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  1. S A V I N G P R I V A T E R Y A N
  2.  
  3. by Robert Roday
  4.  
  5. (Early Draft)
  6.  
  7. --------------------------------------------------------------
  8.  
  9. FADE IN:
  10.  
  11. CREDITS: White lettering over a back background. The
  12. THUNDEROUS SOUNDS OF A MASSIVE NAVAL BARRAGE are heard. The
  13. power is astonishing. It roars through the body, blows back
  14. the hair and rattles the ears.
  15.  
  16. FADE IN:
  17.  
  18. EXT. OMAHA BEACH - NORMANDY - DAWN
  19.  
  20. The ROAR OF NAVAL GUNS continues but now WE SEE THEM FIRING.
  21. Huge fifteen inch guns.
  22.  
  23. SWARM OF LANDING CRAFT
  24.  
  25. Heads directly into a nightmare. MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS from
  26. German artillery shells and mined obstacles tear apart the
  27. beach. Hundreds of German machine guns, loaded with tracers,
  28. pour out a red snowstorm of bullets.
  29.  
  30. OFFSHORE
  31. SUPERIMPOSITION:
  32.  
  33. OMAHA BEACH, NORMANDY
  34. June 6, 1944
  35.  
  36. 0600 HOURS
  37. HUNDREDS OF LANDING CRAFT Each holding
  38. thirty men, near the beaches.
  39.  
  40. THE CLIFFS
  41. At the far end of the beach, a ninety-
  42. foot cliff. Topped by bunkers.
  43. Ringed by fortified machine gun nests.
  44. A clear line-of-fire down the entire
  45. beach.
  46.  
  47. TEN LANDING CRAFT
  48. Make their way toward the base of
  49. the cliffs. Running a gauntlet of
  50. explosions.
  51.  
  52. SUPERIMPOSITION:
  53. THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE
  54. STORY THE LEAD LANDING CRAFT Plows
  55. through the waves.
  56.  
  57. THE CAMERA MOVES PAST THE FACES OF THE MEN
  58.  
  59. Boys. Most are eighteen or nineteen years old. Tough.
  60. Well-trained. Trying to block out the fury around them.
  61.  
  62. A DIRECT HIT ON A NEARBY LANDING CRAFT
  63.  
  64. A huge EXPLOSION of fuel, fire, metal and flesh.
  65.  
  66. THE LEAD LANDING CRAFT
  67.  
  68. The Motorman holds his course. Shells EXPLODE around them.
  69. FLAMING OIL BURNS on the water. CANNON FIRE SMASHES into
  70. the bow.
  71.  
  72. THE MOTORAMAN IS RIPPED TO BITS
  73.  
  74. BLOOD AND FLESH shower the men behind him. The mate takes
  75. the controls.
  76.  
  77. A YOUNG SOLDIER
  78. His face covered with the remains of
  79. the motorman. Starts to lose it.
  80. Begins to shudder and weep. His
  81. name is DeLancey.
  82.  
  83. THE BOYS AROUND HIM
  84.  
  85. Do their best to stare straight ahead. But the fear infects
  86. them. It starts to spread.
  87.  
  88. A FIGURE
  89. Pushes through the men. Puts himself
  90. in front of DeLancey.
  91.  
  92. The figure is CAPTAIN JOHN MILLER. Early thirties. By far
  93. the oldest man on the craft. Relaxed, battle-hardened,
  94. powerful, ignoring the hell around them. He smiles, puts a
  95. cigar in his mouth, strikes a match on the front of DeLancey's
  96. helmet and lights the cigar.
  97.  
  98. DeLancey tries to look away but Miller grips him by the jaw
  99. and forces him to lock eyes. Miller smiles. DeLancey is
  100. terrified.
  101.  
  102. Delancey Captain, are we all gonna die?
  103.  
  104. Miller Hell no, two-thirds, tops.
  105.  
  106. Delancey Oh, Jesus...
  107.  
  108. Miller I want every one of you to look at the man on your
  109. left. Now look at the man on your right. Feel sorry for
  110. those to sons-of-bitches, they're going to get it, you're
  111. not going to get a scratch. A few, including DeLancey, manage
  112. thin smiles. Miller releases his grip on DeLancey who moves
  113. his jaw as if to see if it's broken. Miller pats him on the
  114. cheek and moves on to the bow.
  115.  
  116. MILLER
  117. Looks over the gunwale at THE HELL
  118. IN FRONT OF THEM.
  119.  
  120. PAN DOWN TO MILLER'S HAND
  121.  
  122. It quivers in fear. Miller glances around, sees that none
  123. of the men have noticed. He stares at his hand as if it
  124. belongs to someone else. It stops shaking. He turns his
  125. eyes back to the objective.
  126.  
  127. THE LEAD LANDING CRAFT HITS THE BEACH
  128.  
  129. The six surviving boats alongside.
  130.  
  131. EXPLOSIVE PROPELLED GRAPPLING HOOKS FIRE
  132.  
  133. From the landing crafts. Arc toward the top of the cliffs.
  134.  
  135. THE LEAD CRAFT RAMP GOES DOWN
  136.  
  137. A river of MACHINE GUN FIRE pours into the craft. A dozen
  138. men are INSTANTLY KILLED. Among them, DeLancey.
  139.  
  140. MILLER
  141. Somehow survives. Jumps into the
  142. breakers.
  143.  
  144. MILLER
  145. MOVE, GODDAMN IT! GO! GO! GO!
  146.  
  147. EXPLOSIONS EVERYWHERE
  148. THE GERMANS On the edge of the cliff.
  149. Rain down MACHINE GUN FIRE and
  150. GRENADES.
  151.  
  152. THE AMERICANS
  153. Struggle through the surf. FIRING
  154. up as best they can. Making for the
  155. base of the cliffs.
  156.  
  157. INCENDIARY GRENADES, HURLED FROM ABOVE,
  158.  
  159. EXPLODE, SPREADING FIRE
  160.  
  161. MILLER
  162. Ignores the EXPLOSIONS and BULLETS.
  163. Uses hand signals and curt orders.
  164.  
  165. MILLER
  166. THERE! THERE! HOOKS THERE! FIRE
  167. SQUAD, THOSE ROCKS!
  168.  
  169. THE MEN
  170. Obey instantly. Set the grappling
  171. hooks. Take position. Return fire.
  172.  
  173. THE SOUNDS OF BATTLE
  174.  
  175. Drown out most voices. Except the SCREAMS OF THE WOUNDED
  176. AND DYING.
  177.  
  178. THE MEN
  179. Know what they have to do. Start up
  180. the ropes. Into the teeth of the
  181. German defenders.
  182.  
  183. MILLER
  184. Back-straps his Thompson sub-machine
  185. gun. Starts climbing with the first
  186. group.
  187.  
  188. THE CLIFF FACE
  189. The Americans swarm up the ropes.
  190. Taking turns firing up at the Germans.
  191.  
  192. MILLER SEES A STALLED CLIMBER
  193.  
  194. A soft-faced boy. Grabs him by the back of his collar.
  195. Roughly yanks him up. Nearly choking him. They boy climbs
  196. on.
  197.  
  198. HALF-WAY
  199. An American private is HIT. FALLS,
  200. taking two others with him. All
  201. three land on the rocks below.
  202. Another way to die.
  203.  
  204. NEAR THE TOP
  205. Less steep. They leave the ropes.
  206. Free climb, scrambling up the rocks.
  207.  
  208. MILLER
  209. Joins half-a-dozen pinned down men.
  210. Others bottleneck behind them. Miller
  211. scans the route and the defenders.
  212.  
  213. Sees an open gap. Deadly. Beyond is a protective overhang.
  214. With a clear line to the top.
  215.  
  216. MILLER
  217. That's the route.
  218.  
  219. Miller motions to six men huddled near him.
  220.  
  221. MILLER
  222. Go!
  223.  
  224. THE SIX MEN
  225. Take an instant to get ready. Then
  226. SCRAMBLE into the gap.
  227.  
  228. MILLER AND THE OTHERS
  229.  
  230. Do their best to cover them. POUR FIRE up at the Germans.
  231. Bad angle. No Germans are hit.
  232.  
  233. THE SIX MEN
  234. Are CUT TO RIBBONS by MACHINE GUN
  235. FIRE. All KILLED. They fall to the
  236. rocks below.
  237.  
  238. SARGE, mid-twenties, experienced, Miller's right arm and
  239. best friend, dives into the rocks next to Miller.
  240.  
  241. Sarge That's a goddamned shooting gallery, Captain.
  242.  
  243. MILLER
  244. It's the only way.
  245.  
  246. MILLER
  247. Turns to the next half-dozen men.
  248.  
  249. MILLER
  250. YOU'RE NEXT!
  251.  
  252. THE SECOND SIX
  253. Move to the head of the gap. Miller
  254. moves for a better angle against the
  255. machine guns. Calls to JACKSON, a
  256. tall, gangly Southern country boy,
  257. sharp-shooter.
  258.  
  259. MILLER
  260. JACKSON, PICK OFF A FEW OF THEM,
  261. WILL YOU?
  262.  
  263. JACKSON
  264. (heavy Southern accent)
  265. You betcha, Captain.
  266.  
  267. Miller signals others where to direct their cover fire.
  268. Turns to the second six.
  269.  
  270. MILLER
  271. GO!
  272.  
  273. THE SECOND SIX
  274. Take deep breaths. Head into the
  275. gap.
  276.  
  277. MILLER AND OTHERS BLAST SURPRISING FIRE
  278.  
  279. JACKSON, NAILS a pair of Germans. MILLER CUTS DOWN two more.
  280. SARGE gets one. Not enough.
  281.  
  282. THE SECOND SIX
  283. Are RAKED BY MACHINE GUNS. All are
  284. KILLED.
  285.  
  286. MILLER
  287. Turns, looking for the next six.
  288. His eyes fall on Sarge and REIBEN
  289. who is a cynical, sharp, New Yorker.
  290. Reiben smiles.
  291.  
  292. REIBEN
  293. (heavy Brooklyn accent)
  294. Captain, can I put in for a transfer?
  295.  
  296. MILLER
  297. Sure, meet me at the top, we'll start
  298. the paperwork.
  299.  
  300. THE THIRD SIX
  301. Moves into place. Sarge and Miller
  302. exchange a look. They both see the
  303. madness of what they're doing.
  304.  
  305. MILLER AND THE OTHERS
  306.  
  307. OPEN UP on the Germans.
  308.  
  309. MILLER
  310. GO!
  311.  
  312. SARGE
  313. Rolls his eyes, takes a breath.
  314. Scrambles into the gap. The other
  315. five right behind.
  316.  
  317. IN THE GAP
  318. BULLETS EVERYWHERE.
  319.  
  320. Three are HIT. Then another. POTATO MASHER GRENADES bounce
  321. down. EXPLODE below.
  322.  
  323. THE GERMAN MACHINE GUN swings toward Sarge and Reiben. Miller
  324. sees them about to get it... MILLER STEPS OUT INTO THE OPEN.
  325.  
  326. A perfect target. Captain's bars glinting. FIRING. TRYING
  327. TO DRAW THE GERMAN FIRE.
  328.  
  329. THE GERMAN MACHINE GUNNER
  330.  
  331. SEES MILLER STANDING IN THE OPEN. Too much to pass up. He
  332. swings the machine gun away from Sarge and Reiben, toward
  333. Miller.
  334.  
  335. A ROW OF GERMAN BULLETS approaches Miller...he's an instant
  336. from death.
  337.  
  338. SARGE AND REIBEN DIVE
  339.  
  340. Under the overhang to safety.
  341.  
  342. MILLER DIVES BACK TO COVER, BARELY MAKES IT, HIS BOOT HEAL
  343. IS BLOWN OFF.
  344.  
  345. UNDER THE OVERHANG Sarge and Reiben untangle themselves.
  346.  
  347. REIBEN
  348. I'll be Goddamned! I'm not dead!
  349.  
  350. Sarge hollers back to Miller.
  351.  
  352. SARGE
  353. CAPTAIN, IF YOUR MOTHER SAW YOU DO
  354. THAT, SHE'D BE VERY UPSET!
  355.  
  356. MILLER
  357. I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY MOTHER.
  358.  
  359. Quick smiles. MILLER AND HIS RANGERS lean out and FIRE.
  360. HIT more Germans.
  361.  
  362. SARGE AND REIBEN run up the path, under the overhang. Stop
  363. near the top. Pull pins on grenades. Count. Both throw
  364. long, arcing over the crest, perfectly aimed.
  365.  
  366. THE TWO GRENADES EXPLODE.
  367.  
  368. Putt out the two worst machine gun nests.
  369.  
  370. MILLER
  371. Crosses the gap. His men follow.
  372.  
  373. AT THE CREST
  374. The Americans swarm over the top.
  375. FIRING.
  376.  
  377. TWO DOZEN GERMANS FIRE BACK as they retreat.
  378.  
  379. Abandoning the perimeter defense of the bunkers. The Germans
  380. are CUT DOWN.
  381.  
  382. MILLER motions to WADE, a small, wide-eyed, demolition man
  383. who's struggling under the weight of half-a dozen satchel
  384. charges.
  385.  
  386. MILLER
  387. Okay, Wade, your turn.
  388.  
  389. Wade Captain, I love it when you say that.
  390.  
  391. Miller, Sarge, Reiben and Jackson cover Wade as he races to
  392. the first of three bunkers. Dodging bullets from inside.
  393. Wade tosses a SATCHEL CHARGE into a gun port. A HUGE, MUFFLED
  394. EXPLOSION, rocks the bunker.
  395.  
  396. MILLER AND SARGE
  397. Survey the field.
  398.  
  399. SARGE
  400. What the hell were you doing? Drawing
  401. fire!
  402.  
  403. MILLER
  404. Worked, didn't it?
  405.  
  406. SARGE
  407. You tryin' to get yourself killed?
  408.  
  409. MILLER
  410. Don't need to, the Krauts go that
  411. covered.
  412.  
  413. Sarge shakes his head at Miller, then he looks over the cliff
  414. at the scores of men, their shattered, burning bodies covering
  415. the rocks and the beach below. He's clearly affected.
  416.  
  417. Miller coldly glances at the dead and wounded. Then he moves
  418. on, leading his surviving men toward the two remaining German
  419. bunkers. The SOUNDS OF BIG GUNS and MACHINE GUNS FIRE
  420. surround him. DISSOLVE TO:
  421.  
  422. EXT. WAR DEPARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
  423.  
  424. The SOUND OF CLATTERING MACHINE GUN FIRE SEGUES TO that of
  425. CLATTERING TYPEWRITERS. A huge government building stands
  426. in the heart of Washington, D.C.
  427.  
  428. SUPERIMPOSITION:
  429. WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
  430.  
  431. JUNE 8, 1944
  432.  
  433. INT. COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE - WAR DEPT. - DAY
  434.  
  435. Very busy. A dozen, somber military clerks work behind desks,
  436. quickly and efficiently. No small talk.
  437.  
  438. A CLERK
  439. Older than the others, sad-eyed,
  440. adds a sheet of paper to a large
  441. pile in his out-box.
  442.  
  443. CLOSE SHOT
  444. An outgoing telegram. It reads:
  445. "We regret to inform you...killed in
  446. action...heroic service..." This is
  447. the paperwork of death.
  448.  
  449. THE CLERK
  450. Pulls out a file. Reads. Finds
  451. something troubling. Quickly shuffles
  452. through some other papers. Finds
  453. what he's looking for. Rises from
  454. his desk and hurries out of the
  455. office.
  456.  
  457. INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE - WAR DEPT. - DAY
  458.  
  459. Seen through the glass wall. The clerk speaks to a YOUNG
  460. LIEUTENANT who is visibly shaken by what he is being told.
  461. He motions to the clerk to follow and he strides out of the
  462. office with the clerk on his heels.
  463.  
  464. INT. CAPTAIN'S OFFICE - WAR DEPT. - DAY
  465.  
  466. Again, seen through a glass wall. The Young Lieutenant speaks
  467. to a YOUNG CAPTAIN who, like the Lieutenant is clearly
  468. bothered by what he's being told. The Captain takes the
  469. papers from the Young Lieutenant and strides out.
  470.  
  471. INT. COLONEL'S OFFICE - WAR DEPT. - DAY
  472.  
  473. A busy office. Aides and secretaries scurry about. The
  474. walls and tables are covered with maps of Normandy and complex
  475. deployment charts. A ONE-ARMED COLONEL with a chest full of
  476. ribbons pours himself another cup of coffee. He clearly
  477. hasn't slept in a long time. The Young Captain, his staff
  478. officer, walks in.
  479.  
  480. Young captain Colonel, I've got something you should know
  481. about.
  482.  
  483. One-armed colonel Yes?
  484.  
  485. Young captain Two brothers died in Normandy. One at Omaha
  486. Beach, the other at Utah. Last week in Guam a third brother
  487. was killed in action. All three telegrams went out this
  488. morning. Their mother in Iowa is getting all three telegrams
  489. this afternoon.
  490.  
  491. The life drains from the Colonel. Others in the room hear
  492. and freeze.
  493.  
  494. One-armed colonel Oh, Jesus.
  495.  
  496. Young captain There's more. There's a fourth brother. The
  497. youngest. He parachuted in with the Hundred-and-First
  498. Airborne the night before the invasion. He's on the front.
  499.  
  500. One-armed colonel Is he alive?
  501.  
  502. Young captain We don't know.
  503.  
  504. The Colonel regains his bearings. Stands and motions curtly
  505. to the Captain. One-armed colonel Come with me.
  506.  
  507. The Colonel regains his bearings. Stands and motions curtly
  508. to the Captain.
  509.  
  510. One-armed colonel Come with me.
  511.  
  512. The Colonel strides from the room with the Captain on his
  513. heels. The aides and secretaries watch them go.
  514.  
  515. EXT. FARM ROAD - IOWA - DAY
  516.  
  517. A black car drives along a dirt road, a butt of dust rising
  518. behind. Passing through an endless expanse of ripening corn.
  519.  
  520. EXT. RYAN FARM - IOWA - DAY
  521.  
  522. A whit farmhouse. A barn. A stand of trees. Cornfields as
  523. far as the eye can see.
  524.  
  525. IN THE YARD
  526. A tire swing. A bushel basket nailed
  527. to the barn over a dirt basketball
  528. court.
  529.  
  530. A PORCH SWING
  531. Sits empty. Moves slightly.
  532.  
  533. ON THE GLASS OF THE FRONT DOOR
  534.  
  535. Four American flag decals. Each one, a man in service.
  536.  
  537. MARGARET RYAN
  538. Steps out. Around sixty. Her face
  539. shows the lines of a life of hard
  540. work and mother hood. A good woman.
  541.  
  542. She wipes her hands on her apron and looks out across the
  543. fields. Far in the distance she sees the dust rising behind
  544. the black car.
  545.  
  546. She watches the car get closer, then sees it turn toward her
  547. house. She starts to grow uneasy.
  548.  
  549. As the black car approaches, her breath comes hard. She
  550. reaches out and steadies herself on the porch post.
  551.  
  552. The car pulls up to the house. She sees three men get out,
  553. one wearing a clerical collar. The first of her tears come.
  554.  
  555. INT. GENERAL MARSHALL'S OFFICE - WAR DEPARTMENT - DAY
  556.  
  557. Another busy office filled with aides and secretaries.
  558. GENERAL GEORGE MARSHALL, Army Chief of Staff, stands next to
  559. his conference table, reading the Ryan brother' files. Half-
  560. a-dozen subordinates, among them the one-armed Colonel and
  561. the Young Captain, wait. General Marshall puts down the
  562. file.
  563.  
  564. GENERAL MARSHALL
  565. (softly)
  566. Goddamn it.
  567.  
  568. One-armed colonel All four of them were in the same company
  569. in the 29th Infantry but we split them up after the Sullivan
  570. brothers died on the Juneau.
  571.  
  572. GENERAL MARSHALL
  573. Any contact with the fourth brother,
  574. James?
  575.  
  576. One-armed colonel No, sir. He was dropped about thirty miles
  577. inland, near Ramelle. That's still deep behind German lines.
  578.  
  579. General Marshall hardens.
  580.  
  581. GENERAL MARSHALL
  582. Well, if he's alive, we're going to
  583. send someone to get him the hell out
  584. of there. That's just what the
  585. General's staff wanted to hear.
  586.  
  587. EXT. NORMANDY - CRATER FIELD - DAY
  588.  
  589. NEAR CONSTANT MORTAR EXPLOSIONS. HEAVY MACHINE GUN FIRE.
  590. Miller's Ranger company is pinned down by a superior force
  591. of German troops. The Americans hug the bottoms of the
  592. craters, FIRING BACK as best they can. BIG GUNS THUNDER in
  593. the distance.
  594.  
  595. SUPERIMPOSITION:
  596. Normandy 1300 hours June 9
  597.  
  598. MILLER
  599. Trailed by a RADIOMAN, dashes through
  600. the fire and dives into a sludge-
  601. filled crater. He surfaces, sees
  602. Sarge and Reiben, and reels from a
  603. horrific smell. Their conversation
  604. is repeatedly broken by FIRING And
  605. DUCKING GERMAN FIRE.
  606.  
  607. MILLER
  608. Jesus Christ! What the hell are we
  609. swimming in?
  610.  
  611. REIBEN
  612. Shit, sir.
  613.  
  614. SARGE
  615. Fertilizer, Captain, I think we're
  616. in a cranberry bog.
  617.  
  618. REIBEN
  619. Out of the frying pan, into the
  620. fucking latrine.
  621.  
  622. MILLER
  623. Look at the bright side, the Krauts
  624. sure as hell don't want to advance
  625. and hold this cesspool.
  626.  
  627. Miller barks to his RADIOMAN.
  628.  
  629. MILLER
  630. Get Fire Control, we need some
  631. artillery...
  632.  
  633. Radioman Trying, sir.
  634.  
  635. MORE EXPLOSIONS. They all duck. Reiben's worried.
  636.  
  637. REIBEN
  638. Sir, what if they send some other
  639. company into Caen ahead of us while
  640. we're pinned down here?
  641.  
  642. MILLER
  643. Don't worry, we're the only Rangers
  644. this side of the continent, we've
  645. got to be first into Caen.
  646.  
  647. SARGE
  648. Who cares?
  649.  
  650. REIBEN
  651. I care. Don't you know what Caen's
  652. famous for, Sarge?
  653.  
  654. SARGE
  655. Frogs?
  656.  
  657. REIBEN
  658. Lingerie.
  659.  
  660. SARGE
  661. Yeah? So?
  662.  
  663. THE GERMAN FIRE diminishes for an instant. Miller, Sarge
  664. and Reiben immediately rise and POUR FIRE at the German
  665. positions. GERMAN MACHINE GUN FIRE RESPONDS and they duck
  666. down again.
  667.  
  668. REIBEN
  669. So, you ever heard of employee
  670. discounts? My uncle sells shoes,
  671. gets twenty-five percent off
  672. everything in the line, got a closet
  673. filled with the best looking shoes
  674. you ever seen.
  675.  
  676. MORE MORTAR EXPLOSIONS.
  677.  
  678. REIBEN
  679. Just picture some French number been
  680. spending all day, every day, making
  681. cream-colored, shear-body negligees
  682. with gentle-lift silk cups and
  683. gathered empire waists, what the
  684. hell you think she wears at night?
  685.  
  686. MILLER
  687. Reiben, how the hell do you know so
  688. much about lingerie?
  689.  
  690. REIBEN
  691. Lingerie is my life, sir. My mother's
  692. got a shop in Brooklyn, I grew up in
  693. it, from the time I could crawl, we
  694. carry Caen lingerie, it's the best
  695. there is, it's all I been thinking
  696. about since the invasion.
  697.  
  698. Another pause in the German shelling. Reiben rises and BLASTS
  699. HIS B.A.R, then ducks as the GERMANS RETURN FIRE.
  700.  
  701. MILLER
  702. There's a war on, good chance they're
  703. not still making lingerie in Caen.
  704.  
  705. REIBEN
  706. Oh, Captain, they'll always make
  707. lingerie, it's one of the three basic
  708. needs of man -- food, shelter, silk
  709. teddies. Miller Dream on, private.
  710.  
  711. REIBEN
  712. Happy to, sir.
  713.  
  714. Radioman Captain, I've got Command, they want you back at
  715. H.Q., right away.
  716.  
  717. MILLER
  718. Maybe the war's over.
  719.  
  720. A MORTAR SHELL EXPLODES VERY CLOSE. After the debris stops
  721. falling, Sarge and Reiben rise, spitting out sludge. Reiben
  722. looks dubiously at Miller.
  723.  
  724. REIBEN
  725. I don't think so, Captain.
  726.  
  727. MILLER
  728. (to Radioman)
  729. Stay at it until you get fire control.
  730. (to Sarge)
  731. Keep 'em down, wait for the navy.
  732.  
  733. SARGE
  734. Yes, sir.
  735.  
  736. Miller waits for a pause in the MORTAR BARRAGE, then scrambles
  737. out of the crater and takes off in a crouch-run.
  738.  
  739. EXT. NORMANDY - FIELD H.Q. - 19TH INFANTRY - DAY
  740.  
