Band of Brothers Box Set Review

Overall Rating

fantastic cinematography & atmosphere
great on home cinema
special features dvd including 'making of', 'boot camp training for actors' & interviews with the veterans of easy company.

i didn't want it to end.

This is a 6 dvd box set, comprising 2 x 1hr episodes per disc plus a special feature disc. Approx 12 hours play. The series was rated 15 and it is graphically violent throughout with some swearing.

The biggest problem i'm going to have reviewing this is remembering back to the emotions i had when i watched it for the first time. It is my favourite piece of tv drama and i always look forward to watching it again. It always draws you into the scene, feeling for the soldiers and the hardships they endured. On the first viewing however this is magnified tenfold. I found it both awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time, strangely caught between my own enjoyment of the tv program, and the realisation of the personal conflicts and sacrifices that spawned it. I sat transfixed through the Bastogne scenes, existing vicariously with them, wondering how i would have coped in their freezing hell. Just one small part of their incredible story.
After watching the series, i felt guilty about my own trivial hardships in life, distinguishable from theirs by the blessing of peacetime, thanks in no small part to those who fought for it.

The series itself is well cast, brimming with young British actors. We begin the Easy Company story with their training, before parachuting into France, to battle on D-Day. We follow the individual characters as they struggle with the emotions of war, learning how to be soldiers, to lead men, overcome fear and raise morale amid the losses. They're taken through Holland and Germany, discovering death camps and helping to bring peace to the ruins of a defeated Germany. Each episode closes with a detailing of the Company's service record, highlighting the time they have served in battle, and men lost or injured in action.

I think most people who watch this find the training and demob episodes a little slow, which is really testament to the powerful and vivid nature of the battle scenes throughout the middle episodes. It's every bit as detailed as 'Saving private ryan' but far more compelling in its story. Even the music is beautiful. This series is of such a high standard that it blows everything else away, and i honestly wish there was more of it, which sounds like an irreverent thing to say under the circumstances.

A must have piece of TV on DVD, especially if you have a home cinema system. Superb.

Members' Comments onzoodemon's Review

• FlyGuy on 22nd Apr 2008

  I agree with your excellent review, the Reviewcentre has it's very own Band of Brothers enthusiasts located in the Forums led by Captain Hilts,
  visit 'the Lounge in Reviewcentre Forums for more info'
  
  Great Review. thanks.