Band of Brothers
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Movie Reviews of Band of Brothers
Movie Review: Band of Brothers - The Ultimate WWII experience!
Summary: 5 Stars
Band of Brothers is an awe inspiring and visually stunning tribute, not only to Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, but to the "Greatest Generation." But for their sacrifices, would we share the freedoms we so cherish and covet to our vests today! Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg deserve all of the awards and accolades they received for bringing this epic to HBO and now this incredible DVD box set!Part 1 - Currahee - Currahee is a wonderful beginning to this unprecedented HBO miniseries. Outside of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" there has never before been such a realistic series such as this one. Currahee poignantly highlights the training that was necessary for the newly designed Airborne Infantry. While some may think that Captain Sobel was a complete idiot, in all truth, his combat skills were obviously lacking however, as a trainer, he put Easy Company in a very good position as a well trained unit.
Part 2 - Day of Days - D-Day has arrived and Easy Company makes the jump that they've been preparing two years for. As history unfolds, the German flak has caused nearly every plane to miss their designated drop zone. 1LT Winters finds he's in Normandy, lost his weapon and his company. He finally arrives at the assembly area and is given the mission to take out a German artillery position. Day of Days is an excellent episode that doesn't miss out on 1LT Winters depth of emotions as he loses his first soldier in combat.
Part 3 - Carentan - Easy Company is ordered in to take the French village of Carentan. While encountering only minor resistance, they take light casualties. After successfully taking the town, they're ordered to move on to the next objective. En route, they encounter the German force sent to retake Carentan. They stalemate for the evening, expecting to forge a full assault in the morning. The Germans have other plans though and counter attack in the morning with a combined force of mechanized infantry and armor. Fortunately for Easy Company, they are finally rescued by the 2nd Armored Division. Shortly after this action they are lucky enough to get some R&R back in England. The show ends with orders back to the front and a very poignant final scene to yet another wonderful episode.
Part 4 - Replacements - Replacements jumps forward to September and Easy Company is on R&R in England. They're called into Operation Market Garden. Easy Company is given the mission to take Eindhoven, Holland. They were told they would be running into light resistance. Operation Market Garden turns into a huge failure and the Allied Forces are turned back with heavy casualties. Sgt "Bull" Randleman is quite unfortunate enough to get stuck behind enemy lines. "Replacements" is another excellent episode.
Part 5 - Crossroads - Crossroads is one of the best shows of the whole miniseries. Captain Winters, due to the costs of war, garners advancement from Easy Company Commander to Battalion Executive Officer. The episode is shown, through the eyes of Captain Winters as he is preparing a report on the actions of October 5th when he led his company in the attack of a German SS position. The more telling part is later in the episode when he gets an R&R in Paris and the horrors of war catch up to him.
Part 6 - Bastogne - To quote Captain Winters, "we're paratroopers; we're supposed to be surrounded." Bastogne tells the tale, from Easy Companies point of view, about the 101st Airborne Infantry being surrounded by German forces and holding the line during the Battle of the Bulge. This is also the combat action where the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne replied to the German Commanders request for their surrender, "nuts."
Part 7 - The Breaking Point - January 1945 and Easy Company is on the verge of attacking the Germans in Foy, Belgium. Due to heavy resistance, Easy Company endures nearly a month of being barraged by German artillery on the front line. This episode is very telling as far as the how demoralizing the artillery can be.
Part 8 - The Last Patrol - Easy Company is on the front line in the Alsacian town of Haguenau. They now have the sense that the war is coming to a close, as they are just across the river from Germany. The brigade commander orders a patrol across the border to secure German prisoners. This episode again brings to the forefront the emotions of the soldiers as they again are counted on to accomplish their mission!
Part 9 - Why We Fight - This episode is clearly the most poignant of the series as Easy Company finds and liberates a concentration camp. Although there had been rumors of these concentration camps, no once could truly comprehend what they were about until they were faced with them! This episode alone should've garnered several awards.
Part 10 - Points - Easy Company takes Eagles Nest, Hitler's mountaintop fortress. The company settles in as an occupation force, yet expecting to be redeployed to the Japanese warfront. A very emotional what happened to several of the units members after the war. Overall, this episode is a fantastic conclusion to the "Band of Brother."
Disk Seven
We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company - An outstanding documentary containing interviews with surviving members of Easy Company! Once you've seen all of the episodes, this documentary introduces you to the real members of Easy Company.