  741. Chaos. Under fire. INTERMITTENT MORTARS, SOME BIG GERMAN
  742. SHELLS and fairly close SMALL ARMS FIRE.
  743.  
  744. MILLER
  745. Runs over the broken ground and makes
  746. it to the sandbagged H.Q. He stumbles
  747. down the make-shift stairs.
  748.  
  749. INT. H.Q. SANDBAGGED BUNKER - DAY
  750.  
  751. Sand and dirt falls with the closest of the EXPLOSIONS which
  752. continue through the scene. Miller salutes a Major.
  753.  
  754. MILLER
  755. Miller, Company B, Second Rangers.
  756.  
  757. Major Go on in.
  758.  
  759. Miller goes deeper into the H.Q. bunker where he finds a
  760. dozen officers with as many aides, runners and radiomen.
  761. Very busy. A field map dominates the center of the small
  762. space.
  763.  
  764. The men in the room note Miller, a few nod to him
  765. respectfully. He's clearly someone special.
  766.  
  767. COLONEL SAM ANDERSON is in command, talking on a field-phone.
  768. He's about fifty, firm and steady, the calm at the eye of
  769. the storm. He sees Miller and motions for him to wait.
  770.  
  771. COLONEL ANDERSON
  772. (into field-phone)
  773. ...I understand your problem, but if
  774. we don't get those tanks off-loaded
  775. by 0600, we're going to have an entire
  776. division up at Caen with its ass
  777. hanging out of its pants...
  778.  
  779. A LIEUTENANT steps up to Miller and hands him a sheet of
  780. paper.
  781.  
  782. Lieutenant Captain, here's your company address list.
  783.  
  784. MILLER
  785. My what?
  786.  
  787. Lieutenant For letters to the families of your killed-in-
  788. action.
  789.  
  790. Miller hands the list back to the Lieutenant.
  791.  
  792. MILLER
  793. Find a chaplain.
  794.  
  795. COLONEL ANDERSON
  796. (into field-phone)
  797. ...alright, let me know when.
  798.  
  799. Anderson hangs up, speaks to an AIDE.
  800.  
  801. COLONEL ANDERSON
  802. Have the Second and Third Regiments
  803. hold at St. Michel until we get those
  804. tanks. Aide Yes, sir.
  805.  
  806. Colonel Anderson turns to Miller.
  807.  
  808. COLONEL ANDERSON
  809. Report.
  810.  
  811. MILLER
  812. Sector four is secured, we put out
  813. the last three German one-fifty-fives,
  814. found them about two miles in from
  815. Ponte du Hoc.
  816.  
  817. COLONEL ANDERSON
  818. Resistance?
  819.  
  820. MILLER
  821. A company, Wehrmacht, no artillery,
  822. we took twenty-three prisoners, turned
  823. them over to intelligence.
  824.  
  825. COLONEL ANDERSON
  826. Casualties?
  827.  
  828. MILLER
  829. Fourty-four, twenty one dead.
  830.  
  831. An instant of SILENCE, all hear, none look.
  832.  
  833. MILLER
  834. They didn't want to give up those
  835. one-fifty-fives, sir.
  836.  
  837. COLONEL ANDERSON
  838. It was a hard assignment, that's why
  839. you got it.
  840.  
  841. MILLER
  842. Yes, sir.
  843.  
  844. COLONEL ANDERSON
  845. Where are your men now?
  846.  
  847. MILLER
  848. Pinned down, a mile east of here,
  849. waiting for some help from the navy
  850. guns.
  851.  
  852. COLONEL ANDERSON
  853. I'm sending Simpson to take over for
  854. you, the division is going to Caen,
  855. you're not coming with us, I have
  856. something else for you.
  857.  
  858. MILLER
  859. Sir?
  860.  
  861. COLONEL ANDERSON
  862. There's a Private James Ryan who
  863. parachuted in with the Hundred-and-
  864. First near Ramelle. I want you to
  865. take a squad up there. If he's alive,
  866. bring him back to the beach for
  867. debarkation. Take whoever you need,
  868. you've got your pick of the company.
  869.  
  870. MILLER
  871. A private, sir?
  872.  
  873. COLONEL ANDERSON
  874. He's the last of four brothers, the
  875. other three were killed in action.
  876. This is straight from the Chief of
  877. Staff.
  878.  
  879. MILLER
  880. But, sir...I...I...
  881.  
  882. COLONEL ANDERSON
  883. Spit it out, Captain.
  884.  
  885. MILLER HESITATES, THEN:
  886.  
  887. MILLER
  888. Respectfully, sir, sending men all
  889. the way up to Ramelle to save one
  890. private doesn't make a fucking,
  891. goddamned bit of sense.
  892. (beat)
  893. Sir.
  894.  
  895. The other officers freeze, listening without turning. Colonel
  896. Anderson glares at Miller.
  897.  
  898. COLONEL ANDERSON
  899. You think just because you hold the
  900. Congressional Medal of Honor, you
  901. can say any damn thing you please to
  902. your superior officers?
  903.  
  904. Miller considers the question, then smiles.
  905.  
  906. MILLER
  907. Yes, sir, more or less.
  908.  
  909. Colonel Anderson looks as if he's about to bit Miller's head
  910. off, then he smiles, too.
  911.  
  912. COLONEL ANDERSON
  913. Alright, I'll give you that.
  914. Continue.
  915.  
  916. MILLER
  917. The numbers don't make sense, sir.
  918. His brothers are dead, that's too
  919. bad, but they're out of the equation.
  920. Sending men up there is bleeding
  921. heart crapola from three thousand
  922. miles away. One private is simply
  923. not worth a squad. Colonel anderson
  924. This one is. He's worth a lot more
  925. than that. Which is why I'm sending
  926. you, you're the best field officer
  927. there is.
  928.  
  929. Miller Shrugs.
  930.  
  931. MILLER
  932. Yes and no, sir, what about Morgan?
  933. Fine officer, regular church goer,
  934. writes poetry, he might like a mission
  935. like this.
  936. (beat)
  937. And he's taller than me.
  938.  
  939. Colonel Anderson listens with amused tolerance, but it's
  940. time to get back to business.
  941.  
  942. COLONEL ANDERSON
  943. That's enough, Captain, you have
  944. your orders. Major Thomas will fill
  945. you in.
  946.  
  947. Miller knows when to back off. He salutes.
  948.  
  949. MILLER
  950. Yes, sir.
  951.  
  952. Miller and Colonel Anderson exchange a private look.
  953.  
  954. COLONEL ANDERSON
  955. Good luck, John.
  956.  
  957. MILLER
  958. Thank you, sir.
  959.  
  960. Miller joins Major Thomas at one of the smaller map tables.
  961. Colonel Anderson watches Miller for an instant, then notices
  962. the other officers in the tent watching. A glare and they
  963. go back to work.
  964.  
  965. EXT. BATTLESHIP - DAY
  966.  
  967. A MASSIVE BARRAGE of fifteen-inch shells BLASTS from the
  968. deck of the enormous ship.
  969.  
  970. EXT. CRATER FIELD - CRANBERRY BOG - DAY
  971.  
  972. HUGE EXPLOSIONS. The big naval shells SLAM into the German
  973. position on the far side of the cranberry bog crater field.
  974.  
  975. IN THE CRATERS
  976. Miller's Ranger company ducks and
  977. covers. The BARRAGE SUBSIDES. The
  978. Rangers rise, FIRING, leap-frogging
  979. from crater to crater, advancing
  980. against the remaining Germans who
  981. return SMALL ARMS FIRE.
  982.  
  983. MILLER
  984. Crouch-runs and dives into a crater
  985. with Sarge.
  986.  
  987. MILLER
  988. Put on your traveling shoes, Sarge,
  989. we're heading out.
  990.  
  991. SARGE
  992. Caen?
  993.  
  994. MILLER
  995. I wish. You and I are taking a squad
  996. up to Ramelle on a public relations
  997. mission.
  998.  
  999. SARGE
  1000. You? Leading a squad?
  1001.  
  1002. MILLER
  1003. Some private up there lost three
  1004. brothers, got a ticket home.
  1005.  
  1006. SARGE
  1007. What about the company?
  1008.  
  1009. MILLER
  1010. Simpson.
  1011.  
  1012. SARGE
  1013. Simpson? Jesus Christ on a fucking
  1014. pogo stick!
  1015.  
  1016. MILLER
  1017. I want Reiben on B.A.R; Jackson with
  1018. his sniper rifle; Beasley, demolition.
  1019.  
  1020. SARGE
  1021. Beasley's dead.
  1022.  
  1023. MILLER
  1024. Okay, Wade. Translators?
  1025.  
  1026. SARGE
  1027. Fresh out.
  1028.  
  1029. MILLER
  1030. What about Talbot?
  1031.  
  1032. SARGE
  1033. Twenty minutes ago. Miller Damn,
  1034. I'll go see if I can find another
  1035. one. You get Reiben, Jackson and
  1036. Wade, meet me at transport.
  1037.  
  1038. SARGE
  1039. Yes, sir.
  1040.  
  1041. They wait for a lull in the firing, then scramble out of the
  1042. crater and crouch-run in opposite directions.
  1043.  
  1044. EXT. TRANSPORT H.Q. - NINETEENTH INFANTRY - DAY
  1045.  
  1046. Just in from the beaches. DISTANT ARTILLERY AND EXPLOSIONS.
  1047. Nothing close. Dust. Confusion. Vehicles of every sort
  1048. moving out. Tanks, half-tracks, troop trucks. In the middle
  1049. of the mess, a cigar-chewing SUPPLY SERGEANT works at a make-
  1050. shift desk made out of crate. He yells at a PRIVATE.
  1051.  
  1052. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1053. GET THOSE GODDAMNED HALF-TRACKS OUT
  1054. OF THERE!
  1055.  
  1056. Private They're blocked in!
  1057.  
  1058. SERGEANT
  1059. THEN UNBLOCK 'EM!
  1060.  
  1061. SARGE< REIBEN, JACKSON AND WADE
  1062.  
  1063. Wait nearby. Reiben is beside himself, pacing, muttering.
  1064. The others are relaxed.
  1065.  
  1066. MILLER
  1067. Strides through the chaos, avoiding
  1068. the passing vehicles. He sees his
  1069. men and walks toward them. Reiben
  1070. hurries up to Miller, pleading.
  1071.  
  1072. REIBEN
  1073. Please, sir, you can't take me to
  1074. Ramelle, I gotta go to Caen, sir,
  1075. please, I told you, they make Caen
  1076. lingerie there, it's beautiful, it's
  1077. the best there is, it's...oh, please,
  1078. sir...
  1079.  
  1080. MILLER
  1081. Sorry, I need a B.A.R. man, you're
  1082. the best.
  1083.  
  1084. REIBEN
  1085. (desperate)
  1086. No, I'm not, Kaback is, honest. Or
  1087. what about Faulkner? Or that little
  1088. guy with the glasses?
  1089.  
  1090. MILLER
  1091. Trust me, you're the best.
  1092.  
  1093. REIBEN
  1094. (whimpering)
  1095. But, sir...
  1096.  
  1097. Miller jerks his head for his men to follow and he strides
  1098. off toward the Supply Sergeant's table. Sarge falls in next
  1099. to Miller.
  1100.  
  1101. SARGE
  1102. You get a translator, Captain?
  1103.  
  1104. MILLER
  1105. I've got a line on one.
  1106.  
  1107. TRANSPORT OPERATIONS TABLE
  1108. Chaos. Vehicles THUNDERING by. The
  1109. Supply Sergeant juggles runners and
  1110. paperwork. Miller steps up to him.
  1111.  
  1112. MILLER
  1113. Sergeant, I need a truck.
  1114.  
  1115. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1116. Sorry, sir, fresh out of trucks, how
  1117. 'bout a '38 Ford Roadster, hard-top,
  1118. red with black interior.
  1119.  
  1120. MILLER
  1121. White-walls?
  1122.  
  1123. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1124. No white-walls, sir, there's a war
  1125. on.
  1126. (to the Private)
  1127. NOT THERE, YOU GODDAMNED IDIOT, OVER
  1128. THERE!
  1129. (to Miller)
  1130. I can't help you, sir.
  1131.  
  1132. MILLER
  1133. A half-track, anything.
  1134.  
  1135. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1136. Sorry, sir. Division is using
  1137. everything on wheels to get up to
  1138. Caen.
  1139. (notices Miller's
  1140. shoulder patch)
  1141. How come you guys aren't going?
  1142.  
  1143. Miller ignores the question. He spies a jeep.
  1144.  
  1145. MILLER
  1146. How about that jeep?
  1147.  
  1148. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1149. That's General Gavin's. His lap dog
  1150. told me if anyone breathes on it,
  1151. I'll get busted and if anyone so
  1152. much as touches it with their little
  1153. finger, I'll get court marshaled.
  1154. If you were to take it, they'd shoot
  1155. me.
  1156.  
  1157. JACKSON
  1158. Cap'n, does that mean we got to walk
  1159. all the way up to Ramelle?
  1160.  
  1161. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1162. What's at Ramelle beside a lot of
  1163. Germans.
  1164.  
  1165. MILLER
  1166. A paratrooper named Ryan. He's going
  1167. home, if he's alive.
  1168.  
  1169. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1170. Senator's son?
  1171.  
  1172. MILLER
  1173. No, three brothers of his were killed
  1174. in action. Command wants him out of
  1175. there.
  1176.  
  1177. The Supply Sergeant grunts as if punched in the belly.
  1178.  
  1179. SUPPLY SERGEANT
  1180. Damn...I got a couple brothers...
  1181.  
  1182. Miller looks at him, noting his reaction coldly. The Supply
  1183. Sergeant shifts his eyes toward General Gavin's jeep.
  1184.  
  1185. EXT. ROAD LEADING FROM TRANSPORT - DAY
  1186.  
  1187. Miller and his men drive off, fast, in General Gavin's jeep.
  1188. Sarge is at the wheel, weaving and bouncing through the bedlam
  1189. of men and vehicles. Miller rides shotgun. Reiben, Jackson
  1190. and Wade are crammed in the back.
  1191.  
  1192. The SUPPLY SERGEANT Watches them go. Behind him, GENERAL
  1193. GAVIN, pure piss and vinegar, strides up, trailed by his
  1194. huge staff. He looks around for his jeep, comes up empty.
  1195.  
  1196. GENERAL GAVIN
  1197. SERGEANT, WHERE THE HELL IS MY
  1198. GODDAMNED JEEP!?
  1199.  
  1200. The Supply Sergeant puffs his cigar with a smile and turns
  1201. to take his lumps.
  1202.  
  1203. EXT. ROAD - DAY
  1204.  
  1205. Miller and his men weave through the chaos of the American
  1206. staging area.
  1207.  
  1208. MILLER
  1209. We've got to make one stop.
  1210.  
  1211. Miller points the way for Sarge.
  1212.  
  1213. EXT. INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
  1214.  
  1215. Miller and his men skid to a stop in front of a perfectly
  1216. white, taut-lined tent. A steady stream of ROARING vehicles
  1217. and CHATTERING men move out around them. DISTANT GUNS RUMBLE.
  1218. SPORADIC MEDIUM-DISTANCE EXPLOSIONS BOOM. Miller hops out.
  1219.  
  1220. MILLER
  1221. Wait here.
  1222.  
  1223. He strides into the tent.
  1224.  
  1225. INT. INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
  1226.  
  1227. Three bookish corporals hover over map tables like studious
  1228. nerds the day before finals. They're breaking down and
  1229. gridding field maps and covering them in plasticine. Tedious,
  1230. detailed work.
  1231.  
  1232. One of them is TIM UPHAM, a thin, twenty-four year old,
  1233. patrician with gentle, thoughtful eyes behind his thick
  1234. glasses. He nervously jumps at the sound of a VERY DISTANT
  1235. EXPLOSION, then he forces himself to concentrate on his work.
  1236. Miller strides in. Miller I'm looking for Corporal Upham.
  1237.  
  1238. Upham raises his eyes from his map and re-focuses.
  1239.  
  1240. Upham Sir, I'm Upham.
  1241.  
  1242. MILLER
  1243. I understand you speak French and
  1244. German.
  1245.  
  1246. Upham Yes, sir.
  1247.  
  1248. MILLER
  1249. Do you have an accent?
  1250.  
  1251. Upham A slight one in French. My German is clean. It has a
  1252. touch of the Bavarian.
  1253.  
  1254. MILLER
  1255. Good, you've been re-assigned to me,
  1256. we're going to Ramelle.
  1257.  
  1258. Upham knows enough geography to know what that means.
  1259.  
  1260. Upham Uh, sir, there are Germans up at Ramelle.
  1261.  
  1262. MILLER
  1263. That's my understanding.
  1264.  
  1265. Upham Lots of them.
  1266.  
  1267. MILLER
  1268. Do you have a problem with that,
  1269. Corporal?
  1270.  
  1271. Upham Sir, I've never been in combat. I make maps. I
  1272. translate.
  1273.  
  1274. MILLER
  1275. I need a translator, all mine have
  1276. been killed.
  1277.  
  1278. Upham But, sir, I haven't held a gun since basic training.
  1279.  
  1280. MILLER
  1281. It'll come back to you. Get your
  1282. gear.
  1283.  
  1284. Upham hesitates.
  1285.  
  1286. Upham Sir, may I bring my typewriter?
  1287.  
  1288. Miller looks at him closely, not sure if he's joking.
  1289.  
  1290. Upham I'm writing a book and I...
  1291.  
  1292. Miller's expression gives him his answer.
  1293.  
  1294. Upham Uh, how about a pencil?
  1295.  
  1296. MILLER
  1297. A small one.
  1298.  
  1299. Miller shoos him off.
  1300.  
  1301. MILLER
  1302. Go, go...
  1303.  
  1304. Upham scurries away. Miller sighs.
  1305.  
  1306. EXT. ROAD LEADING FROM INTELLIGENCE TENT - DAY
  1307.  
  1308. Miller and his men peel out, now with Upham crammed with the
  1309. others in the back of the jeep. As they drive off, the CAMERA
  1310. CRANES UP to reveal the vast tableau of the biggest invasion
  1311. in military history.
  1312.  
  1313. The scope of the operation is stunning. The beach is covered
  1314. with mountains of supplies. A steady stream of vehicles
  1315. winds up the dunes. Hundreds of barrage balloons, anchored
  1316. by heavy steel cables, hover over the entire scene. Off-
  1317. shore, a massive Mulberry port is under construction, workers
  1318. swarming over it like ants. Beyond that, thousands of ships
  1319. and boats of every type and description. The smoke of
  1320. hundreds of fires rises on the horizon. EXPLOSIONS, some
  1321. distant, some close, BOOM and RUMBLE.
  1322.  
  1323. It's an awesome, breathtaking sight. Miller and his tiny
  1324. band of men, weave their way through the middle of it,
  1325. speeding away from the beach, heading inland, leaving the
  1326. bulk of the American Army behind. Ext. french road - day
  1327. Miller and his men drive fast passing American vehicles and
  1328. infantrymen moving forward. The sides of the road are
  1329. littered with the debris of burning German vehicles, abandoned
  1330. equipment, bodies.
  1331.  
  1332. Sarge drives. Miller reads a map. Upham, cradling a pristine
  1333. M-1 rifle, is all eyes and ears. Jackson and Wade calmly
  1334. take in the view. Reiben checks out the close quarters in
  1335. the back of the jeep.
  1336.  
  1337. REIBEN
  1338. Captain, can I ask you a question?
  1339.  
  1340. MILLER
  1341. Sure, Reiben.
  1342.  
  1343. REIBEN
  1344. Where are you planning on putting
  1345. Private Ryan, sir?
  1346.  
  1347. Miller doesn't raise his eyes from the map.
  1348.  
  1349. REIBEN
  1350. (continuing)
  1351. It's just that it's kind of crowded
  1352. back here, I was wondering if you're
  1353. expecting to have more room on the
  1354. way back?
  1355.  
  1356. Miller points out a turn to Sarge.
  1357.  
  1358. MILLER
  1359. Left.
  1360.  
  1361. Sarge makes the turn. Miller folds up the map and pockets
  1362. it.
  1363.  
  1364. MILLER
  1365. Now we've got a straight shot, due
  1366. north, to Ramelle, twenty-six miles,
  1367. two villages between here and there,
  1368. St. Mere, then Bernay. We'll take
  1369. the jeep as far as we can, then go
  1370. on on foot.
  1371.  
  1372. SARGE
  1373. We in radio contact with anybody up
  1374. there?
  1375.  
  1376. MILLER
  1377. Somebody put the wrong crystals in
  1378. every one of the Hundred-and-First's
  1379. radios the night before the drop,
  1380. not one of them works. We're going
  1381. in blind.
  1382.  
  1383. REIBEN
  1384. I usually like surprises.
  1385.  
  1386. SARGE
  1387. What are we likely to run into?
  1388.  
  1389. MILLER
  1390. A fucking mess, two maybe three Kraut
  1391. divisions, no fronts, no lines, the
  1392. drops were completely fouled up,
  1393. we've got little pockets of
  1394. paratroopers all over the place,
  1395. trying to hang on. Command says we
  1396. hold St. Mere, but north of that,
  1397. it's all Krauts. Even if Ryan's
  1398. where he's supposed to be, he's more
  1399. than likely dead.
  1400.  
  1401. SARGE
  1402. Hell of a mission.
  1403.  
  1404. MILLER
  1405. Yep, hell of a mission.
  1406.  
  1407. IN THE BACK OF THE JEEP
  1408.  
  1409. Upham avidly takes in everything. He notices Reiben staring
  1410. at him, grows nervous under his look and offers a hopeful
  1411. smile.
  1412.  
  1413. Upham Hi. So, uh, you're all Rangers?
  1414.  
  1415. Reiben, Jackson and Wade look at Upham as if he were an
  1416. insect.
  1417.  
  1418. Upham I'm Upham.
  1419.  
  1420. (pointing at his corporal's stripes)
  1421.  
  1422. Ignore these, please, I know all that breaks down in combat.
  1423. Their jaws drop.
  1424.  
  1425. REIBEN
  1426. (to Wade)
  1427. You want to shoot him, or should I?
  1428.  
  1429. Wade It's not my turn.
  1430.  
  1431. REIBEN
  1432. (politely)
  1433. Jackson?
  1434.  
  1435. JACKSON
  1436. Hell, no, last time I shot a corporal,
  1437. Cap'n Miller near bit my head off.
  1438.  
  1439. Upham reacts to the metion of Miller's name.
  1440.  
  1441. Upham Miller?
  1442.  
  1443. MILLER
  1444. I don't want anybody to shoot him,
  1445. that's an order. He speaks French
  1446. and his German has a touch of the
  1447. Bavarian.
  1448.  
  1449. Upham Sir, are you Captain John Miller?
  1450.  
  1451. Miller sighs, he knows what's coming.
  1452.  
  1453. UPHAM
  1454. (continuing)
  1455. ...who won the Congressional Medal
  1456. of Hon...?
  1457.  
  1458. Upham's words are frozen in his throat by the warning glances
  1459. of Miller's men. Miller himself remains relaxed but stone-
  1460. faced.
  1461.  
  1462. No one speaks for a few seconds, then the moment passes as
  1463. if it had never happened.
  1464.  
  1465. REIBEN
  1466. Captain, I gotta tell you, the irony
  1467. of this mission is fucking killing
  1468. me.
  1469.  
  1470. MILLER
  1471. Yeah, how so?
  1472.  
  1473. REIBEN
  1474. I should be on my way to Caen, sir.
  1475. It's like Beethoven, the guy's one
  1476. of the greatest composers ever lived
  1477. and he goes deaf. Go figure, I mean,
  1478. who'd he piss off? And here I am,
  1479. the Beethoven of ladies foundation
  1480. garments, one step away from Caen,
  1481. the center of the known lingerie
  1482. universe and instead, I'm going to
  1483. Ramelle to save some fucking private
  1484. who's probably already dead.
  1485.  
  1486. MILLER
  1487. There's to be a bright side, look
  1488. for it.
  1489.  
  1490. REIBEN
  1491. Sir, you know what Ramelle is famous
  1492. for? Cheese. The rest of the company
  1493. is going to Caen and we're going to
  1494. the goddamned cheese capital of
  1495. France. There is no bright side.
  1496.  
  1497. MILLER
  1498. There's always a bright side.
  1499.  
  1500. REIBEN
  1501. I'm listening, sir.
  1502.  
  1503. MILLER
  1504. Well, I, for one, like cheese.
  1505.  
  1506. Wade pipes up cheerfully.
  1507.  
  1508. Wade Hell, I don't mind going to Ramelle, as long as there's
  1509. something up there for me to blow up.
  1510.  
  1511. REIBEN
  1512. Well, you're a happy idiot.
  1513.  
  1514. THEY ROUND A TURN
  1515.  
  1516. SKID TO A STOP AT A:
  1517.  
  1518. BOTTLENECK OF AMERICAN VEHICLES
  1519.  
  1520. A LIEUTENANT is roadmaster. Miller calls to him.
  1521.  
  1522. MILLER
  1523. How's the road up to St. Mere?
  1524.  
  1525. Lieutenant Bad, sir. There're some eighty-eights hiding
  1526. somewhere, knocking the hell out of our traffic.
