Why is band of brothers so good

What can be said though is that as a series about war and human endurance, Band of Brothers may be best in class. It accomplishes what it sets out to do to near perfection. There are many who may never be e4specially interested in the very specific focus of the show, but there also may never be anything quite like Band of Brothers again.

Rick Stevenson is a writer, editor and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. He's written on TV, film and games for over six years, in addition to assorted stints in bookselling, carpentry, and TV production.

He lives and dies for Avatar: The Last Airbender. By Rick Stevenson Published Sep 09, Share Share Tweet Email 0. There were seven writers, and surprisingly little communication between us. We pretty much each focused on our own episodes, trusting that Tom and Steven would make sure it all fit together.

But we were definitely worried. Would it add up to a cohesive whole? The answer, as we now know, is yes. Another strength? Band of Brothers was one of the very first TV shows to be shot and broadcast in widescreen — at a time when very few televisions were made that way most people originally saw the show with black bars on the top and bottom of their square TV screens.

Same thing with the sound. Tom and Steven insisted that it be mixed like a movie, in surround sound, when very few people had home surround systems. Instead, technically, it still holds its own against any movie or TV show made today. Additionally, ten and a half hours gave us the time to explore the experiences of infantrymen in a way that had never really been done before.

Universal truths about warfare were shown. He is alleged to have 'hosed' down the prisoners with his Thompson, along with shooting one of his own men for drinking on duty and failing to obey his orders.

The series never confirms these allegations, but Spiers appears periodically throughout the first half and is noted for his bravery and at times recklessness. There are other portrayals of harsh treatment toward prisoners; Toye hits one German with brass knuckles after he surrenders, while another member of Easy Company shoots another surrendering German in the streets of Carentan with his sidearm. Spiers will later take a more prominent role when he is appointed company commander for Easy Company.

The greatest insight into his character comes with a discussion he has with Private Albert Blithe, who had suffered, temporarily, from hysterical blindness. Spiers tells Blithe that his problem is that he still thinks there is hope and once he lets go of that, he can function as a soldier, a stark and chilling reminder of the horror of combat, particularly since Blithe did not survive.

The series is not without limitations. The portrayal of a company of soldiers necessitates a large cast and even with ten hours of film, it is difficult to keep track of who is who at all times, particularly during combat. Even with a copy of the book, there are sequences that do not seem to flow well, or are never fully explained.

Since many of the veterans assisted in the filming, there are several sequences that do not appear in the book and this tends to make for some additional gaps in the stream of events.

Each show is capable of standing on its own, but to truly appreciate it requires the viewer to watch all the previous parts to understand the complete storyline, and this is a large commitment of time for some. These limitations pale in comparison to the accuracy, detail, and scope of the effort put forth by Spielberg, Hanks, the directors, cast, and crew of Band of Brothers.

To overcome some of these problems, the producers have gone to great lengths to provide resource material on the series in the hope of educating the public about the exploits of the American soldier. HBO has also consented to the use of the series for in-class presentations. I recently showed several of the episodes to my World Civilization sections and their comments were as diverse as the students. Some were offended by the depiction of combat and the foul language used by the soldiers.

Others believed that this showed war as it actually was, without an effort by the filmmakers to clean it up. Obviously the audience isn't expected to keep track of every character. However every leading character has a compelling personality. It's also a new level of authenticity for TV production. The action is thrilling.

The last episode is slower dealing with an usual aspect of the struggle. The episode is unexpected but compelling nevertheless. This is a great TV war miniseries from start to finish. Often brutal but always engaging bob the moo 7 February It has been some time since I watched this show on first broadcast — long before streaming and on demand, I remember it was appointment television for me to be sure to be back in time to watch it I also did not own a VCR back then I think.

Watching it again 15 years later, this is still the case. The production values are incredibly high, and the recreation of the conditions, spirit, and specific actions of Easy Company is compelling television. It is not constant action, and it is not always violent, however it keeps the war constantly in the air, and it is quite oppressive viewing at times in the way it does this while throwing in moments of sudden pointless violence.

At times it does get a bit too sentimental, but the sense of realism balances this out I thought, and the scale of loss and death makes it easy to justify why the series did this. The main characters are well portrayed, and the supporting characters had sufficient material to make us buy into the squad — not just a few main characters. Ironically this is something that has altered with time. Watching it now I was surprised by just how many famous faces there were in the show.

Of course the main cast has turns from Lewis, Livingston, McDonough, Fletcher, Wahlberg, and many others you will know — as well as one or two big names in small roles most notably Schwimmer. Perhaps I did not know them at the time and they were already famous, but it does feel now that they had a real bed of talent just starting to emerge. Of course the downside of this is that it is a bit distracting now, and many episodes has several moments where you spot people like this in smaller roles.

The series is strong though, with great drama and production values throughout. The deep cast help, but it is the writing and intense battle sequences that really draw you in. The focus on an American squad does feel a little like it plays into the usual 'the Americans won the war" thing, but I didn't mind this — aside from the few British characters who do appear, who unfortunately are played a little as stereotype and not so heroic in their efforts. Despite this though, a great series that has stood up really well over time.

Obviously everybody or almost everybody is aware how the second world war ended. But it's one thing to read about it and an entirely different thing to watch it unfold on European soil. And while it is from an American perspective mostly, with some footage also sneaking in showing what other Allies did , it is not as glorifying as one might have thought it would be. The show, which aired on HBO and therefor had no issues with showing violence or nudity, though that is hardly the case here and language, is all about "keeping it real".