Ron Livingston's Video Diaries - This is an exceptional set of clips filmed by Ron Livingston, who played Lieutenant Nixon, covering the "actor boot camp" run by Captain Dale Dye, USMC Retired.
HBO's The Making of Band of Brothers' - This is another excellent "Making of" clip by HBO, covering the creation of this spectacular miniseries! {ssintrepid}
Movie Review: Impressive
Summary: 5 Stars
I will review each episode of this series separately. EPISODE ONE: CURAHEE
Depicts boot camp. This episode is actually one of the best, despite the lack of action. There is drama inherent in the attempts to oust the incompetent, cruel Cpt Sobel, without being executed for mutiny. The savagery of boot camp reminds one of Full Metal Jacket.
EPISODE TWO: DAY OF DAYS
Depicts the drop on D-Day. The main character is Dick Winters, who leads a vital attack on a German battery with only thirteen men. The fight scenes here are exquisite; and the shots of the drop itself - with flak and ack-ack flying everywhere - really make a mockery of The Longest Day!
EPISODE THREE: CARENTAN
This is my favourite episode. It depicts the travails of a quiet and nonviolent private named Albert Blithe. This episode is rather reminiscent of The Red Badge of Courage, with the viewer left wondering: does Albert Blithe find courage when he shoots the German?? - or does he become everything he dreads - a killer without remorse? My favourite scene is where Cpt Speirs, the cold-blooded killer, tries to convince Blithe not to have so many qualms about combat.
Not only do you get this fine psychological drama, but you also get easily the bast battle-scene in the series - the tank battles to the southwest of Carentan. You've never seen a war-film until you've seen US Paratroopers fending off German Jagdpanther self-propelled guns! The Americans even counterattack in a dramatic (and historically accurate) tank-battle: the Shermans crash into the flank of the German armoured units, forcing them to retreat.
This episode is perfectly scripted and acted, and would probably be Oscar material if it had been released cinematically.
EPISODE 4: REPLACEMENTS
Not as strong as the first three episodes, this depicts the Arnhem Campaign. Yet another tank battle, near Eindhoven, in which the British Cromwell tanks get trounced by none other than the famous German Tiger tanks. Very impressive. I have never seen a film with such realistic German tanks. The human element concerns the hobbit-like Sgt Bull Randleman, and his replacement-squad, which has to prove itself in battle.
EPISODE 5: CROSSROADS
This episode has a very impressive battle against German SS infantry at the beginning - again, very accurately recreated. Dick Winters becomes head of Battalion, leaving Easy Company to Lt Dike. Not a particularly strong episode, lacks some structure. On the other hand, this is the episode directed by Tom Hanks; and there is some fine camera-work here, with striking imagery.
EPISODE 6: BASTOGNE
This episode may be the weakest of the lot, with some poor acting and not-very-compelling scripting. But it is still worth watching. Hopeless love blossoms between medic Eugene and a Belgian nurse. This is the episode where McAuliffe is asked the surrender, and replies "Nuts!!" Not a lot of fighting or human story.
EPISODE 7: THE BREAKING-POINT
This may possibly be the best episode, along with Episode 3. This episode truly captures the horrors of war. The constant shelling at the Battle of the Bulge has dreadful consequences as some of the company begin to go crazy. They are preparing to assault the village of Foy, near Bastogne. Led by the incompetent Lt Dike, Easy Company is slaughtered in the open. This film really shows what military incompetence can do., One is gritting one's teeth and yelling at Dike to get a move on!!!
EPISODE 8: THE LAST PATROL
This is also one of the best, showing the effects of combat fatigue like no other film, not even PLATOON. Easy Company is so exhausted that they wander along half-asleep. Yet they are forced to defend Alsace from Hitler's new offensive. After the slaughter at Bastogne, one a few men are left in each platoon! Most tired of all is Malarkey, one of the most overworked men in the company.
Contrasted with them are Webster, a man who has not seen the company since October 1944 and is treated like an outsider; and Jones, a freshfaced Westpointer who has just joined up. The contrast between the semi-conscious, fatigued Company and these two clean, fresh soldiers is unforgettable. The title refers to the patrol raid that takes place at the end of the episode - the last fight-scene in the series.
EPISODE 9: WHY WE FIGHT
This is the episode where Easy Company relieves part of the Dachau complex of concentration and labour camps. Not one of the men is forewarned about such places, and one new recruit nearly goes crazy. Despite the accurate and affecting depictions of such horrors as walking skeletons and piles of corpses, and the fact that I like Beethoven string quartets, this episode is not actually very good. It lacks a certain dramatic unity.
