MovieChat Forums > Saving Private Ryan (1998) Discussion > Why didn’t they just blow the bridge bef...

Why didn’t they just blow the bridge before the Germans got there?

posted 3 years ago by TMC-4 (19458)
4 replies | jump to latest

They planned to blow the bridge anyway. They had it wired well before the Germans got there. They explained that the Americans just needed the deep water port for their ships, but the Germans needed the two remaining bridges in France to attack the American flank. So it stands to reason that they didn’t have use for the bridge.

They planned the blow the bridge after the Germans overwhelmed them. The bombing run from the P-51s seemingly did not care that the bridge was intact or not, as they were going to strike the tanks if they were on the bridge or not.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/mjgrxh/in_saving_private_ryan_why_didnt_they_just_blow/

[–] Sandman81 (1502) 3 years ago

The bridge could still be useful to the Americans, and make it easier for them to move troops quickly, as we see them doing at the end. While it wasn't as important to them as it was to the Germans, it still could provide value if intact. Blowing the bridge was a measure of last resort. They would have rather the bridge not exist than to have it under German control. They set the explosives on the bridge early because they weren't sure when the German attack would come and wanted to be ready in case it came before their reinforcements arrived. When Captain Miller arrived, he helped them set up a plan to fight off a German attack, with blowing the bridge being the back up plan.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Will you stop posting links like this, TMC-4??? If we want to look up this information by other people, we will do it ourselves! GOT IT!?!

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 3 years ago

Why don't you fucking answer the question instead of complaining about where the sources came from? I don't know why it should personally bother you if you didn't come up with the whole thing yourself. You're being very presumptuous when you say that it's easy to look this information up by yourself.

[–] liscarkat (16652) 3 years ago

A lot of people will yell at you if you don't provide links to information. You can't win.