Until Virtual Reality becomes a Before every episode we get survivors from back then talking to us, the great thing being, that we never get their names until the very last episode at the end. Therefor we have to watch and wait to see who actually makes it. It's great drama with great acting. Acting that gets delivered by some of the finest actors even in the smallest roles. Fassbender, Pegg, McAvoy and many more. One of the few that I had issues to see in his role was David Schwimmer.

Suffice to say that this role is very far removed from that. A great show, which is as realistic as it gets with some superb extras on the Blu Ray Disc version. In , it was Frank Capra's documentary series "Why We Fight", and last year I took a look at the twenty six episodes of "Victory at Sea", an epic portrayal of the War in the Pacific.

Though I decided on "Band of Brothers" a little late this year, I still managed to catch the first installment on Memorial Day itself, watching a couple more each day until finishing this morning. Unless you're watching actual combat footage from real battles, there's no more accurate depiction of the horrors of war than observing what the men of Easy Company went through beginning with the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6th, The series chronicles the exploits of the th Parachute Infantry Regiment, st Airborne Division from that day through the end of the war in Europe, taking a two year step back in time to the birth of the unit in Toccoa, Georgia.

Adding poignancy to the war time casualties as well as the heroics seen on screen, surviving members of Easy Company regularly open each of the ten episodes with brief insights into their personal experiences serving in the unit. The producers wisely kept their identities hidden until that final episode, when the members are revealed as the real life heroes portrayed in the film. I would challenge anyone to maintain a dry eye as some of these men recount their pain and horror at seeing friends dying all around them, while still maintaining their integrity to the mission at hand.

It may be true that these were ordinary men who did extraordinary things, but one can't help but wonder from what depths of inner fortitude they managed to survive the ordeals they went though during the course of their campaigns.

Probably the most surreal episode in the series is Chapter Nine, opening with violin musicians playing amid the utter devastation of Thalem, Germany.

Nearby, some of the soldiers discover a Nazi concentration camp which the Company proceeds to liberate while declaring martial law in the city. Now I don't know how the film makers did it, but the actors representing the starving, maltreated Jews in the camp looked like the real thing.

With an attention to this kind of detail, "Band of Brothers" is about as close to documentary story telling as you can get after the fact.

It's precisely why a quote from Staff Sergeant Darrel 'Shifty' Powers resonated so strongly with me when he said his good-bye to Major Winters upon receiving his discharge when the war was over. Accurately summing up the feelings and emotions of every member of Easy Company, Sgt.

Powers states - "I just don't rightly know how I'm gonna explain all this" - to the folks back home. From producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks also directing an episode , this ten-part an hour an episode mini-series, based on the book by Stephen Ambrose, looked like the same quality as Saving Private Ryan. Throughout the series they parachute behind enemy lines, fight through rain and snow, in towns and trenches, shelter from bombs and bullets, and suffer many losses and failures, but all make it through to the end of the war.

Starring Scott Grimes as TSgt. Richard D. Lewis Nixon, Shane Taylor as Cpl. Sobel, Simon Pegg as 1st Sgt. William Evans and Tom Hanks as British officer. Very good! So what is it that makes "Band of Brothers" so special? Well, for starters it is the array of impressive and well-played characters that are portrayed throughout the series.

These are characters that you really form a bond with despite sitting in front of a screen. They are vibrant, realistic, and all together just amazingly portrayed, unlike the "The Pacific" series, also from HBO, where the characters were more distanced and less open to let you into their personalities.

But more than the characters, it is also the way that the entire series is shot. The cinematography and camera-work in the series is nothing short of spectacular. It is intense and action-packed, almost like you are right there with the soldiers in the midst of the chaotic combat of World War II. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you have truly been missing out on a great experience. And if you enjoyed "Saving Private Ryan", you just simply have got to sit down and watch this entire series.

Despite it being from , "Band of Brothers" is timeless and it is one of those series that you can watch repeatedly, as the entertainment value of the series, the characters, the action, etc.

I have sat through the entire series four times already, and I will most likely be playing it more times in the future. Theo Robertson 31 July My god what a thoroughly depressing series full of scenes that will make your jaw drop. A young German not a day over 15 looks an American officer in the eye just before he is shot dead. Another German soldier falls wounded under the path of a tank and is crushed to death and German POWs are routinely shot dead.

We also see soldiers on both sides with their limbs blown off and soldiers being killed by friendly fire and the whole bleak atmosphere of this series feels like we've been transported to the era of Vietnam or even to the first world war where slaughter felt like slaughter instead of a moral crusade.

That's right we look upon the second world war as a crusade against Nazism as if that lessens the carnage and sacrifice people experienced in those days as if that made their deaths and injuries less painful or traumatic in some way As superb as BOB is on a technical and amoral level I couldn't award the series more than seven out of ten.

This is down to to the fact that once again we're seeing a somewhat Americancentric view of history and there's a massive irony that this is an Anglo-American co-production between the BBC and HBO.

I've lost count of the times I've read on this site that " Hey the guy playing Winters is English , and so are most of the cast , they're accents are perfect " so why is it we once again see Uncle Sam racing single handed to save the world from Nazism?

The opening episode features a cockney geezer and some gunners in the background The implication being that the Brits sat on their asses while the Americans parachuted into Normandy , an idiotic tank commander in episode four That's the episode where the Americans jeer Monty and a dead British officer in the final episode. I often receive messages from Americans on the subject of conflicts and most of them show themselves to be open minded and intelligent.