10 Things You Didn't Know About Saving Private Ryan

10. Fateful Partnership

These days, it's fairly safe to say that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks make a pretty great team. Following the success of Saving Private Ryan, the two went on to work on a number of other, massively successful films, from Catch Me If You Can to The Terminal, Bridge of Spies and The Post. On top of that, their collaboration on the World War II drama opened the door to the pair working together to bring the masterful miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific to life.

Despite both being two of the biggest names in Hollywood at that point, it wasn't until Saving Private Ryan that the pair got a chance to work together.

As the story goes, the script for the film, as written by Roger Rodat, was sent to both men by their respective agents. They both knew they wanted to make it, and upon hearing that the other also had a script, they called each other up and decided to work together on the project, thus beginning one of the greatest actor/director collaborations of all time.

The partnership gets double the props in the long run, because the script was originally given to Michael Bay, who turned it down because he "didn't know where to start." Based on what he did with Pearl Harbour, that might have been the best call for everyone.