Rating: Summary: Battle scenes were well done but disapointing overall Review: I was very disappointed in Band of Brothers (BoB). Good points: The battle scenes were impressive and as much as watching it from the comfort of your living room can, made you feel like you were there. Although being in the situation depicted must have been horrendous and a million times worse than any TV show could portray. I liked the interviews with the actual soldier's, before each episode. This gave the program some real depth. Disappointed in the following: I felt the episodes were disjointed and difficult to relate one to another. I did not really have any strong feelings towards any of the characters portrayed in the series. This was as a result of those characters being very poorly developed. I also found, other than the lead character, very difficult to keep track of who was actually who and I felt, though the situation that was being portrayed was horrific in most cases, that I was not engaged by the acting or the characters. Considering the length of the series it was not developed as well as it could have been to draw the viewer in. Saving Private Ryan, even though it was much shorter than BoB, for me, was a much more vivid, stronger, character driven, and (for someone who has never been in combat like me) realistic than BoB.
Rating: Summary: Fight the Hun...Buy War Bonds...o happy happy joy joy Review: ok..now i am not an WWII historian..i mean i know my stuff but that is about it. And the fact that i am just a junior in High school doesnt make Siskel does it now? No, but if i know one thing is that is the coolest miniseries about war...no miniseries dosnt work..i think i will use Epic yes epic. This made me feel proud to be an American. Not seeing Sept.11 images for Geogre W.Bush or fighting some guy who lives in a cave. what makes me feel "proud to be an American" is hearing stories like this. This is just an amazing epic..yes epic. BUY IT, DONT DO IT FOR YOU DO IT FOR YOUR COUNTRY
Rating: Summary: Realism Defined Review: The ads for 'Band of Brothers' state that 'you will never be the same after watching this miniseries', and they are right. Scenes tend to stick with you; the artillery barrage in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge (with one soldier being badly wounded, and his cohort suffering the same fate while trying to help him). A young Medic befriends a Belgian nurse in a church, only to later find the building she was treating the wounded in destroyed - and her most likely dead. This is as real as a war film can get. It has the same look that 'Saving Private Ryan' had. The airborne drops, the artillery, the gruesome wounds, the pain and fear held within until the battle is over. 'Brothers' grabs and shakes you - this is something like what our WWII veterans carry inside them. The memory of dead friends, the fear of making new ones because they will most likely die fast due to lack of combat experience. My dad was one of those soldier/brothers; he fought in that poor sister to the famous D-Day campaign in France: Italy. It was a filthy, slogging mess, with vicious fighting in such places as Salerno, Anzio, and Monte Cassino. Italy was the first place American soldiers confronted the Germans on the European Continent, but was placed on the back burner after June 6, 1944. I too was a soldier. 1978-1984. Thankfully no major wars took place on my watch. I make no apologies to anyone for this fact. War is indeed a terrible thing - just ask our young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan today. It is not glorious or wonderful. It is bloody, murderous hell. It is long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of high adrenaline, sheer terror. It is devotion to those Brothers and Sisters around you - and it is carrying the crystal clear memories of all of it for the rest of your life here on earth. And 'Band of Brothers' comes as close as possible to actually being there with them. Thanks, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and all those involved in bringing us this most striking example of filmmaking. It is a piece of American history that all citizens present and future should see. It is the price of freedom that so many take for granted.
Rating: Summary: Psycholologically Powerful! Review: With all of the rave reviews, why should I write another? Many of the reviewers seem to get caught up in the emotions stirred by this production. I wanted to comment less emotionally. First of all, the mini-series is excellent on a technical level. Writing, directing,editing, acting, special effects and production values are all top flight---as good as it gets today. This series is cinematically a first-rate job in every way. The story itself tells us about an elite group of citizen soldiers, and does not portray war in unrealistically positive terms---certainly many fine older productions seem to glamorize war. On the other hand, it does not try to shock you into numbness regarding the horrors of war---this seems to be the trend in some newer films. Besides, no film can begin to convey the true horror of warfare. Instead, Band of Brothers puts the idealism in the right place---on the men who did their duty for their countrymen. It also conveys a sense of grief for those whom we lost. I think the series works so well because of the context that is established at the beginning of each episode. Namely, the true men of Easy Company are briefly interviewed in a way that provides a perspective for that episode. I think the series is so psychologically powerful because of the careful crafting of these real-life paratroopers into the introduction for each episode. Band of Brothers makes you realize that the characters you are seeing live and die on the screen represent real human beings, some of whom are still living, and many who died in defense of the world's freedom. Quite possibly the best cinematic portrayal of Americans in World War II up to this point. I found myself watching the discs one after the other.
