT. - DAY
Very busy.
A
dozen, somber military clerks work behind desks,
quickly and efficiently.
No
small talk.
A CLERK
Older
than the others, sad-eyed, adds a sheet of paper
to a large pile in his out-box.
CLOSE
SHOT
An outgoing telegram.
It reads:
“We
regret to inform you...killed in action...heroic
service...”
This is
the paperwork of death.
THE
CLERK
Pulls out a file.
Reads.
Finds
something troubling.
Quickly shuffles through some other
papers.
Finds
what he?s looking for.
Rises from his desk and hurries out of
the office.
INT.
LIEUT
ENANT?S OFFICE
- WAR
DEPT. - DAY
Seen through the glass
wall.
The clerk speaks to a
YOUNG LIEUTENANT who is visibly shaken by what
he is being told.
He motions to the clerk to follow and
he strides out of the office with the clerk on his
heels.
INT.
CAPT
AIN?S OFFICE
- WAR DEPT.
- DAY
Again, seen through a glass wall.
The Young Lieutenant speaks
to a YOUNG CAPTAIN who, like the
Lieutenant is clearly bothered by what
he?s being told.
The
Captain takes the papers from the Young
Lieutenant and strides out.
INT. COLONEL?S OFFIC
E - WAR
DEPT. - DAY
A busy office.
Aides and secretaries scurry about.
The walls and tables are
covered with maps of
Normandy and
complex deployment charts.
A ONE-ARMED COLONEL with a chest full
of ribbons
pours himself another cup
o
f coffee.
He
clearly hasn?t slept in a long time.
The Young Captain, his staff
officer, walks in.
YOUNG
CAPTAIN
Colonel, I?ve got something you
should know about.
ONE-ARMED
COLONEL
Yes?
YOUNG CAPTAIN
Two brothers died in Normandy.
One at Omaha Beach, the
other at
Utah.
Last week in Guam a third brother was
killed in action.
All
three telegrams went out this morning.
Their mother in Iowa is
getting all three telegrams this
afternoon.
The life drains from the
Colonel.
Others in the room
hear and freeze.
ONE-ARMED COLONEL
Oh, Jesus.
YOUNG CAPTAIN
There?s more.
There?s a fourth brother.
The youngest.
He
parachuted in with the Hundred-and-
First Airborne the night before the
invasion.
He?s
on the front.
ONE-ARMED
COLONEL
Is he alive?
YOUNG
CAPTAIN
We do
n?t
know.
The Colonel regains
his bearings.
Stands and
motions curtly to the Captain.
ONE-
ARMED COLONEL
Come with me.
The Colonel regains his bearings.
Stands and motions curtly
to the Captain.
ONE-ARMED COLONEL
Come with me.
The Colonel
strides from the room with the Captain on his
heels.
The aides and
secretaries watch them go.
EXT. FARM
ROAD - IOWA - DAY
A black car drives
along a dirt road, a cloud of dust rising behind.
Passing through an endless
expanse of
ripening corn.
EXT. RYAN FARM - IOWA - DAY
A whit farmhouse.
A barn.
A stand
of trees.
Cornfields as far
as the eye can see.
IN THE YARD
A tire swing.
A
bushel basket nailed to the barn over a dirt
basketball court.
A PORCH SWING
Sits empty.
Moves slightly.
ON THE GLASS
OF THE FRONT DOOR
Four American flag
decals.
Each one, a man in
service.
MARGARET RYAN
Steps
out.
Around sixty.
Her face shows the lines of
a life of hard work and mother hood.
A good
woman.
She
wipes her hands on her apron and looks out across
the fields.
Far in the
distance she sees the dust
rising
behind the black car.
She watches the
car get closer, then sees it turn toward her
house.
She starts to grow
uneasy.
As the black car approaches,
her breath comes hard.
She
reaches out and steadies herself on the porch
post.
The car pulls up to the house.
She sees three men get out,
one wearing a clerical collar.
The first of her
tears come.
INT. GENERAL MARSHAL
L?S
OFFICE
- WAR DEPARTMENT - DAY
Another busy office filled with aides
and secretaries.
GENERAL
GEORGE MARSHALL, Army Chief of
Staff,
stands next to his conference table, reading the
Ryan brother? files.
Half
-a-dozen subordinates,
among them the one-armed Colonel and
the Young Captain, wait.
General Marshall puts down the file.
GENERAL MARSHALL
(softly)
Goddamn it.
ONE-ARMED
COLONEL
All four of them were in the
same company in the 29th Infantry but we
split them up after the Sullivan
brothers died on the Juneau.
GENERAL
MARSHALL
Any contact with the fourth
brother, James?
ONE-ARMED COLONEL
No, sir.
He was
dropped about thirty miles inland, near Ramelle.
That?s still deep behind
German lines.
General
Marshall hardens.
GENERAL MARSHALL
Well, if he?s alive, we?re going to
send someone to get him the hell out
of
there.
That?s just what the General?s
staff wanted to he
ar.
EXT.
NORMANDY - CRATER FIELD - DAY
NEAR
CONSTANT MORTAR EXPLOSIONS.
HEAVY MACHINE GUN FIRE.
Miller?s Ranger
company is
pinned down by a superior force of German troops.
The Americans hug the
bottoms of the
craters, FIRING BACK as
best they can.
BIG GUNS
THUNDER in the distance.
SUPERIMPOSITION:
Normandy
1300 hours
June 9
MILLER
Trailed by a
RADIOMAN, dashes through the fire and dives into a
sludge-filled crater.
He
surfaces, sees
Sarge and Reiben, and
reels from a horrific smell.
Their conversation is repeatedly broken
by FIRING
And DUCKING GERMAN FIRE.
MILLER
Jesus Christ!
What the hell are we
swimming in?
REIBEN
Shit,
sir.
SARGE
Fertilizer,
Captain, I think we?re in a cranberry
bog.
REIBEN
Out
of the frying pan, into the fucking latrine.
MILLER
Look at the bright
side, the Krauts sure as hell don?t want to
advance
and hold this cesspool.
Miller barks to his RADIOMAN.
MILLER
Get Fire Control, we
need some artillery...
RADIOMAN
Trying, sir.
MORE
EXPLOSIONS.
They all duck.
Reiben?s
worried.
REIBEN
Sir, what if they send some other
company into Caen ahead of us while
we?re pinned down here?
MILLER
Don?t worry, we?re
the only Rangers this side of the continent, we?ve
got to be first into Caen.
SARGE
Who cares?
REIBEN
I care.
Don?t you know what Caen?s famous for,
Sarge?
SARGE
Frogs?
REIBEN
Lingerie.
SARGE
Yeah?
So?
THE GERMAN FIRE diminishes for an
instant.
Miller, Sarge and
Reiben immediately rise and POUR
FIRE
at the German positions.
GERMAN MACHINE GUN FIRE RESPONDS and
they duck down
again.
REIBEN
So, you ever heard of employee
discounts?
My uncle sells
shoes, gets
twenty-five percent off
everything in the line, got a closet filled with
the best looking shoes you ever seen.
MORE MORTAR EXPLOSIONS.
REIBEN
Just picture some
French number been spending all day, every day,
making cream-colored, shear-body
negligees with gentle-lift silk cups
and gathered empire waists, what the
hell you think she wears at night?
MILLER
Reiben, how the hell
do you know so much about lingerie?
REIBEN
Lingerie is my
life, sir.
My
mother?s got a shop in Brooklyn, I grew
up in it, from the time I could crawl,
we carry Caen lingerie, it?s the
best
there is, it?s all I been thinking about since the
invasion.
Another pause in
the German shelling.
Reiben
rises and BLASTS HIS B.A.R, then ducks as the
GERMANS RETURN FIRE.
MILLER
There?s a war on, good chance they?re
not still making lingerie in
Caen.
