Band of Brothers HBO miniseries

[Mr Wallstreet]

This was the first weekend I've had off in a couple weeks so I enjoyed it by relaxing and watching the entire Band of Brothers miniseries HBO released many years ago.

The series, simply put, is fantastic. Though the mini features a huge ensemble cast, the focus is primarily on a single unit named Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned to the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. Within Easy Company the spotlight is shined on several soldiers & officers of varied ranks, positions, & backgrounds.

The series follows the men of Easy Company from the point at which they all arrive as total strangers to basic training, to the deployment of their unit on D-Day at Normandy and all across their European campaign during WWII. Along the way many soldiers die, some are reassigned, replacements are introduced.

In addition to dealing with unrelenting physical exertion & harsh climates & landscapes, the soldiers are under constant psychological strain and it gets to a fair number of them who break under its strain so you see a lot of characters who you come to care about die, lose limbs or wind up mentally broken.

Some characters are able to cope with tragedy better than others. One of the episodes in particular details how an officer turned to alcoholism when the killing got too much for him. Another ep shows how one officer was able to withstand all kinds of physical trauma during his tour with E Company but the sight of his wounded friends was too much for him to bear & had a nervous breakdown. The series also details that even on the battlefield politics are played. This was depicted in an ep when Easy Company gets an incompetent lieutenant who shirked his duties & ran off during battle.

The mini also doesn't make the Allied forces out to be saints either. It shows that in some instances soldiers & officers committed cold blooded acts of murder & brutality themselves. Sometimes to save lives, other times to let out their frustration & anger & other times just for the hell of it.

The series depicted pretty much all the facets of war: heroism & heartache, bravery & cowardice, savagery & mercy, brutality & humanity.

I would strongly recommend this miniseries to anyone who is interested in War films.

Now that I've finished all 10 parts, I'm going to read the book the mini was based off. I'm now waiting to see The Pacific; the follow up Spielberg & Hanks did to Band of Brothers that was another 10 parte rreleased in March 10.

If anyone has any recommendations about other WWI, WWII, Korean or Vietnam novels or movies please let me know. I would very much like to check them out; especially if they are from the perspective of England, Canada or France. While I do enjoy war novels, it’s hard to find well written literature from the perspective of Non-U.S. soldiers.

[XIII]

Well, it's a graphic novel but you can always check "The Other Side" by Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart. It's about the Viet Nam.

[Mr Wallstreet]

Yes, I've heard many good things about The Other Side and plan to pick it up soon.