  1527.  
  1528. MILLER
  1529. Anybody getting through?
  1530.  
  1531. Lieutenant The lucky ones.
  1532.  
  1533. Miller nods to Sarge who floors it. They take off, spraying
  1534. gravel behind them. Ext. St. Mere Road - day The jeep barrels
  1535. down the road, fast. The road is pock-marked with craters.
  1536. They pass the wreckage of a pair of American jeeps. Direct
  1537. hits. Sarge swerves around them without slowing.
  1538.  
  1539. AN AMERICAN TROOP TRUCK SMOLDERS
  1540.  
  1541. On the side of the road, surrounded by the charred bodies of
  1542. a dozen American troops. It's a nightmare vision. Upham
  1543. grows weak at the sight. Miller takes note of Upham's
  1544. reaction.
  1545.  
  1546. IN THE BACK
  1547. The men bounce up and down like
  1548. stuffed animals, doing their best to
  1549. not be thrown out.
  1550.  
  1551. REIBEN
  1552. Hell, this is better than Coney
  1553. Island!
  1554.  
  1555. A HUGE BUMP
  1556. Bounces Reiben up and slams his back
  1557. down on his shovel. He HOLLERS IN
  1558. PAIN.
  1559.  
  1560. MILLER
  1561. Just trying to make room for Ryan.
  1562.  
  1563. Reiben shoots Miller a smile and shifts his belt, moving his
  1564. shovel from under his bruised ass.
  1565.  
  1566. THEY ROUND A BEND
  1567.  
  1568. See a long, straight stretch of road. Half-a-dozen burning,
  1569. obliterated American vehicles. A gauntlet to run.
  1570.  
  1571. AN EIGHTY-EIGHT SHELL SCREAMS IN
  1572.  
  1573. Lands right behind them. BLOWS A NEW CRATER
  1574.  
  1575. MILLER
  1576. (sweetly)
  1577. Sarge?
  1578.  
  1579. SARGE FLOORS IT. Everyone hangs on.
  1580.  
  1581. ANOTHER SHELL EXPLODES
  1582. Thirty yards ahead of them.
  1583.  
  1584. MILLER
  1585. Directs Sarge off the road.
  1586.  
  1587. MILLER
  1588. They've got the road zeroed.
  1589.  
  1590. SARGE
  1591. Yanks the wheel, driving the jeep
  1592. off the road.
  1593.  
  1594. THE JEEP BOUNCES
  1595. Off the shoulder. Nearly throwing
  1596. everyone out. Somehow they hang on.
  1597. The jeep tears along the rutted field.
  1598.  
  1599. ANOTHER EXPLOSION
  1600. Just behind them.
  1601.  
  1602. SARGE DRIVES MADLY
  1603. Not slowing down. Trying to avoid
  1604. the biggest ruts and bumps.
  1605.  
  1606. ANOTHER EXPLOSION
  1607. Close on their side. Showers them
  1608. with debris.
  1609.  
  1610. SARGE
  1611. Jesus Christ!
  1612.  
  1613. MILLER SCANS THE TERRAIN
  1614.  
  1615. Sees a cluster of buildings about half-a-mile ahead.
  1616.  
  1617. MILLER
  1618. They've got a hell of a spotter
  1619. somewhere.
  1620.  
  1621. ANOTHER EXPLOSION
  1622. Even closer. The jeep's PEPPERED
  1623. WITH SHRAPNEL. They BARREL THROUGH
  1624. the smoke.
  1625.  
  1626. MILLER
  1627. S-curves, Sarge.
  1628.  
  1629. SARGE
  1630. Turns shallow curves without slowing
  1631. down.
  1632.  
  1633. SUDDENLY SEES A CRATER
  1634.  
  1635. Tries to avoid it. Too late. Brakes. PLOWS into overturned
  1636. earth. STOPS SHORT.
  1637.  
  1638. REIBEN, UPHAM, WADE AND JACKSON
  1639.  
  1640. THROWN from the jeep. TUMBLE into the dirt. Not hurt.
  1641.  
  1642. SARGE AND MILLER
  1643. Hang on. Stay in the jeep but are
  1644. battered. All stunned. MILLER Is
  1645. first to regain his bearings. Jumps
  1646. up. Checks out the jeep. Undamaged.
  1647. Deep in the soft dirt.
  1648.  
  1649. AN EIGHTY-EIGHT SHELL SCREAMS IN EXPLODES THIRTY YARDS LEFT
  1650.  
  1651. MILLER
  1652. Sarge! Reverse!
  1653.  
  1654. Sarge puts his head back on and throws the jeep into gear.
  1655. The wheels spin. Miller throws his shoulder into the jeep.
  1656. Yells to the others.
  1657.  
  1658. MILLER
  1659. COME ON! YOU WANNA WALK?
  1660.  
  1661. STILL DAZED
  1662. Reiben, Wade, Jackson, Upham screw
  1663. their heads back on. Shoulder into
  1664. the jeep. Push for all they're worth.
  1665. The WHEELS STILL SPIN.
  1666.  
  1667. ANOTHER EIGHTY-EIGHT SHELL LANDS EXPLODES THIRTY YARDS RIGHT
  1668.  
  1669. MILLER IGNORES IT
  1670. He's the only one who does.
  1671.  
  1672. SARGE
  1673. Captain, they got us zeroed.
  1674.  
  1675. Upham is very nervous.
  1676.  
  1677. UPHAM
  1678. That's bracketing, right?
  1679.  
  1680. They all ignore him.
  1681.  
  1682. UPHAM
  1683. I know about bracketing. I read
  1684. about it. The next one is going to
  1685. land right on us.
  1686.  
  1687. MILLER
  1688. FORWARD! FORWARD!
  1689. (beat)
  1690. NOW REVERSE!
  1691.  
  1692. Sarge SLAMS THE JEEP INTO REVERSE. Rocks it. SLAMS IT BACK
  1693. INTO FORWARD. Makes progress.
  1694.  
  1695. ALL THE MEN PUSH, ALL EYES UP. WAITING FOR THE NEXT SHELL.
  1696.  
  1697. SARGE
  1698. Uh, Captain...
  1699.  
  1700. MILLER
  1701. PUSH!
  1702.  
  1703. SARGE
  1704. Uh, Captain...
  1705.  
  1706. THE TIRES SCREAM
  1707. A bit more progress. It's almost
  1708. out.
  1709.  
  1710. THEY ALL PUSH LIKE MANIACS
  1711.  
  1712. Knowing the shell is coming any second. Upham is beside
  1713. himself.
  1714.  
  1715. SARGE
  1716. (sweetly)
  1717. Oh, Captain...
  1718.  
  1719. ONE MORE PUSH
  1720. The jeep rocks back in, deeper.
  1721.  
  1722. MILLER
  1723. SHIT!
  1724.  
  1725. THEY HEAR THE SCREAM OF THE SHELL MILLER BARKS TO HIS MEN
  1726.  
  1727. MILLER
  1728. GO!
  1729.  
  1730. THE MEN
  1731. Instantly take off. Away from the
  1732. jeep. As fast as they can.
  1733.  
  1734. THE SHELL SCREAMS IN
  1735.  
  1736. The men hit the dirt.
  1737.  
  1738. DIRECT HIT
  1739. OBLITERATING THE JEEP
  1740.  
  1741. THE MEN
  1742. Barely out of the BLAST PERIMETER.
  1743. STUNNED by the concussion. SHOWERED
  1744. with dirt, rock and debris.
  1745.  
  1746. MILLER
  1747. Is first up. Sarge and the men
  1748. struggle to their feet. Hear MORE
  1749. INCOMING. Miller grabs Upham by the
  1750. collar and pulls him up.
  1751.  
  1752. MILLER
  1753. HERE COME THE MORTARS!
  1754.  
  1755. THEY ALL TAKE OFF
  1756.  
  1757. Running as fast as they can.
  1758.  
  1759. THE FIRST OF THE MORTAR SHELLS COME IN
  1760.  
  1761. The eighty-eight is big, with pauses spaces between. But
  1762. there must be a dozen mortars firing. The shells are almost
  1763. constant.
  1764.  
  1765. THE FIELD
  1766. The six Americans run madly, in zig-
  1767. zag patterns through the gauntlet of
  1768. MORTAR EXPLOSIONS. BOOM
  1769.  
  1770. RUNNING, STUMBLING
  1771. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM
  1772.  
  1773. UPHAM IS THROWN TO THE GROUND
  1774.  
  1775. Miller yanks him up. Half-drags him to the edge of the field.
  1776.  
  1777. THEY MAKE IT TO THE TREES
  1778.  
  1779. Keep running. Through the bushes and brambles. Thirty yards
  1780. in.
  1781.  
  1782. THE EXPLOSIONS STOP
  1783. THE MEN ALL STOP Panting. Struggling
  1784. to catch their breath. Check their
  1785. body parts. Everything's there.
  1786. They have their weapons, most of
  1787. their gear.
  1788.  
  1789. Reiben looks back through the trees at THE JEEP, which is
  1790. nothing more than a burning carcass. He shakes his head.
  1791.  
  1792. REIBEN
  1793. General Gavin is going to be very
  1794. irritated at you, Captain.
  1795.  
  1796. MILLER
  1797. Stands on the edge of the woods,
  1798. almost in a trance.
  1799.  
  1800. UPHAM
  1801. Captain, I...
  1802.  
  1803. SARGE
  1804. Sssssh!
  1805.  
  1806. Miller, far away, quickly shifts his eyes and ears from
  1807. position to position.
  1808.  
  1809. MILLER
  1810. Sarge, maps.
  1811.  
  1812. Sarge quickly opens up the map case. The men are dead silent,
  1813. frozen in place.
  1814.  
  1815. MILLER
  1816. Two eighty-eights, just under two-
  1817. and-a-half miles, that way, vector
  1818. from the jeep, through those two
  1819. trees at the base of the hill. The
  1820. mortars came from behind that rise,
  1821. there, four of them.
  1822.  
  1823. Sarge quickly starts vectoring on the map. Miller snaps out
  1824. of it.
  1825.  
  1826. MILLER
  1827. Wade, the radio.
  1828.  
  1829. Wade instantly starts cranking it up. Upham is amazed.
  1830.  
  1831. UPHAM
  1832. You can tell all that, just by the
  1833. sound, sire?
  1834.  
  1835. MILLER
  1836. That's not all. There were nine
  1837. gunners on the eighty-eights, one
  1838. had a broken heel on his boot, two
  1839. had bratwurst for supper last night,
  1840. one of them is named Fritz, the other,
  1841. Hans, maybe, I don't know, it's hard
  1842. to tell.
  1843.  
  1844. JACKSON
  1845. Corporal, you have just seen one of
  1846. Captain Miller's many God-given
  1847. talents. If, by some miracle, you
  1848. survive, you will witness many more
  1849. of them.
  1850.  
  1851. Sarge finished vectoring.
  1852.  
  1853. SARGE
  1854. Got it, sir. We gonna go take care
  1855. of those eighty-eights?
  1856.  
  1857. MILLER
  1858. That's not what we're here for.
  1859.  
  1860. WADE
  1861. (re. radio)
  1862. I've got command, Captain.
  1863.  
  1864. Miller takes the handset from Wade and the map from Sarge.
  1865.  
  1866. MILLER
  1867. (into radio)
  1868. This is Baker Charley One, fire mark,
  1869. sector three, foxtrot quadrant, four-
  1870. three by baker-three. Two eighty-
  1871. eights. Tell our boys to come in
  1872. low from the east in case the Krauts
  1873. have ack-ack. Good hunting. Over.
  1874.  
  1875. A VOICE ON THE RADIO SIGNS OFF through the static. Wade
  1876. packs up the radio. Miller folds up the map. Jackson Sir,
  1877. wouldn't take us but a minute to put out them eighty-eights.
  1878.  
  1879. SARGE
  1880. He's right, Captain, it might be
  1881. kind of dangerous for those flyboys.
  1882.  
  1883. MILLER
  1884. Tell that to Private James Ryan.
  1885. We've got our orders. Let's go.
  1886.  
  1887. Miller heads off without pausing or looking back. The rest
  1888. of the men don't like it, but they follow. Upham trails,
  1889. amazed at Miller.
  1890.  
  1891. EXT. WOODS - DAY
  1892.  
  1893. Miller walks point. His men follow warily. Upham falls in
  1894. alongside Reiben.
  1895.  
  1896. UPHAM
  1897. So, where are you from?
  1898.  
  1899. REIBEN
  1900. Get lost.
  1901.  
  1902. Upham smiles lamely and moves on to Jackson.
  1903.  
  1904. UPHAM
  1905. So, where are you from?
  1906.  
  1907. JACKSON
  1908. You writin' a book or somethin'?
  1909.  
  1910. UPHAM
  1911. As a matter of fact, I am.
  1912.  
  1913. JACKSON
  1914. Figured.
  1915.  
  1916. Wade overhears and smiles at Upham.
  1917.  
  1918. WADE
  1919. I'm Wade, that's spelled, W-A-D-E,
  1920. I'm small but wiry, with piercing,
  1921. steel-gray eyes, and a rough-hewn
  1922. but handsome face, I'm from Colorado,
  1923. my father's a mining engineer, don't
  1924. you take notes?
  1925.  
  1926. Upham shakes his head.
  1927.  
  1928. UPHAM
  1929. Demolition, right?
  1930.  
  1931. WADE
  1932. Since I was nine years old. They
  1933. got a lot of explosives around mines.
  1934. Me and my little brother could get
  1935. into any warehouse you ever saw.
  1936. Damn, we had fun!
  1937.  
  1938. Jackson shrugs.
  1939.  
  1940. JACKSON
  1941. I'm Jackson. I'm from West Fork,
  1942. Tennessee. My pappy's a preacher.
  1943. Him and his two brothers got a
  1944. ministry, The Blessed Church of the
  1945. Wandering Gospel.
  1946.  
  1947. UPHAM
  1948. In West Fork?
  1949.  
  1950. JACKSON
  1951. In the back of a nineteen and thirty-
  1952. one stretch Hudson with a big ole'
  1953. trailer.
  1954.  
  1955. UPHAM
  1956. No kidding.
  1957.  
  1958. JACKSON
  1959. I don't make jokes about things of,
  1960. or related to, the preaching of the
  1961. Holy Gospel, including the ministerial
  1962. calling of my family.
  1963.  
  1964. UPHAM
  1965. So they travel around from place to
  1966. place and preach?
  1967.  
  1968. JACKSON
  1969. We got us a tent, forty-two feet
  1970. across, eighteen feet at center,
  1971. hundred-and-ten foldin' chairs.
  1972. Circuit's eleven towns, covers all
  1973. 'a Hasset County and most 'a Weller
  1974. County. I expect that upon completion
  1975. of my military service I will be
  1976. joinin' said ministry.
  1977.  
  1978. UPHAM
  1979. What about the Captain? Where's he
  1980. from?
  1981.  
  1982. They all shake their heads. Miller's out of earshot.
  1983.  
  1984. JACKSON
  1985. You figure that out, you got yourself
  1986. one nice prize.
  1987.  
  1988. SARGE
  1989. Over three hundred bucks, last I
  1990. heard. Wade Company's got a pool,
  1991. five bucks gets you in, whoever
  1992. guesses where the Captain's from and
  1993. what he did as a civilian gets it
  1994. all.
  1995.  
  1996. JACKSON
  1997. The whole kit and caboodle.
  1998.  
  1999. UPHAM
  2000. But everybody's heard of him, he won
  2001. the Congressional Medal of Honor, he
  2002. saved a dozen men.
  2003.  
  2004. REIBEN
  2005. We know.
  2006.  
  2007. UPHAM
  2008. Somebody must know where he's from,
  2009. what he did for a living.
  2010.  
  2011. SARGE
  2012. Somebody probably does.
  2013.  
  2014. UPHAM
  2015. Why don't you just ask him?
  2016.  
  2017. JACKSON
  2018. The Captain prefers not to discuss
  2019. certain aspects of his life, in
  2020. particular, everything up to and
  2021. including his enlistment in the United
  2022. States Army.
  2023.  
  2024. SARGE
  2025. I've been with him since Anzio. I'm
  2026. closer to him that I am to my own
  2027. brother but I don't even know what
  2028. state he's from. Somewhere in the
  2029. Northeast as near as I can figure.
  2030. I don't even have a clue what he did
  2031. for a living as civilian.
  2032.  
  2033. Reiben shakes his head.
  2034.  
  2035. REIBEN
  2036. No one's gonna win the money for the
  2037. simple reason that the Captain never
  2038. was a civilian. They assembled him
  2039. at O.C.S. out of spare body parts
  2040. from dead G.I.'s. I know this for a
  2041. fact.
  2042.  
  2043. JACKSON
  2044. (defensively)
  2045. You got somethin' against the Cap'n?
  2046.  
  2047. REIBEN
  2048. Hell, no. I think he's the best
  2049. officer in the whole goddamned army,
  2050. bar none.
  2051.  
  2052. They all nod in assent, no argument there.
  2053.  
  2054. JACKSON
  2055. You got that right.
  2056.  
  2057. Miller walks on ahead, unaware of their conversation. Upham
  2058. watches Miller, with even more curiosity.
  2059.  
  2060. EXT. HEDGEROW FIELD - DAY
  2061.  
  2062. Miller and his men walk along a hedgerow that parallels a
  2063. country cow path. They're staying close to the cover of the
  2064. brush. Miller walks tall now.
  2065.  
  2066. JACKSON
  2067. Captain, my feet are most
  2068. uncomfortable. If I'd 'a known we
  2069. was gonna have to walk all the way
  2070. to Ramelle, I never would 'a
  2071. volunteered for this here mission.
  2072.  
  2073. MILLER
  2074. You didn't volunteer, Jackson.
  2075.  
  2076. JACKSON
  2077. I most likely would have, sir, had I
  2078. been given the opportunity.
  2079.  
  2080. REIBEN
  2081. If we find Ryan and he's still alive,
  2082. that son-of-a-bitch is gonna carry
  2083. this goddamned B.A.R. back to the
  2084. beach for me.
  2085.  
  2086. JACKSON
  2087. Army life is too dang easy, my feet
  2088. have gone soft. Back home, we go
  2089. out squirrel huntin', I walk forever
  2090. and a day and then some, don't even
  2091. raise a blister.
  2092.  
  2093. REIBEN
  2094. You know what a B.A.R. weighs?
  2095. Nineteen and a half pounds, not
  2096. counting ammo.
  2097. (re. ammo bandoleers)
  2098. And you think these things are
  2099. comfortable? They may look good but
  2100. they weigh twelve pounds each, that's
  2101. thirty-six pounds, right there.
  2102.  
  2103. WADE
  2104. So what? I've got three satchel
  2105. charges, six gammon grenades, a dozen-
  2106. and-a-half pineapples, and all my
  2107. regular gear. You don't hear me
  2108. complaining.
  2109.  
  2110. REIBEN
  2111. That's because, as I have pointed
  2112. out on numerous occasions, you are a
  2113. happy idiot.
  2114.  
  2115. WADE
  2116. No, I just happen to take the
  2117. Captain's advice and look at the
  2118. bright side of things.
  2119.  
  2120. UPHAM
  2121. How do you do it?
  2122.  
  2123. WADE
  2124. It's easy, it runs in my family,
  2125. take my grandfather, for example...
  2126.  
  2127. REIBEN
  2128. Oh, Christ, now we gotta listen to
  2129. that grandfather thing again.
  2130.  
  2131. WADE
  2132. As I was saying, before I was so
  2133. rudely interrupted, my grandfather
  2134. got old, as grandfathers tend to do.
  2135. He needed someone to take care of
  2136. him. We move around all the time,
  2137. going from one mine to another, so
  2138. we had to put him in a home. Nice
  2139. enough place but kind of depressing.
  2140. But not for Granddad. He just
  2141. convinced himself he was on a cruise
  2142. ship, going to Tahiti, he had his
  2143. own cabin, first class, with room
  2144. service. It just so happened that
  2145. the weather was always lousy, so he
  2146. never bothered to go up on deck.
  2147. Happiest guy you ever saw until the
  2148. day he died.
  2149.  
  2150. UPHAM
  2151. You think he really believed it?
  2152.  
  2153. WADE
  2154. Who knows? It worked.
  2155.  
  2156. REIBEN
  2157. Fine, you convince yourself you got
  2158. a pack full of feathers and goddamned
  2159. Private James Ryan can carry my
  2160. fucking gear.
  2161.  
  2162. WADE
  2163. Reiben, you can be very unpleasant
  2164. to be around sometimes.
  2165.  
  2166. REIBEN
  2167. You want unpleasant? Just wait, I
  2168. can do much better than this.
  2169.  
  2170. WADE
  2171. Look at Upham, you don't hear him
  2172. complaining.
  2173.  
  2174. Upham, feeling bold and a bit naughty, decides to give it a
  2175. shot.
  2176.  
  2177. UPHAM
  2178. Well, as a matter of fact, I was
  2179. just thinking...
  2180.  
  2181. The men roll their eyes, expecting the worst.
  2182.  
  2183. UPHAM
  2184. (continuing)
  2185. That I'm so fucking tired of this
  2186. goddamned walking, I'd pay a thousand
  2187. dollars to see that bastard Ryan
  2188. crawl on his belly over an acre of
  2189. broken glass to hear my great-aunt
  2190. Martha fart through a field-phone.
  2191.  
  2192. The men are stunned.
  2193.  
  2194. REIBEN
  2195. Jesus Christ, he's a natural!
  2196.  
  2197. MILLER
  2198. Upham, are you sure you've never
  2199. been in combat?
  2200.  
  2201. Upham wiggles with pride. Upham Positive, sir, I'm certain
  2202. I'd remember.
  2203.  
  2204. Miller eyes Upham respectfully and nods to the men.
  2205.  
  2206. MILLER
  2207. He's good.
  2208.  
  2209. They walk on.
  2210.  
  2211. JACKSON
  2212. Cap'n, my feet are most uncomfortable.
  2213.  
  2214. Miller smiles, situation normal.
  2215.  
  2216. EXT. ST. MERE - LATE AFTERNOON
  2217.  
  2218. A small town has been reduced to rubble and is still an active
  2219. battlefield. HEAVY SMALL ARMS FIRE. GRENADE AND MORTAR
  2220. EXPLOSIONS. MEDIUM ARTILLERY BEYOND. American soldiers
  2221. crouch in doorways, FIRING at well-placed Germans.
  2222.  
  2223. Some French civilians dash across a street. A man and a
  2224. couple of women, one carrying a child. They make it across
  2225. and disappear into the remains of a building.
  2226.  
  2227. Miller runs up and flattens himself against a wall at a
  2228. corner. Sarge and the other men follow in leap-frog, spread
  2229. out down the block behind him.
  2230.  
  2231. Miller glances around the corner, taking a quick mental
  2232. picture of a GATHERING OF G.I.'s crouching in the cover of
  2233. an alley across the street and down the block. They are
  2234. CAPTAIN HAMILL, about Miller's age, and HIS MEN.
  2235.  
  2236. As Miller ducks back behind the corner, A GERMAN BULLET
  2237. SMASHES into the bricks where his head was an instant before.
  2238.  
  2239. Miller motions Jackson across first.
  2240.  
  2241. MILLER
  2242. Stay low.
  2243.  
  2244. Jackson gathers himself, takes off. GERMAN BULLETS BLAST,
  2245. kicking up the cobblestone behind him. Jackson zig-zags and
  2246. makes it to the cover of the far side.
  2247.  
  2248. JACKSON
  2249. Dang! That was close!
  2250.  
  2251. Miller nods to Upham.
  2252.  
  2253. MILLER
  2254. Your turn.
  2255.  
  2256. Upham, scared shitless, doesn't move. Miller speaks to him
  2257. very gently.
  2258.  
  2259. MILLER
  2260. Zig-zag, change your pace a couple
  2261. times, you'll be alright.
  2262.  
  2263. Upham's frozen. He can barely breathe. Miller sighs.
  2264.  
  2265. MILLER
  2266. Okay, I'm going to draw fire for
  2267. you.
  2268. (sternly)
  2269. But if I do, you goddamned well better
  2270. go.
  2271.  
  2272. Upham nods. Miller gathers himself, takes a deep breath.
  2273.  
  2274. CLOSE SHOT: MILLER'S HAND quivers.
  2275.  
  2276. MILLER
  2277. Looks to Upham
  2278.  
  2279. MILLER
  2280. Ready?
  2281.  
  2282. Upham nods, still terrified.
  2283.  
  2284. MILLER STEPS INTO THE OPEN
  2285.  
  2286. Stands motionless, presenting himself to the German snipers.
  2287.  
  2288. MILLER
  2289. Go.
  2290.  
  2291. Upham runs.
  2292.  
  2293. A GERMAN BULLET HITS THE BRICKS NEAR MILLER.
  2294.  
  2295. He doesn't budge.
  2296.  
  2297. UPHAM TEARS ACROSS THE STREET very, very fast.
  2298.  
  2299. REIBEN watches Upham run.
  2300.  
  2301. REIBEN
  2302. Hey, that guy can move.
  2303.  
  2304. A GERMAN BULLET WHIZZES PAST Miller's ear. UPHAM gets to
  2305. the far side.
