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Band of Brothers (miniseries)

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For Shakespeare's St. Crispin's Day Speech of Henry V (c. 1599) ("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...."), see Crispin.
For the song "We Are a Band of Brothers", see The Bonnie Blue Flag.
Band of Brothers
Written byNovel
Stephen Ambrose
Screenplay
Erik Jendresen
Tom Hanks
John Orloff
E. Max Frye
Graham Yost
Bruce C. McKenna
Erik Bork
Directed byPhil Alden Robinson
Richard Loncraine
Mikael Salomon
David Nutter
Tom Hanks
David Leland
David Frankel
Tony To
StarringDamian Lewis
Donnie Wahlberg
Ron Livingston
Matthew Settle
Neal McDonough
Music byMichael Kamen
Country of origin United States
 United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish / German / French / Spanish / Italian
Production
ProducersSteven Spielberg
Tom Hanks
Preston Smith
Erik Jendresen
Stephen Ambrose
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Joel J. Ransom
Running time705 min. (10 parts)
BudgetUS$125,000,000
Original release
ReleaseSeptember 9, 2001

Band of Brothers is a ten-part television World War II mini-series based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. It was co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the Academy Award winning World War II film, Saving Private Ryan (1998).[1] The mini-series first aired in 2001 on HBO and still runs frequently on various TV networks around the world.[2][3]

The mini-series centers on the experiences of E Company ("Easy Company") of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, United States Army 101st Airborne Division and one of its officers, Richard Winters (played by Damian Lewis), from Easy's basic training at Toccoa, Georgia, through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and on to the end of the war.[1]

The events portrayed in the mini-series are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. Some literary license has been taken with the episodes, and other reference books will highlight the differences between recorded history and the film version.[4] All of the characters portrayed in the mini-series are based on actual members of Easy Company; some of them can be seen in prerecorded interviews as a prelude to each episode (their identities, however, are not revealed until the close of the finale).

A new 10-part mini-series from the creators of Band of Brothers (Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman), called The Pacific, is in development. The new mini-series will focus on the Pacific Theater of Operations. The project is due out in 2009, although this is subject to change.[5]

Title etymology

The title for the book and the series comes from a famous speech delivered by Henry V of England before the Battle of Agincourt in William Shakespeare's Henry V; Act IV, Scene 3:

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Wikiquote: Shakespeare King Henry, V

A shortened version of the quotation appears on the first page of the book, and is also quoted by Carwood Lipton in the final episode.

The phrase was also often used by Horatio Nelson referring to his subordinate captains: "I had the happiness to command a band of brothers."

Main cast

Ranks displayed are the ranks that the soldiers had at the end of World War II (15 August 1945), which is also the end of the series.

Episodes

# Episode title Director Main character Original airdate
1"Currahee"Phil Alden RobinsonHerbert SobelSeptember 9, 2001
Easy Company undergoes training and are introduced to Captain Sobel. The company is shipped to England and prepare for D-Day.
2"Day of Days"Richard LoncraineRichard WintersSeptember 9, 2001
The Company lands in Normandy and Lieutenant Winters completes their mission by assuming command.
3"Carentan"Mikael SalomonAlbert BlitheSeptember 16, 2001
The Company battles in Carentan. Private Albert Blithe struggles with fear.
4"Replacements"David NutterDenver RandlemanSeptember 23, 2001
Easy Company, along with replacements, parachute into and fight in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden.
5"Crossroads"Tom HanksRichard WintersSeptember 30, 2001
Winters writes a report on the challenge of an unexpected resistance to a German attack, and is haunted by his conscience after shooting a teenage German soldier.
6"Bastogne"David LelandEugene RoeOctober 7, 2001
Easy Company experiences the Battle of the Bulge and have to hold ground near Bastogne.
7"The Breaking Point"David FrankelCarwood LiptonOctober 14, 2001
The Company battles near Foy, Belgium, and the actions of Lieutenant Norman Dike are examined and questioned.
8"The Last Patrol"Tony ToDavid WebsterOctober 21, 2001
Easy Company carries out a dangerous mission in Haguenau, and Captain Winters is promoted to Major and David Webster returns from a hospital
9"Why We Fight"David FrankelLewis NixonOctober 28, 2001
A concentration camp near Landsberg is discovered by the Company. Based on the liberation of Kaufering IV in the area of Hurlach.
10"Points"Mikael SalomonRichard WintersNovember 4, 2001
The company captures Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden, and the end of the war is announced.

