Band of Brothers Reviews

This week I saw three things based on WW-II novels. The first was 'The Pianist' about the Warsaw ghetto in the war and the survival of a Jewish pianist in that ghetto. The second was 'De Tweeling', a Dutch film about two twin-sisters, separated in 1926. One of them grows up in Nazi-Germany, the other in The Netherlands. That movie shows us more of the common persons during the war, Germans and not-Germans. The third was 'Band of Brothers', a true story about combat in the war. All three things are great, the films I mean, and you definitely should see all three of them.

'Band of Brothers' follows Easy-company from their training in England, through D-Day, the rest of France (including Bastogne), Holland (including operation Market Garden), Germany and Austria. This story is shown to us in ten different episodes. Every episode starts with the real men from Easy-company telling about their experiences and ends with a short written update of Easy-company. Between beginning and ending of episodes one of the best things I have seen on screen is presented to us.

The casting is amazing. Even David Schwimmer (from 'Friends') as the bitter Captain Sobel is great. Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston are superb as Major Winters and Captain Lewis Nixon. Every actor seems to be perfect for his character. The photography and direction is great also. I especially loved the direction of the episode done by executive producer Tom Hanks, possibly with some help from the other executive producer Steven Spielberg. 'Saving Private Ryan' was great for showing us the horror in combat, 'Band of Brothers' does the same thing but adds some other things. You really learn to know the characters (in 600 minutes you can do that), you sympathize with them.

If you have the chance to see this masterpiece, do so. It is long but you can spread the episodes over some days. But if you start watching it is very hard to stop. Definitely one of the best WW-II movies or series out there.

Εμένα οι σειρές / ταινίες με πολεμικά θέματα ποτέ δεν ήταν στο ‘top’ των προτιμήσεων μου, αλλά μερικές είναι απλά εξαιρετικές και προτεινόμενες για θέαση σε όλους..

Πρόκειται για μια πολύ προσεγμένη σειρά, αν και δε θυμάμαι να είδα ποτέ σειρά του HBO και να μην είναι :-P , που η παραγωγή της κόστισε περίπου $125εκ. Έχει εξαιρετική ατμόσφαιρά και αρκετές βίαιες σκηνές, λογικό άλλωστε με τέτοια θεματολογία. Πολύ καλή είναι και η έναρξη κάθε επεισοδίου με βετεράνους του Β’ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου να μιλάνε για τα γεγονότα που εκτυλίχθηκαν.
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If you can for a moment forget the role of the allies in WWII then Band of Brothers will rip your heart out, put it through a blender, drink it, regurgitate it and hand it back to you.

The special effects are amazing, but such a small part of the overall effect. The casting is perfect and in some cases (Bill Guarnere especially) replicates the actual person to a T.

The documentary of the Easy Company vets adds a poignancy to each episode, dragging you back to the fact that it is a true story. The acting seems to be beyond proffesional,at no point did I doubt the closeness between the characters or their sincerity. There is also a good mix of British and US talent.

Although sometimes critised for being too long, I find myself encaptivated from start to finish. I also feel the length adds to the empathy the viewer feels with the charaters. It also gives a greater impression of the vastness of the journey from Normandy to VE Day..again adding weight to the loss of some long standing and developed characters.

Watch it.

"Band of Brothers", an HBO mini-series, follows the Easy Company from their training in England, through D-Day. Its members also go through the rest of France, Holland, Germany and Austria.
Ten episodes make up the mini-series, and each starts with commentaries from the original troopers.

Excellent cast. Even David Schwimmer, an unlikable character right from the start, demonstrated his ability to act tough in this role.
Extremely well directed. Scenes are vivid and quite realistic.
Superb art direction and cinematography.

Although I found some episodes quite lengthy, this is *the* series I highly recommend to anyone, on the subject of World War II. (And I usually don't like war movies/series!)