  2306.  
  2307. MILLER DUCKS BACK around the corner. Reiben and Wade don't
  2308. even react to what Miller has just done. Sarge is pissed.
  2309. He shakes his head at Miller, like an irritated parent.
  2310.  
  2311. SARGE
  2312. (under his breath so
  2313. only Miller can hear)
  2314. Damn fool.
  2315. (beat)
  2316. Sir.
  2317.  
  2318. REIBEN
  2319. Captain, he's fast!
  2320.  
  2321. MILLER
  2322. (glances at Sarge,
  2323. speaks to Reiben)
  2324. Glad of it.
  2325.  
  2326. UPHAM
  2327. On the other side of the street,
  2328. crouches in a doorway with Jackson.
  2329. Upham is a bit in shock, less from
  2330. the nearness of the bullets than
  2331. from what Miller just did for him.
  2332.  
  2333. MILLER
  2334. DASHES across the street.
  2335.  
  2336. GERMAN BULLETS TRAIL HIM, shattering the cobblestones, inches
  2337. behind him.
  2338.  
  2339. HE MAKES IT across. Calls back to Sarge.
  2340.  
  2341. MILLER
  2342. Bring 'em over.
  2343.  
  2344. UPHAM, tries to thank Miller.
  2345.  
  2346. UPHAM
  2347. Captain, I...
  2348.  
  2349. Miller ignores him, motions to Sarge, Reiben and Wade.
  2350.  
  2351. MILLER
  2352. One at a time.
  2353.  
  2354. MILLER
  2355. Ducks out of the doorway and crouch-
  2356. runs down the block. He passes a:
  2357.  
  2358. BOMBED OUT BUILDING
  2359. Out of the line of fire. A dozen
  2360. dead American soldiers lined up on
  2361. the ground. The battered, bloody
  2362. bodies, only partially covered by
  2363. ponchos.
  2364.  
  2365. Some badly wounded G.I.'s are being treated next to the dead.
  2366. Blood puddles have spread out onto the sidewalk.
  2367.  
  2368. MILLER
  2369. Sees the dead and wounded, shows no
  2370. reaction. Runs to:
  2371.  
  2372. AN ALLEY
  2373. Captain Hamill and his men are bunched
  2374. there, out of the line of fire.
  2375. He's sending off a squad to continue
  2376. their door-to-door.
  2377.  
  2378. Captain hamill Fundamentals, short runs, double up at the
  2379. corners, one man close, one man wide. Be careful. Go.
  2380.  
  2381. The squad takes off. Captain Hamill sees Miller. The two
  2382. captains glance at the bars on their shoulders, then speak
  2383. familiarly.
  2384.  
  2385. Captain hamill How was the road in?
  2386.  
  2387. MILLER
  2388. We had a jeep until a few hours ago,
  2389. a nice one, it had a cute little
  2390. flag with a couple of stars on it.
  2391.  
  2392. Captain hamill Oh, what a shame.
  2393.  
  2394. One by one, Miller's men join them in the alley.
  2395.  
  2396. MILLER
  2397. We called in a strike on the eighty-
  2398. eights that took it out, but it's
  2399. the Kraut spotter that counts,
  2400. wherever the hell that bastard is.
  2401.  
  2402. Captain Hamill points across a wide field toward a distant
  2403. chateau that has a private chapel with a fifty-foot steeple.
  2404.  
  2405. Captain hamill That's where your boy is. We've been trying
  2406. to get him since this morning. He killed two of my men trying
  2407. to get close enough for a shot. Miller eyes the distant
  2408. steeple.
  2409.  
  2410. MILLER
  2411. Jackson.
  2412.  
  2413. Jackson steps up. Miller points to the steeple. Jackson
  2414. knows what he's supposed to do. He puts down his M-1 and
  2415. takes off the long, zippered, leather sheath, strapped to
  2416. his back.
  2417.  
  2418. He spits a massive bullet of tobacco juice, then calmly and
  2419. methodically unzips his leather case and pulls out a very
  2420. unusual, long-barrel, rifle.
  2421.  
  2422. Miller and his men give him some room. Hamill and his men,
  2423. along with Upham, watch curiously.
  2424.  
  2425. Jackson opens a two-foot tripod with a flick of his wrist,
  2426. sits down and carefully attaches the rifle to it. Then he
  2427. takes a scope from a narrow wooden box and mounts it. He
  2428. adjusts the eye-piece and clicks in the bolt-action. Upham
  2429. is fascinated.
  2430.  
  2431. UPHAM
  2432. What is that?
  2433.  
  2434. Jackson pulls back the bolt and loads a single, over-sized
  2435. shell.
  2436.  
  2437. JACKSON
  2438. Thirty-ought-six, Norton long-barrel
  2439. with dual-groove, parallel rifling,
  2440. elevated three-glass scope and a
  2441. single-throw hammer.
  2442.  
  2443. UPHAM
  2444. The Army gave you that?
  2445.  
  2446. JACKSON
  2447. Yep.
  2448.  
  2449. UPHAM
  2450. You must be a hell a shot.
  2451.  
  2452. JACKSON
  2453. Not where I come from.
  2454.  
  2455. Jackson sights on a tree about a thousand yards away and
  2456. FIRES. Evaluates. Calibrates the scope. He re-loads.
  2457.  
  2458. Jackson FIRES AGAIN. Evaluates. Perfect. He wipes the
  2459. dirt and sweat from his forehead, puts his eye to the sight
  2460. and waits, absolutely motionless.
  2461.  
  2462. UPHAM
  2463. That must be four thousand yards.
  2464.  
  2465. JACKSON
  2466. (without taking his
  2467. eye from the scope)
  2468. Forty-two-hundred, I figure.
  2469.  
  2470. UPHAM
  2471. You take account of the wind?
  2472.  
  2473. Jackson doesn't dignify that with an answer but he looks
  2474. back with an expression that clearly says, "What are you,
  2475. some kind of fucking idiot?" Reiben puts himself between
  2476. Upham and Jackson.
  2477.  
  2478. REIBEN
  2479. (put-on Southern accent)
  2480. Dang right, he take 'count of the
  2481. wind, ain't ya'll ever heard a
  2482. Kentucky windage?
  2483.  
  2484. Jackson keeps his eye to the scope and his finger on the
  2485. trigger.
  2486.  
  2487. JACKSON
  2488. Reiben, how many time I got to tell
  2489. you, I'm from Tennessee.
  2490.  
  2491. REIBEN
  2492. They got squirrels there, too, right?
  2493.  
  2494. Jackson FIRES. Waits. A tiny smile. He starts taking apart
  2495. the rifle. A very impressed Captain Hamill barks to his
  2496. radioman. Captain Hamill Get a hold of Command, tell them
  2497. the St. Mere road is open.
  2498.  
  2499. The Radioman cranks up his radio. Captain Hamill turns to
  2500. Miller.
  2501.  
  2502. Captain Hamill How far back is the rest of division?
  2503.  
  2504. MILLER
  2505. Very far, they're not coming this
  2506. way, they're going to take Caen first.
  2507.  
  2508. Captain Hamill Goddamn it, I was afraid of that. We're in a
  2509. lot of trouble up here, and it's gonna get worse before it
  2510. gets better. How many men did you bring?
  2511.  
  2512. MILLER
  2513. Five, but we not staying, we're on
  2514. our way to Ramelle.
  2515.  
  2516. Captain hamill Shit, are you the guys going up to find Private
  2517. Ryan?
  2518.  
  2519. MILLER
  2520. Yeah, you know about that?
  2521.  
  2522. Captain hamill Command radioed, wanted to know if he came in
  2523. with the early wounded or dead.
  2524.  
  2525. Several of CAPTAIN HAMILL'S MEN, among them a GENTLE-FACED
  2526. PRIVATE, prick up their ears at the mention of Private Ryan.
  2527.  
  2528. Captain hamill We're supposed to tell you, they intercepted
  2529. a German transmission after you left. The Krauts have two
  2530. companies on their way to Ramelle to take back that bridge,
  2531. they'll be there sometime late tomorrow.
  2532.  
  2533. MILLER
  2534. Wonderful.
  2535.  
  2536. Captain Hamill If Ryan's alive, you'd better get him the
  2537. hell out of there before those Krauts show up.
  2538.  
  2539. MILLER
  2540. How do we get out of here?
  2541.  
  2542. Captain hamill You don't, until tonight, we're hemmed in
  2543. real tight. After dark you try to slip out to the east. If
  2544. you tip-toe, stay off the main roads and roll a few sevens,
  2545. you've got a fair chance of making it up to Ramelle by
  2546. tomorrow night.
  2547.  
  2548. Miller processes the information. Captain Hamill shakes his
  2549. head.
  2550.  
  2551. Captain hamill Tough, huh? Three brothers?
  2552.  
  2553. Miller shrugs.
  2554.  
  2555. Captain hamill We sure as hell could use your help here, but
  2556. I understand what you're doing?
  2557.  
  2558. MILLER
  2559. Yeah?
  2560.  
  2561. Captain hamill Good luck.
  2562.  
  2563. MILLER
  2564. Thanks.
  2565.  
  2566. Captain hamill I mean it. Find him. Get him home.
  2567.  
  2568. Miller is a bit taken aback by Captain Hamill's forceful
  2569. sincerity. Then he shakes it off and motions to his men.
  2570.  
  2571. MILLER
  2572. Let's find someplace to hole up.
  2573.  
  2574. Miller nods to Captain Hamill, then, as he moves to the head
  2575. of the alley, Miller passes Upham.
  2576.  
  2577. UPHAM
  2578. Sir, I'm sorry about what happened,
  2579. I...
  2580.  
  2581. MILLER
  2582. (interrupting)
  2583. It was nothing.
  2584.  
  2585. UPHAM
  2586. But you could have gotten killed and
  2587. I...
  2588.  
  2589. MILLER
  2590. (interrupting)
  2591. Like I said, it was nothing.
  2592. (to the men)
  2593. Don't bunch up.
  2594.  
  2595. He takes off, crouch-running back down the block. Upham
  2596. watches him go.
  2597.  
  2598. UPHAM
  2599. Did you see what he did, back there?
  2600. He stepped right into the open, so I
  2601. could get across.
  2602.  
  2603. JACKSON
  2604. Shit, that was no big deal.
  2605.  
  2606. WADE
  2607. They can't kill him.
  2608.  
  2609. SARGE
  2610. Like hell they can't.
  2611.  
  2612. REIBEN
  2613. Wade's right, it's some kind of
  2614. scientific, magnetic thing, I can't
  2615. explain it, but I've seen it.
  2616.  
  2617. WADE
  2618. We all have, he's got nine lives, or
  2619. he's bulletproof, or some damn thing.
  2620.  
  2621. The men are equal parts joking and admiring. Sarge is
  2622. neither.
  2623.  
  2624. SARGE
  2625. No one's bulletproof. No one.
  2626. (beat)
  2627. C'mon, stay low.
  2628.  
  2629. Sarge takes off after Miller.
  2630.  
  2631. EXT. ST. MERE CATHEDRAL - DUSK
  2632.  
  2633. Miller and his men are bivouaced in the middle of the ruins
  2634. of a medieval church. Miller, settled into a comfortable
  2635. spot in the debris, eating his K-rations, looks very relaxed.
  2636. Reiben paces.
  2637.  
  2638. REIBEN
  2639. Captain, could you please explain
  2640. the math of this mission to me?
  2641.  
  2642. MILLER
  2643. Sure, what do you want to know?
  2644.  
  2645. REIBEN
  2646. Well, sir, in purely arithmetic terms,
  2647. since when does six equal one? What's
  2648. the sense in risking six guys to
  2649. save one?
  2650.  
  2651. MILLER
  2652. Ours is not to reason why.
  2653.  
  2654. REIBEN
  2655. Huh?
  2656.  
  2657. MILLER
  2658. Never mind, don't worry, we'll pick
  2659. up this kid, high-tail it back to
  2660. division, everything'll work out
  2661. fine.
  2662.  
  2663. REIBEN
  2664. I'd much rather die in Caen than
  2665. Ramelle, sir. It's a personal thing.
  2666.  
  2667. MILLER
  2668. Reiben, there's a fairly good chance
  2669. you're not going to die at all.
  2670.  
  2671. REIBEN
  2672. Easy for you to say, sir.
  2673. (beat)
  2674. Fucking James Ryan, I'd like to wring
  2675. his fucking neck.
  2676.  
  2677. SARGE
  2678. Jesus, Reiben, think of the poor
  2679. bastard's mother.
  2680.  
  2681. REIBEN
  2682. Hey, I got a mother. Jackson, you
  2683. got a mother?
  2684.  
  2685. JACKSON
  2686. Last I knew.
  2687.  
  2688. REIBEN
  2689. Wade, Sarge, Corporal Insect, all of
  2690. us, hell, I'll bet even the Captain
  2691. has a mother.
  2692.  
  2693. Miller smiles. Reiben eyes him and reconsiders.
  2694.  
  2695. REIBEN
  2696. Well, maybe not the Captain, but the
  2697. rest of us have mothers.
  2698.  
  2699. MILLER
  2700. You have orders, too.
  2701.  
  2702. JACKSON
  2703. Sir, I have an opinion on this matter.
  2704.  
  2705. MILLER
  2706. I'd love to hear it.
  2707.  
  2708. JACKSON
  2709. Seems to me, Cap'n, this mission is
  2710. a serious misallocation of valuable
  2711. military resources. Miller Go on.
  2712.  
  2713. JACKSON
  2714. Well, sir, by my way a thinkin' I am
  2715. a finely made instrument of warfare.
  2716. What I mean by that is, if you was
  2717. to put me with this here sniper rifle
  2718. anywhere up to and includin' one
  2719. mile from Adolf Hitler, with a clear
  2720. line of sight, war's over.
  2721.  
  2722. Miller nods.
  2723.  
  2724. MILLER
  2725. Reiben, I want you to listen closely
  2726. to Jackson. This is the way to gripe.
  2727. Jackson, continue.
  2728.  
  2729. JACKSON
  2730. Yes, sir. It seems to me, sir, that
  2731. the entire resources of the United
  2732. States Army oughta be dedicated to
  2733. one thing and one thing only, and
  2734. that is to put me and this here weapon
  2735. on a rooftop, smack-dab in the middle
  2736. of Berlin, Germany. Now I ain't one
  2737. to question decisions made up on
  2738. high, sir, but it seems to me that
  2739. saving one private, no matter how
  2740. grievous the losses of his family,
  2741. is a waste of my God-given talent.
  2742.  
  2743. MILLER
  2744. Wade?
  2745.  
  2746. WADE
  2747. Hell, I don't mind this mission,
  2748. sir, as long as there's something up
  2749. at Ramelle for...
  2750.  
  2751. REIBEN
  2752. (finishing Wade's
  2753. sentence)
  2754. ...for you to blow up, yeah, yeah,
  2755. we heard that.
  2756.  
  2757. MILLER
  2758. Upham?
  2759.  
  2760. UPHAM
  2761. Pass.
  2762.  
  2763. MILLER
  2764. Sarge?
  2765.  
  2766. SARGE
  2767. I'm just here to keep a bunch of
  2768. numb-nuts, including one certain,
  2769. frequently suicidal, tempter-of-fate,
  2770. from getting themselves killed.
  2771.  
  2772. Reiben eyes Miller.
  2773.  
  2774. REIBEN
  2775. And what about you, Captain?
  2776.  
  2777. Miller looks at Reiben, shocked.
  2778.  
  2779. MILLER
  2780. Reiben, what's the matter with you?
  2781. I don't gripe to you. I'm a captain.
  2782. There's a chain of command. Griping
  2783. goes one way, up, only up, never
  2784. down. You gripe to me, I gripe to
  2785. my superior officers. Up, get it?
  2786. I don't gripe to you, I don't gripe
  2787. in front of you. How long you been
  2788. in the army?
  2789.  
  2790. REIBEN
  2791. I'm sorry, sir, I apologize.
  2792. (beat)
  2793. But if you weren't a captain, or if
  2794. I were a major, what would you say?
  2795.  
  2796. Miller considers his response.
  2797.  
  2798. MILLER
  2799. In that case, I would say this is an
  2800. excellent mission, with an extremely
  2801. valuable objective, worthy of my
  2802. best efforts.
  2803.  
  2804. Reiben rolls his eyes. Miller plays it straight, with no
  2805. obvious sarcasm.
  2806.  
  2807. MILLER
  2808. (continuing)
  2809. In addition, as I pointed out earlier,
  2810. I have a fondness for cheese and I
  2811. hope to have the opportunity to sample
  2812. some of the Ramelle products, when
  2813. we arrive there, to see if they live
  2814. up to their excellent reputation.
  2815. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow
  2816. for the mother of Private James Ryan
  2817. and I'm more than willing to lay
  2818. down my life, and the lives of my
  2819. men, especially you, Reiben, to help
  2820. relieve her suffering. The men
  2821. thoroughly enjoy the performance.
  2822.  
  2823. REIBEN
  2824. Sir, if you were not a captain, I
  2825. would compliment you, now, for being
  2826. an excellent liar.
  2827.  
  2828. MILLER
  2829. But I am a captain. If I were not a
  2830. captain, I would thank you for the
  2831. compliment and tell you that the
  2832. ability to lie comes from being a
  2833. top-notch poker player, which I am,
  2834. having learned at the side of my
  2835. mother who is, by popular acclaim,
  2836. the best poker player in...
  2837.  
  2838. The men all learn forward expectantly, believing they're
  2839. about to find out Miller's home town. Miller smiles.
  2840.  
  2841. MILLER
  2842. (continuing)
  2843. ...my home town, which shall remain
  2844. un-named.
  2845.  
  2846. The men ease back, disappointed.
  2847.  
  2848. MILLER
  2849. Any further thoughts on the subject?
  2850.  
  2851. REIBEN
  2852. Yes, sir, as a final note, I'd like
  2853. to say, fuck our orders, fuck Ramelle,
  2854. fuck the cheese capital of France
  2855. and while we're at it, fuck Private
  2856. James Ryan.
  2857.  
  2858. MILLER
  2859. I'll make a note of your suggestions
  2860. but I'll leave that last one to you,
  2861. especially if he's already dead.
  2862.  
  2863. The men wince and laugh. Miller checks his watch and gets
  2864. serious.
  2865.  
  2866. MILLER
  2867. We move out in two hours, try and
  2868. get some sleep.
  2869.  
  2870. The men know when to can it. Without another word, they all
  2871. settle down into the debris, close their eyes and try to
  2872. follow Miller's order. Upham looks around at these strange
  2873. men, then, a simple, hard glare from Miller makes him follow
  2874. suit.
  2875.  
  2876. Miller looks at his men, then pulls out his map case and his
  2877. flashlight. He turns it on, in the dim glow of the light,
  2878. he studies his maps while his men rest.
  2879.  
  2880. EXT. ST. MERE CATHEDRAL - NIGHT (LATER)
  2881.  
  2882. Dark. ARTILLERY RUMBLES IN THE DISTANCE. Reiben, Jackson,
  2883. Wade and Upham sleep. Miller still sits in the glow of his
  2884. flashlight, studying his maps. Sarge lies near him, awake,
  2885. watching him. Sarge notices some unopened envelopes in
  2886. Miller's map case and speaks quietly to him.
  2887.  
  2888. SARGE
  2889. You ever going to open those letters?
  2890. Miller keeps his eyes on the maps.
  2891.  
  2892. MILLER
  2893. Maybe.
  2894.  
  2895. SARGE
  2896. It's not normal, not reading letters
  2897. from home.
  2898.  
  2899. MILLER
  2900. Since when have things been normal?
  2901.  
  2902. SARGE
  2903. You got me. Afraid of bad news?
  2904.  
  2905. MILLER
  2906. Nope.
  2907.  
  2908. SARGE
  2909. Good news?
  2910.  
  2911. Miller looks at Sarge. A moment passes between the two of
  2912. them, then miller takes refuge in the maps. Sarge looks at
  2913. the men.
  2914.  
  2915. SARGE
  2916. You think they'll be alright?
  2917.  
  2918. MILLER
  2919. They're fine. As long as they can
  2920. gripe, they'll be alright.
  2921.  
  2922. SARGE
  2923. And what about you?
  2924.  
  2925. Miller considers the question, doesn't answer.
  2926.  
  2927. MILLER
  2928. They guys here aren't going to be
  2929. able to hold out until battalion
  2930. shows up.
  2931.  
  2932. SARGE
  2933. Nope.
  2934.  
  2935. MILLER
  2936. Command isn't going to let them
  2937. withdraw and the Germans sure as
  2938. hell aren't going to let them
  2939. surrender.
  2940.  
  2941. SARGE
  2942. Three for three.
  2943.  
  2944. MILLER
  2945. If we stayed, we could make a
  2946. difference.
  2947.  
  2948. SARGE
  2949. You're kidding yourself.
  2950.  
  2951. MILLER
  2952. You never know.
  2953.  
  2954. They sit in silence for a moment.
  2955.  
  2956. SARGE
  2957. I hope this boy Ryan is worth it.
  2958.  
  2959. MILLER
  2960. Now you're the one kidding yourself.
  2961. (beat)
  2962. Hell of a mission.
  2963.  
  2964. SARGE
  2965. Yup, hell of a mission.
  2966.  
  2967. Miller looks at his watch, rises and barks at the men.
  2968.  
  2969. MILLER
  2970. Rise and shine, boys. Let's go.
  2971.  
  2972. Grumbling, the men get up and start shouldering up their
  2973. gear.
  2974.  
  2975. EXT. ST. MERE STREET - NIGHT
  2976.  
  2977. SMALL ARMS FIRE ECHOES through the village. DISTANT ARTILLERY
  2978. BOOMS. Miller leads his men from the ruins of the cathedral
  2979. toward the outskirts of town. They're just a small squad,
  2980. but these six, heavily-armed men, in full battle gear, are
  2981. very formidable-looking.
  2982.  
  2983. EXT. ST. MERE - OUTSKIRTS - NIGHT
  2984.  
  2985. Miller's men are getting ready to move out. Captain Hamill
  2986. and a few of his men are there to see them off. Suddenly:
  2987.  
  2988. A FLASH OF LIGHT APPEARS ON THE HORIZON
  2989.  
  2990. Then REPEATED FLASHES OF LIGHT. The sky is on fire. The
  2991. AIR TREMBLES. A FAR OFF RUMBLING THUNDER ROLLS over the
  2992. countryside like a tidal wave.
  2993.  
  2994. Then, THE OPPOSITE HORIZON LIGHTS UP AS WELL.
  2995.  
  2996. IT'S A MASSIVE ARTILLERY BATTLE. The MAGNITUDE OF THE FURY
  2997. is incredible, strange, other-worldly.
  2998.  
  2999. EVERY MAN THERE IS TRANSFIXED.
  3000.  
  3001. Frozen in place. The lights play on their faces.
  3002.  
  3003. MILLER looks down and sees his hand quivering.
  3004.  
  3005. SARGE notices, says nothing.
  3006.  
  3007. MILLER stares at his hand, forcing it to stop. Their eyes
  3008. go back to the BLAZING SKY.
  3009.  
  3010. SARGE
  3011. (awe-struck)
  3012. Makes you feel small, doesn't it?
  3013.  
  3014. MILLER
  3015. It doesn't take this.
  3016.  
  3017. Upham's face shows more fear than awe.
  3018.  
  3019. UPHAM
  3020. I wasn't made for this.
  3021.  
  3022. MILLER
  3023. (bitterly)
  3024. You think the rest of us were?
  3025.  
  3026. Upham recoils. Miller instantly regrets his words. He turns
  3027. to Upham and sees that he's really scared. Miller get a
  3028. hold of himself and speaks gently.
  3029.  
  3030. MILLER
  3031. Don't worry, Upham, God'll protect
  3032. you, this shit's gonna keep him up
  3033. all night, anyway.
  3034.  
  3035. Upham manages a slight smile. Miller watches the lights for
  3036. a moment more, then he pretends to shrug it off.
  3037.  
  3038. MILLER
  3039. Let's go, this ain't what they pay
  3040. us for.
  3041.  
  3042. Captain Hamill is next to snap himself out of it. He points
  3043. the way.
  3044.  
  3045. Captain hamill Along the wall, about thirty yards, there's a
  3046. gate, on the other side, a drainage ditch, stay low until
  3047. you clear the second field, then you'll hit the woods.
  3048.  
  3049. As Miller and his men shoulder their gear and prepare to
  3050. move out, on of Captain Hamill's men, the Gentle-Faced Private
  3051. who was so interested in the talk of Private Ryan, steps up
  3052. with a couple bandoleers of B.A.R. ammo. He offers them to
  3053. Reiben.
  3054.  
  3055. Gentle-faced private Here.
  3056.  
  3057. Reiben looks at the bandoleers and is about to give a smart-
  3058. ass response, when a look at the Gentle-Faced Private's
  3059. vulnerable expression stops the comment dead.
  3060.  
  3061. Gentle-faced private My older brother was killed at
  3062. Guadalcanal...these might come in handy.
  3063.  
  3064. Reiben takes the ammo.
  3065.  
  3066. REIBEN
  3067. (gently)
  3068. Just what I need.
  3069.  
