SPR=Band of Brothers?

[cftrock]

Hey guys,
I loved Saving Private Ryan do you guys recommend the Band of Brothers box set? And was it only one season?
Does it have the same action and drama? Any Comments or Ideas?
Thanks

[Porkchop]

Yeah, if you liked SPR, then Band of Brothers is a no-brainer. Pick it up immediately! It's quite similar in a great many ways.

And yes, it was only one season.

[dogmaratt]

In my opinion, Band Of Brothers is better, but it had the unfair advantage of 9 - 10 hours to develop the characters.

I can't see any DVD collection with out this awesome set.

[aedavela]

Agreed. You'll love it. Excellent DVD's to boot.

[SeanL]

BoB is an awesome set... SPR was a bit of fiction mixed with fact, while BoB is based solely on factual events.

I am constantly recommending this set to people. You won't regret it.

[Scottish Punk]

Put in another vote for BOB (I think this thread recycles itself every 3 months). I let three seperate friends borrow mine and they all loved it and two of them put it on their buy list.

[heuresk]

I liked BoB better than SPR. BoB took all that was great about SPR (namely its approach to filming combat scenes--the chaotic, visceral sort of danger and threat), and then made it even better with great characters and amazing writing. It's mind-boggling that it was made for television! All that production value and great acting and fantastic directing. One of the best things I've seen, period. And I just bought mine for 50 bucks at half.com (little less than 10 bucks per disc)--dts and great transfer. Can't beat that.

[bjh_18]

Band of Brothers is the best and most accurate depiction of WWII ever put on film in any medium (movies/tv/dvd). Even if you just remotely liked Saving Private Ryan, you shouldn't hesitate about picking up Band of Brothers.

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by cftrock

Hey guys,
I loved Saving Private Ryan do you guys recommend the Band of Brothers box set? And was it only one season?
Does it have the same action and drama? Any Comments or Ideas?
Thanks

I thoroughly liked Saving Private Ryan.

Band of Brothers is better.

heuresk said it best, I think. Take everything that was great about Saving Private Ryan, remove all that was bad, and then expand the scope of the whole thing to epic proportions while ALSO zooming the camera in to focus on dozens of intimate personal stories and you have Band of Brothers. It is without question a must own, and still would be at twice the price.

Get it now. Run, don't walk.

[C Roberts]

SPR and BoB are like old war buddies. The stories only get better if you have both around.

[Welles and Ford Fan]

I give BoB a as well. If you've read a lot of Stephen Ambrose's accounts of WWII, it's like his writings come alive. Actually, I'm not as crazy about SPR as some are. The landing at Normandy is SPR for me, not so much the rest of it.

[incubus0]

There have been many many threads about this, but YES! by all means, get it!

[larphillips]

And don't classify it as a season. It was a miniseries, with a well defined structure with a beginning, middle, and end. BOB is the perfect example of what HBO can do and the networks can't.

[KSC2-303]

BoB is superior in every way, but they both suffer the Spielberg bias evident in any of his projects involving WW2 (SPR, BoB, Schindler's List).

SPR was great, but irked me with all the unrealistic American supersoldier combat (1 dozen+ Americans > 100+ Germans with half-traks, MGs, and tanks, etc) and unnecessary flag waving ("Tell me I'm a good man"? This could have ended on a better note).

My only really big complaint about BoB is the David Schwimmer and Jimmie Fallon guest appearances, along with some drama elements that seem to go no where (Winters killing the SS kid).

Plus BoB packaging is just super bad ass.

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by KSC2-303

BoB is superior in every way, but they both suffer the Spielberg bias evident in any of his projects involving WW2 (SPR, BoB, Schindler's List).

Eh? Band of Brothers is based on a book, a book about a very specific and very real group of Americans. What you see on the screen is based on the first-hand accounts of these men – the very same men, in fact, interviewed before each part of the series. These aren’t fictional stories. Who did you expect the story to focus on if not the real men chronicled in the book of the same name?

The treatment of the enemy was very even-handed, too, with our very first interaction with a German soldier one that sets our view of enemy soldiers on its ear. The message is clear: They were kids, just like us. We were fighting with guys just like us. Real people. That continues throughout, as we get a chance to glimpse at the very real human side of the enemy and the “heroes” of the story, from the young soldier Winters shot, his eyes haunting him afterwards, to the unflattering portrait painted of American soldiers in the final days of the war.

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by KSC2-303

My only really big complaint about BoB is the David Schwimmer and Jimmie Fallon guest appearances, along with some drama elements that seem to go no where (Winters killing the SS kid).

Not to turn this into a debate, but I also thought Schwimmer was really excellent in that role. And I didn't expect to!