REIBEN
Oh, Captain, they?ll
always make lingerie, it?s one of the three basic
needs of man -- food, shelter, silk
teddies.
MILLER
Dream on,
private.
REIBEN
Happy to,
sir.
RADIOMAN
Captain, I?ve
got Command, they want you back at H.Q., right
away.
MILLER
Maybe the war?s over.
A MORTAR SHELL EXPLODES VERY CLOSE.
After the debris stops
falling, Sarge and Reiben rise,
spitting out sludge.
Reiben looks dubiously at Miller.
REIBEN
I don?t think so,
Captain.
MILLER
(to Radioman)
Stay at it
until you get fire control.
(to Sarge)
Keep ?em down, wait for the
navy.
SARGE
Yes,
sir.
Miller waits for a pause in the
MORTAR BARRAGE, then scrambles out of the crater
and takes off in a
crouch-run.
EXT. NORMANDY - FIELD H.Q. - 19TH
INFANTRY - DAY
Chaos.
Under fire.
INTERMITTENT MORTARS, SOME BIG GERMAN
SHELLS and fairly close
SMALL ARMS
FIRE.
MILLER
Runs over the
broken ground and makes it to the sandbagged H.Q.
He stumbles down the make-
shift
stairs.
INT. H.Q.
SANDBAGGED BUNKER - DAY
Sand and dirt
falls with the closest of the EXPLOSIONS which
continue through the scene.
Miller salutes
a Major.
MILLER
Miller, Company B,
Second Rangers.
MAJOR
Go on
in.
Miller goes deeper into the H.Q.
bunker where he finds a dozen officers with as
many aides, runners and
radiomen.
Very busy.
A field map dominates the center of the
small space.
The men in the room note
Miller, a few nod to him respectfully.
He
?s clearly someone
special.
COLONEL SAM
ANDERSON is in command, talking on a
field-
phone.
He?s about fifty, firm and steady,
the calm at the eye of the storm.
He sees Miller and motions
for him to wait.
COLONEL ANDERSON
(into field-phone)
...I
understand
your problem, but if we
don?t get those tanks off
-loaded
by 0600, we?re going to have an entire
division up at Caen with its ass
hanging out of its pants...
A LIEUTENANT steps up to Miller and
hands him a sheet of paper.
LIEUTENANT
Captain, here?s your co
mpany
address list.
MILLER
My
what?
LIEUTENANT
For letters
to the families of your killed-in-action.
Miller hands the list back to the
Lieutenant.
MILLER
Find a
chaplain.
COLONEL ANDERSON
(into field-phone)
...alright, let me know when.
Anderson hangs up, speaks to an AIDE.
COLONEL ANDERSON
Have the
Second and Third Regiments hold at St. Michel
until we get
those tanks.
AIDE
Yes, sir.
Colonel Anderson turns to Miller.
COLONEL ANDERSON
Report.
MILLER
Sector four is
secured, we put out the last three German one-
fifty-fives,
found them about two miles
in from Ponte du Hoc.
COLONEL ANDERSON
Resistance?
MILLER
A company, Wehrmacht, no artillery, we
took twenty-three prisoners,
turned
them over to intelligence.
COLONEL
ANDERSON
Casualties?
MILLER
Fourty-four, twenty one dead.
An instant of SILENCE, all hear, none
look.
MILLER
They didn?t
want to give up those one
-fifty-fives,
sir.
COLONEL ANDERSON
It was
a hard assignment, that?s why you got
it.
MILLER
Yes,
sir.
COLONEL ANDERSON
Where
are your men now?
MILLER
pinned down, a mile east of here,
waiting for some help from the navy
guns.
COLONEL ANDERSON
I?m sending Simpson to take over for
you, the division is going to
Caen,
you?re not coming with us, I have something else
for you.
MILLER
Sir?
COLONEL ANDERSON
there?s
a Private James Ryan
who parachuted in with the
Hundred-and-
First near Ramelle.
I want
you to take a squad up there.
If he?s alive, bring him back to the
beach for debarkation.
Take
whoever you need, you?ve got your pick
of the company.
MILLER
A private, sir?
COLONEL
ANDERSON
He?s the last of four
brothers, the other three were killed in action.
This is straight from the
Chief of Staff.
MILLER
But,
sir...I...I...
COLONEL ANDERSON
Spit it out, Captain.
Miller
hesitates, then:
MILLER
Respectfully, sir, sending men all the
way up to Ramelle to save one
private
doesn?t make a fucking, goddamned bit of
sense.
(beat)
Sir.
The other officers
freeze, listening without turning.
Colonel Anderson glares at Miller.
COLONEL ANDERSON
You think
just because you hold the Congressional Medal of
Honor,
you can say any damn thing you
please to your superior officers?
Miller considers the question, then
smiles.
MILLER
Yes, sir,
more or less.
Colonel Anderson looks as
if he?s about to bit Miller?s head off, then he
smiles, t
oo.
COLONEL
ANDERSON
Alright, I?ll give you that.
Continue.
MILLER
The numbers don?t
make sense, sir.
His
brothers are dead, that?s too
bad, but
they?re out of the equation.
Sending men up there is
bleeding heart crapola from three
thousand miles away.
One
private
is simply not worth a squad.
COLONEL ANDERSON
This one
is.
He?s worth a lot more
than that.
Which is why I?m
sending you, you?re the best field
officer there is.
Miller
Shrugs.
MILLER
Yes and no,
sir, what about Morgan?
Fine officer, regular church
goer, writes poetry, he might like a
mission like this.
(beat)
And he?s taller than me.
Colonel Anderson listens with amused
tolerance, but it?s time to get back to
business.
COLONEL ANDERSON
That?s enough, Captain, you have your
orders.
Major
Th
omas will
fill you in.
Miller knows when to back off.
He salutes.
MILLER
Yes, sir.
Miller and Colonel Anderson exchange a
private look.
COLONEL ANDERSON
Good luck, John.
MILLER
Thank you, sir.
Miller joins
Major Thomas at one of the smaller map tables.
Colonel Anderson watches
Miller for an
instant, then notices the
other officers in the tent watching.
A glare and they go back to work.
EXT. BATTLESHIP - DAY
A
MASSIVE BARRAGE of fifteen-inch shells BLASTS from
the deck of the enormous ship.
EXT.
CRATER FIELD - CRANBERRY BOG - DAY
HUGE
EXPLOSIONS.
The big naval
shells SLAM into the German position on the far
side of the
cranberry bog crater field.
IN THE CRATERS
Miller?s
Ranger company ducks and covers.
The BARRAGE SUBSIDES.
The Rangers rise, FIRING,
leap-frogging from crater to crater,
advancing against the remaining Germans who return
SMALL ARMS
FIRE.
MILLER
Crouch-runs and dives into a crater
with Sarge.
MILLER
Put on
your traveling shoes, Sarge, we?re heading
out.
SARGE
Caen?
MILLER
I wish.
You and I are taking a squad up to
Ramelle on a public
relations mission.
SARGE
You?
Leading a squad?
MILLER
Some private up there lost three
brothers, got a ticket home.
SARGE
What about the company?
MILLER
Simpson.
SARGE
Simpson?
Jesus Christ on a fucking pogo stick!
MILLER
I want Reiben on
B.A.R; Jackson with his sniper rifle; Beasley,
demolition.
SARGE
Beasley?s dead.
MILLER
Okay, Wade.
Translators?
SARGE
Fresh out.
MILLER
What about Talbot?
SARGE
Twenty minutes ago.
MILLER
Damn, I?ll go see if
I can find ano
ther one.
You get Reiben, Jackson
and
Wade, meet me at transport.
SARGE
Yes, sir.
They wait for a
lull in the firing, then scramble out of the
crater and crouch-run in opposite directions.
EXT. TRANSPORT H.Q. - NINETEENTH
INFANTRY - DAY
Just in from the
beaches.
