Posts Tagged ‘battle of the bulge’

Critique For The HBO Mini Series Band Of Brothers

The HBO mini series Band of Brothers is considered as without doubt one of the best warfare movies ever made. Influenced by the book by Stephen Ambrose, the 10 episodes tell the history with the men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Regiment of the American 101st Airborne. The series gets under way with their basic training at Toccoa, Georgia just before being deployed to Great Britain as they make ready for a part with the D-Day Assault at Normandy.

 

Each episode gets under way by interviewing veterans of Easy Company. The veterans discuss their war time ordeals which the episode relates to however at this stage, the men aren’t identified. Even though the veterans aren’t identified, the episodes familiarizes you with the individuals early on and the actors are well selected meaning it is very easy to relate with them from the very start.

 

Whilst the action scenes are filmed brilliantly, the reason Band of Brothers stand above lots of alternative war movies is it brings forth the personal tales so well. One example is, in episode two simply prior to Easy are set to jump into Northern France, certainly one of the soldiers, Bill Guarnere, finds out his brother was killed at Montecassino.

 

The ten episodes convey the stories of Easy Company beginning with their basic training just before heading into war in Northern France and on to the village of Carentan. Episode 4 sees the introduction of replacement men into Easy Company and illustrates the difficulty they have being accepted by the D-Day veterans as Easy take part in Operation Market Garden.

 

The next two episodes include the run up plus the action at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. By this stage a number of Easy are at breaking point and it is the subject matter of episode seven. While World War II nears the conclusion, there is a final patrol for Easy. The horrors of war are highlighted after the men come across a concentration camp. The last episode sees Easy continue to Austria where they capture the Eagle’s Nest high in the mountains at Berchtesgaden.

 

The series concludes with interviews with the men of Easy and at long last identifies the men that audiences have come to know for the duration of the 10 episodes of Band of Brothers.

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