Band of Brothers

Rating:
Summary: Exemplary
Review: Never has a movie shown both the tremendous action with the portrayal of human suffering before Band of Brothers. The action and special effects in Band of Brothers is the most tremendous showing of the emotion behind the battles. While watching some of the more emothional scenes I find myself taken aback at the amazing courage and firendship between the soldiers. When a member of the unit dies, you see the entire untis reaction and sadness. Incredibally none of the emotion takes away from the incredible action scenes. If you though Saving Porivate Ryan was a good WWII movie than Band of Brothers will blow you away. There is no way to explain how good this movie is. If you have any intrest in war, drama, or action, you will absolutly love Band of Brothers.

Rating:
Summary: Comments from a historian
Review: I watched this series several months ago and was entranced. Could not believe in these times of TV schlock what a quality production this was.

A few weeks ago I was listening to a local talk radio show. The guest that day was a local college professor who has written several books on World War II, lectured on the subject, has one of his works optioned for a movie, etc. People were calling in to ask questions about different WWII movies and what were his opinion on the movies mentioned. Some he liked, some he panned. I called in and asked what he thought about Band of Brothers. Basically he was full of praise for this miniseries. In fact, he said he had ordered it for his class as a teaching tool. At that point the host of the show said if this professor was using it in his classroom then it had to be special.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling and True
Review: I don't read non-fiction as a rule, but after seeing this mini series (really an eleven hour movie) I was truely compelled to read the work and learn more. What was truely suprising was that there wasn't really anything more in the book, they really managed to put it all on screen. You never really understand what war is like without living it, but when you see something like this you can at least grasp a bit more of it. Unlike Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, etc. This story is of the unit not a few people. There's no one person carring the narative, no BS story of the Bad Commander VS the Good Commander, no Private Gommer on the can eating a shotgun blast, no Tom Hanks dying ever-so-sadly to save a guy who doesn't want to be saved. This is just the truth, the reality is more drama than hollywood can dream up, it's more frightening than anything esle to.

Rating:
Summary: soul wrenching account ....
Review: I knew, before I watched the first segments of it, about the horrific losses in the airborne during WWII.....My father who served in all three wars, WWII, Korea and VN had told me......and later I had studied about it during my university days. However, I was not prepared for what Spielberg did with it.....it is harrowing and mesmerizing....and so sad that I felt compelled at times to just push the eject button and get back on cable for some real diversion. I met some of the 101st during my own military days, actually when I was on Okinawa and was impressed by their demeanor.......their total professionalism and dedication....
What an amazing group they were and still are. I am proud as an American and a former miltiary officer...
Spielberg and Hanks are to be commended for their fine work on their behalf...to bring their story to the screen.

Rating:
Summary: Profoundly Moving
Review: I would have never thought I would be compelled to write a review for any movie at a website. This mini-series "Band of Brothers" moved me in such a profound way that I feel the need to express my gratitude to the filmmakers who brought this extraordinary masterpiece to television and DVD. Please, do yourself a service and buy/watch this DVD and have an experience. But, it's not for the faint of heart.

The story follows the story of a group of soldiers (Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division) from boot camp in Georgia to Hitler's mountain palace at Berchtesgaden during WWII. The casualties are high. The pain is real. This is a true story that transcends being a mere film. You feel like you were allowed to go back in time and witness history in the making on a human level.

I was a television/film major in college, so I am familiar with filmmaking techniques. "Band of Brothers" is perhaps the best war film ever made in this country (or anywhere) period. It has the advantage of being a series - so it can go into depth like no 2-hour movie can. The main characters can be fully developed and are. The attention to detail is outstanding. The filmmakers even created the series with a washed-out color quality like an old color photograph, which gives the viewer a psychological sense of the 1940's.

You can feel the tension of the paratroopers approaching Normandy before the anti-aircraft fire. You feel the panic to escape the aircraft before it is hit. Many planes had to fly too low and too fast because of the clouds and the anti-aircraft fire. The first-person camera shot of one soldier leaving the aircraft was very well done.

An example of the wonderful attention to detail is a scene where the defeated German soldiers march down the middle of autobahn as the Americans drove into Germany. That shot exactly matched a WWII photograph I saw in a history book.

The acting is exceptional. You really feel that you know these people personally after a couple of hours. When somebody is wounded or dies, you feel the loss and the pain. When Lt. Winters shoots a young German soldier at close range, his pain comes through. You know he will be haunted by this image the rest of his life (he later sees the same face on a young Frenchman on the train in Paris).