DISTANT ARTILLERY
AND EXPLOSIONS.
Nothing
close.
Dust.
Confusion.
Vehicles of every sort moving out.
Tanks, half-tracks, troop
trucks.
In the middle of
the
mess, a cigar-chewing SUPPLY
SERGEANT works at a make-shift desk made out of
crate.
He yells at a
PRIVATE.
SUPPLY SERGEANT
GET THOSE GODDAMNED HALF-TRACKS OUT OF
THERE!
PRIVATE
They?re
blocked in!
SERGEANT
THEN UNBLOCK ?EM!
SARGE< REIBEN, JACKSON AND WADE
Wait nearby.
Reiben is beside himself, pacing,
muttering.
The others are
relaxed.
MILLER
Strides
through the chaos, avoiding the passing vehicles.
He sees his men and walks
toward them.
Reiben hurries
up to Miller, pleading.
REIBEN
Please, sir, you can?t take me to
Ramelle, I gotta go to Caen, sir,
please, I told you, they make Caen
l
ingerie there, it?s beautiful, it?s
the
best there is, it?s...oh, please,
sir...
MILLER
Sorry, I need a B.A.R. man, you?re the
best.
REIBEN
(desperate)
No, I?m not,
Kaback is, honest.
Or what
about Faulkner?
Or that
little guy with the glasses?
MILLER
Tr
ust me,
you?re the best.
REIBEN
(whimpering)
But, sir...
Miller jerks his head for his men to
follow and he strides off toward the Supply
Sergeant?s table.
Sarge
falls in next to Miller.
SARGE
You get a translator,
Captain?
MILLER
I?ve got a
line on one.
TRANSPORT
OPERATIONS TABLE
Chaos.
Vehicles THUNDERING by.
The Supply Sergeant juggles runners and
paperwork.
Miller steps
up to him.
MILLER
Sergeant, I need a truck.
SUPPLY SERGEANT
Sorry, sir,
fresh out of trucks, how ?bout a ?38 Ford
Roadster, hard
-top,
red with
black interior.
MILLER
White-walls?
SUPPLY SERGEANT
No white-
walls, sir, there?s
a war on.
(to the Private)
NOT THERE, YOU GODDAMNED IDIOT, OVER
THERE!
(to Miller)
I can?t
help you, sir.
MILLER
A half-track, anything.
SUPPLY SERGEANT
Sorry, sir.
Division is using
everything on wheels to get up to Caen.
(notices Miller?s shoulder
patch)
How come you guys
aren?t going?
Miller ignores
the question.
He spies a
jeep.
MILLER
How about that
jeep?
SUPPLY SERGEANT
That?s
General Gavin?s.
His lap
dog t
old me if anyone breathes on it,
I?ll get busted and if anyone so much
as touches it with their little
finger,
I?ll get court marshaled.
If you were to take it, they?d shoot
me.
JACKSON
Cap?n, does that mean we got to walk
all the way up to Ramelle?
SUPPLY SERGEANT
What?s at
Ramelle beside a lot of Germans.
MILLER
A paratrooper named
Ryan.
He?s going home, if
he?s alive.
SUPPLY SERGEANT
Senator?s son?
MILLER
No, three brothers of
his were killed in action.
Command wants him
out of
there.
The Supply Sergeant grunts as if
punched in the belly.
SUPPLY SERGEANT
Damn...I got a couple brothers...
Miller looks at him, noting his
reaction coldly.
The Supply
Sergeant shifts his eyes toward General
Gavin?s jeep.
EXT. ROAD LEADING FROM TRANSPORT - DAY
Miller and hi
s men drive
off, fast, in General Gavin?s jeep.
Sarge is at the wheel, weaving and
bouncing
through the bedlam of men and
vehicles.
Miller rides
shotgun.
Reiben, Jackson
and Wade are crammed
in the back.
The SUPPLY SERGEANT
Watches
them go.
Behind him,
GENERAL GAVIN, pure piss and vinegar, strides up,
trailed by his huge
staff.
He looks around for his jeep, comes up
empty.
GENERAL GAVIN
SERGEANT, WHERE THE HELL IS MY
GODDAMNED JEEP!?
The Supply Sergeant
puffs his cigar with a smile and turns to take his
lumps.
EXT. ROAD - DAY
Miller and his men weave through the
chaos of the American staging area.
MILLER
We?ve got to make one
stop.
Miller points the way
for Sarge.
EXT. INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
Miller and his men skid to a stop in
front of a perfectly white, taut-lined tent.
A steady stream of
ROARING vehicles and CHATTERING men
move out around them.
DISTANT GUNS RUMBLE.
SPORADIC MEDIUM-DISTANCE EXPLOSIONS
BOOM.
Miller hops out.
MILLER
Wait here.
He strides into the tent.
INT. INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
T
hree bookish corporals
hover over map tables like studious nerds the day
before finals.
They?re
breaking
down and gridding field maps
and covering them in plasticine.
Tedious, detailed work.
One
of them is TIM UPHAM, a thin, twenty-four year
old, patrician with gentle, thoughtful eyes behind
his
thick glasses.
He nervously jumps at the sound of a
VERY DISTANT EXPLOSION, then he forces
himself to concentrate on his work.
Miller strides in.
MILLER
I?m looking for
Corporal Upham.
Upham raises
his eyes from his map and re-focuses.
UPHAM
Sir, I?m
Upham.
MILLER
I
understand you speak French and German.
UPHAM
Yes, sir.
MILLER
Do you have an
accent?
UPHAM
A slight one
in French.
My German is
clean.
It has a touch of
the
Bavarian.
MILLER
good, you?ve been
re
-as
signed to me, we?re
going to Ramelle.
Upham
knows enough geography to know what that means.
UPHAM
Uh, sir, there are
Germans up at Ramelle.
MILLER
That?s my understanding.
UPHAM
Lots of them.
MILLER
Do you have a problem
with that, Corporal?
UPHAM
Sir, I?v
e never been in
combat.
I make maps.
I translate.
MILLER
I need a translator,
all mine have been killed.
UPHAM
But, sir, I haven?t held a gun since
basic training.
MILLER
It?ll come back to you.
Get your gear.
Upham hesitates.
UPHAM
Sir, may I bring my typewriter?
Miller looks at him closely, not sure
if he?s joking.
UPHAM
I?m writing a book and I...
Miller?s expression gives him his
answer.
UPHAM
Uh,
how about a pencil?
MILLER
A
small one.
Miller shoos him off.
MILLER
Go, go...
Upham scurries away.
Miller sighs.
EXT. ROAD
LEADING FROM INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
Miller and his men peel out, now with
Upham crammed with the others in the back of the
jeep.
As they
drive off, the CAMERA CRANES UP to
reveal the vast tableau of the biggest invasion in
military history.
The scope of the
operation is stunning.
The
beach is covered with mountains of supplies.
A steady
stream
of vehicles winds up the dunes.
Hundreds of barrage balloons, anchored
by heavy steel cables,
hover over the
entire scene.
Off-shore, a
massive Mulberry port is under construction,
workers swarming
over it like ants.
Beyond that, thousands of
ships and boats of every type and description.
The smoke of
hundreds of fires rises on the horizon.
EXPLOSIONS, some distant,
some close, BOOM and RUMBLE.
It?s an
awesome, breathtaking sight.
Miller and his tiny band of men, weave
their way through the middle
of it,
speeding away from the beach, heading inland,
leaving the bulk of the American Army behind.
EXT. FRENCH ROAD - DAY
Miller and his men drive fast passing
American vehicles and infantrymen moving forward.
The sides of
the
road are littered with the debris of burning
German vehicles, abandoned equipment, bodies.
Sarge drives.
Miller reads a map.
Upham, cradling a pristine M-1 rifle,
is all eyes and ears.
Jackson
and Wade calmly take
in the view.
Reiben checks
out the close quarters in the back of the jeep.