Awards

The series was nominated for nineteen Emmy Awards, and won six, including "Outstanding mini-series," "Outstanding Casting for a miniseries, Movie, or a Special," and "Outstanding Directing for a mini-series, Movie, or a Dramatic Special." It also won a Golden Globe for "Best miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television," an American Film Institute award, and was selected for a Peabody Award for "...relying on both history and memory to create a new tribute to those who fought to preserve liberty." It also won a 2003 Writers Guild Award (Television, Adapted Long Form) for episode six (Bastogne). It is also the highest-rated entry of any kind on the Internet Movie Database, scoring higher than The Godfather Saga.[6]

DVD Release

All ten parts of the mini-series were released in a DVD boxset on November 5, 2002. The set includes five discs containing all the episodes, and a bonus disc with the behind-the-scenes documentary We Stand Alone Together and the video diary of actor Ron Livingston, who played the character Lewis Nixon. A collector's edition of the box set was also released, containing the same discs but held in a tin case.

Released as an exclusive HD-DVD TV series in Japan in 2007. Spread on 5 HD-DVDs, the set has 1080p MPEG-4 AVC video and DTS-HD @ 2.0 Mbp/s Japanese and English audio tracks with optional Japanese subtitles. HD-DVD 5 has the documentary We Stand Alone which is shared with the normal DVD Set. Unlike Japanese HD-DVDs, this set is housed in traditional HD red cases. Released by Showgate and Toshiba. They are currently out of production.

On March 31, 2008 Senior Vice President of Marketing for HBO, Sophia Chang, stated that a Blu-ray release of Band of Brothers is in the works and would be ready for release later in 2008.

Historical inaccuracies

Both Ambrose's book and the resulting series have been criticised with numerous minor and some major inaccuracies, many noted by 101st veterans. Among the historical errors in the television series:

  • The end of episode three states that Albert Blithe never recovered from the wounds he received in Normandy, and that he died in 1948. Fellow Easy Company Currahee veterans interviewed while writing the mini-series Band of Brothers had thought that Blithe did not recover from his wounds, which they mistakenly recalled as a neck wound (in actuality he was shot in the right shoulder), and had died in Philadelphia in 1945. Albert Blithe remained on active duty, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in combat, served in the Korean War and achieved the rank of Master Sergeant, married with two children. He died in December 1967 of complications of surgery for a perforated ulcer after attending a memorial ceremony in Bastogne and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.[7]
  • Easy company is said to have been returned to England later than D+25 (1 July), but at the end of the episode, this is said to have happened on June 29. The last date is correct, since Albert Blithe got hit on D+25 (in the series), but got his Purple Heart (earned by being shot while investigating a farmhouse on D+25) on July 25.
  • In episode 2, "Day of Days", then-Colonel Sink's Jeep driver, then-Private Gerald Loraine, goes into Brecourt Manor with Easy Company for the assault on the 105 millimeter guns. While the Germans are retreating, the mini-series shows Loraine shooting his rifle at the Germans and missing with all his shots. Seeing this, then-Sergeant Bill Guarnere insults Loraine, calling him a "jeep jockey", and then proceeds to shoot the Germans with his submachine gun. This is inaccurate as during the real assault, Loraine was the one who killed the Germans after Guarnere missed.
  • In the episode "Currahee", 13 of the non-commissioned officers in Easy Company submit a notice to resign their positions in the company. This could be considered treason, and was punishable by death under military law. The reason for this was their refusal to serve under their current commanding officer, Captain Herbert Sobel, whom many of the men considered to be inept as a combat leader. While Sobel was considered inept by many, and the 13 officers did not wish to serve with him, the resignation never took place. Amos Taylor, an Easy Company veteran stated that:
"What was said in the mini-series, that all of the noncoms had turned in their stripes or said they were going to turn in their stripes and resign, was not true. Harris and Ranney went to (Richard) Winters-he was the one officer that everybody thought they could trust-and explained the situation to him. Nothing was said about the rest of the NCOs at the meeting."
  • According to Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich, Richard Winters was promoted to Major before David Webster returned to Easy Company from the hospital after getting injured in Holland. However, in "The Last Patrol", Winters was still Captain until he received his promotion at the end of the episode.
  • At the beginning of the ninth episode, "Why We Fight", the date says April 11, 1945 as the episode opens with the paratroopers overlooking German civilians cleaning up their streets. At the end of the episode, the show returns to this scene, at which point Captain Nixon tells the others that Hitler had killed himself. Hitler did not commit suicide until April 30, 1945.
  • At the end of the final episode, "Points," it is stated that Technician Fifth Class Joseph Liebgott became a San Francisco taxi driver after the war, but most accounts, including that of his son, state that Joseph Liebgott in fact became a barber after returning home from the war.[8]
  • The series states that Easy Company was the first unit into Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest, capturing the town and surrounding area without incident. Historians usually identify the first Allied troops to arrive as the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division who secured Berchtesgaden and the Berghof, followed four days later by the French 2nd Armored Division who secured the Eagle's Nest, then 1st Battalion of the 506th, led by Company "C." This, however, may be incorrect. The 2nd Battalion of the 506th came into Berchtesgaden by a different route and lost men in a skirmish with the crews of two German 88 mm guns.[9] Controversy has come up in recent years as to precisely which unit captured Berchtesgaden, but in the book Beyond Band of Brothers, Major Dick Winters states "Major General John W. 'Iron Mike' O'Daniel's 3rd Infantry Division certainly seized neighboring Salzburg without opposition and may have had their lead elements enter Berchtesgaden before we (2nd Battalion, 506 PIR) arrived in force, but let the facts speak for themselves. If the 3rd Division was first into Berchtesgaden, where did they go? Berchtesgaden is a relatively small community. When I walked into the Berchtesgaden Hof with Lieutenant Welsh, neither of us saw anyone except the hotel staff. Goering's officers' club and wine cellar certainly would have drawn the attention of a Frenchman from LeClerc's 2nd Armored Division or a rifleman from the 3rd Division. I find it inconceivable to imagine that if the 3rd Division were there first, they left those beautiful Mercedes staff cars untouched for our men."
  • In the final episode, "Points," Major Winters accepts the surrender of a German Colonel, who offers him an ornate Luger pistol. In the scene, Winters tells him to keep his sidearm, but in the Bonus Features DVD, the real Winters recalls the incident and shows the pistol (a Walther PP) he accepted. In Ambrose's book of the same title, he describes how when Winters examined the firearm, he found it had never been fired, and he hasn't fired it since. He shows this firearm in the HBO documentary We Stand Alone Together. Also in book Beyond Band of Brothers: The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters written by Cole. C. Kingseed with Major Dick Winters it is said that the pistol was accepted but the rank of the German soldier was a Major not Colonel.
  • In the episode "Why We Fight", Donald Malarkey was incorrectly portrayed as being present at the concentration camp. Also, he was incorrectly portrayed as being present at the taking of Eagle's Nest in the episode "Points". In fact, Malarkey was recovering at a hospital due to wounds he sustained.[citation needed]
  • In the episode "Replacements", Lt. Bob Brewer is shot in the throat by a German sniper outside of Nuenen. In reality, he was shot while the 506th was entering Eindhoven. The battle portrayed in the episode takes place in Nuenen, when in reality it took place between the town and Helmond, and the British tanks were all Cromwells, but in the miniseries they are reduced to three Cromwells and three Shermans. Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton is loaded onto an army 6x6 truck after being shot through the buttocks, when he was actually loaded onto one of the two surviving Cromwell tanks. Carwood Lipton actually couldn't help laughing, remarking, "You're the only guy I ever saw in my life that got hit with one bullet and got four holes", to which Compton replied, "If I could get off this tank, I'd kill you."[10]
  • In the episode "Crossroads", Captain Winters fires ten rounds from his M1 Garand without reloading, when in reality, the M1 Garand's magazine can only hold eight rounds.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Drama: Band of Brothers". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  2. ^ Snead, Elizabeth. " Tom Hanks Jumps on Bandwagon". TV Guide. June 22, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  3. ^ "Band of Brothers Minisite". History.com. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  4. ^ In particular, the books Biggest Brother: The Life of Dick Winters and Parachute Infantry, an autobiography by David Kenyon Webster. Also, the website Trigger Time by 101st historian Mark Bando has a detailed discussion of the mini-series' historical accuracy.
  5. ^ IMDB.com
  6. ^ Best/Worst "TV mini-series" Titles
  7. ^ Arlington National Cemetery
  8. ^ Wild Bill Guarnere.Community > Joseph Liebgott
  9. ^ historynet.com article
  10. ^ Band of Brothers, Stephen E. Ambrose, ISBN 0-7434-2990-7

External links

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