Band of Brothers

I accquired 'Band of Brothers' on Blu-ray for Xmas having never seen it. Am working my way thru' it, up to episode 9 so far.

It is tough stuff. Not possible to dash off in a couple of mammouth viewing sessions. Needs thought and recuperation after each episode.

I was born in 1944 which I mention because in my formative years WWII was much more in the public memory than it is now. The whole D-Day landings, Bridge too far, battle of the bulge saga was never talked about by family memebers that had been there. They had shut the door on the war as much as they could. It was later that I found out a lot of them had terrible nights of sleeplessness because they could not erase the memories.

Band of brothers brings what those horros must have been like sharply into focus. Film drama is often suspect in glamorising war but this isn't. Major Winters comes across as he is described in his obituaries. A quiet very brave man like thousands of others who emerged from WWII.

Sad indeed but what a life? Almost 93 years and with that Military service history too.
R.I.P. Richard.

B of B must be one of the very best TV movie/series ever made, and a wonderful testament to the courage of those young guys, OK it's an American view but assumes the same for all the Allies IMO.

How can you accurately depict those horrors, the landings and the camps?
How can you see them and stay sane?

sad news.

Band of Brothers best series ever made, read the book after watching the series.

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
R.I.P. Richard.

B of B must be one of the very best TV movie/series ever made, and a wonderful testament to the courage of those young guys, OK it's an American view but assumes the same for all the Allies IMO.

I must echo that too. When the episode 'Why We Fight' was broadcast, I felt that my license fee had been well spent. 'Band of Brothers' was a HBO/BBC co production.

It must be thanks to Richard Winters, and the men like him that we have our freedom.

I have been watching 'The Pacific', the follow up covering the US war against Japan. The nature of that conflict does not lend itself to such a strong narrative as the European war, but it still a high quality production.

I think Band of Brothers is one of the best pieces of drama ever and I've got The Pacific on blu ray, waiting for some special time to watch it. I believe it's not as good as Band of Brothers but I'm still looking forward to it.

Sad news indeed.
I watched BoB and got so into these characters, it really touched me.

The Pacific is also a great production.
Don't forget Generation Kill, (about Operation Iraqi Freedom), completely different from the WW-II series, but like all HBO productions on a high quality level.

Nevertheless, with the death of major Dick Winters, the world loses a legend.

I live in the memories of WW2 because of my father, he's 89 and still kicking tho mentally simple and slow walking.

West Pt grad '43 Dday, B of Bulge, Aachen, Hertgen Forest thru occupation. 20 year man then 25 years as Ford Lawyer.

Karl and Lola Wolf Xmas 2010

R I P Major Winters. Band of Brothers is a truly great series, even SWMBO was totally gripped by it and couldn’t wait to watch the next episode.

We don’t appreciate how fortunate a generation we are. When I was 19 I went to university for 4 years and had the time of my life. When my father was 19 in 1941 he was sent to North Africa to fight Rommel and then to Italy until 1945.

A generation of men and women to which we should all be grateful. As mentioned in other posts, my father would never ever talk about his experiences.

Ken

quote:

Originally posted by mudwolf:
...Hertgen Forest

AKA the meat grinder. Hideous battle.

Oh dad went thru to the end, I can't imagine.  He never talked much until his 70s then some historians or authors started mailing and he was quoted in a few books was video taped etc. He was on LA News program at the 50 year mark, the crew interviewed him for 3 hours and he got a 30 second spot, he just laughed. I went on a Big Red 1 bus tour with him in 2001 and am so glad I did.  He said Saving Private Ryan was the best film he'd seen of it until they  got on the top and then it was all Hollywood. He has dementia now and can't string many thoughts together, but I can make him smile and a good chuckle.  I point out to people like Drs and nurses that he was on the beach in D-day.

Now what do I do with the 2 Nazi flags I have in their closet?  one is HUGE.

I have watched both BoB and the Pacific, both thought provoking, heart wrenching accounts of a time in our history we should hope is never repeated.  Respect to all the men and women who served and preserved our freedom.  I don't think BoB is necessarily better than the Pacific, it is just different, pretty gruesome in parts, but both are very good.

RIP.

I think the last episode when the BoB talk about how they were taught to hate germans but thought that actually they should have been friends was a very, very good and thought provoking bit of film making. It's also the one where Major Winters appears at the end.