REIBEN
Captain, can I ask
you a question?
MILLER
Sure,
Reiben.
REIBEN
Where are you
planning on putting Private Ryan, sir?
Miller doesn
?t raise his
eyes from the map.
REIBEN
(continuing)
It?s just that
it?s kind of crowded back here, I was wondering if
you?re
expecting to have more room on
the way back?
Miller points out a turn
to Sarge.
MILLER
Left.
Sarge makes the turn.
Miller folds up the map and pockets it.
MILLER
Now we?ve got a
straight shot, due north, to Ramelle,
twenty
-six miles,
two
villages between here and there, St. Mere, then
Bernay.
We?ll
take the jeep as far as we can, then go
on on foot.
SARGE
We in
radio contact with anybody up there?
MILLER
Somebody put the
wrong crystals in every one of the
Hundred-and-
First?s radios
the night before the drop, not one of them
works.
We?re
going in blind.
REIBEN
I usually like surprises.
SARGE
What are we likely to
run into?
MILLER
A fucking
mess, two maybe three Kraut divisions, no fronts,
no lines,
the drops were completely
fouled up, we?ve got little pockets of
paratroopers all over the place, trying
to hang on.
Command says we
hold St. Mere, but north of that, it?s
all Krauts.
Even if Ryan?s
where
he?s supposed to be, he?s more
than likely dead.
SARGE
Hell of a mission.
MILLER
Yep, hell of a mission.
IN
THE BACK OF THE JEEP
Upham avidly takes
in everything.
He notices
Reiben staring at him, grows nervous under his
look and
offers a hopeful smile.
UPHAM
Hi.
So, uh, you?re all Rangers?
Reiben, Jackson and Wade look at Upham
as if he were an insect.
I?m
Upham.
(pointing at his
corporal?s stripes)
Ignore
these, please, I know all that breaks down in
combat.
Their jaws drop.
REIBEN
(to Wade)
You want to shoot him, or should I?
WADE
It?s not my
turn.
UPHAM
REIBEN
(politely)
Jackson?
JACKSON
Hell, no, last time I shot a corporal,
Cap?n Miller near bit my head off.
Upham reacts to the metion of Miller?s
name.
UPHAM
Miller?
MILLER
I
don?t want anybody to shoot him, that?s an order.
He speaks French
and his German has a touch of the
Bavarian.
UPHAM
Sir, are you
Captain John Miller?
Miller sighs, he
knows what?s coming.
UPHAM
(continuing)
...who won the
Congressional Medal of Hon...?
Upham?s
words are frozen in his throat by the warning
glances of Miller?s men.
Miller himself remains
relaxed but stone-faced.
No
one speaks for a few seconds, then the moment
passes as if it had never happened.
REIBEN
Captain, I gotta tell
you, the irony of this mission is fucking killing
me.
MILLER
Yeah, how so?
REIBEN
I should be on my way
to Caen, sir.
It?s like
Beethoven, the guy?s
one of the
greatest composers ever lived and he goes deaf.
Go figure,
I
mean, who?d he piss off?
And here I am, the Beethoven
of ladies
foundation
garments, one step away from Caen, the center of
the
known lingerie universe and
instead, I?m going to Ramelle to save
some fucking private who?s probably
already dead.
MILLER
There?s to be a bright side, look for
it.
REIBEN
Sir,
you know what Ramelle is famous for?
Cheese.
The rest
of the
company is going to Caen and
we?re going to the goddamned cheese
capital of France.
There is no bright side.
MILLER
There?s always a
bright side.
REIBEN
I?m listening, sir.
MILLER
well, I, for one,
like cheese.
Wade pipes up cheerfully.
WADE
Hell, I don?t mind
going to Ramelle, as long as there?s something up
there for me to blow up.
REIBEN
Well, you?re a happy
idiot.
THEY ROUND A TURN
Skid to a stop at a:
BOTTLENECK OF AMERICAN VEHICLES
A LIEUTENANT is roadmaster.
Miller calls to him.
MILLER
How?s the road up to St.
Mere?
LIEUTENANT
Bad, sir.
There?re some eighty
-eights
hiding somewhere, knocking
the hell out
of our traffic.
MILLER
Anybody getting through?
LIEUTENANT
The lucky ones.
Miller nods to Sarge who floors it.
They take off, spraying
gravel behind them.
EXT. ST. MERE ROAD
- DAY
The jeep barrels down the road,
fast.
The road is pock-
marked with craters.
They
pass the wreckage of a
pair of American
jeeps.
Direct hits.
Sarge swerves around them
without slowing.
AN AMERICAN TROOP
TRUCK SMOLDERS
On the side of the road,
surrounded by the charred bodies of a dozen
American troops.
It?s a
nightmare
vision.
Upham grows weak at the sight.
Miller takes note of
Upham?s reaction.
IN THE
BACK
The men bounce up and down like
stuffed animals, doing their best to not be thrown
out.
REIBEN
Hell, this is
better than Coney Island!
A HUGE BUMP
Bounces Reiben up and slams his back
down on his shovel.
He
HOLLERS IN PAIN.
MILLER
Just
trying to make room for Ryan.
Reiben
shoots Miller a smile and shifts his belt, moving
his shovel from under his bruised ass.
THEY ROUND A BEND
See a
long, straight stretch of road.
Half-a-dozen burning, obliterated
American vehicles.
A
gauntlet to
run.
AN EIGHTY-
EIGHT SHELL SCREAMS IN
Lands right
behind them.
BLOWS A NEW
CRATER
MILLER
Sarge?
(sweetly)
SARGE FLOORS IT.
Everyone hangs on.
ANOTHER SHELL EXPLODES
Thirty yards ahead of them.
MILLER
Directs Sarge off the
road.
MILLER
They?ve got the
road zeroed.
SARGE
Yanks the wheel, driving the jeep off
the road.
THE JEEP BOUNCES
Off the shoulder.
Nearly throwing everyone out.
Somehow they hang on.
rutted field.
ANOTHER
EXPLOSION
Just behind them.
SARGE DRIVES MADLY
Not
slowing down.
Trying to
avoid the biggest ruts and bumps.
ANOTHER EXPLOSION
Close on
their side.
Showers them
with debris.
SARGE
Jesus
Christ!
MILLER SCANS THE TERRAIN
The jeep tears along the
Sees a cluster of buildings about half-
a-mile ahead.
MILLER
They?ve
got a hell of a spotter somewhere.
ANOTHER EXPLOSION
even
closer.
The jeep?s PEPPERED
WITH SHRAPNEL.
They BARREL
THROUGH the smoke.
MILLER
S-curves, Sarge.
SARGE
Turns shallow curves without slowing
down.
SUDDENLY SEES A CRATER
Tries to avoid it.
Too late.
Brakes.
PLOWS
into overturned earth.
STOPS SHORT.
REIBEN, UPHAM,
WADE AND JACKSON
THROWN from the jeep.
TUMBLE into the dirt.
Not hurt.
SARGE
AND MILLER
Hang on.
Stay in the jeep but are battered.
All stunned.
MILLER
Is first to regain
his bearings.
Jumps up.
Checks out the jeep.
Undamaged.
Deep in the soft dirt.
AN
EIGHTY-EIGHT SHELL SCREAMS IN
EXPLODES
THIRTY YARDS LEFT
MILLER
Sarge!
Reverse!
Sarge puts his head back on and throws
the jeep into gear.
The
wheels spin.
Miller throws
his shoulder
into the jeep.
Yells to the others.
MILLER
COME ON!
YOU
WANNA WALK?
STILL DAZED
Reiben, Wade, Jackson, Upham screw
their heads back on.
Shoulder into the jeep.
Push for all they?re
worth.
The WHEELS STILL SPIN.
ANOTHER EIGHTY-EIGHT SHELL LANDS
EXPLODES THIRTY YARDS RIGHT
MILLER
IGNORES IT
He?
s the only one
who does.
