Fantastic drama (Band Of Brothers)

Member Name: gillyman

Product:	Band Of Brothers
Date:	08/11/01 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Realisitic, historically accurate, entertaining

Disadvantages: Sometimes too gory for family viewing

Amidst all the hype, it was always possible that HBO's $120 million miniseries would not live up to expectations. True it has two of Hollywood's most powerful players, Spielberg and Hanks behind it, but it also takes on a huge subject matter with a cast of unknowns.

Apparently in the States it hasn't done too well. Far be it from me to guess why this might be. From what I have seen so far it is a superb production. Apparently Hanks has set a record with ten consecutive commercially succesful film hits. Once again he has proved that he knows how to spot a winner.

The original idea arose on the 'Saving Private Ryan' set. Hanks apparently read a lot of books dealing with World War 2 and this is based on one of them.

The action focusses on the true story of Easy Company of the Elite American 101st Airborne from their training and the initial landing ahead of the invasion forces on D-day through to the end of the war.

The action features a lot of crash bangs and explosions in the same mould as Ryan and is also astonishingly scary. Suffice it to say that I have never been on a battlefield and if this is reality then I never want to be either.

At the same time however, the human aspect is explored - the scenes leading up to battle showing the edginess of the soldiers, the distracted way in which they sit in front of a movie or the desperation that hangs in the air when they are told that their leave is over are all incredibly effective. One scene that particularly got me was when a soldier went to pick up his laundry when on leave and being asked about a list of others who have not picked up their laundry - the list is extensive - needless to say, none of the men made it back.

The attention to detail is incredible - aparently they sought out uniforms, weapons and machinery from the War as opposed to knocking up modern copies.

It appears that they have been fairly true to history. At least f
rom what I have read of the period it appears to be accurate and Spielberg is not known for warping the facts.

The world premier of the first two episodes was held on June 6th on the Normandy beaches. Amongst those flown in specially were surviving members of Easy company - a nice touch.

If you missed it this time round, I'm sure it will be shown again or will be out soon on video - well worth watching especially when compared to some of the other rubbish that makes it onto TV these days!!

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