Band of Brothers
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Movie Reviews of Band of Brothers
Movie Review: Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor.
Summary: 5 Stars
Because that's exactly where it lands every time I watch any one of these incredibly well done episodes. There simply are not enough superlatives in the English language to do justice to the unparalleled quality of this production. Contrary to the misguided opinion of the "viewer from San Diego" (see below), this is not about glorifying war or depicting the average German soldier as an awful person. Rather, it's about giving the viewer a rare insight into war in all its horror, confusion and human-ness (is that a word?). No doubt the Germans had their own "bands of brothers" -- just read Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" for a fine illustration of that. However, this series doesn't take sides. It shows both Americans and Germans alike as scared, tired, hungry, cold and confused. The portrayal of the human and psychological toll of this conflict is not unbalanced, although admittedly the viewer only gets to "personally" know the characters on the American side.
Even while the grim realities of war are highlighted, there is also an acute attention to historical detail and accuracy, right down to some of the minutiae described by the real survivors in Stephen Ambrose's book of the same name. The series also presents an object lesson in courage, sacrifice and loyalty that is not to be overlooked. Yes, war is an awful thing, but it also has the ability to bring out hitherto unknown greatness, albeit often subtle, in those who find themselves thrust into the middle of the conflict. HBO and Spielberg do a wonderful job of striking just the right balance.
The central character, the "hero" if you prefer, is Lt. (later Capt. and then Major) Richard "Dick" Winters, who is introduced early in Episode 1 as a platoon leader in Easy Company, and later the company commander after his predecessor turns up missing on the D-Day drop. Winters proves himself an exceptional combat commander and later a highly competent battalion staff officer. At every stage of his development, his exemplary leadership is underscored by a simple, down-to-earth (humble?) attitude and a deep concern for every soldier under his command. This is well illustrated in Episode 5 when Winters personally leads his outnumbered men in a charge that catches two full companies of SS infantry by surprise. The attack decimates the German units while only one of Winters' own men is killed and 22 wounded, yet even still he counts the cost and personally mourns the loss.
In addition to the great development of the Dick Winters character (who was, of course, a real person), there is plenty of similar attention given to many others, such as Sgt. Guarnere and Capt. Nixon. One of the other features that makes this such a great series is the phenomenally skillful camera work. The positioning of the cameras, the jolt from a nearby artillery rounds, the jostling of men in the trenches, and the constant buzz and smack of bullets, all combine to put the viewer in the middle of the action with the men on the screen. Frankly I think the ability to capture the "atmosphere" of combat rises to an even higher level than was demonstrated in "Saving Private Ryan", which set a new standard for modern war films.
What more can I say? Watch these for yourself. You won't be disappointed -- not even a little bit. There's no political agenda here. What you'll see will (or should) give you pause to consider the nature and effects of war, but beyond that it's simply a great story about great men doing their best in an uncertain time. Incredibly well done indeed!
Movie Review: It will make you think and appreciate what others sacrificed
Summary: 5 Stars
Band of Brothers is simply the best war story of infantrymen ever made. While no movie or drama can be absolutely correct in every historical and technical detail, Band of Brothers captures the important aspects of the experience of "E" Co, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division. Compared to the book there are some instances of dramatic license but they don't detract from the overall story. And the book itself could not capture Easy Company's experience perfectly since many of the men were killed in action or had died or were not interviewed by Ambrose.What Band of Brothers gives you is a sense of who those men were and the comraderie and esprit de corps that made the men a fighting unit. The interviews of the actual veterans of Easy Company offers very moving and important insights into the bonds that held these men together through the hell of combat.
Band of Brothers never becomes sentimental or phony, there are no displays of John Wayne heroics or any of the typical ridiculous Hollywood exaggerations that virtually every war movie has in them. The scene where Lt. Winters leads his men and takes out several 105mm German artillery guns aimed at Utah Beach is accurate to the book's account with the exception that the pace of the operation on film was quicker than it seemed to have really happened. Winters won the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions.
What the Band of Brothers is not is one endless combat scene where scores of men are falling wounded and killed (like most war movies) because this was not the experience of Easy Co during the war. Band of Brothers shows the details that other dramas neglect: clips being ejected from M1 Garands after the 8 rounds were fired; the problems with trench feet in the winter and the medic's efforts to keep the men healthy; how men were afflicted with "combat fatigue" and the efforts of fellow soldiers to deal with these casualties.
My father was First Sergeant of his company in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and he trained and lead his men into combat in Italy and France. The 442nd was the most decorated outfit for its size and length of service in American military history. He died before Band of Brothers came out. I'm sure that he would have approved of it wholeheartedly since he said that his company was like a family--the men looked after eachother and many of them died trying to save buddies.
