Posts from WaynamoJim in thread „Saving Private Ryan (1998)“

Quote from The Tennesseean

Jim, the story about the Sullivan Bros is missing a detail that was kept from their parents (as long as possible), because of it's horrific nature.

When the two surviving brothers were waiting with all the other men to be rescued, one of them did indeed go off his nut.

The gory details (supported by over one dozen affidavits) were that he was trying to "get back home," and started swimming away from the life raft he had just vacated, and as is the case in most all situations at sea like this, there were hundreds of sharks lurking about.

According to these affidavits, when he had swam just a few yards, he was attacked by a large shark and killed, and other sharks became involved...

You can see how everyone involved wanted to keep it from his parents. He was gone, and these gruesome details would've only caused them more pain.

For another true incident much like this one (complete with a cover-up), look up whatever you can find about the USS Indianapolis.

It's the ship mentioned by Quint (played by Robert Shaw) in the movie "Jaws." The story he tells while they're comparing wounds (and getting drunk) is an actual account from a friend of Shaw's who WAS on the Indianapolis.

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I had heard that story before, about a shark getting one of the Sullivans. But on that program I described, they didn't mention that, though they did say there were sharks attacking the sailors. They just didn't specify who. And I would think that most people would rather think that the way they died in the movie, all together and going down with the ship, is much more humane.

The other night on the Smithsonian Channel, they had a program about this movie and if any of it was based on fact. They told of the five Sullivan brothers from Iowa who died when their ship, the cruiser USS Juneau, was sunk in the early days of WW2. Three of them went down with the ship, the other two survived but later died in the water. One of them because of the severe heat and exposure and he just slipped away, the last because he was so distraught over losing his four brothers, he just dove under the sea and never came up.
It also told the story of the four Niland brothers of NY, who seemd to be the pattern for the Ryan brothers of the movie. Three of Niland brothers were part of the D-day, landings. One with the 101st, one with the 82nd, and the other with another unit whose name escapes me. The fourth Niland brother was in the Army Air Corp in the Pacific. Of the first three, the one with the 82nd was killed by a sniper, I can't remember how one of the others were killed but it was near the same time as the first. And the Niland who was a flyer was shot down over New Guinea and reported missing. Fritz Niland was with the 101st, much like James Ryan in the movie. It was assumed that he was the sole survivng son and he was pulled out of the front lines and sent home. It was awhile later that the family found out that another had survived and was in a Japanese POW camp and he returned home after the war.

It should've won the Best Picture Oscar, not that Shakespeare In Love movie. And I think the reason is that there seemed to be an anti-Steven Speilberg movement going on for years. I think there was alot of jealousy going on in Hollywood because he was having so much success with so many of his movies.

By all rights, Saving Private Ryan should've won the Oscar for Best Picture, not Shakespeare In Love.