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| Band of Brothers |
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List Price: $119.98
Buy New: $61.44
You Save: $58.54 (49%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $36.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 860 reviews)
Sales Rank: 11
Category: DVD
Actors: Damien Lewis, Ron Livingstone
Publisher: Hbo Home Video
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
Label: Hbo Home Video
Format: Anamorphic, Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 999 minutes
Number Of Items: 6
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
ISBN: 078312063X
UPC: 026359920523
EAN: 0026359920523
ASIN: B00006CXSS
Release Date: November 5, 2002
Theatrical Release Date: September 9, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and harrowing look at combat during World War II, Band of Brothers follows a company of airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot camp through the end of the war. The brutality of training takes the audience by increments to the even greater brutality of the war; Easy Company took part in some of the most difficult battles, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest. But what makes these episodes work is not their historical sweep but their emphasis on riveting details (such as the rattle of a plane as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a flower in the buttonhole of a German soldier) and procedures (from military tactics to the workings of bureaucratic hierarchies). The scope of this miniseries (10 episodes, plus an actual documentary filled with interviews with surviving veterans) allows not only a thoroughness impossible in a two-hour movie, but also captures the wide range of responses to the stress and trauma of war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion, and all-encompassing confusion. The result is a realism that makes both simplistic judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm impossible; the things these soldiers had to do are both terrible and understandable, and the psychological price they paid is made clear. The writing, directing, and acting are superb throughout. The cast is largely unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a whole unit, much like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston play the central roles of two officers with grit and intelligence. Band of Brothers turns a vast historical event into a series of potent personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing and affecting accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer
Description
Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elete rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend.
DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features:Weblinks to the orignal Band of Brothers website and more!
Documentary:"We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company" - 80 minute documentary featuring interviews with the real men of Easy Company
Featurette:30-minute "The Making of Band of Brothers" The Premiere On The Beaches of Normandy - includes interviews with Easy Company vetrans and heads of state for the United States, Great Britian, France and Canada.
Interviews:Ron Livingston's Video Diaries - The experience of making "Band of Brothers" through the eyes of one actor.
Other:Interactive "Field Guide": An extensive reference feature that details the people, places and events associated with Easy Company's campaigns through Europe, and World War II as a whole, including sections such as: soldiers, timelines, maps, chain-of-command and glossary of terms.
Scene Access
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Customer Reviews: Read 855 more reviews...
What an experience! May 28, 2006
This is a miniseries of epic proportions, but even though it's 10 hours long, plus a bunch of bonus features, it's well worth every single second. To many people today who weren't there, WWII seems like ancient history, and the veterans are elderly. This miniseries goes a long way towards disspelling those preconceptions among those who might have them. The action and the times are immediate, and we get to see these soldiers as they were then, as young vibrant young men. The viewer goes through everything they do--basic training, preparations for D-Day, D-Day itself (the second episode really makes it vividly clear just why it was called "Day of Days"), battles in France, Operation Market-Garden in Holland, how the men felt towards the replacements who came in after D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and the long hard ordeal in the forest of Bastogne, battles in Germany, the ending of the war in Germany, the liberation of the Landsberg camp, the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in the beautiful Austrian mountains, and their very early return to civilian life during the immediate end of the war, while they were still stationed in Austria but not doing any more fighting. BoB makes it so clear why this generation has been dubbed "The Greatest Generation," why WWII was a morally justified war, and why we should all be very thankful that these men (and countless others like them) did this, sometimes even making the ultimate sacrifice, to free Europe and the world from tyranny. It portrays war as it really is, and makes this experience so real.
