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Summary: The Real Deal
Review: Band of Brothers is an HBO original series, based on the book of the same name by historian Stephen Ambrose. It is the true story of a company of American warriors in World War II - E (Easy) Company of the 506th Infantry Regiment, a component of the famed 101st Airborne Division. Band of Brothers is based in large part on the accounts of surviving members of that group. It follows the men of Easy Company from their gruelling training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, through their airborne drop into France on D-Day; their involvement in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge (where they gained great notoriety as the "battered bastards of Bastogne"); their conquest of Hitler's Eagle's Nest; and the end of the war. If you've seen Stephen Spielberg's fictional World War II epic Saving Private Ryan, you already have some inkling of the horror and constant peril accompanying the allies' assault on Fortress Europe in 1944. Ambrose's true account of the remarkable soldiers of the 101st Airborne will leave you wondering how any of these fellows survived at all. That they not only survived but achieved victory is a tribute to their training and their hardihood, but most of all their devotion to one another. The title is based on Henry Plantagenet's battlefield oration to his outnumbered and beleaguered men on St. Crispian's Day in Shakespeare's Henry V: "He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, and rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, and say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:' Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars and say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day....'This story shall the good man teach his son; and Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remember'd - we few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother...." Band of Brothers is permeated by that same sense of comradeship through shared danger - of glory based not on conquest but on the loyalty of ordinary men one to another. Saving Private Ryan alumni Spielberg and Tom Hanks are the Executive Producers of the 11-episode HBO series, and Hanks is the Executive Director as well (in which capacity he directed one episode, co-wrote another, and closely oversaw the whole production). Spielberg's influence is evident in the look and feel of the work; but where Saving Private Ryan is austere and ultimately repelling, Band of Brothers is warmer, more accessible - more personal. One of the most successful features of the series is that each episode begins with reminiscences of one or more survivors. As the series progresses, you come to know these old guys and like them enormously. When the whole thing is over, you feel you really have seen the war through their eyes. "We sweated bullets in order to achieve authenticity," Hanks said in an interview with the BBC. "There are two types of authenticity. What's relatively easy to accomplish are things like making sure the buttons on the uniforms are right, the ammunition is correct and the locations look like they looked in the photograph. The thing that's much harder is the motivation and the nature of the interplay between the characters. So we were always forcing every moment of every page of the script through this sieve of authenticity. We said, 'look, if we can't be sure what they said and did at any given moment, we must at least capture the emotional reality of being there." Successful acting in a miniseries, especially one as long as this one, is really a different enterprise than in a two-hour production at the cineplex. Dynamism and inventiveness are less important to a performance than subtlety and sustained character development. (Do you really want to watch a dozen hours of Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth? Didn't think so.) Judged by that standard, the performances in Band of Brothers are very fine indeed. Damian Lewis, the young British actor who stars as Captain (later Major) Richard Winters, painstakingly reveals a new facet of Winters' adamantine character with each successive episode. In the role of battalion intelligence officer Lewis Nixon, Ron Livingston beautifully portrays Nixon's gradual descent into despair and alcoholism. Supporting performances of note include Donnie Wahlberg as Carwood Lipton, Frank John Hughes as Bill Guarnere, and Rick Gomez as George Luz. The miniseries' other production values - soundtrack, effects, cinematography, constumes, etc. - are likewise top notch. There are a few flaws in the series. The earlier episodes in particular sometimes drag a bit. There is also a tendency from time to time to toss in a little melodrama, some small "moment" that is the war movie equivalent to the rising organ notes at the end of a 60s soap opera. Generally, though, the filmmakers resist such temptations to yank on the heartstrings. That is especially appreciated in parts like episode 9, "Why We Fight," in which Easy Company stumbles across a concentration camp for the first time. The encounter is handled with a degree of restraint that makes the shock and enormity of the discovery all the more affecting...
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Summary: Without a doubt, THE best.............
Review: war movie (mini-series) ever created. You really get to know all the actors and the special effects and attention to detail in uniforms and equipment is unbelievable.
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Summary: Band of Brothers lives up to the hype and captured hearts
Review: When i first heard about Band of Brothers i was thrilled to see what it would be like. I was worried when i heard that it would be a tv released series. But my doubts were soon put to rest, the shear work that went into this series blew me away. The movie pulled me right in and almost made you feel like you were watching the real thing. Every episode grabbed you more and pulled you deeper in the the series. This DVD is a must buy for any War Epic lovers out there.
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Summary: An Important Edition
Review: As the years pass and less of the WWII generation is around to tell the story, this is a thoughtful edition to the library of anyone wanting to record their sacrifice. The men of Easy Company together with the expertise of Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg tell one of the most compelling stories I've ever seen. If actual history is your thing and you didn't see this when it was aired on HBO then I can guarentee you won't regret getting this. If you did see it and you're debating on getting this DVD, it is impotant to remember the sacrifice given when the outcome wasn't at all predetermined. For me, it helps me keep my little troubles in perspective.
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Summary: Excellent addition to Saving PVT Ryan!
Review: This is a fantastic addition to the excellent moving filmed in the same genre: Saving PVT Ryan. In fact, it's almost like a series built out of that movie. I am also a huge fan of Steven Ambrose, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg - having all three of those together, with a hand into this series, has really added a first class touch to this mini-series.
Steven Ambrose has a remarkable way of telling the "big story" of history through personal events of several people directly involved in the historical event. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's close relationship and dedication to quality filmmaking, historical accuracy clearly brings Steven Ambrose's written word to life.
Finally, while there are some "bigger-name" actors in this, they do not dominate the series so you get a sense that the movie is not "Actor-dependant" but story dependent.
As an amateur military historian - (WWI-II European Theater of Operations) and a former Army Officer, I strongly recommend this series to anyone interested in learning about the dynamics of small units before, during and after combat.
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Summary: Mother of All War Movies
Review: As an avid collector of WWI and WWII movies I found this movie to be the paragon of any war movie to date. It's like watching 10 different episodes of Saving Private Ryan. Live interviews are conducted with living members of Easy Company explaining each episode so it's like reliving their hell. Some of the episodes honestly left me drained of my emotions after watching the personal tradgies and scrafice these men experienced. You will not be disappointed in this movie.
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Summary: Most impressive display of history on TV
Review: This is the most impressive display of historical events that occured during WWII to these soldiers. Makes you want to cry at the realism and artful skills that these producers use to display their presentation in each episode. Keeps you on the edge of your seat, and you walk away with a renewed respect for the soldiers.
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Summary: Pretty standard and boring.
Review: This miniseries was pretty boring. Stay away, unless you love to suffer.
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Summary: Very detailed look at war, will be one for your collection
Review: I watched this one a while back and was very impressed with the level of detail and just about everything else in this production. Band of Brothers follows the lives of a group of young men from just before D Day through the end of the war and really doesn't hold anything back. Everything is shown in detail, must've cost a medium sized fortune to achieve that. Often we are taken along as though we are actually there on the battlefield, or at least a newscameraman was, no details left out including bloody wounds and exploding buildings from artillery fire. I'd reccommend this program to just about anyone with an interest in history or warfare.
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Summary: Great amazing story of some amazing men!
Review: My husband and I watched every single episode of this epic the first time it was shown on HBO and I must say, I have watched almost every episode a second time when it was rerun. Quite simply, this is one of the best movies (the word "mini-series" does not do it justice) that has ever been made. You laugh, you cry and you get to know these real men very well by the time of the last part. I wish all children in schools across the US could see this in history class and I wish we would all take time to tell the veterans how much we appreciate the sacrifices that they made for us.
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