I am not going to presume that I could ever know how it feels to be in a foxhole freezing with enemy shells tearing down trees all around me, or the shear terror of rushing a village with friends falling all around me and bullets wheezing by my ears, but this is as close as a film can take me. "Saving Private Ryan" was the only other war film that accomplished battle sights and sounds as real as "Band of Brothers".

This is a true tribute to Easy Company and all who died and sacrificed for our freedom. Every American should watch this series and the documentary at some time in their life. WWII was a long time ago, but we should not be quick to forget the real people that suffered, fought and died. Watch and learn. I had many a night in deep thought after watching every part of "Band of Brothers".

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful mini series but...
Review: it is always on tv!

If you have HBO, and who doesnt, you can watch each episode anytime you want. But if you are a hardcore fan of the series then pick up... but the price is pretty steep.

Rating:
Summary: Meh.
Review: Okay, the acting was great, effects were great, realism was pretty good, authenticity not bad as well. It was a great way to waste a day or two.

I'm not an Ambrose fan, which detracts from the series a little bit. I'm just not into his ultra-glorification of war, and felt that though they did a good job showing the horrors of combat, the crappiness of downtime (with the exception of the cold in the Battle of the Bulge episodes) were really neglected. These guys were constantly hungry, sleep deprived, on edge, etc...if you took the miniseries at its word, they jumped from battle to battle, with nary a break, in combat 6 or 7 days a week.

My biggest beef was on the special features. There were a few, but for the size of this boxed set, I expected something more. One documentary, a video diary, and a making of. Not very much. Like I said, I'm not an Ambrose fan, but with his input into the series I was really hoping for some historical extra stuff, maybe some mini documentaries about what else was going on in the war during X part of X episode, to put everything into perspective.

The worst, though, was "The Message From Jeep". It shows men and vehicles coming onto and up the beach at Normandy, with some spoken nonsense. The men fade away, as do the vehicles, to show a bare beach. Then, three modern Jeep vehicles appear on the beach.

This is, without a doubt, the worst case of crass comercialization and capitalism I've EVER seen in my life. Trying to use the miniseries, and the blood spilled at Normandy, to sell Jeeps????!!?! How dare they??? I was going to give this four stars, but after that...it left such a bad taste in my mouth I don't ever want to own the set (which I was planning on buying after watching a borrowed copy from my brother-in-law). Furthermore, I never, ever want to purchase a vehicle from Jeep, used or new. I had planned, at some point in my life, to purchase a Jeep Wrangler. There's no chance of that happening now.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I truly enjoyed this series. I've watched it several times on the DVD and on HBO and now on the History Channel. If you want to know what happened, this is the series to watch.

Rating:
Summary: must see for all Americans- should see for all Europeans!
Review: This film tells an important story about the cruelty, the insanity and the costs of war.
Never forget why we fight. Remember the millions of victims of the 3rd Reich.

How can it be only 60 years after D-Day and so many don't know, don't care about the sacrifices made by thousands of British, American, Canadian and other allies to liberate Europe. Together they saved the world and civilization. NOthing less.

The producers, actorsm everyone went to great lengths to tell this story in a realistic, meaningul way. attention must be paid!

Rating:
Summary: A recreation that gets it right... and personal
Review: Stephen Ambrose is my favorite historian. And after their successful partnership on Saving Private Ryan, Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks reunite to fashion a visual of war that shows for the first time the bonds of these amazing men. I am somewhat of a military historian myself and am mostly interested in tactic and strategy, technology and leadership. Band of Brothers taught me about the soul of the men going into combat. They are more than pawns on a general's map plot or a target in an enemy's scope. This mini-series brings the thoughts and relationships of volunteers to the forefront of the battlefield. These men from a generation that we all need to learn from understood that their life was less important then the overall good of the world. Because of how they cared for each other, relied on each other, and believed in each other led them to a victory that assured the future of our democracy and allowed a future for millions to experience freedom.

Band of Brothers weaves the interpersonal details with the situations of battle they where thrown into. One of the most interesting aspects of the GI relationship is that of the replacement. The men who were called to the frontlines later in the conflict were not welcomed into the "brotherhood" to the same extent as those who had been together for so many months/years. A personal attachment to someone new would take time to develop, something that was impossible on the front line. And something that could end in heartache as replacements died with greater frequency than their more experienced brothers.

If you want a to be introduced to the character of an American, buy Band of Brothers. Though the mini-series is brilliant, read the book... there's so much more to it than even 10 hours of TV can recreate.