  3070. Miller steps over, takes the bandoleers from Reiben and hands
  3071. them back to the Gentle-Faced Private.
  3072.  
  3073. MILLER
  3074. Thanks, but you may need these more
  3075. than us, or Ryan.
  3076.  
  3077. Captain Hamill nods to the Gentle-Faced Private who takes
  3078. the ammo back.
  3079.  
  3080. MILLER
  3081. Let's move out.
  3082.  
  3083. Miller and his men head off along the wall into the darkness,
  3084. lit intermittently by the distant flashes. Captain Hamill
  3085. and his beleaguered men, watch them go with dread and a
  3086. strange bit of hope.
  3087.  
  3088. EXT. FRENCH COUNTRY SIDE - NIGHT
  3089.  
  3090. The FINAL RUMBLES of the DISTANT ARTILLERY fade away. The
  3091. night is dark. The band of six Americans makes their way
  3092. warily along a French cart path. Sarge eases up alongside
  3093. Miller and speaks quietly to him. The others don't overhear.
  3094. Sarge How long's your hand been shaking?
  3095.  
  3096. MILLER
  3097. A couple of weeks. It started in
  3098. Portsmouth when they brought us down
  3099. for loading.
  3100.  
  3101. SARGE
  3102. Is it getting worse?
  3103.  
  3104. MILLER
  3105. No. It comes and goes. It stops
  3106. when I look at it.
  3107.  
  3108. SARGE
  3109. You may have to find yourself a new
  3110. line of work, this one doesn't seem
  3111. to agree with you anymore.
  3112.  
  3113. MILLER
  3114. I'll be alright.
  3115.  
  3116. Sarge looks at Miller, closely, evaluating him, they walk
  3117. on.
  3118.  
  3119. EXT. FRENCH CART PATH - NIGHT (LATER)
  3120.  
  3121. Farther along. The men are tired but alert. Jackson is at
  3122. point. Miller behind him. The others at intervals. Sarge
  3123. brings up the rear.
  3124.  
  3125. A SOUND. Jackson stops. No one speaks, they communicate
  3126. only with hand signals.
  3127.  
  3128. JACKSON SIGNALS to Miller, ten, twenty, thirty men coming.
  3129.  
  3130. MILLER SIGNALS for the men to get off the path. They ease
  3131. into the brush. An instant later, a PAIR WARY GERMAN INFANTRY
  3132. MEN appear.
  3133.  
  3134. REIBEN grips his B.A.R. and looks to Miller for permission
  3135. to open up. Miller shakes his head and signals, "let them
  3136. go." A moment later AN ENTIRE PLATOON OF GERMANS rounds the
  3137. bend. Fifty men. Heavily armed. REIBEN breathes a sigh of
  3138. relief and lowers hi B.A.R.
  3139.  
  3140. THE GERMAN PLATOON passes, their boots no more than two feet
  3141. from the faces of the hidden Americans. Upham is wide-eyed
  3142. with fear. The others are stone-faced.
  3143.  
  3144. THE GERMANS PASS.
  3145.  
  3146. MILLER MOTIONS for his men to hold their positions.
  3147.  
  3148. UPHAM doesn't see the signal. He stands, breathing a sigh
  3149. of relief, just as a GERMAN WHIP-TAIL SQUAD appears, trailing
  3150. the platoon by thirty meters, protecting their rear.
  3151.  
  3152. UPHAM FREEZES. He's standing, barely in the shadows, nearly
  3153. exposed. Shitting bricks.
  3154.  
  3155. Pissed, MILLER prepares to fire. The Whip-tail squad
  3156. approaches.
  3157.  
  3158. Then, the GERMANS PASS, miraculously, not seeing Upham in
  3159. the shadows. They walk on and disappear. Upham is weak-
  3160. kneed, amazed that he's still alive.
  3161.  
  3162. MILLER shoots a devastating glare at him, then signals the
  3163. rest of the men to follow him into the woods. Upham scurries
  3164. after Miller, staying close on his heels.
  3165.  
  3166. EXT. FIELD - NIGHT
  3167.  
  3168. The little band of Americans walks along the edge of a field,
  3169. parallel to a cart path. Wary.
  3170.  
  3171. Miller notices Jackson and Wade drifting too close to each
  3172. other. He SNAPS HIS FINGERS, getting their attention, and
  3173. motions curtly for them to open it up a bit. They do so.
  3174.  
  3175. EXT. CROSSROADS - NIGHT
  3176.  
  3177. Dark. FAINT DISTANT ARTILLERY. Miller checks the map as
  3178. Sarge shines a red flashlight on an array of directional
  3179. signs. One of them reads: "Ramelle 16 Km." Miller puts
  3180. away the map. Checks the horizon. The first glow of dawn
  3181. is visible.
  3182.  
  3183. MILLER
  3184. It'll be light, soon. Let's pick it
  3185. up.
  3186.  
  3187. EXT. FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE - DAWN
  3188.  
  3189. First light. The SOUND OF DISTANT GUNS has been replaced by
  3190. the CHIRPING OF BIRDS. The Americans are taking five.
  3191.  
  3192. Miller stands, a bit apart from the others, looking out at
  3193. the view. It's lovely. Dew shimmers on the long grass.
  3194. The war is far away.
  3195.  
  3196. Upham walks next to him. They look out at the view together
  3197. without speaking for a moment.
  3198.  
  3199. MILLER
  3200. It looks like a Renoir.
  3201.  
  3202. UPHAM
  3203. Yes. Do you know Sibelius' Fourth
  3204. Symphony, The Normandy?
  3205.  
  3206. MILLER
  3207. I've been humming it.
  3208.  
  3209. UPHAM
  3210. I heard.
  3211.  
  3212. MILLER
  3213. It seemed appropriate.
  3214.  
  3215. UPHAM
  3216. You know classical music?
  3217.  
  3218. MILLER
  3219. Some.
  3220.  
  3221. UPHAM
  3222. Where are you from, Captain?
  3223.  
  3224. Miller smiles.
  3225.  
  3226. MILLER
  3227. What's the pool up to?
  3228.  
  3229. Upham smiles, caught.
  3230.  
  3231. UPHAM
  3232. Over three-hundred.
  3233.  
  3234. MILLER
  3235. I'll tell you what, if I'm still
  3236. alive when it hits five-hundred,
  3237. I'll let you know and we'll split
  3238. the money.
  3239.  
  3240. UPHAM
  3241. If that's the way you feel, why don't
  3242. we wait until it's up to a thousand.
  3243.  
  3244. MILLER
  3245. I don't expect to live that long.
  3246.  
  3247. Upham looks closely at Miller and sees that he means it.
  3248.  
  3249. UPHAM
  3250. Five hundred, then.
  3251.  
  3252. Miller takes a last look at the view and allows himself to
  3253. feel an overwhelming wave of sadness. Then he turns himself
  3254. back into a commander and barks at Upham.
  3255.  
  3256. MILLER
  3257. Let's go, private.
  3258.  
  3259. Miller strides away. Upham watches him, trying to figure
  3260. him out, then he simply follows him.
  3261.  
  3262. EXT. HEDGEROW LANE - DAWN
  3263.  
  3264. The seven Americans walk along a hedgerow lane, untouched by
  3265. war. Spreading trees arch gently over the lane which is
  3266. lined with hedgerows, thick, rooted masses, impenetrable,
  3267. hundred of years old.
  3268.  
  3269. Miller sees SMOKE AHEAD. He motions to the men. They
  3270. advance. Ext. french farm - day A burning house and barn.
  3271. An old FRENCH FARMER kneels on the ground, weeping, next to
  3272. this SLAUGHTERED FAMILY, two adult women, an adult male and
  3273. a boy, no more than ten. His animals, a pair of cows and a
  3274. draft horse and some pigs are dead as well, shot to pieces.
  3275. A DEAD AMERICAN PARATROOPER lies sprawled in the dirt with
  3276. empty shell casings around his body.
  3277.  
  3278. Miller and his men approach carefully. Miller motions to
  3279. Upham who squats down next to the French Farmer and speaks
  3280. gently to him in French.
  3281.  
  3282. The FARMER SPEAKS SOFTLY as if in a trance. Upham stands
  3283. and translates.
  3284.  
  3285. UPHAM
  3286. Five nights ago, he found this
  3287. paratrooper caught in a tree with a
  3288. broken leg. The leg got infected.
  3289. Last night he went to Ville Cholet
  3290. to get a doctor. The doctor refused
  3291. to come and when he got back, this
  3292. is what he found. The Krauts must
  3293. have shown up while he was gone.
  3294.  
  3295. MILLER
  3296. Did he see any sign of them?
  3297.  
  3298. Upham gently asks. The FARMER ANSWERS.
  3299.  
  3300. UPHAM
  3301. No, but he heard firing, just east,
  3302. less that a kilometer.
  3303.  
  3304. MILLER
  3305. Thank him and tell him we're sorry
  3306. about his loss.
  3307.  
  3308. Miller heads off without glancing back. The men hesitate.
  3309. Sarge jerks his head for them to move out. They do so.
  3310.  
  3311. Upham squats down and speaks softly to the Farmer, puts his
  3312. hand on the man's shoulder, then rises and follows the others.
  3313.  
  3314. EXT. HEDGEROW FIELD - DAY
  3315.  
  3316. A beautiful, hedgerow-lined field of tall grass. The last
  3317. of the dew and morning mist is just burning off.
  3318.  
  3319. The six Americans walk carefully through the woods to the
  3320. edge of the field.
  3321.  
  3322. Miller notices something. He silently signals stop, crouches
  3323. and scans the field and the hedgerow on the far side.
  3324.  
  3325. Sarge and Jackson ease up next to him. Jackson points to
  3326. some trees nearby, freshly shattered and pock-marked with
  3327. bullets.
  3328.  
  3329. Wade calls quietly from a tangle of roots and brush.
  3330.  
  3331. WADE
  3332. Captain.
  3333.  
  3334. Staying low, they join Wade who has found:
  3335.  
  3336. TWO DEAD AMERICAN PARATROOPERS
  3337.  
  3338. A trail of blood and flattened grass leads from the field.
  3339.  
  3340. MILLER, SARGE AND JACKSON
  3341.  
  3342. Crawl to the edge of the field, scan the far hedgerow. The
  3343. others crawl up behind them.
  3344.  
  3345. MILLER
  3346. Where?
  3347.  
  3348. JACKSON
  3349. In the shadow by those two trees.
  3350.  
  3351. MILLER
  3352. My guess, too.
  3353.  
  3354. UPHAM
  3355. What is it?
  3356.  
  3357. MILLER
  3358. A machine gun.
  3359.  
  3360. Miller eases back from the edge of the field into the cover
  3361. of the brush. He stands and takes off his pack.
  3362.  
  3363. REIBEN
  3364. Sir, I've got an idea, let's go
  3365. around.
  3366.  
  3367. MILLER
  3368. We can't leave it here.
  3369.  
  3370. JACKSON
  3371. We left them eighty-eights.
  3372.  
  3373. MILLER
  3374. They don't send planes to put out
  3375. machine guns.
  3376. (beat)
  3377. Two flank runners with surpressing
  3378. fire. I'm going right, whoever goes
  3379. left has to be fast.
  3380.  
  3381. Upham steels himself and steps forward.
  3382.  
  3383. UPHAM
  3384. Sir, I ran the 220 in high school.
  3385.  
  3386. REIBEN
  3387. He's fast, Captain, I saw him.
  3388.  
  3389. Miller takes Upham's measure. Wade laughs with a sneer.
  3390.  
  3391. WADE
  3392. How fast?
  3393.  
  3394. UPHAM
  3395. Twenty-four-five.
  3396.  
  3397. WADE
  3398. Shit, that's nothing, I ran twenty-
  3399. two flat.
  3400.  
  3401. MILLER
  3402. Wade goes left.
  3403.  
  3404. Wade joins Miller in peeling off his extra gear. Upham is
  3405. impressed.
  3406.  
  3407. UPHAM
  3408. Twenty-two flat?
  3409.  
  3410. Wade takes a grenade from Upham's chest strap.
  3411.  
  3412. WADE
  3413. I would have won the states if some
  3414. bastard hadn't tripped me in the
  3415. finals.
  3416.  
  3417. Miller points the others to their firing positions.
  3418.  
  3419. MILLER
  3420. Sarge, Upham, here. Jackson, Reiben,
  3421. ten yards, either side.
  3422.  
  3423. As they take their positions, Miller and Sarge speak quietly,
  3424. out of earshot of the men.
  3425.  
  3426. SARGE
  3427. Rule of thumb, Captain, says you
  3428. ought to detail this one, instead of
  3429. going yourself.
  3430.  
  3431. Miller looks at the two dead paratroopers.
  3432.  
  3433. MILLER
  3434. Yeah? What rule of thumb is that?
  3435.  
  3436. SARGE
  3437. How about I go right, sir?
  3438.  
  3439. MILLER
  3440. How about you take your position?
  3441.  
  3442. Sarge hesitates.
  3443.  
  3444. SARGE
  3445. How about...?
  3446.  
  3447. MILLER
  3448. (interrupting)
  3449. How about you shut up and take your
  3450. position?
  3451.  
  3452. Sarge nods.
  3453.  
  3454. SARGE
  3455. Yes, sir.
  3456.  
  3457. Sarge finds a spot. Miller joins Wade. Miller waits near
  3458. Upham as the other men settle into their firing positions.
  3459.  
  3460. UPHAM
  3461. Good luck, Captain.
  3462.  
  3463. MILLER
  3464. Don't need it, I'm a cat, I've got
  3465. five lives.
  3466.  
  3467. UPHAM
  3468. The men said, nine.
  3469.  
  3470. MILLER
  3471. What do they know?
  3472. (beat)
  3473. I had nine, but I feel through the
  3474. ice when I was seven, my brother
  3475. pulled me out. Then I used one when
  3476. a grenade landed in my foxhole in
  3477. Sicily, it was a dud. I figure one
  3478. on the beaches, one on the cliffs
  3479. and two getting here.
  3480.  
  3481. UPHAM
  3482. That only leaves three.
  3483.  
  3484. MILLER
  3485. Plenty.
  3486.  
  3487. Miller sees that the men are in position. He nods to Wade.
  3488.  
  3489. MILLER
  3490. Ready?
  3491.  
  3492. WADE
  3493. Yes, sir.
  3494.  
  3495. Miller and Wade take deep breaths. Miller Now.
  3496.  
  3497. MILLER AND WADE TAKE OFF AT FULL RUNS.
  3498.  
  3499. Onto opposite sides of the field. Nothing happens for a
  3500. moment. Then:
  3501.  
  3502. A HEAVY GERMAN MACHINE GUN OPENS UP. MURDEROUSLY LOUD.
  3503.  
  3504. SHATTERING THE QUIET.
  3505.  
  3506. IN THE NEST
  3507. A squad of Germans, dug deep, BLASTING
  3508. THE MACHINE GUN, a BIG SCHWARZLOSE
  3509. 8MM, a stunningly powerful weapon.
  3510. Four Germans in the nest, four more
  3511. outlying riflemen.
  3512.  
  3513. MILLER
  3514. Takes the FIRST FIRE. He HITS THE
  3515. DIRT. The BULLETS SCREAM just over
  3516. him.
  3517.  
  3518. THE MACHINE GUN SWINGS TOWARD WADE MILLER JUMPS UP AND SPRINTS
  3519. WADE HITS THE DIRT
  3520.  
  3521. The BULLETS GRAZE the back of his helmet.
  3522.  
  3523. SARGE, REIBEN, JACKSON, UPHAM
  3524.  
  3525. Zero the machine gun. FIRE fast as they can. Their BULLETS
  3526. THUD INEFFECTUALLY into the hedgerow.
  3527.  
  3528. THE MACHINE GUN SWINGS BACK TOWARD MILLER WADE JUMPS UP AND
  3529. SPRINTS MILLER HITS THE DIRT
  3530.  
  3531. Bullets SMASH into the ground all around Miller.
  3532.  
  3533. SARGE
  3534. FIRES A LONG BURST from his Thompson.
  3535. No effect. Pissed. POPS THE CLIP.
  3536. SLAMS in another. FIRES.
  3537.  
  3538. THE MACHINE GUN SWINGS FROM MILLER
  3539.  
  3540. He rises and runs. Fast. Almost to the far hedgerow.
  3541.  
  3542. WADE
  3543. Ten more yards. Too slow. A deadly
  3544. row of BULLETS KICK UP DIRT toward
  3545. him.
  3546.  
  3547. MILLER
  3548. Makes it to the far side. Scrambles
  3549. up the roots. Dives through the
  3550. brush.
  3551.  
  3552. WADE
  3553. On a slight rise. Can't hit the
  3554. dirt. A line of bullets. Desperately
  3555. sprints.
  3556.  
  3557. WADE IS HIT. HEAVY BULLETS RIP APART HIS BELLY. He spins.
  3558. Goes down.
  3559.  
  3560. SARGE, UPHAM AND THE OTHERS are horrified. FIRE at the nest.
  3561.  
  3562. MILLER
  3563. STRUGGLES through the hedgerow.
  3564. Stumbles onto the path. Rolls to
  3565. his feet, running. Swings his
  3566. Thompson into firing position. Racing
  3567. toward the nest.
  3568.  
  3569. SARGE AND THE OTHERS POUR FIRE at the nest.
  3570.  
  3571. MILLER
  3572. Tearing along the path. Sees a German
  3573. rifleman. FIRES A BURST. CUTS HIM
  3574. DOWN. Runs over the body without
  3575. breaking stride.
  3576.  
  3577. SARGE STEPS INTO THE OPEN, INTENTIONALLY DRAWING THE GERMAN
  3578. FIRE from Miller.
  3579.  
  3580. The GERMANS ZERO SARGE. BULLETS THUD all around him. Somehow
  3581. he's not hit.
  3582.  
  3583. MILLER
  3584. TEARS THROUGH THE TREES. BLASTS his
  3585. Thompson. CUTS DOWN two more German
  3586. riflemen. Grabs a grenade. Pulls
  3587. the pin.
  3588.  
  3589. THE NEST
  3590. The Germans see Miller coming. Wheel
  3591. from Sarge. Too late.
  3592.  
  3593. MILLER
  3594. THROWS the grenade, VEERS and DIVES.
  3595.  
  3596. THE GRENADE EXPLODES. The four Germans in the nest are
  3597. KILLED.
  3598.  
  3599. SARGE hollers to the others.
  3600.  
  3601. SARGE
  3602. HOLD YOUR FIRE!
  3603.  
  3604. MILLER
  3605. Rolls to his feet. FIRE another
  3606. BURST. KILLS the last of the German
  3607. riflemen. Doesn't pause. RUNS onto
  3608. the field.
  3609.  
  3610. SARGE AND THE OTHERS
  3611.  
  3612. See Miller running toward Wade. They instantly RACE onto
  3613. the field.
  3614.  
  3615. WADE
  3616. Lies in the grass. Holding his belly.
  3617. Astonished by the pain.
  3618.  
  3619. ALL THE AMERICANS RUN
  3620.  
  3621. Converging on Wade. Miller points, and yells, without slowing
  3622. down.
  3623.  
  3624. MILLER
  3625. REIBEN, UPHAM, PERIMETER! COVER!
  3626.  
  3627. REIBEN AND UPHAM
  3628. Stop instantly. Turn toward the
  3629. perimeter of the field.
  3630.  
  3631. SARGE
  3632. Roots through his medical kit as he
  3633. runs. Dropping and scattering
  3634. inessentials behind him.
  3635.  
  3636. WADE
  3637. Wide-eyed. Not even writhing. Too
  3638. much pain.
  3639.  
  3640. MILLER AND SARGE GET TO WADE
  3641.  
  3642. Throw themselves onto the ground next to him. They both
  3643. tear out sulfa-packs. Sarge frantically fumbles. Ripping
  3644. one open. Powder spills.
  3645.  
  3646. REIBEN AND UPHAM repeatedly glance back at Wade.
  3647.  
  3648. SARGE
  3649. Pulls Wade's hands from the wound.
  3650. Pours sulfa powder.
  3651.  
  3652. MILLER
  3653. About to pour his sulfa. Sees the
  3654. wound. Stops. Knows it's fatal.
  3655.  
  3656. MILLER
  3657. Damn it!
  3658.  
  3659. Throws the sulfa aside. Quickly pulls out a morphine pack.
  3660.  
  3661. SARGE
  3662. Fumbles with a second sulfa bag.
  3663.  
  3664. SARGE
  3665. Sulfa, more sulfa...
  3666.  
  3667. WADE
  3668. Frozen in agony. Looks at Miller.
  3669. Sees him preparing the morphine shot.
  3670. They both know.
  3671.  
  3672. WADE
  3673. Yeah...morphine...make it a
  3674. double...huh...Captain...?
  3675.  
  3676. MILLER
  3677. SHOVES THE NEEDLE into Wade's neck.
  3678. Thick vein. Pumps the morphine
  3679. straight to Wade's brain. Motions
  3680. impatiently to Sarge.
  3681.  
  3682. MILLER
  3683. More morphine, hurry up, come on,
  3684. come on...
  3685.  
  3686. SARGE
  3687. Hesitates. Then drops his sulfa.
  3688. Fumbles in his pack. Finds the
  3689. morphine.
  3690.  
  3691. MILLER
  3692. Snatches the morphine from Sarge.
  3693. Quickly and efficiently prepares a
  3694. second shot. He's done this before.
  3695.  
  3696. REIBEN
  3697. On guard, glancing back. Pissed
  3698. off.
  3699.  
  3700. REIBEN
  3701. Goddamn it...Goddamn it...Goddamn
  3702. it...
  3703.  
  3704. UPHAM
  3705. Freaked out. Trying to keep his
  3706. eyes on the perimeter. Can't.
  3707.  
  3708. JACKSON
  3709. Watching.
  3710.  
  3711. MILLER
  3712. Gives Wade the second shot.
  3713.  
  3714. WADE
  3715. Feels the effects of the first shot.
  3716. He sees Upham and manages a pained
  3717. smile.
  3718.  
  3719. WADE LOCKS EYES WITH MILLER. Looking at him without blame,
  3720. without forgiveness. Drifts with the morphine. Then: WADE
  3721. DIES
  3722.  
  3723. ALL ARE FROZEN IN PLACE
  3724.  
  3725. UPHAM begins to weep.
  3726.  
  3727. REIBEN FURIOUSLY MUTTERS:
  3728.  
  3729. REIBEN
  3730. Goddamn it...Goddamn it...Goddamn
  3731. it...
  3732.  
  3733. MILLER
  3734. Is silent. Motionless. He gently
  3735. closes Wade's eyes. His hand quivers
  3736. slightly as he unclips one of Wades
  3737. dogtags. He fumbles and drops it.
  3738. Sarge notices.
  3739.  
  3740. Miller stares at his hand and steadies it before the men
  3741. see. He picks up the dogtag and pockets it.
  3742.  
  3743. Then Miller carefully re-packs the un-used morphine and sulfa,
  3744. rises and picks up his Thompson.
  3745.  
  3746. Upham shakes his head.
  3747.  
  3748. UPHAM
  3749. That was no twenty-two flat.
  3750.  
  3751. Miller SLAMS A FRESH CLIP into his Thompson.
  3752.  
  3753. MILLER
  3754. He lied. Let's move out.
  3755.  
  3756. Miller turns and walks away without looking back. The men
  3757. hesitate, then slowly follow him.
  3758.  
  3759. EXT. FRENCH COUNTRY COW PATH - DAY
  3760.  
  3761. A narrow footpath, arched over by trees, almost a tunnel.
  3762. The five G.I.'s walk, spread out.
  3763.  
  3764. REIBEN
  3765. Fuck Private James Ryan, fuck him,
  3766. just fuck the goddamned son-of-a-
  3767. bitch.
  3768.  
  3769. JACKSON
  3770. Shut up, will you?
  3771.  
  3772. REIBEN
  3773. You shut up, this is the most fucked
  3774. up mission I ever heard of. Goddamned
  3775. Ryan, fuck the little bastard.
  3776.  
  3777. JACKSON
  3778. Just shut up, Ryan didn't kill Wade.
  3779.  
  3780. REIBEN
  3781. The hell he didn't.
  3782.  
  3783. Miller motions to them curtly.
  3784.  
  3785. MILLER
  3786. Keep it down.
  3787.  
  3788. They shut up. Miller falls in step to Sarge. Speaks quietly,
  3789. the men don't hear.
  3790.  
  3791. MILLER
  3792. We've got to find someplace to hole
  3793. up for a bit.
  3794.  
  3795. Sarge looks at Miller closely.
  3796.  
  3797. SARGE
  3798. You alright?
  3799.  
  3800. MILLER
  3801. Let's just find someplace.
  3802.  
  3803. EXT. NARROW GULLY - DAY
  3804.  
  3805. Miller leads the men into a heavily overgrown gully. A good
  3806. hiding place.
  3807.  
  3808. MILLER
  3809. Rest. One hour. Jackson, Reiben,
  3810. perimeter. Keep your eyes open.
  3811. I'm going to re-con.
  3812.  
  3813. Miller speaks authoritatively and says the right things, but
  3814. there's something missing. It's subtle. Only Sarge notices.