Jimmy Fallon, not so much.

[boddah]

If Schwimmer can play anything well, it's the asshole. I think he did a great job.

BoB is one of my favorite titles in my collection, I love it.

[MEJHarrison]

I have to agree about David Schwimmer doing a great job. He fit the role perfectly. Maybe it's because I don't watch Friends that I had such an easy time appreciating him. I also enjoyed his work in Breast Men.

[invincyble]

have you guys ever seen a movies called UPRISING about the jews fighting back at the warsaw? schwimmer was GREAT in that, and i really thought he chouldnt do anything other than comedy, im also getting Band this weekend

[Brikar99]

Yes, he was good in "Uprising" as well... as was Hank Azaria.

[UFO]

I actually think BoB is superior to SPR in every way. I bought it blind and I think it's an excellent series.

[boddah]

Originally Posted by invincyble

have you guys ever seen a movies called UPRISING about the jews fighting back at the warsaw? schwimmer was GREAT in that, and i really thought he chouldnt do anything other than comedy, im also getting Band this weekend

That's right, I forgot about that one.

[slambert007]

I'd like to get my grubby little hands on this badboy...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...&category=2310


Yes, get BoB...it's awesome...

[BubbleGumUK]

Pics are all gone.

Region FREE?

Could this be...(ahem)...a bootleg, perchance?

[rtcpenguin]

Buy it now, and dont let the price scare you off. This isnt a season of Friends were talking about, this is a ten hour miniseries with a budget of $120 million. Watching the series straight was probably the most riveting and emotional ten hour period of my life. Sad....

[Sword of Whedon]

My only really big complaint about BoB is the David Schwimmer and Jimmie Fallon guest appearances, along with some drama elements that seem to go no where (Winters killing the SS kid).

Spears killed the SS kid, and honestly, he probably didn't, probably shot a guy trying to pull something. We're never shown what actually happened on purpose. Later someone brings the whole thing up to Spears, and he feels it's better to perpetuate the myth that he's a nutcase killer type because it helps him be a better leader.

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by Sword of Whedon

Spears killed the SS kid, and honestly, he probably didn't, probably shot a guy trying to pull something. We're never shown what actually happened on purpose. Later someone brings the whole thing up to Spears, and he feels it's better to perpetuate the myth that he's a nutcase killer type because it helps him be a better leader.

I believe he was talking about Winters killing the young officer at the Crossroads. The guy Spears killed was not SS.

(And to be honest, I'm not sure the guy Winters killed was either. I can't remember what uniform he was wearing.)

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

(And to be honest, I'm not sure the guy Winters killed was either. I can't remember what uniform he was wearing.)

The lad was SS, as were the rest that got slaughtered by Easy at the Crossroads.

How the hell a kid that young got to be SS, I don't know.

(That kid, the nurse at Bastogne, and a good portion of the Blithe story - though Blithe himself was a real member of Easy - were among the few things the series "made up," i.e. was not part of Ambrose's book)

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by Shoegaze99

(That kid, the nurse at Bastogne, and a good portion of the Blithe story - though Blithe himself was a real member of Easy - were among the few things the series "made up," i.e. was not part of Ambrose's book)

I believe the book did say, though, that Blithe suffered briefly from hysterical blindness. And I believe his fate was as portrayed in the series. But yeah, he wasn't mentioned all that often in the book.

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

I believe the book did say, though, that Blithe suffered briefly from hysterical blindness. And I believe his fate was as portrayed in the series.[/qb]

You may be correct. My recollection is that the soldier who suffered from blindness was a different solider, unnamed in the book. Could be me mixing it up, though. My book is in a box in the garage, so I’m unable to double check.

According to IMDB goofs, “Social Security Death Records and the Currahee Memorial Web Site (indicate) Albert Blithe of E 506th PIR died in 1967,” not in 1948, as presented in the movie. Even if the correction is correct, I don’t consider that as major a diversion as, say, the nurse.
[qb]

But yeah, he wasn't mentioned all that often in the book.

From what I recall, he got at most two mentions.

Anybody who loved the series really should read the book, too. They are certainly companion pieces and work well together. You’ll appreciate both a great deal moreby having experienced the other.

[ben gifford]

Originally Posted by MEJHarrison

I have to agree about David Schwimmer doing a great job. He fit the role perfectly. Maybe it's because I don't watch Friends that I had such an easy time appreciating him. I also enjoyed his work in Breast Men.

I never saw "BreastMen", but loved him in Band of Brothers... I have watched many friends episodes, so it took a little while to see him outside of the "ross" role, but thought he was excellent. I still don't have the dvd's... will be watching the history channel in April though, should be good...