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To say that Saving Private Ryan looks surprisingly ordinary when compared to Band of Brothers, is a real testament to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the brains behind this masterpiece.
I can guarantee that you have seen nothing like this in your couch potato lives before. The story centres on a group of around 30 soldiers who struggle to come to terms with the trails and tribulations of every aspect of warfare. Not helped by their incompetent leader (David Schimmer), Easy Company experience a turbulent introduction to war. After the aforementioned leader is demoted, the story makes way for Lieutenant Winters (Damien Lewis) who takes command of the inexperienced group. Throughout the ten programmes we see Easy Company progress on the European front. In this epic ten hours, battles are fought, lessons are learnt, and war is portrayed as gritty and realistic since Saving Private Ryan, except this time it’s not a film. The story tracks Easy companies progress through Europe and their crusade into Germany, very accurately compared to the book it’s based upon. Remember, these were real soldiers, perhaps adding to shock aspect. Although the show portrays major battles and events, the film for the most part concentrates on giving a portrayel of war from a different perspective. For example, the second episode centres on the horrors of D-Day, except it’s from the perspective of the paratroopers landing in Normandy in the small hours. The Battle of Burge, Market Garden, D-Day all the historic WW2 events are here – even the holocaust. Arguably, the most powerful episode is indeed, where the soldiers stumble across an abandoned Nazi concentration camp, and the full horror is revealed. Aptly titled “Why we fight”, this is not to be missed by anyone.
A large proportion of the series is presented in a similar style to Saving Private Ryan. Subdued colours and heavy filters make up the cold atmosphere associated with the film. I particularly like the camera use – again similar to SPR, in the respect that for a lot of the combat scenes a handheld camera was used to place the viewer into the centre of the action. Quieter moments come through strongly in this film, as there are plenty of them. A lot of concentration has gone into producing some intense dialogue – this comes through in the episodes centred on the winter hardships. But don’t panic – those of you who are accustomed to tough battle scenes will be at home with this series, there are plenty of frighteningly frantic sequences to watch. Band of Brothers uses a subtle mixture of action and dialogue, and pulls it off with superb effect.
If the epic 600 minutes of footage spanned over 10 episodes wasn’t enough for you – there’s plenty of extras to get to grips with. Namely the 80 minute documentary entitled “We stand alone together: the men of easy company”, directed at conveying real interviews with the men of Easy Company to the audience, mixed with unseen war footage and photos. If that still wasn’t enough, then what about a 12 part documentary showing the experiences enjoyed whilst producing this epic? And there are plenty more, the list is exhaustive, all executed to perfection.
Band of Brothers kicks off the DVD releases in the run up to Christmas, and anyone looking for a great DVD would not want to pass up this opportunity. The amazing mini-series is wrapped up in one of the best DVD presentation this year.
The £49.99 price-tag seems like nothing next to the quality of footage on show here, highly recommended.
9.5/10
I can guarantee that you have seen nothing like this in your couch potato lives before. The story centres on a group of around 30 soldiers who struggle to come to terms with the trails and tribulations of every aspect of warfare. Not helped by their incompetent leader (David Schimmer), Easy Company experience a turbulent introduction to war. After the aforementioned leader is demoted, the story makes way for Lieutenant Winters (Damien Lewis) who takes command of the inexperienced group. Throughout the ten programmes we see Easy Company progress on the European front. In this epic ten hours, battles are fought, lessons are learnt, and war is portrayed as gritty and realistic since Saving Private Ryan, except this time it’s not a film. The story tracks Easy companies progress through Europe and their crusade into Germany, very accurately compared to the book it’s based upon. Remember, these were real soldiers, perhaps adding to shock aspect. Although the show portrays major battles and events, the film for the most part concentrates on giving a portrayel of war from a different perspective. For example, the second episode centres on the horrors of D-Day, except it’s from the perspective of the paratroopers landing in Normandy in the small hours. The Battle of Burge, Market Garden, D-Day all the historic WW2 events are here – even the holocaust. Arguably, the most powerful episode is indeed, where the soldiers stumble across an abandoned Nazi concentration camp, and the full horror is revealed. Aptly titled “Why we fight”, this is not to be missed by anyone.