  3815. He watches Miller head off into the brush alone.
  3816.  
  3817. EXT. SMALL CLEARING - DAY
  3818.  
  3819. Miller walks into a small clearing, slows then stops. The
  3820. life drains from him. He stands there, looking at the dirt,
  3821. tilting his head, this way and that, as if listening for
  3822. faint, distant voices. His face shows a battle raging within,
  3823. as he fights to keep from losing it entirely. Behind him,
  3824. Sarge steps to the edge of the clearing and watches. Miller
  3825. senses his presence, turns and looks at him if he were a
  3826. thousand miles away. Sarge sits down on a log and waits.
  3827.  
  3828. MILLER
  3829. What was the name of that kid at
  3830. Anzio, the one who got his face burned
  3831. off?
  3832.  
  3833. SARGE
  3834. Vecchio.
  3835.  
  3836. MILLER
  3837. Yeah, Vecchio, I couldn't remember
  3838. his name, he was a good kid, remember
  3839. how he used to walk on his hands and
  3840. sing that song about the man on flying
  3841. trapeze?
  3842.  
  3843. SARGE
  3844. Yeah.
  3845.  
  3846. MILLER
  3847. You know why I'm such a good officer?
  3848. Because of my mother. Have I ever
  3849. told you about her?
  3850.  
  3851. SARGE
  3852. Bits and pieces.
  3853.  
  3854. MILLER
  3855. She's the best poker player you ever
  3856. saw. My father used to go to these
  3857. Saturday night games and lose his
  3858. shirt. Finally, my mother gave him
  3859. an ultimatum, either she gets a
  3860. regular seat at the table or she
  3861. locks him in every Saturday night.
  3862. He squawked and so did his buddies
  3863. but after a while they gave in and
  3864. from the first night she sat down,
  3865. she never lost. She could read those
  3866. cocky bastards like they were playing
  3867. open hands. And he bluffs? He had
  3868. sixteen levels of bullshit. Her
  3869. eyes, the tone of her voice, her
  3870. bets, her jokes, the way she sipped
  3871. her coffee, she was a master. She
  3872. won more money on shit hands than
  3873. anyone in the history of the game.
  3874. Every Saturday night, my father would
  3875. lose two, three hundred bucks and
  3876. she'd win it all back and then some.
  3877. And I'd stand there, glued to her
  3878. shoulder, from the time I was five
  3879. years old, watching every hand, every
  3880. move, studying how she did it.
  3881. (beat)
  3882. That's why I'm such a good officer,
  3883. I can look at a man's face and tell
  3884. you exactly what he's holding, and
  3885. if it's a shit hand, I know just
  3886. what cards to deal him.
  3887.  
  3888. SARGE
  3889. And what about your own hand?
  3890.  
  3891. MILLER
  3892. No problem. A pair of deuces? Less?
  3893. So what? I bluff. It used to tear
  3894. me apart when I'd get one of my men
  3895. killed, but what was I supposed to
  3896. do? Break down in front of the ones
  3897. who were standing there waiting for
  3898. me to tell them what to do? Of course
  3899. not, so I bluffed, and after a while,
  3900. I started to fall for my own bluff.
  3901. It was great, it made everything so
  3902. much easier. Sarge Is that why your
  3903. hand's been shaking?
  3904.  
  3905. MILLER
  3906. It could be worse. You know the
  3907. first thing they teach you at O.C.S.?
  3908. Lie to your men.
  3909.  
  3910. SARGE
  3911. Oh, yeah?
  3912.  
  3913. MILLER
  3914. Not in so many words, but they tell
  3915. you you can have all the firepower
  3916. in the world and if your men don't
  3917. have good morale, it's not worth a
  3918. damn. So if you're scared or empty
  3919. or half-a-step from a Section Eight,
  3920. do you tell your men? Of course
  3921. not. You bluff, you lie.
  3922.  
  3923. SARGE
  3924. And how do you bluff yourself?
  3925.  
  3926. MILLER
  3927. Simple, numbers. Every time you
  3928. kill one of your men, you tell
  3929. yourself you just saved the lives of
  3930. two, three, ten, a hundred others.
  3931. We lost, what, thirty-one on the
  3932. cliffs? I'll bet we saved ten times
  3933. that number by putting out those
  3934. guns. That's over three hundred
  3935. men. Maybe five hundred. A thousand.
  3936. Then thousand. Any number you want.
  3937. See? It's simple. It lets you always
  3938. choose mission over men.
  3939.  
  3940. SARGE
  3941. Except this time, the mission IS a
  3942. man.
  3943.  
  3944. MILLER
  3945. That's the rub. I liked Wade. Who's
  3946. Ryan? If they're both standing in
  3947. front of me and I have to shoot one
  3948. or the other, how do I choose? Look
  3949. at my hand, there it goes again.
  3950.  
  3951. SARGE
  3952. John, I've got to tell you, I think
  3953. you're about used up.
  3954.  
  3955. MILLER
  3956. I think you're right, Keith.
  3957.  
  3958. SARGE
  3959. You want me to take over?
  3960.  
  3961. The question helps Miller pull himself back together. He
  3962. looks at his hand and forces it to stop shaking again.
  3963.  
  3964. MILLER
  3965. No, but if I get any worse, you'll
  3966. have to relieve me.
  3967.  
  3968. SARGE
  3969. (sighs)
  3970. Just what I want to do.
  3971.  
  3972. They share a smile.
  3973.  
  3974. MILLER
  3975. You know Wade was the eleventh of
  3976. the twelve, you're the last one still
  3977. alive.
  3978.  
  3979. SARGE
  3980. I know.
  3981.  
  3982. MILLER
  3983. Don't let yourself get killed, if
  3984. you do, they might make me give back
  3985. the medal and then I won't be able
  3986. to lip off to colonels anymore.
  3987.  
  3988. SARGE
  3989. I'll do my best.
  3990.  
  3991. They shake their heads at the madness of it all. Miller
  3992. Hell of a...
  3993.  
  3994. (BEAT)
  3995. Ah, forget it.
  3996.  
  3997. Miller picks up his Thompson and looks around, re-orienting
  3998. himself. He's about ninety-five percent there.
  3999.  
  4000. MILLER
  4001. Thanks for drawing that machine gun
  4002. off me.
  4003.  
  4004. SARGE
  4005. You're welcome, John.
  4006.  
  4007. MILLER
  4008. But, that's my personal brand of
  4009. stupidity, I feel kind of proprietary
  4010. about it, if you do it again, you're
  4011. busted.
  4012.  
  4013. Sarge allows himself a slight smile.
  4014.  
  4015. SARGE
  4016. Yes, sir.
  4017.  
  4018. Miller jerks his head for Sarge to follow. They head back
  4019. to the men.
  4020.  
  4021. EXT. CLEARING - DAY
  4022.  
  4023. The men are all in their private worlds, thinking of Wade.
  4024. No talk. Miller and Sarge walk back into the clearing.
  4025. Miller barks at the men.
  4026.  
  4027. MILLER
  4028. Up. We're moving out.
  4029.  
  4030. REIBEN
  4031. I thought you said we had an hour,
  4032. sir?
  4033.  
  4034. MILLER
  4035. Well now I'm saying we're moving
  4036. out. Get off your ass.
  4037.  
  4038. The men get up. Jackson is a bit slow.
  4039.  
  4040. MILLER
  4041. What the hell's the matter with you,
  4042. Jackson?
  4043.  
  4044. JACKSON
  4045. Sir, I ain't feeling so chipper on
  4046. account of Wade.
  4047.  
  4048. MILLER
  4049. Who's Wade?
  4050.  
  4051. No one responds.
  4052.  
  4053. MILLER
  4054. I said, who the hell is Wade?
  4055.  
  4056. The men exchange looks. Jackson speaks for them.
  4057.  
  4058. JACKSON
  4059. Sir, I understand what you're doin',
  4060. but I respectfully request permission
  4061. to grieve in my own manner.
  4062.  
  4063. MILLER
  4064. You'll grieve the way I tell you to
  4065. goddamned grieve. There is no Wade,
  4066. there was one, but he died a long
  4067. time ago, he's been dead for so long
  4068. you can hardly remember his name,
  4069. you understand?
  4070.  
  4071. JACKSON
  4072. Sir, I understand. I don't like it,
  4073. but I understand.
  4074.  
  4075. MILLER
  4076. Good, now get your goddamned gear.
  4077.  
  4078. The men pick up their equipment and prepare to move out.
  4079. Sarge and Miller exchange a silent look. Miller shakes his
  4080. head to himself, amazed that the men still allow this shit
  4081. to work. He knows they have no choice.
  4082.  
  4083. EXT. FRENCH ROAD - DAY
  4084.  
  4085. Miller and his men walk along the road. The men are silent,
  4086. grim.
  4087.  
  4088. EXT. FRENCH PATH - DAY
  4089.  
  4090. Miller checks his map. figures out where they are. Folds
  4091. up the map, points the way and they move out.
  4092.  
  4093. EXT. FRENCH FIELD - DAY
  4094.  
  4095. More progress. The men are still grim.
  4096.  
  4097. REIBEN
  4098. You know what the best possible thing
  4099. that could happen is?
  4100.  
  4101. JACKSON
  4102. Yep, you step on a rusty nail, get
  4103. lockjaw, never say another word as
  4104. long as you live.
  4105.  
  4106. Miller laughs. Miller I'll bite, Reiben.
  4107.  
  4108. REIBEN
  4109. I've given this a lot of thought,
  4110. sir. The best thing that could happen
  4111. is, we find Ryan and he's dead.
  4112.  
  4113. MILLER
  4114. Why's that?
  4115.  
  4116. REIBEN
  4117. Well, sir, consider the possibilities.
  4118. A: Ryan is alive. We have to take
  4119. him back to the beach. Knowing you,
  4120. you don't let him carry my gear,
  4121. even though he really should, and we
  4122. all get killed, trying to keep him
  4123. alive.
  4124.  
  4125. MILLER
  4126. Except for the last part, that one's
  4127. not bad.
  4128.  
  4129. REIBEN
  4130. B: Ryan is dead. He's been blown
  4131. up by the German equivalent of Wade,
  4132. whose name I know you don't want me
  4133. to mention. There's nothing to find.
  4134. The biggest piece is the size of a
  4135. pea. We wander around, looking for
  4136. him until the Germans pick us off,
  4137. one after another.
  4138.  
  4139. MILLER
  4140. I don't like that one.
  4141.  
  4142. REIBEN
  4143. Neither do I, sir. C: And this is
  4144. the worst one, we find Ryan and he's
  4145. wounded. Not only does he not carry
  4146. my gear, we have to carry his gear.
  4147. And him.
  4148.  
  4149. MILLER
  4150. But we accomplish the mission.
  4151.  
  4152. REIBEN
  4153. Maybe. But what if he dies on the
  4154. way back? you see what I'm saying,
  4155. sir? The best possible situation
  4156. is, he's dead, we find his body,
  4157. more or less intact, we grab one of
  4158. his dog-tags and high-tail it back
  4159. to the beach, or better yet, we head
  4160. over to Caen and catch up with
  4161. division.
  4162.  
  4163. MILLER
  4164. Has anyone ever told you, you're
  4165. officer material?
  4166.  
  4167. REIBEN
  4168. No, sir.
  4169.  
  4170. MILLER
  4171. That's a mystery to me.
  4172.  
  4173. No one smiles, but they trudge a bit less.
  4174.  
  4175. EXT. CROSSROADS - DAY
  4176.  
  4177. The SOUND OF HEAVY FIRING. Miller checks a map in the brush
  4178. near the crossroads. A sign reads: "Ramelle 3 Km." Miller
  4179. folds up the map.
  4180.  
  4181. SARGE
  4182. Looks like we're going to beat those
  4183. Kraut companies to Ramelle.
  4184.  
  4185. Suddenly Miller stops dead. He listens, hearing something
  4186. the others don't hear. He motions for them to freeze, they
  4187. do. The SOUND grows louder. It's an OMINOUS RUMBLE.
  4188.  
  4189. MILLER
  4190. I don't think so.
  4191.  
  4192. EXT. FRENCH ROAD - DAY
  4193.  
  4194. THE RUMBLE turns into the ROAR OF A BIG GERMAN CONVOY. Troop
  4195. trucks, armored personnel carriers, a regiment of crack
  4196. Wehrmacht troops. Heavily armed. Imposing. Crossing a
  4197. bridge.
  4198.  
  4199. CAMERA PANS DOWN TO REVEAL
  4200.  
  4201. Miller and his men crowded into a culvert under the bridge.
  4202. Brush and debris partially shield the ends of the culvert.
  4203.  
  4204. GERMAN FLANK SQUADS
  4205. Hurry along the fields on either
  4206. side of the road, trying to keep up
  4207. with the vehicles. MILLER AND HIS
  4208. MEN Catch a glimpse of an approaching
  4209. German Flank Squad. They flatten
  4210. themselves into the mucky water.
  4211. Ready their weapons. Prepare to
  4212. fire.
  4213.  
  4214. THE GERMAN SQUAD
  4215. Approaches the bridge.
  4216.  
  4217. PAIR OF GERMAN PRIVATES
  4218.  
  4219. See the culvert obscured by brush. Move to check it out.
  4220.  
  4221. MILLER
  4222. Is just about to open up on them.
  4223.  
  4224. THE GERMAN SERGEANT
  4225. Sees his Flank Squad lagging behind
  4226. and CALLS to them.
  4227.  
  4228. THE GERMAN PRIVATES
  4229. Obey. Hurry after the rest of the
  4230. convoy.
  4231.  
  4232. IN THE CULVERT
  4233. The Americans breathe again.
  4234.  
  4235. UPHAM
  4236. I wonder where they're going.
  4237.  
  4238. MILLER
  4239. Same place we are.
  4240.  
  4241. Jackson, at the mouth of the culvert, motions that the coast
  4242. is clear. They head out.
  4243.  
  4244. EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF RAMELLE - DAY
  4245.  
  4246. A gently-sloped valley with scattered farm cottages and small,
  4247. cultivated fields, bordered by ancient, moss-covered stone
  4248. walls. The twos is visible beyond.
  4249.  
  4250. Miller and his men crouch-run to the cover of one of the
  4251. stone walls. Miller pulls out his binoculars.
  4252.  
  4253. ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE FIELD
  4254.  
  4255. There's a large gathering of German troops and vehicles.
  4256.  
  4257. MILLER
  4258. Scans the Germans with his binoculars.
  4259.  
  4260. REIBEN
  4261. Looks like tea time, maybe they're
  4262. Brits.
  4263.  
  4264. UPHAM
  4265. I sure hope so.
  4266.  
  4267. SARGE
  4268. What do you think they're waiting
  4269. for, Captain?
  4270.  
  4271. Just then they hear an OMINOUS RUMBLE, deeper and more
  4272. threatening that that of the convoy. The sound gets LOUDER
  4273. and LOUDER. Miller and his men exchange looks. They know
  4274. that sound, they don't like it.
  4275.  
  4276. FOUR MASSIVE GERMAN TANKS
  4277.  
  4278. Appear down the road, heading for the German soldiers who
  4279. greet them enthusiastically. The tanks are tigers, huge,
  4280. far bigger than an American Sherman. Each one, sixty-two
  4281. tons, with a big 88-mm gun, four heavy machine guns and
  4282. impregnable armor. Each one, an infantryman's nightmare.
  4283. There are four of them.
  4284.  
  4285. MILLER
  4286. Puts away the binoculars and jerks
  4287. his head for his men to follow, low,
  4288. along the wall. The men are happy
  4289. to do so, looking back nervously at
  4290. the German tanks.
  4291.  
  4292. EXT. TOWN SQUARE - RAMELLE - DAY
  4293.  
  4294. The SOUNDS OF SPORADIC SMALL ARMS FIRE. The town square is
  4295. a deserted battlefield, littered with burning debris, shell
  4296. casings and bodies, German and American and a few French
  4297. civilians. Miller and his men enter the square, weapons
  4298. ready, leap-frogging from doorway to doorway.
  4299.  
  4300. Miller and Sarge crouch-run to the cover of some overhanging
  4301. debris. They listen, trying to pinpoint the exact source of
  4302. the firing.
  4303.  
  4304. Sarge motions his guess. Miller nods in agreement. He
  4305. signals for the men to follow him around, not toward, the
  4306. firing.
  4307.  
  4308. They move on, dashing from cover to cover.
  4309.  
  4310. EXT. BRIDGE - RAMELLE - DAY
  4311.  
  4312. A dozen AMERICAN PARATROOPERS on the bridge exchange SPORADIC
  4313. FIRE with a few German snipers hidden in the buildings near
  4314. the bridgehead. The bridge has clearly been the scene of
  4315. heavy fighting. Craters, burning debris and shell casings
  4316. are everywhere. The bridge is intact, only slightly damaged.
  4317. There are dozens of German bodies along the riverbank on
  4318. both sides of the bridge.
  4319.  
  4320. MILLER AND HIS MEN
  4321.  
  4322. Crouch-run and take cover as they get within sight of the
  4323. bridge.
  4324.  
  4325. REIBEN
  4326. Looks like they've been having a
  4327. hell of a party, here, Captain.
  4328.  
  4329. MILLER
  4330. ON THE BRIDGE! WE'RE COMING IN.
  4331.  
  4332. A YOUNG BUT GRIZZLED VOICE calls back.
  4333.  
  4334. VOICE FROM BRIDGE
  4335. KISS MY ASS, FRITZ.
  4336.  
  4337. MILLER
  4338. YOU FIRE AT US AND I'LL DO A HELL OF
  4339. A LOT MORE THAN THAT.
  4340.  
  4341. VOICE FROM BRIDGE
  4342. WHO WON THE '38 ARMY-NAVY GAME?
  4343.  
  4344. Miller turns to his men. They all come up empty.
  4345.  
  4346. MILLER
  4347. I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA. HERE WE
  4348. COME.
  4349. (to his men)
  4350. Cover me.
  4351.  
  4352. REIBEN
  4353. What if our guys open up, sir?
  4354.  
  4355. MILLER
  4356. You're only allowed to shoot at
  4357. Germans, that's one of the rules.
  4358.  
  4359. REIBEN
  4360. Have it your way, Captain.
  4361.  
  4362. Miller takes a breath, then DASHES out into the open, toward
  4363. the bridge.
  4364.  
  4365. THE GERMAN SNIPERS OPEN UP
  4366.  
  4367. Bullets SMASH INTO THE GROUND around Miller.
  4368.  
  4369. MILLER'S MEN
  4370. POUR FIRE at the German positions,
  4371. SURPRESSING THE GERMAN FIRE.
  4372.  
  4373. ON THE BRIDGE
  4374. The Paratroopers pour a HEAVY STREAM
  4375. OF BULLETS at the German positions.
  4376.  
  4377. Miller makes it to the bridge and DIVES over a defensive
  4378. jumble of crates, sandbags and bodies.
  4379.  
  4380. He finds himself next to SERGEANT BILL FORREST who was the
  4381. young but grizzled voice that called out. With Forrest are
  4382. some very worn-out, young AMERICAN PARATROOPERS. Miller
  4383. catches his breath. Forrest Navy, sir, twenty-one to
  4384. nineteen. They won on a field goal in overtime.
  4385.  
  4386. MILLER
  4387. I'll keep it in mind.
  4388. (calls to Sarge)
  4389. OKAY, SARGE, ONE AT A TIME.
  4390.  
  4391. Miller and the paratroopers FIRE COVER for Miller's men as
  4392. they come in. Miller and Forrest alternately take and FIRE.
  4393.  
  4394. Forrest Are we glad to see you, sir, we were supposed to
  4395. hold this bridge for twenty-four hours, it's been six days.
  4396.  
  4397. MILLER
  4398. Things are tough all over. We're
  4399. looking for a Private James Ryan.
  4400.  
  4401. Forrest Ryan?
  4402.  
  4403. MILLER
  4404. Is he here?
  4405.  
  4406. Forrest motions to one of the paratroopers.
  4407.  
  4408. Forrest Go get Ryan.
  4409.  
  4410. (TO MILLER)
  4411. What do you want him for, sir?
  4412.  
  4413. Miller doesn't answer. Jackson leaps over the barricade and
  4414. scrambles to them.
  4415.  
  4416. MILLER
  4417. Jackson, get a hold of command.
  4418.  
  4419. Jackson cranks up the five-thirty-five. Miller turns to
  4420. Forrest.
  4421.  
  4422. MILLER
  4423. How many men do you have?
  4424.  
  4425. They pause to FIRE, covering Sarge, the last of Miller's men
  4426. to leap over the barricade.
  4427.  
  4428. Forrest Eleven, sir. We started with thirty-six. The bridge
  4429. was easy to take but the Krauts have been coming back at us
  4430. ever since. They must want it intact or we'd be long gone.
  4431.  
  4432. Jackson speaks into the radio handset, repeating Miller's
  4433. hailing I.D. No response.
  4434.  
  4435. JACKSON
  4436. Not yet.
  4437.  
  4438. MILLER
  4439. Keep trying.
  4440.  
  4441. Forrest Sir, what do you want with Ryan?
  4442.  
  4443. Miller doesn't answer, he looks past Forrest and sees:
  4444.  
  4445. PRIVATE JAMES RYAN
  4446. Dashing from cover to cover, making
  4447. his way toward them. Ryan is an
  4448. American classic, nineteen years
  4449. old, earthy, handsome, sharp, cocky.
  4450. Though he's exhausted, unshaven, and
  4451. smeared with dirt and blood, he's
  4452. very alive. His eyes shine, his
  4453. face has a spark. You can't help
  4454. but love this kid.
  4455.  
  4456. MILLER'S MEN
  4457. All watch Ryan run toward them.
  4458.  
  4459. JACKSON
  4460. So, that's Ryan.
  4461.  
  4462. REIBEN
  4463. Looks like a flaming asshole to me.
  4464.  
  4465. Their eyes remain glued to Ryan as he makes it to the
  4466. barricade. He salutes Miller.
  4467.  
  4468. REIBEN
  4469. I'm Ryan, sir. You wanted to see
  4470. me?
  4471.  
  4472. Miller looks at Ryan for a moment, amazed that he's finally
  4473. face-to-face with him. Ryan waits. Miller hesitates,
  4474. searching for words. Then he speaks gently but clearly.
  4475. Miller Private, I've got some bad news for you. Your brothers
  4476. have been killed in action.
  4477.  
  4478. The life instantly drains from Ryan. His breath comes hard.
  4479. Somehow he remains upright.
  4480.  
  4481. Ryan All three?
  4482.  
  4483. MILLER
  4484. Yes.
  4485.  
  4486. Ryan sways. Miller grabs him and eases him back, leaning
  4487. him against some sandbags.
  4488.  
  4489. THE PARATROOPERS
  4490. Are stunned at the news. They look
  4491. at Ryan, there's nothing else they
  4492. can do.
  4493.  
  4494. MILLER'S MEN
  4495. Also look at Ryan, but then, one
  4496. after another, they turn away,
  4497. adverting their eyes, looking a their
  4498. own boots, the debris on the bridge,
  4499. the sky, anything other than Ryan.
  4500.  
  4501. MILLER
  4502. We've been sent to get you out of
  4503. here. You're going home.
  4504.  
  4505. Ryan weakly waves Miller off. Miller motions to his men and
  4506. the paratroopers to move away. They do so, giving Ryan a
  4507. little room.
  4508.  
  4509. Forrest Three brothers, the poor son-of-a-bitch.
  4510.  
  4511. MILLER
  4512. Sergeant, we're moving out and I'm
  4513. taking you and your men with me.
  4514.  
  4515. Forrest But, sir, our orders are clear, we're to hold this
  4516. bridge until we're relieved by forward elements of the Twenty-
  4517. ninth Division.
  4518.  
  4519. MILLER
  4520. I'm giving you new orders, Sergeant.
  4521.  
  4522. Forrest Sir, you can't do that, these orders are from command.
  4523.  
  4524. MILLER
  4525. I'm not going to leave you and your
  4526. men here to get killed. Get them
  4527. together, we're moving out.
  4528.  
  4529. A VOICE from behind them speaks simply, clearly, firmly.
  4530.  
  4531. RYAN (O.S.)
  4532. No, sir.
  4533.  
  4534. They all turn and see Ryan standing there. Miller is about
  4535. to automatically rip Ryan a new asshole for contradicting
  4536. him, but he quickly calms himself, gently touches Ryan on
  4537. the arm and speaks softly to him.
  4538.  
  4539. MILLER
  4540. Come on, Private, you're going home.
  4541.  
  4542. Ryan jerks away from Miller.
  4543.  
  4544. RYAN
  4545. No, sir.
  4546.  
  4547. All eyes are on Miller and Ryan. Miller remains patient.
  4548.  
  4549. MILLER
  4550. Private. I'm sorry about your
  4551. brothers but staying here and getting
  4552. yourself killed isn't going to help.
  4553.  
  4554. RYAN
  4555. Sir, if the Krauts are holding this
  4556. bridge when division shows up, our
  4557. guys are going to be sitting ducks.
  4558.  
  4559. MILLER
  4560. This bridge cannot be held. The
  4561. Germans have two companies less than
  4562. three miles from here. They have
  4563. tanks.
  4564.  
