So, I finished watching the Band of Brothers TV show a few weeks ago, but haven’t thought of putting a review up until now. Here tis.
First of all, the cast is rockin’, with so many recognisable faces that you won’t be able to help but become attached to the characters. But, it’s not like they’re just playing the same roles, each character is an actual soldier, many are veterans who gave interviews that are played at the beginning of each episode. It’s very interesting working out which old man is which soldier, and the acting is good enough that you can work out quite a few of them.
Also, since it’s HBO, the production values are excellent, with absolutely amazing sets, fantastic film texture and actual filming, awesome costumes, top-notch writing, music, effects, etc. Everything is really perfect.
As I said, the writing is absolutely top of the pile, every character is developed, you actually care about and genuinely like pretty much every character, and those you don’t like are still amazingly complex and thought out. The scripting itself is terrific, very realistic without cutting down the drama.
I also learned a lot about the war, other than main events. You definitely get a soldier’s perspective, getting news about the wider context through telegrams and things like that and you see how the characters respond.
One of the biggest things I learned was in an episode in which Easy Company finds a concerntration camp. Not only is this one of the more distressing things I’ve ever seen, but it also made me realise that the soldiers had no idea this was going on until deep into the war. I had always assumed that a main reason for going to war against the Nazis was that these camps existed. So, when the soldiers found the camps, the impact was so strong for them, and even stronger for us as an audience because we had to watch the pure shock that the characters felt. It was rough.
Anyway, overall, there is absolutely nothing that I can complain about with this show. It is well made in every aspect of its being, so much effort has been put into it and it has been worth it. Another gold star for HBO.
Your Commanding Officer,
TDE
P.S. I’m curious to see how The Pacific will go.
Tags: Band of Brothers, Concerntration Camp, Germany, HBO, Jews, Nazi, Steven Speilberg, the pacific, Tom Hanks, war, World War 2, WW2