Rating: Summary: Quite Simply the Best! Review: The emotions evoked by this cienamatic masterpiece are ineffable and the visual effects are absolutely stunning. Band of Brothers (BOB) is truly worthy of masterpiece status. Whether it is the constant barrage of eye candy or the incredible performances delivered by the unknown actors, BOB is an astonishing achievement on many levels.
Rating: Summary: Best Historical Movie I have ever seen Review: I am a history buff who specializes in WWII and the Civil War. I have never seen such an impressively researched and presented epic, probably because it is the truth (unvarnished) from those that were there. The producers really did it right by using actors who were previously unknown to American audiences, thus instead of concentrating on the actors and their work in other venues, we tend to pay more attention to the actual story. This movie is a must for students of history. I was also impressed that no conclusions on war are drawn other than 'war is hell' and soldiers do what they must. It is truly a tribute to the greatest generation
Rating: Summary: Wow! Review: This series is by far, one of the best accounts of World War II that I have ever seen. As everyone else has stated, it is probably so good and realistic, because the events, the people, and the action actually occurred some 60 years ago. This movie exemplifies the attention to detail that is evident in other Steven Speilberg movies. It is interesting that Speilberg chose to produce the film version of the book. Private Ryan, from "Saving Private Ryan" belonged to the 101st ABN Division, which is the unit that is chronicled in the movie. I felt that the interviews that were shown at the beginning of each episode helped to humanize the events that occurred. I felt that it was amazing that anybody could survive the horrific events that the men of Easy Co survived, let alone live 60 years to talk about it.
Rating: Summary: A Must Have War Movie Review: This movie will put you in the action of D-day like no other movies can. It is a complete look of the horror and the camaraderie of men doing the job they were sent to do. A must have for any war movie collection.
Rating: Summary: War as it was Review: Any good war movie will show you that war was hell. Band of Brothers is in many ways about 10 hours of the best war movie ever made. The soldiers have pimples. Some fight for the right reasons, others not as much. They are all affected by the war. The action sequences are well done, the filmography excellent, the dialogue appropriate. It is war as it should be. A must buy! Follow Easy Company from Normandy to Austria, stopping along the way for Operation Market Garden and Bastogne. Buy this set. It is top notch, from start to finish, from every aspect of the design.
Rating: Summary: A monumental masterpiece of cimematic art Review: Reading through a few of the previous reviews, I have to wonder if we were watching the same film. This is the antithesis of the "glorifacation of war". Boys in the prime of their lives die for no other reason than they took their helmet off to scratch their head. This is one of the most accurate representations of the insanity of modern warfare outside of Das Boot. Interestingly enough, Band of Brothers takes the opposite track that Das Boot took. The one failing of this movie is at displaying the tedium that accompanied the terror of battle. While I say this is a "failing", it's not really. I don't see how showing the tedium would add anything to this movie, it would simply distract people from the specatcle unfolding infront of them. World War II was a horrific experiance. The men who fought and died in the fields of Europe or the jungles of Asia faced a task that we cannot even fathom in 2004. To say this movie glorifies war is to say that Schindlers List was a heroic propaganda piece for the Jews, it shows that same level of ignorance. This war was forced upon these young men, and Band of Brothers is a wonderful depiction of how they overcame it. While I do not envy these men, I have more respect for them than words can express, and this film is a fitting tribute to the sacrifice they made for freedom and sanity in this world. It also serves as a lesson as to just how much war is to be avoided, but knowing that War has been historically unavoidable, it makes me feel better to know that men like those that populated Easy Company would be fighting for me.
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