Spielberg and Hanks give us the powerful Band of Brothers (Band Of Brothers)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Band Of Brothers
Date:	20/10/08 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great storytelling

Disadvantages: None

Stephen Ambrose wrote about the exploits of Easy Company of the 506th Infantry Regiment in his well praised book. Following the successful combination of Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan, the two paired up once more for the screen portrayal of Ambrose's book. The tale is called 'Band of Brothers.'

A rather short series of only 600 minutes, split into episodes, and each having as its main focus a different member of the Company as it trails its exploits from initial training and encampment to the end of their involvement in World War II. The star of the show is undoubtedly Damien Lewis, the Brit portraying and American with a commendable accent. He seems to feature as the main character throughout the series, although each individual episode is told from the point of view of a different character each time. Friends' David Schwimmer plays an arrogant officer in the first episode, Currahee, but it is a testament to the direction and production of the Spielberg/Hanks pairing that they make a statement by not involving the highly sought after Schwimmer for much of the series, nor do they focus overly on any one actor save Lewis, letting the skill of the camera and actors do their job as opposed to relying on big names or fancy action shoots.

The result is a resounding thumbs up and a recommendation to watch this the sonest you can. In terms of portrayal of war, it has been hailed by veterans as very close to the truth of how it was, and has also been done very tactfully, giving us enough to be getting our teeth into, whilst finding that tricky balance between praise and patronisation for the characters on show.

Band of Brothers has been released with untold amounts of extras on DVD. As a TV program, it was hailed excellent, as a DVD release, even more so as we get insights from Hanks and Spielberg, as well as the cast, crew and some veterans on the war itself and how they put together the show. I highly recommend this show. It's worth giving it the time and concentration it needs, and I will be hard pushed to find another military drama series, mini or otherwise, that comes close.

Summary: Excellent drama mini series