SARGE
Captain,
they got us zeroed.
Upham is very
nervous.
UPHAM
That?s
bracketing, right?
They all
ignore him.
UPHAM
I know
about bracketing.
land right on us.
I read about it.
The next one is going to
MILLER
FORWARD!
FORWARD!
NOW REVERSE!
(beat)
Sarge SLAMS THE JEEP
INTO REVERSE.
Rocks it.
SLAMS IT BACK INTO FORWARD.
progress.
ALL THE MEN PUSH,
ALL EYES UP.
WAITING FOR
THE NEXT SHELL.
SARGE
Uh,
Captain...
MILLER
PUSH!
SARGE
Uh, Captain...
THE TIRES SCREAM
A bit more
pr
ogress.
It?s
almost out.
THEY ALL PUSH
LIKE MANIACS
Knowing the shell is
coming any second.
Upham is
beside himself.
SARGE
Oh,
Captain...
(sweetly)
ONE
MORE PUSH
The jeep rocks back in,
deeper.
MILLER
SHIT!
THEY HEAR THE SCREAM OF THE SHELL
MILLER BARKS TO HIS MEN
Makes
MILLER
GO!
THE MEN
Instantly take off.
Away from the jeep.
As fast as they can.
THE
SHELL SCREAMS IN
The men hit the dirt.
DIRECT HIT
OBLITERATING THE
JEEP
THE MEN
Barely out of
the BLAST PERIMETER.
STUNNED by the concussion.
SHOWERED with dirt, rock
and
debris.
MILLER
Is first up.
Sarge and the men struggle
to their feet.
Hear MORE
INCOMING.
Miller grabs
Upham by
the collar and pulls him up.
MILLER
HERE COME THE
MORTARS!
THEY ALL TAKE OFF
Running as fast as they can.
THE FIRST OF THE MORTAR SHELLS COME IN
The eighty-eight is big, with pauses
spaces between.
But there
must be a dozen mortars firing.
The shells
are almost
constant.
THE FIELD
The six
Americans run madly, in zig-zag patterns through
the gauntlet of MORTAR EXPLOSIONS.
BOOM
RUNNING, STUMBLING
BOOM,
BOOM, BOOM
UPHAM IS THROWN TO THE
GROUND
Miller yanks him up.
Half-drags him to the edge of the
field.
THEY MAKE IT TO THE TREES
Keep running.
Through the bushes and brambles.
Thirty yards in.
THE EXPLOSIONS STOP
THE MEN
ALL STOP
Panting.
Struggling to catch their breath. Check
their body parts.
Everything?s there.
They have their
weapons,
most of their gear.
Reiben looks back
through the trees at THE JEEP, which is nothing
more than a burning carcass.
He
shakes his head.
REIBEN
General Gavin is
going to be very irritated at you, Captain.
MILLER
Stands on the edge of
the woods, almost in a trance.
UPHAM
Captain, I...
SARGE
Sssssh!
Miller, far away,
quickly shifts his eyes and ears from position to
position.
MILLER
Sarge,
maps.
Sarge quickly opens up the map
case.
The men are dead
silent, frozen in place.
MILLER
Two eighty-eights, just under two-and-
a-half miles, that way, vector
from the
jeep, through those two trees at the base of the
hill.
The
mortars came from behind that rise,
there, four of them.
Sarge quickly
starts vectoring on the map.
Miller snaps out of it.
MILLER
Wade, the radio.
Wade instantly starts cranking it up.
Upham is amazed.
UPHAM
You can tell all that,
just by the sound, sire?
MILLER
That?s not all.
There
were nine gunners on
the eighty-eights, one had
a broken
heel on his boot, two had bratwurst for supper
last night, one
of them is named Fritz,
the other, Hans, maybe, I don?t know, it?s hard
to tell.
JACKSON
Corporal, you have just seen one of
Captain Mi
ller?s many
God
-given
talents.
If, by some miracle, you
survive, you will witness many
more of
them.
Sarge finished vectoring.
SARGE
Got it, sir.
We gonna go take care of
those eighty-eights?
MILLER
That?s not what we?re here
for.
WADE
(re.
radio)
I?ve g
ot command,
Captain.
Miller takes the handset from
Wade and the map from Sarge.
MILLER
(into radio)
This is Baker
Charley One, fire mark, sector three, foxtrot
quadrant,
four-three by baker-three.
Two eighty-eights.
Tell our boys to
come in low from the east in case the
Krauts have ack-ack.
Good
hunting.
Over.
A VOICE ON THE RADIO SIGNS OFF through
the static.
Wade packs up
the radio.
Miller folds up
the
map.
JACKSON
sir, wouldn?t take us but a minute to
put out them eighty
-eights.
SARGE
He?s right,
C
aptain, it might be kind of dangerous
for those flyboys.
MILLER
Tell that to Private James Ryan.
We?ve got our orders.
Let?s go.
miller heads off without pausing or
looking back.
The rest of
the men don?t like it, but they follow.
Upham trails, amazed at
Miller.
EXT. WOODS - DAY
Miller walks point.
His men follow warily.
Upham falls in alongside Reiben.
UPHAM
So, where are you
from?
REIBEN
Get lost.
Upham smiles lamely and moves on to
Jackson.
UPHAM
So, where are
you from?
JACKSON
You
writin? a book or somethin??
UPHAM
As a matter of fact, I
am.
JACKSON
Figured.
Wade overhears and smiles at Upham.
WADE
I?m Wade, that?s
spelled, W
-A-D-
E, I?m small
but wiry, with piercing,
steel-gray
eyes, and a rough-
hewn but handsome
face, I?m from
Colorado, my father?s a
mining engineer, don?t you take notes?
Upham shakes his head.
UPHAM
Demolition, right?
WADE
Since I was nine years old.
They got a lot of explosives around
mines.
Me and my
little brother could get into any warehouse you
ever saw.
Damn,
we had fun!
Jackson shrugs.
JACKSON
I?m Jackson.
I?m from West Fork,
Tennessee.
My pappy?s a
preacher.
Him
and his two brothers got a ministry, The Blessed
Church of the Wandering Gospel.
UPHAM
In West Fork?
JACKSON
In the back of a
nineteen and thirty-one stretch
Hudson
with a big ole?
trailer.
UPHAM
No kidding.
JACKSON
I don?t make jokes
about things of, or related to, the preaching of
the
Holy Gospel, including the
ministerial calling of my family.
UPHAM
So they travel around from place to
place and preach?
JACKSON
We
got us a tent, forty-two feet across, eighteen
feet at center,
hundred-
and-
ten foldin? chairs.
Circuit?s eleven towns, covers all ?a
Hasset County and most ?a Weller
County.
I expect that upon
completion of my military service I
will be joinin? sai
d ministry.
UPHAM
What about the
Captain?
Where?s he
from?
They all shake their
heads.
Miller?s out of
earshot.
JACKSON
you figure that out, you got yourself
one nice prize.
SARGE
Over
three hundred bucks, last I heard.
WADE
Company?s got a pool, five
bu
cks gets you in, whoever guesses
where
the Captain?s from and what he
did as a civilian gets it all.
JACKSON
The whole kit and
caboodle.
UPHAM
But
everybody?s heard of him, he won the Congressional
Medal of
Honor, he saved a dozen men.
REIBEN
We know.
UPHAM
Somebody must know
where he?s from, what he did for a
living.
SARGE
Somebody probably does.
UPHAM
Why don?t you just ask
him?
JACKSON
The
Captain prefers not to discuss certain aspects of
his life, in
particular, everything up
to and including his enlistment in the United
States Army.
SARGE
I?ve been with him since Anzio.
I?m closer to him that I am
to my
own brother but I don?t even know
what state he?s from.
Somewhere
in the Northeast
as near as I can figure.
I
don?t even have a clue what
he did for
a living as civilian.