Band of Brothers gets this most important point across--that the men in a combat outfit develop a bond and trust that isn't seen in civilian life and that this bond and chapter in each man's life who experiences it is separate, distinct and more important than anything else in that person's life.
Watch Band of Brothers and see what real heros are made of and think of those men who didn't come home. It will make you think of the hundreds of thousands of men who never came home and who died fighting for a future that they never got to experience. Band of Brothers should be mandatory viewing for school kids just to get them thinking about the price of freedom and prosperity.
Like the veterans of Easy Company, a day didn't go by where my father didn't think of his men--I know this since he would always mention "His men" or the name of one of his friends that was killed in the war. Many combat veterans of WWII never could leave the war behind and this was also sad and tragic.
So watch Band of Brothers and say a thanks on Memorial Day to all of those service men and women who paid the ultimate price to make America what it is today.
Movie Review: It deserves 6 stars. Really, this is great.
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife got me this DVD. I love it. Gosh, there is hardly one thing I don't love about this DVD series.Now, if you're thinking of buying it: DO SO!!! It's money well spent. This DVD series is far better than Saving Private Ryan and that is not a bad DVD either.
I've been putting together models of German Armor for years. On the set of "Brothers" they have reproductions of Tigers, Stug IIIs, Marders, and Jadpanthers. The Stug was done so good it fooled me and only a DVD frame-by-frame analysis showed that it was a substitute, made of a former British personnel carrier. But, what a wonderful substitute. It is the attention to detail that makes you feel that the producers really went the extra mile in making this series.
I'll give you another example of attention to detail. In 1942 American aircraft had a star with a red circle inside as the national insignia. That marking was only vaild for 1942 and earler. In 1944 the invasion markings on the transports were obviously hand panted. That is also correct for the period. The producers went the extra mile just to research aircraft markings. Yes, people like me pay attention and this will add to your enjoyment of the DVD. Tom Hanks & crew got it right.
Then there are the actors. D. Williams plays LT/CPT/Major Winters. What a fantastic job! Darn, I wish my officers in the real military were half as good as Winters. You never get over the impression that CPT Winters is a perfect American officer. He's cool under fire, makes good decisions, and leads by example for his men. Lt. Winter's mild words to an enlisted man, PVT Blythe, restores the man's courage and makes him an effective combat soldier. What a leader! Did D. Williams get an Emmy award for this performance? He deserved it!!!
Words excape my frail ability to write about Band of Brothers. Now, if you read the book "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose it does give you some important background information.
The reason why Winters does not drink (they make a big deal about this in the series) is he used to be a nationally rated wrestler in college. So, Winters merely kept himself in athletic training mode while in the Army. True athletes in training do not drink, it's empty calories.
I really enjoyed the action between CPT Williams and CPT Nixon, the 506th S-2 (intelligence). The book does a fantastic job of showing Nixon as two things: 1. he was a wonderful planner and researcher for the Army (a positive effect of Yale) and 2. he drank too much (a negative effect of fraternity life at Yale).
Nixon loses the 506th Brigade job and the series makes a big deal about it. This is a little different than the book because the war was winding down, another officer did want the job, and Nixon's drinking plus personal problems just gave an excuse to transfer Captain Nixon to Major William's command. Remember, the European war was ending and the career soldiers were getting the plum assignments.
I think the best part of the post fighting series is when Major Williams gives Captain Nixon the first pick of Nazi wine stash in Bavaria, Germany. That was priceless. Also, it follows the book nearly 100%.
Fellow Amazon.comers, you will enjoy this DVD. The Airborne comes off as super tough volunteers. The series shows good officers - like Williams and Lt. Spears (who is rumored to be a cold blooded murderer) - bad officers, and officers with problems, such as the ever drinking Captain Nixon.
This video is worth the money.
Movie Review: The platinum standard for a TV miniseries
Summary: 5 Stars
BAND OF BROTHERS is categorically the best TV miniseries ever created, surpassing my previous pick, LONESOME DOVE.This 10-hour/10-episode epic was a labor of love produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the latter the lead in perhaps the finest combat drama ever made for the Big Screen, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
Based on the non-fiction book by Stephan Ambrose, BAND OF BROTHERS is a visual tribute to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Its timespan is a little more than 3 years, from the summer of 1942 to the late fall of 1945. It depicts the company's training in the United States and England, its combat roles in the D-Day invasion, the subsequent Operation Market Garden, and the defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and ends with the capture of Hitler's Alpine retreat, Berchtesgaden, and the occupation of a scenic Austrian lake valley.
