I finally found something to spring me into action after my self-imposed holiday vacation. I bought the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers for $34 from Best Buy. It may go down as one of the best purchases of my life, next to the slightly used copy of Casino for 2 dollars.
Band of Brothers is like Saving Private Ryan, only 10 hours worth of greatness spanning more characters and battles. It is the best mini-series ever in my eyes, since I'm way too young to remember Roots. It follows Easy Company, who is the elite group of paratroopers, the first of their kind. It follows them from D-Day through the end of the war, which is just over 1 year actually. It has greatness all over the place. You'll notice some of the actors, though David Schwimmer is the big draw and only in basically 2 of the episodes. Donnie Wahlberg is probably the bigger draw, what was I thinking? (NKOTB for life)
I don't think anything has done a better job of showing the relationship between a group of soldiers better than this series. It does not tone down the violence of battle, nor glamorize anything about it. It's gritty and realistic in a way we were not used to before Saving Private Ryan. It's a true homage to WWII veterans and what they achieved for the world and future generations. It even features the original men of easy company talking about some of the past events. That's right, this shit is factual, not just based on real events. Hearing the real men talk about their experience is incredibly powerful and at times tear-jerking.
Richard D. Winters: [real life interview with Winters where he quotes Mike Ranney on how Ranney answered a question his grandson once asked him] I treasure my remark to my grandson who asked, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" Grandpa said, "No... but I served in a company of heroes"
Lt. Lipton receipting Shakespeare more powerful than anyone in history.
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; (Amazingly powerful to hear it from the man himself)
Bottom line: 10 out of 10. Go buy the set if you've never seen it. Hopefully Best Buy is still running the special on HBO Series. I'll probably sit down some Sunday when football is over and just knock out the whole thing in one sitting.
I completely and full-heartedly agree. I'd say it tops almost every war movie, except for those recent Clint Eastwood films, to come out over the last few decades. Even David Schwimmer and Donnie Wahlberg didn't ruin it for me, it was probably the best acting either has done. Well played sir, well played.
ReplyDeleteFact: Schwimmer played a character you were meant to hate. That is called great casting and he does a fantastic job. I knocked out six episodes in two days of euphoria.
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