Reiben shakes his
head.
REIBEN
No one?s gonna
win the money for the simple reason that the
Captain
never was a civilian.
They assembled him at
O.C.S. out of spare
body parts from
dead G.I.?s.
I know this
for a fact.
JACKSON
(defensively)
You got
somethin? against the Cap?n?
REIBEN
Hell, no.
I think he?s the best officer in the
whole goddamned army,
bar none.
They all nod in assent, no argument
there.
JACKSON
You got that
right.
Miller walks on ahead, unaware
of their conversation.
Upham watches Miller, with even more
curiosity.
EXT. HEDGEROW FIELD - DAY
Miller and his men walk along a
hedgerow that parallels a country cow path.
They?re staying close to
the
cover of the brush.
Miller walks tall now.
JACKSON
Captain, my feet are
mos
t uncomfortable.
If I?d ?a known we was
gonna
have to walk all the way to Ramelle, I never would
?a
volunteered for this here mission.
MILLER
You didn?t volunteer,
Jackson.
JACKSON
I most likely would have, sir, had I
been given the opportunity.
REIBEN
If
we find Ryan and he?s
still alive, that son
-of-a-bitch is
gonna carry
this goddamned B.A.R. back
to the beach for me.
JACKSON
Army life is too dang easy, my feet
have gone soft.
Back home,
we
go out squirrel huntin?, I walk
forever and a day and then some, don?t
even raise a blister.
REIBEN
You know what a B.A.R. weighs?
Nineteen and a half pounds,
not
counting ammo.
(re. ammo
bandoleers)
And you think these things
are comfortable?
They may
look good but
they weigh twelve pounds
each, that?s thirty
-six pounds, right
there.
WADE
So what?
I?ve got three satchel
charges, six gammon grenades, a
dozen-
and-a-
half pineapples, and all my
regular gear.
You don?t
hear
me complaining.
REIBEN
That?s because, as I have pointed out
on numerous occasions, you are a
happy
idiot.
WADE
No, I just
happen to take the Captain?s advice and look at
the bright
side of things.
UPHAM
How do you do it?
WADE
it?s easy, it runs in
my family, take my grandfather, for
example...
REIBEN
Oh, Christ, now we gotta listen to that
grandfather thing again.
WADE
As I was saying, before I was so rudely
interrupted, my grandfather got
old, as
grandfathers tend to do.
He
needed someone to take care of
him.
We move around all the
time, going from one mine to another,
so we had to put him in a home.
Nice enough place but kind
of
depressing.
But not for Granddad.
He just convinced himself he
was on a cruise ship, going to Tahiti,
he had his own cabin, first class,
with
room service.
It just so
happened that the weather was always
lousy, so he never bothered to go up on
deck.
Happiest guy you ever
saw until the day he died.
UPHAM
You think he really
believed it?
WADE
Who knows?
It worked.
REIBEN
Fine, you convince
yourself you got a pack full of feathers and
goddamned Private James Ryan can carry
my fucking gear.
WADE
Reiben, you can be very unpleasant to
be around sometimes.
REIBEN
You want unpleasant?
Just wait, I can do much better than
this.
WADE
Look at Upham,
you don?t hear him complaining.
Upham, feeling bold and a bit naughty,
decides to give it a shot.
UPHAM
Well, as a matter of fact, I was just
thinking...
The men roll their eyes,
expecting the worst.
UPHAM
(continuing)
That I?m so
fucking tired of this goddamned walking, I?d pay a
thousand dollars to see that bastard
Ryan crawl on his belly over an
acre of
broken glass to hear my great-aunt Martha fart
through a
field-phone.
The
men are stunned.
REIBEN
Jesus Christ, he?s a
natural!
MILLER
Upham, are you sure you?ve never been
in combat?
Upham wiggles
with pride.
UPHAM
Positive,
sir, I
?m certain I?d
remember.
Miller eyes Upham
respectfully and nods to the men.
He?s
good.
They walk on.
MILLER
JACKSON
Cap?n, my feet are most
uncomfortable.
Miller
smiles, situation normal.
EXT. ST. MERE
- LATE AFTERNOON
A small town has been
reduced to rubble and is still an active
battlefield.
HEAVY SMALL
ARMS FIRE.
GRENADE AND
MORTAR EXPLOSIONS.
MEDIUM
ARTILLERY BEYOND.
American
soldiers
crouch in doorways, FIRING at
well-placed Germans.
Some French
civilians dash across a street.
A man and a couple of women, one
carrying a child.
They
make it across and disappear into the
remains of a building.
Miller runs up
and flattens himself against a wall at a corner.
Sarge and the other men
follow in leap-frog,
spread out down
the block behind him.
Miller
gl
ances around the corner, taking a
quick mental picture of a GATHERING OF G.I.?s
crouching in
the cover of an alley
across the street and down the block.
They are CAPTAIN HAMILL, about Miller?s
age, and HIS MEN.
As Miller
ducks back behind the corner, A GERMAN BULLET
SMASHES into the bricks where his head
was an instant before.
Miller motions Jackson across first.
MILLER
Stay low.
Jackson gathers himself, takes off.
GERMAN BULLETS BLAST,
kicking up the cobblestone behind him.
Jackson zig-zags and makes it to the
cover of the far side.
JACKSON
Dang!
That was
close!
Miller nods to Upham.
MILLER
Your turn.
Upham, scared shitless, doesn?t move.
Miller speaks to him very
gently.
MILLER
Zig-
zag, change your pace a
couple times, you?ll be alright.
Upham?s froze
n.
He can barely breathe.
Miller sighs.
MILLER
Okay, I?m going to draw fire for
you.
(sternly)
But if I do, you goddamned well better
go.
Upham nods.
Miller gathers himself, takes a deep
breath.
CLOSE SHOT:
MILLER?S HAND quivers.
MILLER
Looks to Upham
MILLER
Ready?
Upham nods, still terrified.
MILLER STEPS INTO THE OPEN
Stands motionless, presenting himself
to the German snipers.
MILLER
Go.
Upham runs.
A
GERMAN BULLET HITS THE BRICKS NEAR MILLER.
He doesn?t budge.
UPHAM TEARS ACROSS THE STREET very,
very fast.
REIBEN watches Upham run.
REIBEN
Hey, that guy can
move.
A GERMAN BULLET WHIZZES PAST
Miller?s ear.
UPHAM gets to
the far side.
MILLER DUCKS BACK around
the corner.
Reiben and Wade
don?t even react to what Miller has just
done.
Sarge is
pissed.
He shakes his head
at Miller, like an irritated parent.
SARGE
(under his breath so
only Miller can hear)
Damn fool.
(beat)
Sir.
REIBEN
Captain, he?s
fast!
MILLER
(glances at Sarge, speaks to Reiben)
Glad of it.
UPHAM
On the other side of the street,
crouches in a doorway with Jackson.
Upham is a bit in shock, less from the
nearness of the bullets than from what
Miller just did for him.
MILLER
DASHES across the street.
GERMAN BULLETS TRAIL HIM, shattering
the cobblestones, inches behind him.
HE
MAKES IT across.
Calls back
to Sarge.
MILLER
Bring ?em
over.
UPHAM, tries to thank
Miller.
UPHAM
Captain, I...
Miller ignores him, motions to Sarge,
Reiben and Wade.
MILLER
One
at a time.
MILLER
Ducks out
of the doorway and crouch-runs down the block.
He passes a:
BOMBED OUT BUILDING
Out of
the line of fire.
A dozen
dead American soldiers lined up on the ground.
The battered, bloody
bodies, only partially covered by
ponchos.
Some badly wounded G.I.?s are
being treated next to the dead.
Blood puddles have spread
ou
t onto the
sidewalk.
MILLER
Sees the dead and
wounded, shows no reaction.
Runs to:
AN ALLEY
Captain Hamill and his men are bunched
there, out of the line of fire.
