Just finished watching Band of Brothers for the first time

[Candlelight]

It was a very impressive series. The feel of the show, the costumes, the whole atmosphere made it felt like 1944/45.

It was very well acted on the most part, although David Schwimmer almost made me turn off after the first episode. I'm very glad he only showed up a couple of times after the first one.

I think the first half of the show was the best. It felt like the storytelling was better, there was better momentum. Once we got into the two forest episodes it slowed right down. The episode with the medic-POV dragged on a bit, although I know that was highlighting the very point of the episode. The rather graphic 7th episode which saw the cast list deplete by a third was a shock, but it also made it hard to keep track of who was who, given it was such a large ensemble cast, and whenever they refered to someone by name only I really had to think who they were talking about!

Nice to see Jamie "Apollo" Bamber and Tom "Shinzon" Hardy in there.

My only real gripe seems to be a Spielberg trademark of making the British either baddies or incompetent. I know it's a pro-American, made for american show but it does get tiring. That said, British shows can depict Americans in a bad light too...

The Pacific starts on Free-To-Air on April 12, so will be waiting for that.

 

[Neroon]

The British weren't shown as "incompetent", so much as their strengths being different from the American troops. In fact, I think Winters goes on to explain that they were the best planners for a mission or operation.

Did you watch the documentary at the end, which featured those veterans who were still alive at the time the series was made? That to me was about as powerful as anything else if note more.

 

[Candlelight]

The British weren't shown as "incompetent", so much as their strengths being different from the American troops. In fact, I think Winters goes on to explain that they were the best planners for a mission or operation.

The scene where Easy Company tell the British there's a german tank hiding in the cottage, but the British don't do anything without orders (or confirmation, can't remember which) and thus the trap is sprung and people died.

While I know everything is based on true accounts, it just rang out as sloppy and unrealistic. If someone said the enemy is in the cottage I'd believe them.

Did you watch the documentary at the end, which featured those veterans who were still alive at the time the series was made? That to me was about as powerful as anything else if note more.

TV1 just screened all 10 episodes. The last episode had about 2-3 minutes of the Veterans talking. Is that what you meant?

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

No, it was called We Stand Alone Together and was a nearly 90 minute documentary companion piece to Band of Brothers.

For a good read, try Biggest Brother. It's the story of Major Winters.

 

[Kirby]

It was very well acted on the most part, although David Schwimmer almost made me turn off after the first episode. I'm very glad he only showed up a couple of times after the first one.

Although the character he played and his attitude, is apparently pretty true to form to the real life Capt. Sobel, so in many ways Schwimmer did his job.

After the war he was a pretty miserable guy who would have nothing to do with anyone in Easy Company even though some of the guys kept trying to get him to attend the reunions, he never even bothered to respond to them.

I'd highly recommend the BoB book, it goes into much more detail about Easy company and what they went through.

 

[cultcross]

The documentary is well worth catching - its on the DVD boxset.
I absolutely love Band of Brothers, re-watch it fairly regularly. The scene with the British tank commander makes me cringe too, but then - he's a British officer in the 40s, at least according to my enlisted grandfather its not that unrealistic (my officer grandfather disagrees )

I actually really liked Sobel - from reading the book and several other books on Easy Company that have sprung up after the series, it seems a relatively historical portrayal - he really was that much of a twat.

My favourite episodes remain Breaking Point and Day of Days, but it's a slim margin - all the episodes are great, I even liked the end one that some fans felt was comparatively dull.

 

[Neroon]

The scene where Easy Company tell the British there's a german tank hiding in the cottage, but the British don't do anything without orders (or confirmation, can't remember which) and thus the trap is sprung and people died.

While I know everything is based on true accounts, it just rang out as sloppy and unrealistic. If someone said the enemy is in the cottage I'd believe them.

True, but it's an isolated example at most. You've already mentioned an example of incompetence in the American ranks with Lt. Sobel (Schwimmer). Another that was on the actual battlefield was Lt. Norman Dike, the one who absolutely froze and because of that cause casualties himself.

The thing is those accounts are more than a little reliable, and events such as the one with the church building really did happen. It's not stereotyping. It was an essential part of the story, highlighting that not all of the conflict was between the Allied and the German forces. If there had been no negative portrayals of the American troops, you might have a point, but as it is, there were enough of that to demonstrate that this was not a case of maligning the British troops.

Incidents such as you mention, though understandably uncomfortable, actually did occur.


For those interested in reading, in addition to those mentioned by bro and Kirby, I highly recommend Winters' own memoirs, "Beyond Band of Brothers". Much as it might pain the man, he's a guy I can truly call one of my heroes.

 

[Skywalker]

Band of Brothers is one of my favorite TV series of all time. I watch it at least once a year, usually around Veterans Day. I recently gave my old DVD set to a friend because I meant to buy the series on Blu-ray, which I still haven't gotten around to yet.

The British weren't shown as "incompetent", so much as their strengths being different from the American troops. In fact, I think Winters goes on to explain that they were the best planners for a mission or operation.

The scene where Easy Company tell the British there's a german tank hiding in the cottage, but the British don't do anything without orders (or confirmation, can't remember which) and thus the trap is sprung and people died.

While I know everything is based on true accounts, it just rang out as sloppy and unrealistic. If someone said the enemy is in the cottage I'd believe them.

The tank commander said he was under orders to avoid any unnecessary property damage (kind of a stupid order given the situation, IMO, but that's bureaucracy for you), so I could understand his reluctance to fire on a target he couldn't see, as frustrating as it might have been.