However, it is still well worth watching, especially to see the effects on Easy Company of seeing the Holocaust. Seeing the usually stolid and unmoveable Pte Bull Randleman vomiting is not something one forgets easily.
No battle-scenes.
EPISODE 10: POINTS
The episode that takes place after the surrounding of the Ruhr pocket. No battle scenes. Dull episode? Hardly! The episode is dramatic and intriguing, especially when the men liberate The Eagle's Nest at Rastenburg. It is moving to see the part near the end where we are told where the men all did after the war.
I think I've gassed on long enough; I'll shut up now. But each episode of this series really is like a separate war film, and each deserves its own attention. Altogether the series is extremely impressive, and constitute my favourite war films.
Movie Review: Powerful testament to the human spirit
Summary: 5 Stars
BAND OF BROTHERS (2001)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Soundtracks: Dolby 5.1 / DTS 5.1
The trials and tribulations of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, from the D-Day landings in Normandy to their capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Austria at the end of World War II.
Co-produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, HBO's epic 10-part miniseries (based on a terrific bestselling book by the late Stephen E. Ambrose) was the most expensive TV undertaking of its day, costing a massive $120 million to produce. And, as the old saying goes, every penny is up there on the screen. Borne from the success of Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) - with which it shares a similar dramatic and visual style - BAND OF BROTHERS' recreation of a glorious (and hard-won) chapter in American history assumed an even greater patriotic significance during its initial US broadcast, when it coincided with the horrific attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in September 2001.
Written with economy and grace, and directed with emotional intensity by a series of directors (including Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine and Hanks himself) whose combined efforts achieve a genuine aesthetic uniformity, the movie is a masterpiece of storytelling and historical documentation. Punctuated by horrific battle sequences, in which the camera is placed within mere inches of the death and destruction, the film manages to transcend its educational remit by its relentless focus on the human cost of war. Almost every episode opens with testimony from surviving members of Easy Company (none of whom are identified until the end of the series), which further strengthens the emphasis which BAND OF BROTHERS - book and film - places on the bonds which drew them together in times of conflict. And, because it's a true story, there's no telling from one episode to the next which of the 'characters' will live or die, which makes it all the more potent and visceral.
The entire production represents quality writ large: Beautifully filmed on various European locations (including the UK and Austria), the movie is noble without being the least bit pompous or austere, and it manages to humanize a large cast of essential characters with small touches of humanity and humor, all of which serves to heighten the sense of terror as they descend into the maelstrom of conflict. The first - and longest - episode is deceptively staid, featuring David Schwimmer (a long way from TV's 'Friends') as the bullying, cowardly commanding officer Herbert Sobel, whose tyrannical methods nevertheless shaped Easy Company into a fighting force which eventually cut a swathe through the heart of occupied Europe. Brit actor Damian Lewis takes the spotlight thereafter as Easy Company's most respected platoon leader, Richard Winters, with Ron Livingston as his right hand man, Lewis Nixon. Other standout performances in a flawless cast include Matthew Settle as battle-hardened platoon leader Ronald Speirs whose wartime career was distinguished by numerous acts of bravery (fuelled by a unique - if morbid - personal philosophy), Shane Taylor as company medic Eugene Roe, Neal McDonough as 2nd lieutenant 'Buck' Compton (laid low by his horrific combat experiences), and Donnie Wahlberg as 1st sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, who maintained the morale of his fellow soldiers, even when the odds seemed stacked against them.
Every episode has its merits, but stand-outs include David Leland's 'Bastogne' (ep. 6), which recounts the horrendous circumstances surrounding Easy Company's involvement in the Battle of the Bulge, and David Frankel's 'Why We Fight' (ep. 9), in which the full horror of the Nazi regime is uncovered in a German forest. Additionally, the closing moments of chapter 10 ('Points', directed by Mikael Salomon) are truly heartbreaking.
Like the movie itself, HBO's region 1 DVD is magnificent. Housed in a beautifully embossed metal case, all ten episodes are spread across five discs (running a total of 624m 23s). Crucially, each disc contains biographical information on the soldiers represented in every episode, which allows the viewer to keep track of an extensive array of characters, and there's a useful glossary, map and timeline of Easy Company's advance across Europe. Perhaps the number of chapters per episode could have been doubled (as it stands, there are six for each instalment), but that's a minor glitch in an otherwise exemplary presentation. The sixth disc in HBO's package contains a fascinating, feature length documentary on the real members of Easy Company (essential viewing), and a series of video diaries by actor Ron Livingston of the boot camp to which many of the cast were subjected in preparation for filming, during which the actors seem to have cultivated the same bonds of friendship experienced by real soldiers in combat situations.