He?s sending off a squad to continue
their door-to-door.
CAPTAIN
HAMILL
Fundamentals, short runs, double
up at the corners, one man close, one
man wide.
Be
careful.
Go.
The
squad takes off.
Captain
Hamill sees Miller.
The two
captains glance at the bars on their shoulders,
then speak familiarly.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
How was the
road in?
MILLER
We had a
jeep until a few hours ago, a nice one, it had a
cute little flag
with a couple of stars
on it.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Oh,
what a shame.
One by one, Miller?s men
join them in the alley.
MILLER
We called in a strike
on the eighty-eights that took it out, but
it?s the
Kraut spotter that
counts, wherever the hell that bastard is.
Captain Hamill points across a wide
field toward a distant chateau that has a private
chapel with a fifty-foot
steeple.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
That?s where
your boy is.
We?ve been
trying to ge
t him since this
morning.
He
killed two of my men trying to get close enough
for a
shot.
Miller eyes the
distant steeple.
MILLER
Jackson.
Jackson steps up.
Miller points to the
steeple.
Jackson knows what
he?s supposed to do.
He
puts down
his M-1 and takes off the
long, zippered, leather sheath, strapped to his
back.
He spits a massive bullet of
tobacco juice, then calmly and methodically unzips
his leather case and pulls out
a very
unusual, long-barrel, rifle.
Miller and
his men give him some room.
Hamill and his men, along with Upham,
watch curiously.
Jackson opens a two-
foot tripod with a flick of his wrist, sits down
and carefully attaches the rifle to it.
Then he takes a scope from
a narrow wooden box and mounts it.
He adjusts the eye-piece and clicks in
the
bolt-action.
Upham is fascinated.
UPHAM
What is that?
Jackson pulls
back the bolt and loads a single, over-sized
shell.
JACKSON
thirty-ought-
six, Norton long-barrel with dual-groove, parallel
rifling,
elevated three-glass scope and
a single-throw hammer.
UPHAM
The Army gave you that?
JACKSON
Yep.
UPHAM
You must be a hell a
shot.
JACKSON
Not where I
come from.
Jackson sights on a tree
about a thousand yards away and FIRES.
Evaluates.
Calibrates the scope.
He
re-loads.
Jackson FIRES AGAIN.
Evaluates.
Perfect.
He
wipes the dirt and sweat from his forehead, puts
his
eye to the sight and waits,
absolutely motionless.
UPHAM
That must be four thousand yards.
JACKSON
(without taking his
eye from the scope)
Forty-two-hundred,
I figure.
UPHAM
You take
account of the wind?
Jackson doesn?t
dignify that with an answer but he looks back with
an expression that clearly says, “What
are you, some kind of fucking
idiot?”
Reiben puts himself
between Upham and Jackson.
REIBEN
(put-on Southern accent)
Dang rig
ht, he take ?count
of the wind, ain?t ya?ll ever heard a
Kentucky windage?
Jackson
keeps his eye to the scope and his finger on the
trigger.
JACKSON
Reiben, how
many time I got to tell you, I?m from
Tennessee.
REIBEN
They got squirrels there, too, right?
Jackson FIRES.
Waits.
A tiny
smile.
He starts taking
apart the rifle.
A very
impressed Captain
Hamill barks to his
radioman.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Get
a hold of Command, tell them the St. Mere road is
open.
The Radioman cranks up his radio.
Captain Hamill turns to
Miller.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
How
far back is the rest of division?
MILLER
Very far, they?re not
coming this way, they?re going to take Caen
first.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Goddamn it, I was afraid of that.
We?re in a lot of trouble
up here,
and it?s gonna get
worse
before it gets better.
How many men did
you bring?
MILLER
Five, but we not staying, we?re on our
way to Ramelle.
CAPTAIN
HAMILL
Shit, are you the guys going up
to find Private Ryan?
MILLER
Yeah, you know about that?
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Command
radioed, wanted to know if he came in with the
early
wounded or dead.
Several of CAPTAIN HAMILL?S MEN, among
them a GENTLE
-FACED PRIVATE, prick up
their ears at
the mention of Private
Ryan.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
We?re
supposed to tell you, they intercepted a German
transmission
after you left.
The Krauts have two
companies on their way to
Ramelle to
take back that bridge, they?ll be there sometime
late
tomorrow.
MILLER
Wonderful.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
If Ryan?s alive, you?d better get him
the hell out of there before those
Krauts show up.
MILLER
How do we get out of here?
CAPTAIN HAMILL
You don?t,
until tonight, we?re hemmed in real tight.
After dark you
try to slip out to the east.
If you tip-toe, stay off
the main roads and
roll a few sevens,
you?ve got a fair chance of making it
u
p to Ramelle
by tomorrow
night.
Miller processes the
information.
Captain Hamill
shakes his head.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Tough, huh?
Three brothers?
Miller
shrugs.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
We
sure as hell could use your help here, but I
understand what you?re
doing?
MILLER
Yeah?
CAPTAIN HAMILL
Good luck.
MILLER
Thanks.
CAPTAIN HAMILL
I mean it.
Find him.
Get him home.
Miller is a
bit taken aback by Captain Hamill?s forceful
sincerity.
Then he shakes
it off and motions to his
men.
MILLER
Let?s find someplace
to hole up.
Miller nods to
Captain Hamill, then, as he moves to the head of
the alley, Miller passes Upham.
UPHAM
Sir, I?m sorry about what happened,
I...
MILLER
(interrupting)
It was
nothing.
UPHAM
But you could
have gotten killed and I...
MILLER
(interrupting)
Like I said,
it was nothing.
(to the men)
Don?t bunch up.
He takes off, crouch-running back down
the block.
Upham watches
him go.
UPHAM
Did you see
what he did, back there?
He
stepped right into the open,
so I could
get across.
JACKSON
Shit,
that was no big deal.
WADE
They can?t kill him.
SARGE
Like hell they
can?t.
REIBEN
Wade?s right, it?s some kind of
scientific, magnetic thing, I can?t
explain it, but I?ve seen
it.
WADE
We all
have, he?s got nine lives, or he?s bulletproof, or
some damn
thing.
The men are
equal parts joking and admiring.
Sarge is neither.
SARGE
No one?s bulletproof.
No one.
(beat)
C?mon, stay low.
Sarge takes off after Miller.
EXT. ST. MERE CATHEDRAL - DUSK
Miller and his men are bivouaced in the
middle of the ruins of a medieval church.
Miller, settled into a
comfortable spot in the debris, eating
his K-rations, looks very relaxed.
Reiben paces.
REIBEN
Miller smiles.
Captain,
could you please explain the math of this mission
to me?
MILLER
Sure, what do
you want to know?
REIBEN
Well, sir, in purely arithmetic terms,
since when does six equal one?
What?s
the sense in risking six guys to save
one?
MILLER
Ours is not to reason why.
REIBEN
Huh?
MILLER
Never mind, don?t
worry, we?ll pick up this kid,
high
division, everything?ll work out
fin
e.
-tail it back to
REIBEN
I?d much rather die
in Caen than Ramelle, sir.
It?s a personal thing.
MILLER
Reiben, there?s a
fairly good chance you?re not going to die at
all.
REIBEN
Easy
for you to say, sir.
Fucking James
Ryan, I?d like to wring his fucking
neck.
(beat)
SARGE
Jesus, Reiben, think
of the poor bastard?s mother.
REIBEN
Hey, I got a mother.
Jackson, you got a mother?
JACKSON
Last I knew.
REIBEN
Wade, Sarge, Corporal
Insect, all of us, hell, I?ll bet even the Captain
has a mother.
Reiben eyes
him and reconsiders.
REIBEN
Well, maybe not the Captain, but the
rest of us have mothers.
MILLER
You have orders, too.
JACKSON
Sir, I have an
opinion on this matter.