Each of the main discs has a field guide, which provides a glossary, an explanation of Army ranks, maps, a historical timeline, a summary of the episode, and profiles of the soldiers featured in each episode. I was very pleased that the sections on the soldiers contained no spoilers, so that the viewer can find out for oneself what happens to each particular soldier in each episode as opposed to knowing ahead of time, for example, that one of them might be killed or injured during that episode. The bonus material is also great. There's a featurette on the making of BoB, a special message from Jeep, previews of each episode, a very powerful, moving, and poignant documentary based around interviews with the surviving veterans of Easy Company and historical footage, short video clips to give a general idea of each of the main soldiers, a written who's-who section on the soldiers, and a 12-part video diary from actor Ron Livingston, showing the real boot camp he and his co-stars went through in preparation for this miniseries. You don't really find that kind of thing too much anymore, with actors literally throwing themselves into a role like that. They went through ten days of boot camp and the exact type of military training the real-life soldiers did, complete with equipment and clothing from the 1940s, and also had to endure such things as sleeping in bombed-out buildings and re-enacted battle scenes. This was a great strategy, and helped them immensely in being able to portray these soldiers so well, since they'd already been put in their mindset and gone through these experiences more or less for real.
Since this miniseries is 10 hours long and the viewer goes through so many emotional ups and downs with these men, with such realistic recreations of battles and everything else they went through, one can almost feel as though one knows these men and that it's more than just a very long movie. This is an incredibly epic and personal experience, and is so much more than just another WWII movie. (Although, for obvious reasons, I wouldn't recommend watching it with young children, due to the graphic violence, graphic injuries, a brief sex scene near the beginning of the ninth episode, and a lot of off-color language.) We see war through the eyes of those who lived it; it's not portrayed as some glorious adventure, nor is it potrayed as constant bombardment and suffering. We see the ups and the downs of war, and fully come to see in the ninth episode why this war had to be fought. I actually felt a bit sad after coming to the end of the bonus disc, after having invested so much time and emotion into the lives of these heroic men. This is one of the most emotional and powerful movie experiences anyone could ever hope for, and one that should be revisited many times.
Easy Company - 150% casualty rate May 23, 2006
This crown jewel of WW2 movies is something that everyone should have to see. The realities of war can be more horrific and degrading than anyone might expect. If you make it, you could have the best bond with your fighting brothers for a lifetime.
Easy company was virtually in every major battle including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest.
Part 1 - Currahee - Easy company is in training at Currahee.
Part 2 - Day of Days - D-Day. Easily one of the most exciting scenes in this series is when the troops prepare to jump from the planes.
Part 3 - Carentan - This covers the battle of Carentan. Easy company takes the town, then encounters the reinforcing Nazi force sent to retake it. This one is a nightmare.
Part 4 - Replacements - This episode covers Commander Montgomery's Operation Market Garden. In addition, Sargeant "Bull" Randleman gets stuck behind enemy lines.
Part 5 - Crossroads - A recollection of events as told through the eyes of Captain Winters.
Part 6 - Bastogne - Easy company is surrounded by Nazi troops. It's amazing how they survive.
Part 7 - The Breaking Point - Easy company has to survive a barrage of Nazi artillary while holding the front line.
Part 8 - The Last Patrol - Easy Company secures prisoners at Haguenau.
Part 9 - Why We Fight - Liberation of a captured concentration camp.
Part 10 - Points - Capture of the Eagle's Nest.
If you haven't seen this series and are a fan of World War 2 movies or war movies in general, you HAVE to get this. This is truly one of the most well put together war flicks ever made!
band od brothers May 23, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
this movie is one of the best movies ive ever seen, but one part ruins it,theres a sex seen in it. but it was a great movie
there is nothing close May 15, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
i have visted carantan, bastogne eindenhoven and foy. this sereris is far and above any look at world war two there has ever been. i would love to see a simalr movie based on 1st marinde division or possible one based on p.t.o. ambrose tells ww2 as good as any writer can. using david schwimmer as cpt soble was masterful.
Great film series, great extras minus one April 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
We are anxious to purchase this series, but won't do so until HBO adds the closed captioning (in english). That is one of the all-time best features of DVDs, being able to turn down the volume on the LOUD combat and aircraft scenes without missing any of the dialog. With small children in the house, we rarely watch adult content films like this one without the captioning to keep the noise level at a minimum while they sleep.
Other than this one complaint, the series has well earned a full 5 stars. We've rented the DVD set, and especially enjoyed the Field Guide extras--can't wait for a captioned set to buy so we can fully explore this terrific add-on.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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