A large proportion of the series is presented in a similar style to Saving Private Ryan. Subdued colours and heavy filters make up the cold atmosphere associated with the film. I particularly like the camera use – again similar to SPR, in the respect that for a lot of the combat scenes a handheld camera was used to place the viewer into the centre of the action. Quieter moments come through strongly in this film, as there are plenty of them. A lot of concentration has gone into producing some intense dialogue – this comes through in the episodes centred on the winter hardships. But don’t panic – those of you who are accustomed to tough battle scenes will be at home with this series, there are plenty of frighteningly frantic sequences to watch. Band of Brothers uses a subtle mixture of action and dialogue, and pulls it off with superb effect.
If the epic 600 minutes of footage spanned over 10 episodes wasn’t enough for you – there’s plenty of extras to get to grips with. Namely the 80 minute documentary entitled “We stand alone together: the men of easy company”, directed at conveying real interviews with the men of Easy Company to the audience, mixed with unseen war footage and photos. If that still wasn’t enough, then what about a 12 part documentary showing the experiences enjoyed whilst producing this epic? And there are plenty more, the list is exhaustive, all executed to perfection.
Band of Brothers kicks off the DVD releases in the run up to Christmas, and anyone looking for a great DVD would not want to pass up this opportunity. The amazing mini-series is wrapped up in one of the best DVD presentation this year.
The £49.99 price-tag seems like nothing next to the quality of footage on show here, highly recommended.
9.5/10
Wow, didn't see this coming, thanks SR.
Thanks for the compliments as well, the episode repeated on Sunday is my personal favourite - very moving.
Thanks for the compliments as well, the episode repeated on Sunday is my personal favourite - very moving.
I really enjoyed it the first time round. So ive also been watching the repeats on sunday nights.
Good review there, congrats on the GAD as well.
I'll be buying the DVD box set of the series myself in a month or so as I'm currently watching the entire series again on BBC2. Great show, though I did have a problem with the characters in series, mainly there where too many of them. I couldn't put a name to more than two faces and I got a couple of the characters confused with each other on more than one occasion.
The only problem I have with the series though, the rest was quality TV.
I'll be buying the DVD box set of the series myself in a month or so as I'm currently watching the entire series again on BBC2. Great show, though I did have a problem with the characters in series, mainly there where too many of them. I couldn't put a name to more than two faces and I got a couple of the characters confused with each other on more than one occasion.
The only problem I have with the series though, the rest was quality TV.
Well done mate, great review, another win!
Argh yes, i knew they'd be a reply like this, basically SR don't seel DVD's from there site, therefore you cannot review DVD's anymore. I wrote this review befor ethey stopped sellling them, and it'd be a shame for my work to have been a waste.
"Ta-Da"
"Ta-Da"
To say that Saving Private Ryan looks surprisingly ordinary when compared to Band of Brothers, is a real testament to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the brains behind this masterpiece.
I can guarantee that you have seen nothing like this in your couch potato lives before. The story centres on a group of around 30 soldiers who struggle to come to terms with the trails and tribulations of every aspect of warfare. Not helped by their incompetent leader (David Schimmer), Easy Company experience a turbulent introduction to war. After the aforementioned leader is demoted, the story makes way for Lieutenant Winters (Damien Lewis) who takes command of the inexperienced group. Throughout the ten programmes we see Easy Company progress on the European front. In this epic ten hours, battles are fought, lessons are learnt, and war is portrayed as gritty and realistic since Saving Private Ryan, except this time it’s not a film. The story tracks Easy companies progress through Europe and their crusade into Germany, very accurately compared to the book it’s based upon. Remember, these were real soldiers, perhaps adding to shock aspect. Although the show portrays major battles and events, the film for the most part concentrates on giving a portrayel of war from a different perspective. For example, the second episode centres on the horrors of D-Day, except it’s from the perspective of the paratroopers landing in Normandy in the small hours. The Battle of Burge, Market Garden, D-Day all the historic WW2 events are here – even the holocaust. Arguably, the most powerful episode is indeed, where the soldiers stumble across an abandoned Nazi concentration camp, and the full horror is revealed. Aptly titled “Why we fight”, this is not to be missed by anyone.