MILLER
I?d love to hear it.
JACKSON
Seems to
me, Cap?n, this mission is a serious
misallocati
on of valuable
military resources.
MILLER
Go on.
JACKSON
Well, sir, by my way a thinkin? I am a
finely made instrument of
warfare.
What I mean by that is, if
you was to put me with this here
sniper
rifle anywhere up to and includin? one mile from
Adolf Hi
tler,
with a clear
line of sight, war?s over.
Miller nods.
MILLER
Reiben, I want you to listen closely to
Jackson.
This is the way to
gripe.
Jackson,
continue.
JACKSON
Yes, sir.
It seems to me, sir, that
the entire resources of the United
States Army oughta be dedicated to one
thing and one thing only, and
that is
to put me and this here weapon on a rooftop,
smack-dab in the
middle of Berlin,
Germany.
Now I ain?t one to
question decisions
made up on high,
sir, but it seems to me that saving one private,
no
matter how grievous the losses of
his family, is a waste of my
God-given
talent.
MILLER
Wade?
WADE
Hell, I don?t mind this
mission, sir, as long as there?s something up at
Ramelle for...
REIBEN
(finishing Wade?s sentence)
...for you to blow up, yeah, yeah, we
heard that.
MILLER
Upham?
UPHAM
Pass.
MILLER
Sarge?
SARGE
I?m just here to keep
a bunch of numb
-nuts, including one
certain,
frequently suicidal, tempter-
of-fate, from getting themselves killed.
Reiben eyes Miller.
REIBEN
And what about you, Captain?
Miller looks at Reiben, shocked.
MILLER
Reiben, what?s the
matter with you?
captain.
only up, never down.
There?s a chain of command.
I don?t gripe to you.
Griping goes one way, up,
I?m a
officers.
you.
How long
you been in the army?
Up,
get i
t?
You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior
I don?t gripe to you, I don?t gripe in
front of
REIBEN
I?m sorry,
sir, I apologize.
But if you
weren?t a captain, or if I were a major, what
would you say?
(beat)
Miller considers his response.
MILLER
In that case, I would
say this is an excellent mission, with an
extremely
valuable objective, worthy of
my best efforts.
Reiben rolls his eyes.
Miller plays it straight,
with no obvious sarcasm.
MILLER
In addition, as I pointed out earlier,
I have a fondness for cheese and I
(continuing)
hope to have
the opportunity to sample some of the Ramelle
products,
when we arrive there, to see
if they live up to their excellent reputation.
Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for
the mother of Private James Ryan
and I?m more than w
men,
especially you, Reiben, to help relieve her
suffering.
illing to lay down my life,
and the lives of my
The men thoroughly
enjoy the performance.
REIBEN
Sir, if you were not a captain, I would
compliment you, now, for being
an
excellent liar.
MILLER
But I
am a captain.
compliment and tell you
that the ability to lie comes from being a
If I were not a captain, I
would thank you for the
top-notch poker
player, which I am, having learned at the side of
my
mother who is, by popular acclaim,
the best poker player in...
The men all
learn forward expectantly,
believing they?re about to find out Miller?s home
town.
smiles.
MILLER
...my home town, which shall remain un-
named.
(continuing)
The men
ease back, disappointed.
MILLER
Any further thoughts on the subject?
REIBEN
Yes, sir, as a final
note, I?d like to say, fuck our orders, fuck
Ramelle,
fuck the cheese capital of
France and while we?re at it, fuck Private
James Ryan.
Miller
MILLER
I?ll make
a note of your suggestions but I?ll leave that
last one to you,
especially
if he?s already dead.
The
men wince and laugh.
Miller
checks his watch and gets serious.
MILLER
We move out in two
hours, try and get some sleep.
The men
know when to can it.
Without another word, they all settle
down into the debris, close their eyes
and try to follow Miller?s order.
Upham looks around at these
strange men, then, a simple, hard glare from
Miller makes him follow suit.
Miller looks at his men, then pulls out
his map case and his flashlight.
He turns it on, in the dim glow of
the light, he studies his maps while
his men rest.
EXT. ST. MERE CATHEDRAL -
NIGHT (LATER)
Dark.
ARTILLERY RUMBLES IN THE DISTANCE.
Reiben, Jackson, Wade and
Upham sleep.
Miller still
sits in the glow of his flashlight, studying his
maps.
Sarge lies near him,
awake, watching him.
Sarge
notices some unopened envelopes in Miller?s map
case and speaks quietly to him.
SARGE
You ever going to open
those letters?
Miller keeps his eyes on
the maps.
MILLER
Maybe.
SARGE
It?s not normal, not
reading letters fro
m home.
MILLER
Since when have
things been normal?
SARGE
You got me.
Afraid of bad news?
MILLER
Nope.
SARGE
Good
news?
Miller looks at Sarge.
A moment passes between the
two of them, then miller takes refuge in the maps.
Sarge looks at the men.
SARGE
Yo
u think
they?ll be alright?
MILLER
They?re fine.
As
long as they can gripe, they?ll be
alright.
SARGE
And what about you?
Miller
considers the question, doesn?t answer.
MILLER
They guys here aren?t
going to be able to hold out until battalion shows
up.
SARGE
Nope.
MILLER
Command isn?t going
to let them withdraw and the Germans sure as
hell aren?t going to let them
surrender.
SARGE
Three for three.
MILLER
If we stayed, we could make a
difference.
SARGE
You?re
kidding yourself.
MILLER
You never know.
They sit in
silence for a moment.
SARGE
I hope this boy Ryan is worth it.
MILLER
Now you?re the one
kidding yourself.
(beat)
Hell of
a
mission.
SARGE
Yup, hell of
a mission.
Miller looks at his watch,
rises and barks at the men.
MILLER
Rise and shine, boys.
Let
?s go.
Grumbling, the men get up and start
shouldering up their gear.
EXT. ST.
MERE STREET - NIGHT
SMALL ARMS FIRE
ECHOES through the village.
DISTANT ARTILLERY BOOMS.
Miller leads his
men from
the ruins of the cathedral toward the outskirts of
town.
Th
ey?re
just a small squad, but these six,
heavily-armed men, in full battle gear,
are very formidable-looking.
EXT. ST.
MERE - OUTSKIRTS - NIGHT
Miller?s men
are getting ready to move out.
Captain Hamill and a few of his men are
there to see them off.
Suddenly:
A FLASH OF LIGHT
APPEARS ON THE HORIZON
Then REPEATED
FLASHES OF LIGHT.
The sky
is on fire.
The AIR
TREMBLES.
A FAR OFF
RUMBLING THUNDER ROLLS over the
countryside like a tidal wave.
Then,
THE OPPOSITE HORIZON LIGHTS UP AS WELL.
IT?S A MASSIVE AR
TILLERY
BATTLE.
The MAGNITUDE OF
THE FURY is incredible, strange,
other-
worldly.
EVERY MAN THERE IS TRANSFIXED.
Frozen in place.
The lights play on their faces.
MILLER looks down and sees his hand
quivering.
SARGE notices, says nothing.
MILLER stares at his hand, forcing it
to stop.
Their eyes go back to the
BLAZING SKY.
SARGE
(awe-
struck)
Makes you feel small, doesn?t
it?
MILLER
It
doesn?t take this.
Upham?s
face shows more fear than awe.
UPHAM
I wasn?t made for
this.
MILLER
(bitterly)
You think the
rest of us were?
Upham recoils.
Miller instantly regrets
his words.
He turns to
Upham and sees that he?s really scared.
Miller get a hold of
himself and speaks gently.
MILLER
Don?t worry, Upham, God?ll protect you,
this shit?s gonna keep him up
all
night, anyway.
Upham manages a slight
smile.
Miller watches the
lights for a moment more, then he pretends to
shrug it
off.
MILLER
Let?s go, this ain?t what they pay us
for.