There aren't enough superlatives to describe the acting, period costuming and weaponry, cinematography, and sets. It's a masterpiece of cinema verite. The actors are virtual unknowns. Perhaps this is inescapable in a script calling for the rapid turnover of personalities. Company E's full complement was 140 men - 8 officers and 132 enlisted. But, as casualties mounted, original members were replaced with new, and the cast of characters is large. The viewer never really gets to "know" any one soldier, with the exception of perhaps Dick Winters (Damian Lewis), who provides a continuity of sorts. Winters began as a 2nd Lieutenant commanding a platoon, and ended the war as a Major commanding the 2nd Battalion. To the degree that the storyline allows, Winters is the foremost hero in a group of heroes, i.e. all of E Company. The viewer is thus forced to identify with the unit as a whole throughout its travails and final triumph. And Lewis, a Brit who manages to lose his accent for the role, is perfect. Ron Livingston as Lewis Nixon, Winter's good friend and alcoholic but competent battalion staff officer, provides an additional thread of continuity from beginning to end.
Those who've both read the book and seen the miniseries will notice differences. Some events are shown in a different sequence, as when one of the Company E troopers is killed by a freak accident with a souvenir Luger pistol. More noticeably, an entire episode is more or less devoted to the heroics of a company medic during the defense of Bastogne, while another focuses on the unit's discovery of a Nazi enslavement camp. Both subjects are given but scant paragraphs in the original book.
The DVD also includes a bonus track on the nuts and bolts of the production. I watched this feature after the miniseries, and was amazed to learn that the forest setting for the defense of Bastogne episode, one of the best, was an indoor creation, snow and all!
I saw the ten episodes over a couple of weeks. Perhaps a better way to do it is have all your male pals over for a one-day viewing marathon to include pizza and beer (or C-rations and canteen water in an olfactory ambience of gun oil, blood, stale sweat, exploded earth, and open latrine trenches). Oh, did I mention that this is a Guy Flick? It's about young males bonding, jumping out of airplanes, fighting, killing, getting maimed and killed, and enjoying the fruits of victory (booze, women and looting). There's no female role of significance, and no love interest. It's Warrior Life at its best and worst.
Movie Review: To my British friend from jolly 'ol Cambridge
Summary: 5 Stars
*sigh* I knew it was coming, every time a war movie is made in the US the "USA bashing" is unleashed by our British lads. Yes Britain had a signifigant role in winning WWII, nobody has said otherwise in any of these films. But to bash on the US and "Band of Brothers" simply becasue there wasn't enough Bristish lads in it, well that's just sour grapes. And let's address some of your blanket statments about US war films not portraying the British involvement in the war-(begin quote)"like many Brits I do find it quite annoying that all of these films portray the superhuman American's single-handedly sweeping all before them as they triumphantly storm all the way from Normandy, through France, Belgium and Holland and then finally into the Ruhr valley." (end of quote) Well obviously you have not rented, "A Bridge too Far," "Guns of Navarone," "Where Eagles Dare," "Bridge Over the River Quai," "Patton," "The Longest Day," and others, or even the at- times-inaccurate "Pearl Harbor" movie with Ben Afleck (sp?). Well you get the point, in all of these films I've just named, the British contributions to the war effort were a primary focus within the movie, even if the movies were released here in the US. Just because two war movies that you review "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band Of Brothers" do not include British exploits, please do not make blanket statements about the US film industry. Besides, "Band of Brothers" was about the 101st, not the British 1st Airborne Divison's "Red Devils," therefore not many British faces make their way into the battle scenes because they never fought together anyway. The closest the 101st came to fighting together with the British was fighting with the XXX Corps tanks, which was portrayed in the Market Garden episode.Well as I'm sure you have read a "Bridge Too Far" by Cornelius Ryan and know that the "Red Devils" took and held the Arnhem Bridge while waiting for the XXX Corps to arrive. Your quote- "Nobody is denying that the 101st and 506th Airborne divisions weren't involved, they were. But they didn't play the pivotal role by any means." (end of quote) What book did you read? If you understand the battle at all you'd know that the 101st took the bridge at Son, and the 82nd took the bridge at Nijmegan with substantial casualties, two of the three major bridges needed for victory were taken by US forces. How can you say that the US had no "pivotal role?" And wasn't it your XXX Corps that stopped short of Arnhem and relief for the "Red devils" because they were brewing tea and waiting for infantry support? The 82nd airborne pleaded with the XXX Corps to take their tanks into Arnhem and relieve their British paratrooper brothers, but it wasn't too be. You did read the book didn't you? My point is this, before you rip on US movies and the US in general, please get your facts straight. Also, there were no British in Saving Private Ryan because Omaha beach was stormed by the US First Infantry Division, not the British, who were busy at Juno, Gold, and Sword beaches with the Canadians, and were ordered to take Caen, far away from the US axis of advance, therefore they weren't fighting together. Good heavens man, we're not scared of the truth, but at least try to get your facts straight. Oh yeah, I give Band of Brothers 5 stars. ;) And Great Britain, I love ya, but take it easy on the US bashing, let's take off our Doc's, drink some tea, watch Mr. Bean together and relax.