  4565. That news clearly affects Ryan and the other paratroopers,
  4566. but Ryan holds his ground. Ryan Sir, I'm still not going.
  4567.  
  4568. Miller speaks with restrained, but growing, anger.
  4569.  
  4570. MILLER
  4571. Private, if you want to commit
  4572. suicide, that's your choice, but
  4573. you're going to have to wait until
  4574. after I get you back to the beach.
  4575. And you're not going to take these
  4576. men with you.
  4577.  
  4578. Ryan stands eye-to-eye with Miller.
  4579.  
  4580. RYAN
  4581. I'm not leaving, sir.
  4582.  
  4583. Miller starts to boil over.
  4584.  
  4585. MILLER
  4586. The hell you aren't, you're comin'
  4587. with me if I have to drag you every
  4588. inch of the way. You hear me,
  4589. Private?
  4590.  
  4591. RYAN
  4592. I hear you sir, but I'm not leaving.
  4593.  
  4594. Miller grabs Ryan by the lapels and shakes him. Ryan doesn't
  4595. resist.
  4596.  
  4597. MILLER
  4598. Listen you little son-of-a-bitch
  4599. you're coming with me or
  4600. I'll...I'll...
  4601.  
  4602. Ryan speaks softly.
  4603.  
  4604. RYAN
  4605. What are you going to do, sir, shoot
  4606. me?
  4607.  
  4608. Miller considers it. Then REIBEN SPEAKS UP from behind
  4609. Miller.
  4610.  
  4611. REIBEN
  4612. (politely)
  4613. Uh, excuse me, Captain.
  4614.  
  4615. Miller slowly turns and glares.
  4616.  
  4617. REIBEN
  4618. (continuing)
  4619. So, what are a few tanks, sir?
  4620.  
  4621. Miller's more amazed than pissed off. Reiben smiles.
  4622.  
  4623. REIBEN
  4624. (continuing)
  4625. He's right, we can't shoot him...well,
  4626. we could but we'd get in an enormous
  4627. amount of trouble. And he's right
  4628. about the bridge, it's a hell of a
  4629. lot more important than he is.
  4630.  
  4631. JACKSON STEPS FORWARD.
  4632.  
  4633. JACKSON
  4634. Cap'n...?
  4635.  
  4636. Miller turns his glare on Jackson.
  4637.  
  4638. JACKSON
  4639. (continuing)
  4640. Seems to me, we got us a opportunity,
  4641. here, to kill two birds with one
  4642. stone. Command seems to think keepin'
  4643. this boy alive is worth somethin'.
  4644. If we was to do that and hold this
  4645. bridge, good chance we'd get us a
  4646. bucket full of medals. I might even
  4647. get me one 'a them big, fancy ones
  4648. like you got, so's I could sass any
  4649. officer in the whole dang army, you
  4650. included.
  4651.  
  4652. Miller does a slow burn.
  4653.  
  4654. UPHAM STEPS FORWARD
  4655.  
  4656. UPHAM
  4657. I'd like to stay, too, Captain.
  4658.  
  4659. MILLER
  4660. You don't count.
  4661.  
  4662. SARGE STEPS UP
  4663.  
  4664. SARGE
  4665. I do and personally, I'd rather get
  4666. the hell out of here, but somebody's
  4667. got to stay and take care of you and
  4668. these pin-head privates of yours.
  4669.  
  4670. Miller looks at FORREST AND THE PARATROOPERS.
  4671.  
  4672. Forrest We weren't planning on going anywhere, sir.
  4673.  
  4674. Reiben smiles.
  4675.  
  4676. REIBEN
  4677. See, Captain? The vote's unanimous.
  4678.  
  4679. Miller's eyes almost pop out of his head. Miller The vote?
  4680. What the hell are you talking about? We don't vote. This
  4681. isn't a democracy. This is the army, I give orders, you
  4682. follow them. We don't vote!
  4683.  
  4684. REIBEN
  4685. Yes, sir, of course, sir, I was merely
  4686. speaking hypothetically. IF this
  4687. was a voting situation, then the
  4688. vote would have been unanimous. But
  4689. of course, it's not a voting
  4690. situation, you're the captain, and
  4691. you give the orders, sir.
  4692.  
  4693. MILLER
  4694. You're goddamned right, I give the
  4695. order. Vote! Jesus Christ! Listen
  4696. to me, you little pissant pieces of
  4697. shit, I am the ranking officer here
  4698. and what I say goes, is that clear?
  4699.  
  4700. They all quickly nod.
  4701.  
  4702. JACKSON
  4703. Yes, sir.
  4704.  
  4705. REIBEN
  4706. Of course, sir.
  4707.  
  4708. All the others Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
  4709.  
  4710. Miller looks from face to face.
  4711.  
  4712. MILLER
  4713. In that case...
  4714. (beat)
  4715. I vote we stay.
  4716.  
  4717. That's what they wanted to hear. Miller doesn't give them
  4718. time to enjoy it, he immediately starts barking orders.
  4719.  
  4720. MILLER
  4721. Reiben, the B.A.R., there. Jackson,
  4722. get up on the bridgekeepers hut with
  4723. your sniper rifle. Sarge, you and
  4724. Upham move that machine gun so it
  4725. can cover the left flank, it's
  4726. worthless where it is. Forrest, I
  4727. want a full inventory of all your
  4728. weapons, ammo and ordnance. Go.
  4729.  
  4730. They all hurry off, except for Ryan who locks eyes with Miller
  4731. for a moment.
  4732.  
  4733. RYAN
  4734. Thank you, sir.
  4735.  
  4736. MILLER
  4737. (gruffly gentle)
  4738. Yeah, yeah. I want you right next
  4739. to me, no matter where I go, you
  4740. understand?
  4741.  
  4742. Ryan salutes.
  4743.  
  4744. RYAN
  4745. Yes, sir.
  4746.  
  4747. MILLER
  4748. Alright, come with me.
  4749.  
  4750. Miller shakes his head at himself and strides off to check
  4751. the defensive perimeter with Ryan at his side.
  4752.  
  4753. EXT. BRIDGE - DAY
  4754.  
  4755. Miller and Reiben watch as Forrest, Ryan and a couple other
  4756. paratroopers lay out their weapons and ammo inventory.
  4757.  
  4758. Forrest Two machine guns, twenty-two grenades, two Gammon
  4759. grenades, six satchel charges, twenty-six M-1's, eight Tommy
  4760. guns and about sixty rounds per man.
  4761.  
  4762. MILLER
  4763. That's it?
  4764.  
  4765. Reiben looks at the sparse array of weaponry.
  4766.  
  4767. REIBEN
  4768. Sir, can I change my vote?
  4769.  
  4770. Miller sighs, worried.
  4771.  
  4772. EXT. BRIDGEKEEPER'S HUT - DAY
  4773.  
  4774. Jackson, perched on the bridgekeepers hut, protected by a
  4775. crescent of sandbags. His eye is at his scope. He FIRES.
  4776.  
  4777. A GERMAN SNIPER
  4778. Falls from a window on the edge of
  4779. town, dead.
  4780.  
  4781. UPHAM
  4782. Sits beside Jackson with a pair of
  4783. binoculars, searching for another
  4784. target. The German sniper fire has
  4785. subsided for now. Ext. bridge - day
  4786. Miller watches as Ryan and several
  4787. other paratroopers dig a series of
  4788. trenches across the street, leading
  4789. to the bridge.
  4790.  
  4791. Reiben, Jackson and Upham, stone-faced, watch Ryan.
  4792.  
  4793. Miller eyes the buildings near the bridge head. He speaks
  4794. to Sarge who holds several satchel charges.
  4795.  
  4796. MILLER
  4797. Sarge, see what you can do to make
  4798. those buildings inhospitable.
  4799.  
  4800. SARGE
  4801. Yes, sir.
  4802.  
  4803. Just then they hear the sound of A BIG GUN FIRING IN THE
  4804. DISTANCE. They all turn at the sound.
  4805.  
  4806. UPHAM
  4807. Eighty-eights, right?
  4808.  
  4809. Miller nods.
  4810.  
  4811. UPHAM
  4812. I can tell what the gunners had for
  4813. dinner.
  4814.  
  4815. MILLER
  4816. Those guns are close.
  4817.  
  4818. Forrest Just south of town. The Krauts have a two gun
  4819. emplacement, we saw it on the way in. That's how we knew
  4820. they wanted the bridge intact, they didn't blow the crap out
  4821. of us.
  4822.  
  4823. MILLER
  4824. Let's hope they don't change their
  4825. mind.
  4826.  
  4827. Upham listens to the eighty-eights with particular interest.
  4828.  
  4829. INT. BUILDING - DAY
  4830.  
  4831. Within sight of the bridge. Sarge carefully plants a wire-
  4832. triggered satchel charge at the door of the building. He
  4833. sets the wire, then carefully backs away.
  4834.  
  4835. EXT. BRIDGE - EVENING
  4836.  
  4837. Reiben and Ryan pile sandbags, finishing a forward machine
  4838. gun nest. Miller looks around, evaluating, Sarge and Upham
  4839. at his side.
  4840.  
  4841. SARGE
  4842. What do you think?
  4843.  
  4844. MILLER
  4845. Well, if we had ten times the men
  4846. and a lot more ammo, we might stand
  4847. a chance, but not against those tanks.
  4848.  
  4849. SARGE
  4850. What are we going to do?
  4851.  
  4852. MILLER
  4853. We're going to hope like hell the
  4854. tanks were on their way somewhere
  4855. else.
  4856.  
  4857. REIBEN
  4858. Maybe Caen.
  4859.  
  4860. MILLER
  4861. Let's hope, because we're sure as
  4862. hell not going to do any damage to
  4863. them with what we have here.
  4864.  
  4865. UPHAM
  4866. What about our grenades?
  4867.  
  4868. MILLER
  4869. Those are Tigers, they have six-inch
  4870. armor, they don't even notice
  4871. grenades.
  4872.  
  4873. UPHAM
  4874. Would they notice and eighty-eight?
  4875.  
  4876. MILLER
  4877. Sure, you got one?
  4878.  
  4879. UPHAM
  4880. The Germans do.
  4881.  
  4882. Miller is stone-faced, then he smiles.
  4883.  
  4884. MILLER
  4885. Upham, go find Jackson, he and I are
  4886. going hunting.
  4887.  
  4888. Upham runs off. Sarge shakes his head.
  4889.  
  4890. SARGE
  4891. Uh, oh.
  4892.  
  4893. MILLER
  4894. Out of the mouth of babes.
  4895.  
  4896. EXT. BRIDGEHEAD - NIGHT
  4897.  
  4898. Dark. Miller, Jackson and Forrest darken their faces with
  4899. blackening soot. The rest of Miller's men and several
  4900. paratroopers, including Ryan, look on. Upham is distressed.
  4901. Upham It was my idea, sir, you've got to let me go.
  4902.  
  4903. MILLER
  4904. Upham, you've got to learn the
  4905. difference between whining and
  4906. griping. You can't just rely on
  4907. natural ability, you've got to study
  4908. and practice.
  4909.  
  4910. UPHAM
  4911. But, sir...
  4912.  
  4913. MILLER
  4914. There you go again, that's whining,
  4915. that's not okay.
  4916.  
  4917. UPHAM
  4918. Goddamn it, sir...
  4919.  
  4920. MILLER
  4921. That's better, but you've still got
  4922. a long way to go. Talk to Reiben,
  4923. he's a natural and works at it, he'll
  4924. give you some pointers.
  4925.  
  4926. REIBEN
  4927. Leave him to me, Captain, I'll have
  4928. him pissing and moaning with the
  4929. best of us.
  4930.  
  4931. MILLER
  4932. See to it.
  4933.  
  4934. RYAN Steps up to Miller.
  4935.  
  4936. RYAN
  4937. I'd like to go, sir.
  4938.  
  4939. MILLER
  4940. No, private, I want you to stay here,
  4941. keep your head down, don't do anything
  4942. brave or stupid.
  4943.  
  4944. REIBEN
  4945. Aren't they the same thing, sir?
  4946.  
  4947. Miller smiles.
  4948.  
  4949. MILLER
  4950. Reiben, I don't know what I'd do
  4951. without you. Sarge, keep Ryan close
  4952. to you and alive.
  4953.  
  4954. SARGE
  4955. Yes, sir.
  4956.  
  4957. Miller checks Jackson and Forrest.
  4958.  
  4959. MILLER
  4960. You ready?
  4961.  
  4962. Forrest Yes, sir.
  4963.  
  4964. JACKSON
  4965. You betcha, sir.
  4966.  
  4967. Miller, Forrest and Jackson prepare to move out.
  4968.  
  4969. REIBEN
  4970. (southern accent)
  4971. Y'all come back.
  4972.  
  4973. JACKSON
  4974. Reiben, are you makin' fun 'a the
  4975. way I talk?
  4976.  
  4977. REIBEN
  4978. (heavy southern accent)
  4979. Hell, no!
  4980.  
  4981. Jackson shoots him a glare, then he follows Miller and Forrest
  4982. into the darkness. Sarge, Ryan and the other watch them go.
  4983.  
  4984. EXT. GERMAN EIGHTY-EIGHT EMPLACEMENT - NIGHT
  4985.  
  4986. A German eighty-eight FIRES, sending its big shell into the
  4987. night. It's eight-man crew re-loads.
  4988.  
  4989. IN THE DARKNESS
  4990. A slight movement. It's Miller. He
  4991. crawls to the edge of the emplacement
  4992. and freezes in the shadows.
  4993.  
  4994. A moment later he's joined by Forrest. A moment after that,
  4995. Jackson silently crawls up to them.
  4996.  
  4997. MILLER
  4998. Eyes the emplacement. Looks for a
  4999. weakness. There is none. He motions
  5000. to Forrest and Jackson to wait. The
  5001. three of them settle into the
  5002. darkness.
  5003.  
  5004. EXT. MACHINE GUN NEST - BRIDGE - NIGHT
  5005.  
  5006. Sarge, Upham and Reiben sit with Ryan in the darkness. Ryan
  5007. is lost in thought, far away. One after another, Miller's
  5008. men eye him.
  5009.  
  5010. SARGE
  5011. Private, I'm sorry about your
  5012. brothers.
  5013.  
  5014. Ryan nods. Then, with some difficulty, he makes the trip
  5015. from Iowa back to France. He turns to Sarge. Ryan What was
  5016. the name of the guy who got killed coming up here?
  5017.  
  5018. SARGE
  5019. Wade.
  5020.  
  5021. RYAN
  5022. Wade. Huh, he died coming up here
  5023. to keep me alive...I never met
  5024. him...he didn't know me from Adam,
  5025. strange. What was he like?
  5026.  
  5027. SARGE
  5028. A good man, kind of cheerful, Reiben,
  5029. here, used to call him a happy idiot.
  5030.  
  5031. REIBEN
  5032. Like hell, I did.
  5033.  
  5034. RYAN
  5035. My brothers would be mighty pissed
  5036. off at me, if they knew I let some
  5037. guy get killed trying to keep me
  5038. alive.
  5039.  
  5040. SARGE
  5041. You didn't let anybody get killed,
  5042. you didn't even know we were coming
  5043. up here.
  5044.  
  5045. RYAN
  5046. Sure, I know, but...
  5047. (sighs)
  5048. Goddamn it all...
  5049.  
  5050. The others nod in agreement. They look closely at Ryan.
  5051.  
  5052. EXT. GERMAN EIGHTY-EIGHT EMPLACEMENT - NIGHT
  5053.  
  5054. Dark. No firing. Two German soldiers on watch.
  5055.  
  5056. A SHADOW
  5057. It's Miller. Easing through the
  5058. darkness. Closer to one of the
  5059. sentries.
  5060.  
  5061. Miller sees Jackson easing up behind another sentry. Miller
  5062. nods to Jackson. They move at the same moment. Behind the
  5063. sentries. SLIT THEIR THROATS.
  5064.  
  5065. BEHIND THE EIGHTY-EIGHT
  5066. Forrest removes the wheel-blocks.
  5067.  
  5068. A GERMAN SENTRY
  5069. Approaches. He sees Forrest. Just
  5070. as he's about to open up with his
  5071. sub-machine gun, Miller grabs him
  5072. from behind, STABS him, eases the
  5073. body silently to the ground.
  5074.  
  5075. MILLER AND JACKSON
  5076. Join Forrest at the eighty-eight.
  5077.  
  5078. Together they attach the eighty-eight's carriage to the
  5079. German's truck.
  5080.  
  5081. ANOTHER GERMAN SENTRY
  5082. Rounds a corner. Sees them. OPENS
  5083. UP WITH HIS SUB-MACHINE GUN.
  5084.  
  5085. Forrest DIVES, FIRES BACK.
  5086.  
  5087. OTHER GERMANS
  5088. Race over, FIRING.
  5089.  
  5090. JACKSON
  5091. Covering them, OPENS UP. Kills the
  5092. advancing Germans.
  5093.  
  5094. MILLER frantically attaches the eighty-eight to the truck.
  5095.  
  5096. FORREST CUTS DOWN, several more Germans.
  5097.  
  5098. JACKSON TAKES A GRAZING SHOT IN THE SHOULDER.
  5099.  
  5100. Spins.
  5101.  
  5102. Still FIRING.
  5103.  
  5104. Giving Miller cover.
  5105.  
  5106. MILLER LEAPS into the cab of the truck.
  5107.  
  5108. JACKSON AND FORREST LEAP into the back.
  5109.  
  5110. JACKSON FIRES into the approaching Germans.
  5111.  
  5112. THE WINDSHIELD
  5113. Is shattered by bullets.
  5114.  
  5115. Glass flies everywhere, cutting Miller on the face and hands.
  5116.  
  5117. FORREST
  5118. In the back of the truck.
  5119.  
  5120. Spraying the Germans with his Thompson.
  5121.  
  5122. MILLER FLOORS IT.
  5123.  
  5124. The truck DRIVES through the Germans.
  5125.  
  5126. The Germans FIRE at the truck and trailing eighty-eight.
  5127. MILLER, JACKSON AND FORREST Drive into the night.
  5128.  
  5129. The Germans FIRING after them.
  5130.  
  5131. EXT. ROAD LEADING TO THE BRIDGE - NIGHT
  5132.  
  5133. Miller, Jackson and Forrest barrel down the road through a
  5134. gauntlet of Germans. As they approach the bridge, the other
  5135. American's FIRE COVER for them.
  5136.  
  5137. Miller drives the truck onto the bridge.
  5138.  
  5139. SMASHES INTO THE SANDBAGS
  5140.  
  5141. THE OTHER AMERICANS, with Ryan in the lead, leap over the
  5142. barricade and drag the captured eighty-eight onto the bridge.
  5143.  
  5144. MILLER
  5145. RYAN! GET BACK THERE!
  5146.  
  5147. Ryan ignores him. They get the eighty-eight safely behind
  5148. the barricade. Miller grabs Ryan.
  5149.  
  5150. RYAN
  5151. Sorry, sir.
  5152.  
  5153. Miller fumes. he sees Reiben, Sarge and Upham, shrugging,
  5154. clearly not pissed at Ryan.
  5155.  
  5156. MILLER
  5157. Don't do that again.
  5158.  
  5159. RYAN
  5160. I won't need to sir, it's already
  5161. here, behind the barricade so...
  5162.  
  5163. Miller GROWLS.
  5164.  
  5165. RYAN
  5166. Yes, sir.
  5167.  
  5168. Miller glares at Ryan, then strides off.
  5169.  
  5170. EXT. FIELD - NIGHT
  5171.  
  5172. Miller and Upham carefully dig up a German mine. Very
  5173. gingerly they place it on a growing pile of other mines.
  5174.  
  5175. EXT. ROAD LEADING TO BRIDGE - NIGHT
  5176.  
  5177. Miller and Ryan lay a mine into the dirt. They cover it and
  5178. step back carefully.
  5179.  
  5180. Then they proceed with the next. Upham is covering their
  5181. tracks while Jackson is digging the holes in which they'll
  5182. place the rest of the mines.
  5183.  
  5184. EXT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
  5185.  
  5186. Quiet. Dark. Everything is ready. There's nothing to do
  5187. now but wait.
  5188.  
  5189. ON THE BRIDGEKEEPERS HUT
  5190.  
  5191. Reiben and Jackson sit behind the sandbags. They can see
  5192. Ryan sitting in the moonlight about twenty yards away, manning
  5193. the rear machine gun nest with Sarge.
  5194.  
  5195. REIBEN
  5196. What do you think?
  5197.  
  5198. JACKSON
  5199. I think I'm we got that eighty-eight.
  5200.  
  5201. REIBEN
  5202. I mean, Ryan, what do you think of
  5203. him?
  5204.  
  5205. Jackson shrugs.
  5206.  
  5207. JACKSON
  5208. He ain't half-bad, I guess.
  5209.  
  5210. REIBEN
  5211. I guess.
  5212.  
  5213. They're quiet for a moment.
  5214.  
  5215. JACKSON
  5216. He ain't Wade.
  5217.  
  5218. REIBEN
  5219. Nope, he ain't Wade.
  5220.  
  5221. Their eyes keep coming back to Ryan.
  5222.  
  5223. MILLER
  5224. Crouch-runs through the shadows and
  5225. stops at the bridgekeepers hut.
  5226.  
  5227. MILLER
  5228. Reiben...
  5229.  
  5230. Miller points, directing Reiben to the forward machine gun
  5231. nest.
  5232.  
  5233. REIBEN
  5234. Yes, sir.
  5235.  
  5236. REIBEN jumps down and moves forward.
  5237.  
  5238. MILLER runs across the bridge and joins Sarge and Ryan in
  5239. the rear machine gun nest.
  5240.  
  5241. MILLER
  5242. You set? Sarge nods.
  5243.  
  5244. RYAN
  5245. Yes, sir.
  5246.  
  5247. Miller and Sarge exchange a look. Then Miller slips off to
  5248. check the others.
  5249.  
  5250. EXT. BRIDGE - DAWN
  5251.  
  5252. First light. The Americans are ready for battle. WE SEE
  5253. them in their positions:
  5254.  
  5255. REIBEN AND UPHAM
  5256. Manning the forward machine gun nest.
  5257.  
  5258. JACKSON
  5259. Behind the sandbags, on top of the
  5260. bridgekeeper's hut.
  5261.  
  5262. FORREST AND THE PARATROOPERS
  5263.  
  5264. Behind the second of two barricades set up between the forward
  5265. and the rear machine gun nests.
  5266.  
  5267. RYAN AND SARGE
  5268. Manning rear machine gun.
  5269.  
  5270. MILLER
  5271. At the bridgehead, waiting.
  5272.  
  5273. SOUND FROM DOWN THE ROAD
  5274.  
  5275. All eyes turn.
  5276.  
  5277. SINGLE GERMAN SOLDIER
  5278.  
  5279. Dashes across the street. Exposed only for an instant.
  5280. Then another. And another.
  5281.  
  5282. MILLER
  5283. Cocks his Thompson. Settles down
  5284. behind some sandbags.
  5285.  
  5286. MILLER
  5287. HERE THEY COME!
  5288.  
  5289. A RUSH OF GERMANS ADVANCE, BLASTING AT THE BRIDGE.
  5290.  
  5291. THE AMERICANS RETURN FIRE
  5292.  
  5293. REIBEN
  5294. OPENS UP with the MACHINE GUN.
  5295.  
  5296. THE GERMANS
  5297. At least fifty of them, advancing on
  5298. the bridge. Running from cover to
  5299. cover. A squad pushing a French
  5300. truck, using it as a shield.
  5301.  
  5302. JACKSON
  5303. Calmly picking off the attacking
  5304. Germans.
  5305.  
  5306. THE GERMAN INFANTRYMEN
  5307. Make their way down the streets.
  5308. Along the riverbank. Through the
  5309. houses. There are GERMANS FIRING
  5310. from all directions.
  5311.  
  5312. REIBEN FIRES IN ARCS.
  5313.  
  5314. MILLER
  5315. Sees Reiben and Upham being cut off.
  5316. Grabs the B.A.R., stands and fires.
  5317.  
  5318. REIBEN AND UPHAM
  5319. Running out of ammo. See that there's
  5320. nothing else they can do.
  5321.  
  5322. REIBEN
  5323. Time to go.
  5324.  
  5325. Reiben rolls out of the nest, carrying the fifty caliber.
  5326. Upham follows, carrying the ammo boxes. They run as fast as
  5327. they can.
  5328.  
  5329. THE OTHER AMERICANS FIRE COVER
  5330.  
  5331. REIBEN takes a glancing slug. Falls. Rolls and gets up.
  5332. Bleeding from the side, but not mortal. Upham helps him.
  5333.  
  5334. They MAKE IT TO THE SANDBAGS of the first barricade.
  5335.  
  5336. DIVE OVER. The Germans are almost on them.
  5337.  
  5338. RYAN IS FIRING
  5339. With the rear MACHINE GUN. Drops
  5340. several Germans.
  5341.  
  5342. GERMANS EVERYWHERE
  5343. They swarm over the first barricade.
  5344.  
  5345. MILLER
  5346. FIRES A BURST into a German's belly.
  5347. HITS another with the stock of his
  5348. Thompson.
  5349.  
  5350. HAND-TO-HAND.
  5351.  