A large proportion of the series is presented in a similar style to Saving Private Ryan. Subdued colours and heavy filters make up the cold atmosphere associated with the film. I particularly like the camera use – again similar to SPR, in the respect that for a lot of the combat scenes a handheld camera was used to place the viewer into the centre of the action. Quieter moments come through strongly in this film, as there are plenty of them. A lot of concentration has gone into producing some intense dialogue – this comes through in the episodes centred on the winter hardships. But don’t panic – those of you who are accustomed to tough battle scenes will be at home with this series, there are plenty of frighteningly frantic sequences to watch. Band of Brothers uses a subtle mixture of action and dialogue, and pulls it off with superb effect.
If the epic 600 minutes of footage spanned over 10 episodes wasn’t enough for you – there’s plenty of extras to get to grips with. Namely the 80 minute documentary entitled “We stand alone together: the men of easy company”, directed at conveying real interviews with the men of Easy Company to the audience, mixed with unseen war footage and photos. If that still wasn’t enough, then what about a 12 part documentary showing the experiences enjoyed whilst producing this epic? And there are plenty more, the list is exhaustive, all executed to perfection.
Band of Brothers kicks off the DVD releases in the run up to Christmas, and anyone looking for a great DVD would not want to pass up this opportunity. The amazing mini-series is wrapped up in one of the best DVD presentation this year.
The £49.99 price-tag seems like nothing next to the quality of footage on show here, highly recommended.
9.5/10
I can guarantee that you have seen nothing like this in your couch potato lives before. The story centres on a group of around 30 soldiers who struggle to come to terms with the trails and tribulations of every aspect of warfare. Not helped by their incompetent leader (David Schimmer), Easy Company experience a turbulent introduction to war. After the aforementioned leader is demoted, the story makes way for Lieutenant Winters (Damien Lewis) who takes command of the inexperienced group. Throughout the ten programmes we see Easy Company progress on the European front. In this epic ten hours, battles are fought, lessons are learnt, and war is portrayed as gritty and realistic since Saving Private Ryan, except this time it’s not a film. The story tracks Easy companies progress through Europe and their crusade into Germany, very accurately compared to the book it’s based upon. Remember, these were real soldiers, perhaps adding to shock aspect. Although the show portrays major battles and events, the film for the most part concentrates on giving a portrayel of war from a different perspective. For example, the second episode centres on the horrors of D-Day, except it’s from the perspective of the paratroopers landing in Normandy in the small hours. The Battle of Burge, Market Garden, D-Day all the historic WW2 events are here – even the holocaust. Arguably, the most powerful episode is indeed, where the soldiers stumble across an abandoned Nazi concentration camp, and the full horror is revealed. Aptly titled “Why we fight”, this is not to be missed by anyone.
A large proportion of the series is presented in a similar style to Saving Private Ryan. Subdued colours and heavy filters make up the cold atmosphere associated with the film. I particularly like the camera use – again similar to SPR, in the respect that for a lot of the combat scenes a handheld camera was used to place the viewer into the centre of the action. Quieter moments come through strongly in this film, as there are plenty of them. A lot of concentration has gone into producing some intense dialogue – this comes through in the episodes centred on the winter hardships. But don’t panic – those of you who are accustomed to tough battle scenes will be at home with this series, there are plenty of frighteningly frantic sequences to watch. Band of Brothers uses a subtle mixture of action and dialogue, and pulls it off with superb effect.
If the epic 600 minutes of footage spanned over 10 episodes wasn’t enough for you – there’s plenty of extras to get to grips with. Namely the 80 minute documentary entitled “We stand alone together: the men of easy company”, directed at conveying real interviews with the men of Easy Company to the audience, mixed with unseen war footage and photos. If that still wasn’t enough, then what about a 12 part documentary showing the experiences enjoyed whilst producing this epic? And there are plenty more, the list is exhaustive, all executed to perfection.
Band of Brothers kicks off the DVD releases in the run up to Christmas, and anyone looking for a great DVD would not want to pass up this opportunity. The amazing mini-series is wrapped up in one of the best DVD presentation this year.
The £49.99 price-tag seems like nothing next to the quality of footage on show here, highly recommended.
9.5/10