Band of Brothers (2001)

"Magnificant, awe-inspiring and shatteringly emotional...  TV Guide
"extraordinary ... forceful ... stunning ...  The New York Times
"... best-ever film depiction of war in the trenches, large screen or small...  Los Angeles Times
"**** ... absolutely extraordinary...  USA Today
"It is doubtful that any war movie on the large or small screen has captured the varied experiences of ordinary soldiers better...  Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter
"A triumph on every conceivable level...a brilliant, engrossing, and captivating saga...the new benchmark that all war epics should be judged by.  Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
"A massively ambitious undertaking...an important record or depiction of courage.  Dan Fienberg, Zap2It.com
"...an immense achievement, raising the bar for combat realism.  John Carman, San Francisco Chronicle
"Terrific, wrenching WWII TV-movie telling.  Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Editor's Note This 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company, a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their experiences from the beginning of boot camp to the end of the war. Anchored by actors Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston, the series gives detailed attention to their experiences as a group, as well as the way that each of them develops individually. Based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's book of real-life accounts, BAND OF BROTHERS was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who worked together on SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Hanks also directed one episode, featuring his son, Colin Hanks.

	Colin Hanks
	Dale Dye
	Damian Lewis
	David Schwimmer
	Donnie Wahlberg
	Douglas Spain
	Eion Bailey
	Frank John Hughes
	James Madio
	Kirk Acevedo
	Matthew Settle
	Michael Cudlitz
	Neal McDonough
	Richard Speight, Jr.
	Rick Gomez
	Ron Livingston
	Scott Grimes
	Stephen E. Ambrose - Based On The Book By
	Stephen E. Ambrose, Gary Goetzman & Tony To - Co-Executive Producers
	Billy Fox, Oral Norrie Ottey, Frances Parker & John Richards - Editors
	Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks - Executive Producers
	Michael Kamen - Music By
	Anthony Pratt - Production Designer

Entertainment Weekly
"...If it doesn't put a lump in your throat, you need to have your throat checked..." 11/08/2002 p.89

DVD Verdict 10 of 10
Based on the book by acclaimed historian Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers is an intense, moving, astonishing, but above all, honest picture of ordinary men, transformed into elite men of valor, who did what needed to be done to defeat the great evil of their day...As befits the immense collective endeavor that is Band of Brothers, the acting is so natural and uniformly excellent...Few of these men are well known to the public, though you may recognize Ron Livingston (Office Space) and Neal McDonough (Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report, Boomtown). Nevertheless, two men in particular are worthy of high praise. Donnie Wahlberg (The Sixth Sense, Boomtown) is so intense and focused as Carwood Lipton you can at least forgive his early years in the bubblegum boy-band New Kids on the Block. Likewise, even if you are an inveterate Friends hater, David Schwimmer's perfectly pitched turn as universally despised tyrant Lt. Sobel just may make you forget Friends (and his otherwise mediocre film career)...Exquisite drama and compelling history constructed with masterful writers, producers, and filmmakers, Band of Brothers is worthy of every word of praise it has received to date. Show it to friends and family and teach it in the schools--this is first-class all the way. - Nicholas Sylvain

Reel.com 9 of 10
If you came across a single episode of Band of Brothers while channel-surfing, it would be easy to dismiss it as a carbon copy of Saving Private Ryan. From its washed-out cinematography to its intrusively reverent score, the HBO miniseries emulates the 1998 World War II epic in almost every way. And little wonder, since Ryan director Steven Spielberg and star Tom Hanks executive-produced the project, with the latter even directing an episode...However, as a whole, Band of Brothers is a wholly different creature. While Ryan lauded martyrdom in the name of duty, Brothers' central message is about saving the khaki-clad keester of the soldier in the foxhole next door. It's a more humanistic theme, closer to Black Hawk Down in spirit, making the series accessible to those both for and against military intervention...Besides making for solid war drama, the soldiers' rapport with the audience also enhances the action sequences; explosions have a lot greater impact when they're blowing someone you care about to smithereens, and Brothers has more explosions than any other miniseries -- or film -- ever made. From D-Day assaults on German positions to a shattering artillery fusillade during the Battle of the Bulge, the series contains a staggering amount of ultra-violent, ultra-realistic combat. - Tor Thorsen