Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest war films of all time.
But it turns out that the graphic and horrifying opening 23-minutes cost a staggering $12 million (£9 million) to make – and with the film only having a budget of around $65 million (£49million), that means 20% of the budget was spent on just 14% of the film.
The opening sequence follows the soldiers as they arrive on boats on Omaha Beach in France.
A recreation of the harrowing D-Day landings, it covers all of the horrors of war from the death and injury to the terror and fear.
It was filmed in Curracloe, Ireland, and associate producer Mark Huffam revealed in 2006 that although it took 15 days to film over 11 weeks were spent preparing.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Huffam also revealed how amputees were used in the scene to help create realistic effects.
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We had somewhere between 20 and 30 amputees and paraplegics who worked with us, creating very realistic scenes where we could use effects to make it look like soldiers were losing limbs. Some might say it was an insensitive approach, but they all did it with great enthusiasm, he said.
And if it wasnt for the Irish Army and FCA it would just never have happened, because using guys that know how to carry a real gun, run and take cover, and wear a uniform just makes it look so real.
Director Steven Spielberg refused to storyboard the scene and later admitted that he did things the way I thought a combat cameraman would have.
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