The most gruesome scene in Saving Private Ryan was almost shot in an entirely different way. As one of the best D-Day movies of all time, Saving Private Ryan remains one of the greatest war movies ever made as well. Although the celebrated Steven Spielberg film was released in 1998, Saving Private Ryan became a streaming hit in 2024 after being released on both Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. Saving Private Ryan was written by Oscar nominee Robert Rodat (The Patriot, Falling Skies) and won five Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Film Editing.

While many of the battle scenes in Saving Private Ryan can be difficult to watch, one infamous scene has been a source of controversy and debate since its inception. During the Battle at Ramelle towards the end of Saving Private Ryan, several of the key characters are killed by the invading German soldiers, including Private Mellish, portrayed by Adam Goldberg. Corporal Upham, portrayed by Jeremy Davies, hears Mellish struggling for his life against a German soldier. Rather than rushing up the stairs and into the room in a heroic attempt to save his comrade, Upham falls to his knees and cries as Mellish is killed.

Saving Private Ryan
is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+.

The Original Plan For Mellish’s Death In Saving Private Ryan Was Very Different

Mellish was originally supposed to be shot and killed during the battle

The painstaking scene in Saving Private Ryan in which Mellish is killed was remarkably invented by Spielberg and his crew on the day of filming. For such an unforgettable and impactful scene, it’s truly stunning that it hadn’t been planned or even conceived of beforehand. What’s more, Spielberg created several other iconic moments in the film on the day of filming. According to the Los Angeles Times, Adam Goldberg revealed, “I was originally just going to be shot in the final battle, when [senior military advisor] Capt. Dale Dye suggested that I get into a hand-to-hand combat fight, because one of the things I excelled in at boot camp was using the bayonet.”

It’s hard to imagine that the gruesome Saving Private Ryan scene could have been any more visceral and evoking, but Goldberg revealed that there was plenty of Mellish’s anguish that was left on the cutting room floor. Goldberg added, “So Steven and I started talking about it, about wanting it to be as realistic as possible. There was a lot more of what you saw in the rough cut — it was so graphic that Steven’s projectionist — who projected the dailies in Los Angeles — told him he can’t leave the scene in the movie. It’s too painful to watch. Remembering back, I think there was a lot more of me screaming how much it hurts.” The film would be entirely different if they had stuck to the original plan.

Upham’s Role In Mellish’s Death Was Decided On The Day Of Shooting It

Spielberg felt he was the character who was most like the audience

Upham’s role in Mellish’s death scene was also decided by Spielberg on the day of production. Jeremy Davies revealed to the Los Angeles Times, “Halfway through the shoot, Steven took me aside and said he’d seen some of the dailies, and that he’d been inspired to start telling Ryan from Upham’s POV. He told me that Upham represented the audience more than any other character, given that, of course, most of us will never experience war, and Upham was only trained to serve as an interpreter in noncombat situations.” Due to this creative stroke of genius, Upham went from simply being the interpreter to one of the most controversial characters in the film.

Upham was not trained for combat situations, which explains his inactivity during the harrowing scene in Saving Private Ryan. While he was often the butt of the joke within the group throughout the story, Upham had proven himself to be a very valuable resource as an interpreter and as a well-intentioned person as well, at one point trying to translate for a French family in distress. Mellish was a likable character throughout Saving Private Ryan, cracking jokes and developing a sense of accessible empathy between himself and the viewers. Because he was well-liked, perhaps more than Upham was by audiences, his death and Upham’s lack of intervention can inspire an emotional response.

Why Mellish’s Death Is Saving Private Ryan’s Most Harrowing Scene

The great acting and use of close-ups make the scene painstakingly tense

Mellish’s death scene is one of the most unforgettable and potentially infuriating scenes in
Saving Private Ryan
because heroism is called upon but not answered.

Mellish’s death scene is one of the most unforgettable and potentially infuriating scenes in Saving Private Ryan because heroism is called upon but not answered. Countless action and war movies set the expectation that the hero will come in to save the day right in the nick of time and alleviate the palpable sense of danger and impending death. Upham subverts these well-established genre expectations which is equally confusing and frustrating for the conditioned viewer. Instead of finding a clever way to be the hero, as seen in dozens of superhero and bond films, Upham does nothing. This scene greatly contributes to Saving Private Ryan’s gritty realism and authentic portrayal of tragedy and humanity.

The popular sense of hatred towards Upham in Saving Private Ryan is based on the simple explanation that he failed to show up for his comrade during combat, even though he wasn’t prepared for it. The common argument is that Upham should have sprung into action by shooting the German soldier and saving Mellish’s life but his failure to do so marks him as an ultimate coward. While some viewers may feel this way about Upham, his perspective in the film is that of the average person who has never experienced the horrors of war. It’s very easy to consider Upham in the wrong for freezing at that moment but it’s a potent point that requires the audience to ask themselves what they would do in that scenario.

Spielberg’s Change Makes Upham Surviving Saving Private Ryan Better

It sends home the message about the indifference of warfare

The fact that Upham outlives Mellish and all the other fallen soldiers in Saving Private Ryan may feel like adding salt to the wound for some viewers. His survival adds so much more weight and emotion to him outliving some of the other soldiers in the film, including Tom Hanks’ Captain Miller and Tom Sizemore’s Sergeant Horvath, the latter of whom helped Upham toward the end of the battle. It’s easy to say Upham doesn’t deserve to live for his apparent cowardice while the more heroic figures died but the notion of being a hero rests on the foundation of risk, reward, and consequence.

One of the most difficult and complicated tragedies of war is the occurrences of friendly fire and other acts of violence or negligence between soldiers flying under the same flag. In the circumstances of combat, when everyone’s lives are at stake, selflessness and courage are the most valorous attributes and are the qualities that separate a soldier from a hero. The plain truth, which Upham’s inactivity proves, is that not all soldiers are equipped to become heroes when it is asked of them. Instincts of self-preservation, as well as powerful forces such as shock and fear, all come into play during Mellish’s death scene in Saving Private Ryan. Both sides of the argument are plausible, which is why it’s such a crucial scene that, remarkably, almost never was.

Source: Los Angeles Times