It's doubtful that a more fitting tribute to the men of Easy Company could have been devised than BAND OF BROTHERS, a truly remarkable experience, given the Rolls Royce treatment on DVD. By turns engrossing, provocative and deeply, profoundly moving, it stands as a testament to those who fought and died for our freedoms, almost a lifetime ago.
Movie Review: The Real Deal
Summary: 5 Stars
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...
Movie Review: An acheivment that will forever live in our hearts!
Summary: 5 Stars
What do you get when Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (director and star of Saving Private Ryan) team up with HBO? An amazing movie I could exceed the limits of this review talking about. Now right away some people might be thinking "HBO, so this is a TV production." Yes, it did originally debut on HBO but this is without a doubt cinema quality and has been released in selected theaters. Trust me and all the other excellent reviews that this movie not only delievers the best in action and story telling but also the true tale of the men of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne. Production values are extremely high. After the third episode the production team used more pyro technics than Saving Private Ryan and thats a lot. Throughout, the movie stays true to Ambrose's book and features top notch acting. Details, details. The story is so incredibley detailed that you'll need to watch the entire series several times before you catch every bit of excellence. This is truely film making at it's best as only Steven Speilberg can deliever. Now, I bet you want to know what each episode is about...
Currahee - This is a great episode that introduces most of the main cast through training camp. The training is tough but no where near as tough as the upcoming D-Day invasion they set out on in the very end (which is very dynamic). 10/10
Day of Days - This is a lot of action which to some will make up for the first's lack of. However, there is more to be had than just action. Winters (the main character) must deal with the death of one of his men. This is a moving episode that, unlike it's predecessor, ends with a sorrowful feeling. 10/10
Carentan - This is a powerful episode that boasts a lot of action. For the first time, viewers take a look at the brutality of war and the affect it has on Private Blythe. This is not the best in the series but is excellent non the less. 10/10
Replacments - This episode makes viewers really feel for the replacments who aren't excepted by the older guys. This episode, like Carentan, shows the brutality of war, but on a whole new level. This is a great episode that ends on a low note with Easy Company forced to retreat after heavy casualties. 10/10
Crossroads - This is an excellent episode showing how the newly promoted Winters deals with his new job behind a desk, writing reports and the like. He wishes he were back on the battle fields with the men he has grown so close to. Never freight action fans becuase the title Crossroads actually refers to Winter's last battle before promotion. This episode is really good. 10/10
Bastogne - This episode shows that sometimes the enemy wasn't the only thing life threatening. In the bitter cold forests of Belgium, Easy Company holds the main line of resistance in preparation for The Battle of the Bulge. This episode focuses on Doc. Roe, one of Easy's few medics. This episode knocks a few main characters out of the series, some only temporarily, but manages to end with a laugh. 10/10
The Breaking Point - This is a spectacular episode that deals with the internal war many soldiers fight to keep themselves from going mad. Not only this, the final battle for Foy is amazing espeicially when Speirs single handedly charges the remaining German infantry. This episode knocks off a good portion of the main cast, this is very sad. 10/10
The Last Patrol - This episode focuses on war as meirley a game that some of the men have grown to laugh at. Webster returns to the company after four months at the aid station. This not only shows how the bonds have strengthend between the men in Bastonge but how they are almost unwilling to except him back. Even after this and several more casualties this episode manages to end with a sence of hope that many of the soldiers will make it out alive.
Why We Fight - This episode will probally be the one least rewatched not because its bad, simply becasue of how good it is. This episode shows a side of the war many don't like to confront. Easy encounters a Jewish prison camp and if you've seen Schindler's List, times that by two and add color. This episode is the only one that made me actually cry, although The Breaking Point came close. Watch it for what it is not necessarely for entertainment. 10/10
Points - simple in name but deep in plot. For the main portion of this episode the war is over. Easy has captured Hitler's Eagle's Nest and is now waiting around for either redeployment or a perminent trip home. With nothing to do, trouble brews and although the war is over, violence is still present. This episode has it's sad points but ultimatley ends on a high note where viewers finally learn what became of the men who survived. The ending interviews are also very good. This is a perfect conclusion to a more than perfect (if that makes any sence) movie.
Anyone with a pulse should be moved by this movie and I highly recommend you buy it, assuming you can handle the graphic violence and heavy language.
Thanks for reading.