Customer Reviews

Band Of Brothers (Widescreen)

5 star:		(514)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Quite simply, the best WWII series ever. It is still as amazing now as the first time I watched it.

Probably my most favorite series of all time. These 10 episodes really make you feel like you're in the action. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have done an amazing job, and a real tribute to the veterans and our current day soldiers. On Blu-ray it is of course incredibly clear. You will not regret this purchase.

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...

This is one of the most accurate depictions of life as a soldier during world war two. Following Easy Company through their basic training all the way through the capture of Hitlers Eagles nest. Amazing Story, great acting, and thanks to HBO splurging for a HUGE budget for special effects, this is one of the best Series they have ever made! If you love WWII stories this is one you cant miss!!

I'm probably going to movie hell, and break records for unhelpful votes
for not thinking this 10 part, 10 hour mini-series is perfect.

And I did find the last 2 episodes tremendously powerful.

But while it is beautifully, spectacularly produced, and is in many
ways a fascinating history lesson, I had a hard time connecting to it
emotionally.

6 of the first 7 hours seemed like one non-stop battle after another,
with very little time or focus given to characters. And when it we get
to know people, they often felt like 'types', overly familiar from
other war films.

And to be embarrassingly honest, there are so many characters, dressed
in their look-alike army gear that I spent way more time than I wanted
wondering 'which guy is that?'

I also felt, while it tried to be real and gritty, it still glamorized
war a bit. Sort of trying to have its pacifist cake, and eat its
heroism and glory too,

Certainly worthwhile, and I am very glad I saw it, but I think I was
way over prepared by years of hype.

To be fair, at least a few professional critics eased my guilt by
sharing my reservations. I'm not the only evil/crazy one on the planet.

This is a phenomenal DVD set. Right mix of drama and realistic combat. Anybody that was fascinated or moved by "Saving Private Ryan" will likely find appeal here as well. Points to ponder:

- The war violence is, of course, to be expected
- The language is quite strong -- the complete vocabulary builder. I have read elsewhere that the language was so strong that a 101st WWII veteran cancelled his HBO subscription after two episodes, citing that the use of expletives was not as prevalent as depicted.
- Episode 9 has the only sexual nudity and sex in the whole 10 episode set (episodes had different directors) -- one brief but active vignette. It arrives without warning and is not that demure. Watch out if you are using this as a patriotic history tool with mid-teens.
- The first episode has no combat -- it builds your connection to the characters and the unit's background in training. You will want to watch the first two episodes back-to-back.
- If you are a sucker for movie soundtracks/scores, this is a particularly good one.
- It is touch-and-go getting my wife to watch a war movie sometimes, but in this case, she was transfixed by the drama and demanded "put in another episode!"
- Might or might not be a good idea to watch the documentary about the actual Easy Company guys, with interviews, before watching the episodes -- you can get a sense of what they went through, but you also may find out which of the real guys did not make it home.

I have to admit, before watching this series, I was somewhat skeptical. In the past I have been dissapointed in many World War II movies, historial inaccuracies, cheesy heroism and basically showing only one country in the war against the Germans, and not even mentioning that there are other multi-national forces contributing in the effort. So I thought "Will this be another chest beating, flag bearing Americania propagana machine?" . . .well surpisingly no.

While it does follow a group of Americans (EZ Company) from England through to France, Belguim, Netherlands, into Germany and Austria, it does explicity show in great detail the pains and hardships of being in war, no matter what the nationality.

I was a little dissapointed not to see/hear any mention of a multi-national force, but it didn't matter and that was not the point of this series and you have to take that into context. This is a movie/series that could easily have been a group of English, Welsh, Scots, Free French, Canadians, Austrailians, Polish, or even Germans going through the pains and hardships that exist in a war that no one wants to really be in. They all long for their home and wish they were in different surroundings.

Other reviewers and even other movies like to link a World War II movie to the deciding factor that D-Day is the biggest battle and one that changed the tide in power, when realistically there are many small battles that make up the bigger picture and this series shows that. It shows that gaining that extra ground little by little helps decide the future for shaping the war and the pains that go along with it. Whether it is in Stalingrad, Italy, Eastern Front, North Africa, or even in the Atlantic. All were depremental in changing the tide of power. "Band of Brothers" proves that in a day and a life of a soldier, each and every painstaking move for more ground is just as important as one single large battle.

I have to say this is the most comprehensive war series to date, and surely outdoes Saving Private Ryan in each and every way. The only comparison I have seen to this series was "Das Boot", but I cannot compare the two, not cause of the different sides they were on, it has nothing to do with that, but with the fact that "Das Boot" was a movie and not a mini series.

Thumbs up the the writer and everyone involved in the making of this epic, it is well worth picking it up.

Other notable movies to watch if you liked this: "Das Boot", "Downfall", & "Stalingrad", all outstandings movies, and are probably top of their class in WWII epics.

This is definately one of the best Mini Series events ever to grace the TV screen. There are a lot of elements, characters and action that everyone would enjoy. The show is very reminiscent to Saving Private Ryan, and this is a good thing. I didn't like the story as much in Ryan as I did here, I mainly loved how the show was captured. The grittiness really helps in making it seem more realistic and interesting. I myself am really looking forward to this release, everyone has to view this. I have to thank HBO, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg for making such a great collaboration on such a great series.

Like many of those who purchased the DVD set, I had seen the original on HBO, and later on the History Channel. I consider it one of the best looks at those who took part in combat in WWII, and looked forward to getting the DVD set for my collection.

But (and I consider this to be a big but) when I popped in the the DVD and went to set up the subtitles, there was no option for English subtitiles (I could have changed to Spanish subtitles if I was fluent in Spanish. But I digress)! No problem, I thought, I'll just switch to Closed Captioning on my TV; after all, when I saw it on TV it was Closed Captioned. Imagine my shock and surprise when the Closed Captioning that was included in the broadcast version was missing from the DVD. Ironically, as I finished watching an episode on the DVD, there was another episode airing on the History Channel - with the Close Captioning!

While Closed Captioning is a luxury for me - I can hear well enough, but enjoy the Closed Captioning to catch nuances in the dialog - I can't help but think that this would be a big deal for older viewers - say, those who actually lived through the war.

I give this DVD 3 stars - not for the content, which is superb, but for the lack of foresight that saw the release of this DVD with neither English subtitles or Closed Captioning - which had already been done for the broadcast!

Great story, great actors, historically very accurate.

Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston and Donnie Wahlberg are great in this series and marvellously support by guys like Rick Gomez, Michael Cudlitz and Kirk Acevedo just to name a few… and almost all the main actors were cast because of their close physical resemblance to the real-life soldiers they were portraying.

Great casting well directed...