  5352. FORREST AND THE OTHER PARATROOPERS
  5353.  
  5354. FIRING COVER for Miller, Reiben and Upham, don't see a
  5355. flanking Germans squad easing along the riverbanks. Two of
  5356. the Germans LOB POTATO MASHERS among the paratroopers. THE
  5357. PARATROOPERS see the grenades. Too late.
  5358.  
  5359. THE POTATO MASHERS EXPLODE KILLING FORREST AND THE OTHER
  5360. PARATROOPERS RYAN SEES FORREST AND THE OTHERS DIE
  5361.  
  5362. No time to react.
  5363.  
  5364. HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING
  5365. Half a dozen Germans break through.
  5366.  
  5367. Miller KILLS TWO MORE WITH A BURST.
  5368.  
  5369. RYAN
  5370. Is jumped on by one. Upham FIRES.
  5371. KILLS the German.
  5372.  
  5373. MILLER
  5374. Struggling with a pair of Germans.
  5375.  
  5376. JACKSON
  5377. FIRES. Drops one of the Germans on
  5378. Miller with a head shot. Cuts open
  5379. Miller's face with bits of skull.
  5380.  
  5381. RYAN
  5382. Leaps onto the final German attacking
  5383. Miller. That German raises his rifle
  5384. on Ryan.
  5385.  
  5386. UPHAM AND REIBEN AND JACKSON
  5387.  
  5388. All see it. SIMULTANEOUSLY SHOOT the German.
  5389.  
  5390. THE STUNNED GERMAN
  5391. About to kill Ryan. Torn apart by
  5392. bullets from three directions.
  5393.  
  5394. UPHAM
  5395. I got him.
  5396.  
  5397. REIBEN
  5398. Like hell you did, I got him.
  5399.  
  5400. JACKSON SMILES
  5401. He got him.
  5402.  
  5403. MILLER SLAMS in a fresh clip. FIRES an arc. DROPS four
  5404. Germans. Sees an oncoming RUSH OF GERMANS. BARKS to Reiben
  5405. and Upham:
  5406.  
  5407. MILLER
  5408. BACK! LET'S GO!
  5409.  
  5410. They retreat, firing back as best they can, trying to make
  5411. it to the barricade.
  5412.  
  5413. SARGE
  5414. Sees them in deep trouble. Leaves
  5415. Ryan firing the rear machine gun.
  5416. Grabs the B.A.R. ADVANCES, FIRING
  5417. COVER. Exposed.
  5418.  
  5419. BULLETS EVERYWHERE
  5420. MILLER, REIBEN, UPHAM make it to the
  5421. barricade. Dive over.
  5422.  
  5423. SARGE
  5424. Sees they've made it. FIRES A FINAL
  5425. BURST. Races for cover. A trail of
  5426. bullets right behind him.
  5427.  
  5428. THE OTHER AMERICANS FIRE for all they're worth. Trying to
  5429. cover Sarge. Too many Germans.
  5430.  
  5431. SARGE TAKES A SHOT IN THE BACK. FALLS. MILLER AND THE OTHERS
  5432. continue to fire, horrified.
  5433.  
  5434. SARGE STRUGGLES TO HIS FEET
  5435.  
  5436. Cradling the B.A.R. Stumbling toward cover. Slowing.
  5437. Bleeding.
  5438.  
  5439. THE AMERICANS
  5440. Desperately trying to cover him.
  5441.  
  5442. THE GERMANS
  5443. Open up with a volley.
  5444.  
  5445. SARGE
  5446. Is almost there.
  5447.  
  5448. ALL THE AMERICANS STAND AND FIRE
  5449.  
  5450. As best they can. Right past Sarge. It's not enough.
  5451.  
  5452. SARGE
  5453. Five feet from the sandbags, his
  5454. back is TORN APART by Germans fire.
  5455. He looks down, stunned at his chest.
  5456. Amazed to see GAPING HOLES. An
  5457. instant of surprise, more than fear.
  5458.  
  5459. He looks to Miller. Takes two more stumbling steps. Falls
  5460. onto the sandbags. Dropping the B.A.R. over the edge. Dies.
  5461. THE AMERICANS FIRE MADLY, CONTINUOUSLY
  5462.  
  5463. THE GERMANS
  5464. Who killed Sarge are killed. The
  5465. others back off for now.
  5466.  
  5467. REIBEN, UPHAM, JACKSON, RYAN fire at the retreating Germans.
  5468.  
  5469. MILLER
  5470. Grabs Sarge and pulls him over the
  5471. barricade. Sees that he's dead.
  5472.  
  5473. THE GERMANS RETREAT.
  5474.  
  5475. Around the corner.
  5476.  
  5477. MILLER
  5478. Stunned, lays Sarge down, kneeling
  5479. next to him.
  5480.  
  5481. THE OTHERS
  5482. Watch, start to gather.
  5483.  
  5484. REIBEN
  5485. Goddamn it...Goddamn it...Goddamn
  5486. it...
  5487.  
  5488. MILLER
  5489. Get back to your positions!
  5490.  
  5491. They hesitate.
  5492.  
  5493. MILLER
  5494. Go!
  5495.  
  5496. They follow the order. All except Ryan, who doesn't move.
  5497. He can't take his eyes off Sarge.
  5498.  
  5499. MILLER
  5500. Doesn't move. He just stares at
  5501. Sarge's body.
  5502.  
  5503. RYAN
  5504. Looks at Miller, sees him growing
  5505. weak, starting to sway. He gently
  5506. tries to move Miller aside.
  5507.  
  5508. RYAN
  5509. I'll take care of Sarge...
  5510.  
  5511. Miller looks up at Ryan, then back at Sarge's body. Miller
  5512. grows cold, making the same startling transformation he made
  5513. as he kneeled over Wade's body.
  5514.  
  5515. MILLER
  5516. Sarge? Who's Sarge?
  5517.  
  5518. But this time it doesn't work. He can't make it stick. The
  5519. hard expression, disappears. He drifts, utterly lost. He's
  5520. called his own bluff.
  5521.  
  5522. EXT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
  5523.  
  5524. Dark. Quiet. The distant guns are silent for once.
  5525.  
  5526. Waiting. Reiben, Upham, Jackson, Ryan and Miller have
  5527. tightened their perimeter.
  5528.  
  5529. Miller is in a trance. The others glance at him nervously.
  5530.  
  5531. They eat in silence. K-rations. Some bread. A last supper.
  5532.  
  5533. Then, from out of nowhere, Miller speaks:
  5534.  
  5535. MILLER
  5536. English teacher, Addley, Pennsylvania.
  5537.  
  5538. Slowly, Miller's men turn to him.
  5539.  
  5540. UPHAM
  5541. What'd you say, Captain?
  5542.  
  5543. MILLER
  5544. I teach English at Addley High School
  5545. in Addley, Pennsylvania.
  5546.  
  5547. REIBEN
  5548. Well, I'll be goddamned, I knew it.
  5549.  
  5550. JACKSON
  5551. Like hell, you did.
  5552.  
  5553. UPHAM
  5554. Captain, what about our deal?
  5555.  
  5556. MILLER
  5557. I changed my mind.
  5558.  
  5559. REIBEN
  5560. What deal?
  5561.  
  5562. MILLER
  5563. I coach the baseball team, too.
  5564.  
  5565. JACKSON
  5566. No kiddin'?
  5567.  
  5568. REIBEN
  5569. What deal?
  5570.  
  5571. UPHAM
  5572. Forget it.
  5573.  
  5574. They all sit in silence.
  5575.  
  5576. MILLER
  5577. You know that cruise ship Wade's
  5578. grandfather was on?
  5579.  
  5580. They all nod, except Ryan who doesn't know what Miller's
  5581. talking about.
  5582.  
  5583. MILLER
  5584. (continuing)
  5585. I wonder if his cabin is still
  5586. available?
  5587.  
  5588. REIBEN
  5589. That's not where I am. Miller No?
  5590. Where are you?
  5591.  
  5592. REIBEN
  5593. I'm in a dressing room with Mrs.
  5594. Rachel Troubowitz, our super's wife.
  5595. She's an easy forty-four, double E,
  5596. but I've convinced her she's a thirty-
  5597. eight D and I'm watching her try and
  5598. squeeze herself into a side-stay,
  5599. silk-ribboned, three-panel girdle
  5600. with s Helf-lift brassiere.
  5601. (smiles)
  5602. She's having a devil of a time,
  5603. getting into that thing.
  5604.  
  5605. They all share Reiben's dream for a moment. Then Jackson
  5606. smiles.
  5607.  
  5608. JACKSON
  5609. Me? I'm walking with my hound, Lucy,
  5610. it's about an hour 'fore sunrise and
  5611. we're out huntin' coon. I got me a
  5612. flask of pure Kentucky mash whiskey...
  5613.  
  5614. REIBEN
  5615. Jackson, how many times I got to
  5616. tell you, you're from Tennessee.
  5617.  
  5618. JACKSON
  5619. I am, but I like imported whiskey.
  5620. So there I am and I hear the biggest
  5621. ole' coon you ever did hear, 'a
  5622. rustlin' right there in front of me.
  5623. That ole' boy comes right out of the
  5624. brush, I got a clear shot and he
  5625. knows he's 'bout to meet his maker.
  5626. I aim, I got my finger tight on the
  5627. trigger and then I just smile and
  5628. say to that ole' coon, go on, now,
  5629. you get out 'a here. Then I sit
  5630. down on a hollow log and take me a
  5631. right long pull a' that mash whiskey.
  5632.  
  5633. Upham smiles.
  5634.  
  5635. UPHAM
  5636. I don't know, I kind of like Wade's
  5637. idea about the cruise ship. I've
  5638. never been to Tahiti.
  5639.  
  5640. REIBEN
  5641. What about you, Captain?
  5642.  
  5643. Miller smiles. He knows exactly where he is.
  5644.  
  5645. MILLER
  5646. I'm in my backyard, lying in my
  5647. hammock, with my arm around my wife,
  5648. listening for the sound of breaking
  5649. glass.
  5650.  
  5651. JACKSON
  5652. Say what, Cap'n?
  5653.  
  5654. MILLER
  5655. You see, I've got the best house in
  5656. all of Addley. It's not the biggest
  5657. house, but it's got the best location,
  5658. right next to the junior high baseball
  5659. field. The garage windows face left
  5660. field. The guy who owned the house
  5661. before me had these heavy screen S
  5662. put over them. The first thing I
  5663. did when I bought the place was take
  5664. off those screens. Two-hundred-twenty-
  5665. two yards from home plate to my garage
  5666. windows. It takes a hell of a junior
  5667. high kid to hit a ball that far. I
  5668. look at my garage windows as a
  5669. Motivator and a way to scout the
  5670. kids coming up, the ones who are
  5671. going to give us a shot at the state
  5672. championship. I lay there in my
  5673. hammock and every time I hear the
  5674. sound of breaking glass, I know we're
  5675. one step closer to winning it all.
  5676.  
  5677. JACKSON
  5678. Don't that get kind of expensive,
  5679. Cap'n?
  5680.  
  5681. MILLER
  5682. It's worth it.
  5683.  
  5684. JACKSON
  5685. To each, his own.
  5686.  
  5687. They're all silent for a moment. Then Miller turns to Ryan.
  5688.  
  5689. MILLER
  5690. How about you, James?
  5691.  
  5692. Ryan sighs.
  5693.  
  5694. RYAN
  5695. I'm home, playing basketball with my
  5696. brothers, it's evenin' time, we're
  5697. trying' to get in a few more points
  5698. before it's too dark to see the ball.
  5699. That's where I am.
  5700.  
  5701. They all nod. Miller tears off a piece of bread and passes
  5702. it to Ryan who tears off a bit and passes it on. They all
  5703. eat in silence.
  5704.  
  5705. EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF RAMELLE - DAWN
  5706.  
  5707. First light. Lovely. Dew shimmers. A ground fog drifts.
  5708. A SOUND. Louder. And louder. A GERMAN TIGER TANK RUMBLES
  5709. toward the village.
  5710.  
  5711. EXT. BRIDGE - RAMELLE - DAWN
  5712.  
  5713. All are awake. At their positions. Waiting.
  5714.  
  5715. MILLER
  5716. Hears the FAINT DISTANT RUMBLE OF
  5717. THE TANK. Barely has time to react.
  5718. Sees:
  5719.  
  5720. THE GERMANS ADVANCING AGAIN
  5721.  
  5722. MILLER
  5723. Here they come.
  5724.  
  5725. REIBEN
  5726. FIRES a burst. Germans drops.
  5727.  
  5728. MILLER
  5729. FIRES a burst. More Germans drop.
  5730.  
  5731. THE GERMANS KEEP COMING
  5732.  
  5733. Lots of them. Moving from cover to cover. FIRING.
  5734.  
  5735. MILLER
  5736. Manning the forward machine gun.
  5737. Way out front. Sees that he's going
  5738. to be cut off. He grabs the hot
  5739. gun. The barrel burns into his flesh.
  5740. He ignores the pain and RUNS BACK
  5741. toward the bridge.
  5742.  
  5743. HE DIVES over the sandbags. barely makes it. TRAILED BY
  5744. BULLETS.
  5745.  
  5746. THE GERMANS
  5747. Take positions near the bridge.
  5748. Moving in. FIRING. Overwhelming.
  5749. They're everywhere.
  5750.  
  5751. THREE GERMANS
  5752. Break through the perimeter.
  5753.  
  5754. RYAN SHOOTS one. GRAPPLES with the other two.
  5755.  
  5756. REIBEN
  5757. Sees Ryan. Races over. SHOOTS one
  5758. German. STABS the other.
  5759.  
  5760. RYAN FALLS BACK. Stunned, unhurt.
  5761.  
  5762. REIBEN only gives him a quick look. Gets to the MACHINE
  5763. GUN.
  5764.  
  5765. OPENS UP against the Germans who are still coming. FIRES A
  5766. LONG BURST. Germans drop.
  5767.  
  5768. MILLER
  5769. FIRES again. More Germans drop.
  5770.  
  5771. THE GERMANS
  5772. Take positions in the building near
  5773. the bridge.
  5774.  
  5775. They start working their way to the tops of the nearby
  5776. buildings.
  5777.  
  5778. Making their way along the riverbanks.
  5779.  
  5780. REIBEN AND RYAN
  5781. Forward. Reiben FIRING. Ryan feeding
  5782. the ammo belt.
  5783.  
  5784. REIBEN
  5785. MORE AMMO!
  5786.  
  5787. UPHAM
  5788. Hears that. Doesn't hesitate. He
  5789. grabs a pair of ammo boxes. RUNS
  5790. toward Reiben and Ryan.
  5791.  
  5792. SEVERAL GERMANS ZERO UPHAM
  5793.  
  5794. OPEN UP on him.
  5795.  
  5796. BULLETS TRAIL UPHAM. He's outrunning them. Almost there.
  5797.  
  5798. UPHAM
  5799. TAKES HALF-A-DOZEN SLUGS. Torn apart.
  5800. Stumbles the final few steps to the
  5801. machine gun nest. Falls on the
  5802. sandbags, giving Reiben and Ryan the
  5803. ammo. UPHAM'S DEAD.
  5804.  
  5805. RYAN STUNNED.
  5806.  
  5807. For just a micro-second. No time. Grabs the ammo. REIBEN
  5808. FIRING. Ryan clips the new ammo belt onto the tail of the
  5809. one almost out.
  5810.  
  5811. REIBEN
  5812. Continues FIRING. CUTTING DOWN the
  5813. advancing Germans.
  5814.  
  5815. THE GERMANS START TO FALL BACK
  5816.  
  5817. MILLER
  5818. Knows what that means. He hears the
  5819. RUMBLE OF THE TANKS.
  5820.  
  5821. MILLER
  5822. TIGHTEN IT UP! HERE THEY COME!
  5823.  
  5824. RYAN AND REIBEN
  5825. Immediately grab the machine gun and
  5826. ammo and race back to the rear nest.
  5827.  
  5828. Then RYAN AND MILLER converge at the eighty-eight. THE FIRST
  5829. TANK APPEARS Huge. Terrifying. Clanking. Trailed by two
  5830. German infantry platoons.
  5831.  
  5832. JACKSON
  5833. On the bridgekeeper's hut. Picking
  5834. off German soldiers who follow the
  5835. tank.
  5836.  
  5837. A GERMAN INFANTRYMAN SPOTS JACKSON. Hollers into the tanks
  5838. voice-tube.
  5839.  
  5840. THE TANK
  5841. Stops. Grinds its gears. Turning
  5842. it's turret towards the bridgekeepers
  5843. hut.
  5844.  
  5845. MILLER
  5846. JACKSON!
  5847.  
  5848. JACKSON
  5849. Knows what's coming but he holds his
  5850. position, continuing to pick off
  5851. German soldiers.
  5852.  
  5853. THE TANK BLASTS
  5854. THE BRIDGEKEEPER'S HUT AND JACKSON
  5855. ARE OBLITERATED IN THE EXPLOSION.
  5856.  
  5857. MILLER AND RYAN
  5858. SEE JACKSON DIE. A bare moment to
  5859. react. Then, they turn their
  5860. attention back to the eighty-eight.
  5861. Frantically turning the aiming cranks.
  5862. Lowering the barrel to point blank.
  5863.  
  5864. TANK AGAINST EIGHTY-EIGHT.
  5865.  
  5866. Which can fire first.
  5867.  
  5868. MILLER AND RYAN
  5869. Win the race.
  5870.  
  5871. FIRE THE EIGHTY-EIGHT
  5872. BLAST THE LEAD TANK DESTROY IT IN A
  5873. SHOWER OF METAL AND FLAMES
  5874.  
  5875. MILLER AND RYAN
  5876. Quickly reload the eighty-eight.
  5877. FIRE AGAIN.
  5878.  
  5879. DESTROY THE SECOND TANK.
  5880.  
  5881. MILLER
  5882. Shoves the FINAL SHELL into the breech
  5883. of the eighty-eight. Pats Ryan on
  5884. the back. Grabs a SATCHEL CHARGE.
  5885.  
  5886. RUNS down the bridge. Right toward the two advancing tanks.
  5887.  
  5888. RYAN
  5889. FIRES THE EIGHTY-EIGHT.
  5890.  
  5891. DESTROYING THE THIRD TANK.
  5892.  
  5893. MILLER
  5894. Races through the debris. Trailed
  5895. by BULLETS.
  5896.  
  5897. REIBEN
  5898. With the machine gun. Covers Miller.
  5899. Keeping most of the German infantry
  5900. down.
  5901.  
  5902. RYAN jumps behind the second machine gun. Opens up. Helping
  5903. to cover Miller.
  5904.  
  5905. THE LAST GERMAN TANK
  5906.  
  5907. Turret spins. Turning toward the fast approaching Miller.
  5908. Ready to blow him to bits.
  5909.  
  5910. MILLER
  5911. Is almost there. He arms the satchel
  5912. charge.
  5913.  
  5914. THE TIGER'S MACHINE GUNS OPENS UP ON HIM.
  5915.  
  5916. BLASTS A TRAIL OF BULLETS
  5917.  
  5918. MILLER
  5919. Throws the satchel charge under the
  5920. tank. Rolls off the edge of the
  5921. bridge. Lands on the embankment
  5922. below.
  5923.  
  5924. THE LAST TIGER TANK EXPLODES
  5925.  
  5926. MILLER, RYAN, REIBEN continue FIRING.
  5927.  
  5928. Almost out of ammo.
  5929.  
  5930. MILLER SCRAMBLING UP THE EMBANKMENT, back onto the bridge,
  5931. hears something over the SOUNDS OF FIRING.
  5932.  
  5933. MILLER
  5934. HOLD IT! HOLD IT!
  5935.  
  5936. Ryan and Reiben cease firing. Now they hear it, too.
  5937.  
  5938. A RUMBLE, DEEPER AND MORE OMINOUS than any they've heard
  5939. yet.
  5940.  
  5941. MILLER
  5942. Goddamn it!
  5943.  
  5944. REIBEN
  5945. More tanks... Ryan Lot's of them
  5946. The fear on their faces turns to
  5947. resignation. They know that they
  5948. are dead men. They settle into their
  5949. positions, and prepare to fire and
  5950. die.
  5951.  
  5952. They wait. The RUMBLE GETS LOUDER AND LOUDER.
  5953.  
  5954. THEN MILLER'S FACE STARTS TO CHANGE...a hint...of a
  5955. smile...then a real smile...
  5956.  
  5957. AN AMERICAN SHERMAN TANK APPEARS from over the rise. Then
  5958. ANOTHER...AND ANOTHER...AND ANOTHER...
  5959.  
  5960. MILLER, REIBEN AND RYAN
  5961.  
  5962. Stand there, stunned, watching tank after tank appear, along
  5963. with scores of heavily-armed American soldiers.
  5964.  
  5965. They keep coming and coming. American tanks, with wave after
  5966. wave of U.S. infantrymen, looking for targets. They find a
  5967. few among the departing Germans.
  5968.  
  5969. THE ADVANCING TROOPS
  5970. Run onto the bridge and start to
  5971. secure the position. A SERGEANT and
  5972. a few of HIS MEN look around,
  5973. curiously eyeing Miller, Reiben and
  5974. Ryan, battered and bloody, standing
  5975. among the bodies.
  5976.  
  5977. A MAJOR strides up.
  5978.  
  5979. Major Report, Captain.
  5980.  
  5981. MILLER
  5982. Miller, Company B, Second Rangers,
  5983. that's Private Richard Reiben and
  5984. that's Private James Ryan, Hundred-
  5985. and-First Airborne.
  5986.  
  5987. The Sergeant and several other soldiers overhear.
  5988.  
  5989. SERGEANT
  5990. Ryan?
  5991.  
  5992. One of the soldiers speaks quietly to another.
  5993.  
  5994. Soldier That's him, that's Ryan.
  5995.  
  5996. The Major puts his hand on Ryan's shoulder.
  5997.  
  5998. Major Command is looking for you, son. You're going home.
  5999.  
  6000. Ryan looks up, tired. He nods.
  6001.  
  6002. EXT. RAMELLE BRIDGE HEAD - DAY
  6003.  
  6004. American tanks and hundreds of fresh troops stream down the
  6005. road and over the bridge.
  6006.  
  6007. MILLER, RYAN AND REIBEN
  6008.  
  6009. Watch. In a small area, cleared of the debris, the bodies
  6010. of Jackson, Upham, Sarge, Forrest and the other paratroopers
  6011. are laid out, neatly, respectfully, covered.
  6012.  
  6013. Miller and Reiben stay protectively close to Ryan, as if
  6014. they don't want to risk him being bumped into or run over by
  6015. any of the advancing troops or vehicles.
  6016.  
  6017. MILLER
  6018. Walks to the bodies. He kneels down
  6019. next to Sarge and looks at him for a
  6020. long moment. Then, with a steady
  6021. hand, he takes one of Sarge's two
  6022. dog-tags. Then he does the same to
  6023. Jackson and Upham.
  6024.  
  6025. REIBEN AND RYAN watch silently.
  6026.  
  6027. MILLER
  6028. Stands and walks back to Reiben and
  6029. Ryan. He hands the dog-tags to Ryan
  6030. who grips them tightly and nods in
  6031. thanks.
  6032.  
  6033. Miller takes a last look at the bridge and the bodies, then
  6034. he shoulders his gear. Miller Let's move out.
  6035.  
  6036. Reiben and Ryan gather up their gear. They walk with Miller
  6037. down the road, away from the bridge.
  6038.  
  6039. CAMERA CRANES UP
  6040. The three dirty, bloodied, tired men
  6041. walk down the road, ignored by the
  6042. fresh troops marching in the opposite
  6043. direction.
  6044.  
  6045. RYAN
  6046. Captain?
  6047.  
  6048. MILLER
  6049. Yes, Private.
  6050.  
  6051. RYAN
  6052. Upham and Jackson, what were they
  6053. like?
  6054.  
  6055. MILLER
  6056. Upham? Good kid, smart, he was
  6057. writing a book.
  6058.  
  6059. RYAN
  6060. Yeah?
  6061.  
  6062. REIBEN
  6063. Yeah, and he was fast, too, ran the
  6064. 220 in twenty-four-five.
  6065.  
  6066. RYAN
  6067. No kidding.
  6068.  
  6069. MILLER
  6070. Jackson was from West Fork, Tennessee,
  6071. he was going to be a preacher, his
  6072. father and uncles have a traveling
  6073. ministry out of the back of a stretch
  6074. Hudson.
  6075.  
  6076. RYAN
  6077. And Sarge?
  6078.  
  6079. MILLER
  6080. Sarge?
  6081. (beat)
  6082. He was the best friend I ever had.
  6083. (smiles)
  6084. Lemme tell you about Sarge...
  6085.  
  6086. They walk on, disappearing in the distance among the hundreds
  6087. and hundreds of American soldiers who are marching down the
  6088. road and over the bridge.
  6089.  
  6090. Fade out.
  6091.  
  6092. THE END -
  6093.  
  6094. --------------------------------------------------------------
  6095.  
  6096.  
  6097.  
  6098. Saving Private Ryan
  6099.  
  6100. Writers : Robert Rodat
  6101. Genres : Action Drama War
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