Seeing how this is my favorite film, I'm really intrigued as to what films Speilberg looked at for inspiration. I just finished OVERLORD which shared alot of similarities with the opening shot of the men in the Higgins boat.

A technically masterful opening sequence followed by a mediocre-to-crappy war film?

Overlord did come out about 23 years earlier then SPR...

As far as the filmmaking style, I don't know. But the plot was inspired by the true story of the Sullivan brothers.

My guess was that he wanted to make a John Ford war movie for the 90's

There are a few Kurosawa influences.

The solider who picks his severed arm up during the fighting (Forgot which Kurosawa film originated this)

And the scene when Upham is watching a battle from the distance is reminiscent of the spy-abduction sequence from Seven Samurai when Katsushiro watches the event from a distance.

Do you mean Yojimbo, in which a stray dog carries a human hand in it's mouth?

Actually, it was closer to the story of the Niland Brothers

I know Spielberg is a WWII buff and being Jewish has a lot of meaning for him personally. It is also one of my favorite films and at the top of my list for upgrades to Blu-ray.

Steven Spielberg is JEWISH?!

Cornel Wilde's Beach Red was a big influence on SPR and The Thin Red Line.

You wouldn't think it from looking at his last name, but it's true. He was born Steven Spielstein, but changed his name once he got to Hollywood because he was worried it would sound too "ethnic".

I thought he was a Mexican.

If I had to guess I'd say he stole everything from the secret CIA files on Frank Dux.

Now who's a bright penny?

Spielberg's biggest influences for Saving Private Ryan were:

1) The highly, highly acclaimed "The Story Of GI Joe"
2) "The Fighting Sullivans"

He's actually a Mexican Jew.

I fking hate this site

Really disappointing that no one has mentioned this yet.



gglass4269, Spielberg's style from SPR seems to come, IMHO at least in part, from Elem Klimov's Idi I Smotri (Come and See).

You should check it out.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/

Check out a film called "A Walk in the Sun".