Band of Brothers: "We Stand Alone Together..."

In September 2001, not long before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, there began on the Home Box Office (HBO) cable network one of the most extraordinary television mini-series I have ever seen. Entitled Band of Brothers, that mini-series told in dramatic fashion and with exquisite eloquence the true story of one of the most famous and highly decorated U.S. Army units to fight during World War II: Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Every Sunday evening for the entire ten-week run of Band of Brothers, I would find myself captivated by the wartime exploits of the "Band of Brothers" as they fought their way across Europe during the last year of the Second World War.

A little over a year after Band of Brothers first ran on HBO, it was – finally (!!) – released on DVD. Almost from the moment I learned that HBO was planning a DVD release of this superb mini-series, I knew that this was one DVD set I simply had to own, whatever the cost. I recently added this handsomely packaged six-disc set to my DVD collection.

For those not familiar with Band of Brothers, the mini-series is based upon the equally outstanding book entitled Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. The book was written in 1992 by the late Stephen E. Ambrose, one of our nation’s finest historians and biographers. It describes in stunning detail the exploits of Easy Company, from its initial airborne landing in Normandy on D-Day; through its participation in Operation Market-Garden in September 1944 and its tenacious defense of Bastogne in December 1944; and to its capture of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden in southern Germany.

The original HBO mini-series is divided into ten parts, each about one hour long (A couple of the episodes run to about 75 minutes.) The entire project – which cost (by some accounts) over $125 million to produce – has as its executive producers Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Stephen Ambrose.

With such cinematic luminaries leading the production team, and with HBO’s willingness to spend an average of $12.5 million per episode (about 10 times the cost of an average hour-long TV drama episode), one would expect Band of Brothers to be outstanding in every respect. To put it succinctly, Band of Brothers does not disappoint. Taken as a whole, the ten episodes provide a highly accurate and faithful chronology of the events narrated by Ambrose in his book, while at the same time providing viewers with the absolute best possible acting, writing, cinematography, music, costumes, and sound. Taken separately, each episode stands alone as a powerfully dramatic and grittily realistic testament to the incredible patriotism, heroism, character, strengths, and weaknesses of Easy Company and its men:

Part 1 - Currahee: In a steamy, bug-infested Camp Toccoa in Georgia, the men of Easy begin their odyssey under the brutally harsh tutelage of Captain Herbert Sobel, a sadistic martinet whom the men quickly learn to despise. Meanwhile, other men – most notably Lieutenants Dick Winters and Lewis Nixon, and Sergeants Carwood Lipton and John Martin – begin to prove themselves gifted leaders.

Part 2 - Day of Days: Easy Company’s trial by fire begins when it parachutes into Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) with the mission of providing a link-up between Allied forces on two beachheads. By now, command of Easy Company has devolved upon the untested but clearly gifted Lieutenant Winters. Winters leads a 12-man unit that captures and destroys four German .88-caliber guns that are shelling the beachheads at Normandy. For his efforts, Winters is awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and several other men who participate in the attack receive either Silver or Bronze Stars.

Part 3 - Carentan: Easy Company continues to fight in Normandy. Its mission: take the town of Carentan, thereby providing a link-up between Allied forces from two different beachheads. The central character in this episode is Private Albert Blithe, a quiet and borderline pusillanimous soldier whose fear of battle initially paralyzes him into inaction on the battlefield…

Part 4 - Replacements: Summer, 1944… The battle for Normandy is over, and the Allies are now rolling through France. Easy Company has returned to England for rest and recuperation. Many of the original "Toccoa men" have either been killed or wounded, and have been replaced by newer, "greener" troops. Soon, however, Easy returns to the Continent, this time for "Operation Market-Garden" in Holland. Easy Company soon gets a taste of something it’s never experienced before… defeat.

Part 5 - Crossroads: Easy Company’s battles in Holland continue. Captain Dick Winters is now 2nd Battalion Executive Officer; Easy Company is now commanded by Lieutenant "Moose" Heylinger. This episode, comprised of a series of flashbacks based upon Winters’ after-action reports, narrates a fierce battle for a crossroads in Holland, where two American platoons of Easy Company soundly defeat an entire battalion of Germans.

Part 6 - Bastogne: December 1944… suddenly, the entire American front in Belgium and France is threatened by a ferocious German counterattack. The Battle of the Bulge is on. Easy Company, now commanded by the totally incompetent Lieutenant Norman Dike is ordered into the line at Bastogne, with instructions to "hold its sector at all costs." The unit is critically short of ammunition, food, water, and winter clothing…

Part 7 - The Breaking Point: Easy Company’s resolute and intrepid defense of Bastogne, in the face of incredible personal suffering during the bitterly cold winter of 1944-45, is detailed in this frequently poignant and graphically violent episode. Easy Company approaches a critical "Breaking Point…" both logistically and of the spirit and will…

Part 8 - The Last Patrol: Early 1945… Easy Company now occupies Haguenau, a French town on the border with Germany. There’s an sense that those who have survived thus far may make it to war’s end. Yet, Easy Company is soon ordered to send a patrol into German territory to capture German soldiers alive. After a successful raid, in which a GI is killed, Easy is ordered once again across the river on a "Last Patrol…"

Part 9 - Why We Fight: In perhaps the most gut-wrenching episode of the entire series, we witness Easy Company as it enters Germany… and immediately encounters German concentration camps. The camps, out in the middle of the forest, have been abandoned by the Germans, but are still filled with thousands upon thousands of corpses and half-starved, half-crazed Jewish prisoners. This is "why we fight…"

Part 10 - Points: Finally… the war draws to a close. Easy Company moves through Germany to its new home: Berchtesgaden, home of Hitler’s "Eagle’s Nest." Easy is given the honor of capturing this vaunted aerie in the German Alps. Then the unit settles into a routine of post-war boredom, while the "top brass" figures out who has the "points" necessary to go home…

It’s impossible to describe with full justice how good Band of Brothers is. It is, for me, the nearly perfect war chronicle: an accurate depiction of real events; arrayed with a stellar cast, including many unknown actors who have made a name for themselves as a result of their work in this film (among them, most notably: Damian Lewis; Donnie Wahlberg (a New Kids on the Block emeritus who displays a surprisingly well developed and nuanced acting ability); Ron Livingston; Dale Dye (who also served as the series’s military advisor); Frank John Hughes; and Rick Gomez.

Technically, Band of Brothers is a marvel. All scenes were shot on a specially constructed set in Britain. Everything – from the idyllic British villages, through the bombed-out German cities – was encapsulated in this multi-acre, multi-million dollar set. The cinematography is superb. Directors/editors used a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and employed subdued colors that lent an air of 1940’s authenticity to the film. Battle scenes are grittily realistic and frequently very bloody, much the same as Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Somehow, however, the violence never seems gratuitous, but rather seems necessary to show the tremendous courage and excruciating pain and suffering of Easy Company.

The six-disc DVD set is one of the most beautifully crafted I’ve ever seen. Packaged in a "tin can" style container, the discs are laid out with obvious care on an internal cardboard accordion. Two episodes appear on each disc, and are accompanied by "field guides," episode summaries, and other extras. The sixth disc contains an eighty-minute documentary of Easy Company, Ron Livingston’s "Video Diaries," and other outstanding extras.

MY VERDICT: Despite its expense (between $87.95 and $119.95, depending on the retailer), Band of Brothers is an outstanding value in every respect. It is simply the best war film I’ve ever seen. A "must-own" for any war film buff’s DVD collection!