The Longest Day

During World War II, one of the turning points—and the largest amphibious invasion in history— for the Allied forces was the battle of Normandy Landing on Omaha Beach, also known as Operation Overlord. By dawn of June 6th, 1944, Allied parties began appearing on Normandy beach while being repeatedly fired by heavy artillery and gunshot fires. The Allies eventually overtook the Germans after approximately 24 hours of constant exchanging fires. Films like The Longest Day, based on WWII veteran Cornelius Ryan’s book highlights the soldiers in general while Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg on October 4th, 1998, intended to focus on particular characters. The Longest Day was created to celebrate the victory and display the patriotism of the Americans, and included many famous celebrity stars like John Wayne, Robert Wagner, and many others to blockbuster the film. On the other hand, Saving Private Ryan desired to show and remind the audience the gruesome and terrifying aspects of war, but still retaining some patriotic elements within their characters. The 1962 film acts more like a documentary about the war itself, giving a shared importance to the many characters involved. Though, there were extremely little bloodshed and …show more content…
Captain Miller did not exist, and neither was the Battle of Remmelle during World War II. Although Private Ryan technically did not exist, it is speculated that he may have been based off of an actual WWII veteran, Frederick Niland, who did lose three brothers, and was sent home from combat. However, there are no actual proof of there being an official report to retrieve him. Nonetheless, the film still portrayed the nature of war tactfully because of the director’s mindfulness of pulling in his viewers as if they were a part of the film