 

[cultcross]

Which was a genuine order given to tank commanders in Market Garden - according to one of my father's books on the subject the Allied generals were very anxious to get the Dutch on their side and they felt that widespread destruction of property might lead the Dutch to reject them as they had the Germans. The commander in question in Replacements probably took the order a bit too literally, but it certainly was impressed on the troops, particularly the British armoured divisions, that a 'softly softly' approach was called for in Holland.

 

[MPH]

Anyone watching The Pacific? Very dissapointing so far, its no BOB's.

 

[Skywalker]

I wouldn't call it disappointing. The PTO and the ETO were very different wars, so I expected The Pacific to be something other than "Band of Brothers in the Pacific." Plus BoB was much more of an ensemble, with the story focusing on an entire company and their journey through World War II, whereas The Pacific focuses on three men, none of whom served together. Also, BoB only covered a period from June 1944 to August 1945 (not including the training in "Currahee"), whereas The Pacific ranges from the Battle of Guadalcanal in late 1942 to the Battle of Okinawa in mid-1945.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

My only real gripe seems to be a Spielberg trademark of making the British either baddies or incompetent.

That's his trademark? I don't even remember that there were British characters in the series. And I've seen every episode at least twice. Amazing what people find to focus on in a show. My take on it was that it was an amazing grunts'-eye view of the war, but that any bigger-picture issues such as "were the British competent" was not at all the topic and nobody was interested in that.

The scene where Easy Company tell the British there's a german tank hiding in the cottage, but the British don't do anything without orders (or confirmation, can't remember which) and thus the trap is sprung and people died.

While I know everything is based on true accounts, it just rang out as sloppy and unrealistic. If someone said the enemy is in the cottage I'd believe them.

Once isolated and not very important scene in the whole series and you choose to obsess over that? How about the scene that implies that Spears murdered a bunch of German POWs? Maybe I should jump up and down about how that implies Americans are war criminals.

The episode with the medic-POV dragged on a bit,

Bastogne was one of my favorite episodes! The others were Day of Days and Why We Fight.

Anyone watching The Pacific? Very dissapointing so far, its no BOB's.

I'm waiting for the DVD and if it's half as good as BOB it will be well worth the rental.

Which was a genuine order given to tank commanders in Market Garden - according to one of my father's books on the subject the Allied generals were very anxious to get the Dutch on their side and they felt that widespread destruction of property might lead the Dutch to reject them as they had the Germans.

Thinking back to that scene now, I kinda got that impression just from the scene. Politics elbowing its way onto the battlefield. Annoying, but watcha gonna do? I didn't think it was particularly unique to the British. Concerns about alliances certainly influenced American behavior in the war, too. It always does.

 

[Candlelight]

Maybe I should jump up and down about how that implies Americans are war criminals.

Off ya go then.

(j/k)

 

[Mistral]

When Band came out I had no children-but even then, in the back of my mind, I told myself that one day I would watch it with my child so he/she understood the effort made to fight the war. Now I just look forward to when they are old enough to understand. For me, it is more than a show-it is an important piece of cinematic history, a unique achievement.

 

[cultcross]

That's his trademark? I don't even remember that there were British characters in the series. And I've seen every episode at least twice. Amazing what people find to focus on in a show. My take on it was that it was an amazing grunts'-eye view of the war, but that any bigger-picture issues such as "were the British competent" was not at all the topic and nobody was interested in that.
---

Once isolated and not very important scene in the whole series and you choose to obsess over that? How about the scene that implies that Spears murdered a bunch of German POWs? Maybe I should jump up and down about how that implies Americans are war criminals!

You're suffering a difference in perspective - There are dozens of Americans in the show, for every Speirs-shoots-the-prisoners there's a Winters-leads-the-charge or a Easy-retake-the-village. The British crop up a handful of times and are almost without exception shown as bumbling idiots or at the very least in constant need of American rescue. To some British WWII veterans, BOB was just another American programme about how the Americans won the war.

I see it differently - I saw BOB as WWII from the perspective of a scared-shitless-but-doing-his-duty American GI, personified by the men of Easy Company. These men were shipped to a foreign land with people with weird accents and strange customs, who did things differently and went about things differently. It's only natural they didn't necessarily view their allies in the same brothers-in-arms way they viewed their immediate colleagues. A similar series from the British perspective would probably not portray the Americans in too great a light either. Loud, rude, known for spreading their much higher wages around to snatch British women. An army doesn't necessarily look good from another's perspective. Even its closest ally.

 

[Brikar99]

I loved 'Band of Brothers', I thought it was extremely well made and very effective. And I agree, the documentary and the little bits of interview spread around the episodes were really moving. I want to watch 'The Pacific' but I'm torn on whether I should watch it as it goes or wait for the blu-ray release I assume will be coming by the end of the year.

 

[Cicero]

My only real gripe seems to be a Spielberg trademark of making the British either baddies or incompetent.

That's his trademark? I don't even remember that there were British characters in the series. And I've seen every episode at least twice. Amazing what people find to focus on in a show. My take on it was that it was an amazing grunts'-eye view of the war, but that any bigger-picture issues such as "were the British competent" was not at all the topic and nobody was interested in that.

The British characters I remember from Spielberg films - Roland Tembo in The Lost World and Captain Fitzgerald in Amistad - were much cleverer than the powerful Americans they interacted with. Fitzgerald in particular carries one of the best scenes of the movie.

 

[hamudm]

Love BoB... I watch it every year at least once; it has to be one of the most satisfying cinematic experiences of my life and I'd say one of the most important. I'm also digging The Pacific so far

 

[Aragorn]

It's interesting to see who had bit parts in the series back then -- Jamie Bamber, Jason O'Mara, Simon Pegg, Tom Hardy.