On this day in history, July 24, 1998, World War II epic 'Saving Private Ryan' debuts in theaters
Fox News
On this day in history, July 24, 1998, the film "Saving Private Ryan" starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon dramatized the trauma suffered by American troops during World War II.
Steven Spielberg directed the movie, which starred peak-of-his-powers actor Tom Hanks in the leading role as Capt. John Miller. "'Saving Private Ryan' makes the claim as being the greatest war film of all time." "For the individual soldier on the beach, the landing was a chaos of noise, mud, blood, vomit and death." "After they’ve seen [the film] they’ll know why I came home after the war and insisted we buy a farm – for peace and quiet." — Maj. Dick Winters Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
The introspective Army officer, suffering shell shock in the hours after surviving the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, in 1944, is ordered to lead a dubious (fictionalized) mission to find an American paratrooper behind enemy lines.