Band of Brothers (miniseries)
Band of Brothers is a 2001 American[1] war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name.[2] It was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also served as executive producers, and who had collaborated on the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan.[3] Episodes first aired on HBO starting on September 9, 2001. Critically acclaimed, the series won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for best miniseries.
Band of Brothers
United States
English
10 (list of episodes)
- Gary Goetzman
- Tony To
- Erik Bork
- Erik Jendresen
- Stephen E. Ambrose
- Mary Richards
- Remi Adefarasin
- Joel J. Ransom
- Billy Fox
- Oral Norrie Ottey
- Frances Parker
- John Richards
49–70 minutes
$125 million
September 9
November 4, 2001
The series dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. It begins during Easy Company's paratrooper training and follows its participation in the Western Front of World War II. The events are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. The series took some literary license, adapting history for dramatic effect and series structure.[4][5] The characters portrayed are based on members of Easy Company. Each episode begins with excerpts from interviews with some of the survivors, who are identified by name only at the end of the finale.
The title of the book and series comes from the St. Crispin’s Day speech in William Shakespeare's play Henry V, delivered by King Henry before the Battle of Agincourt. Ambrose quotes a passage from the speech on his book's first page; this passage is recited by Carwood Lipton in the series finale.
Plot[edit]
Over the course of ten episodes, Band of Brothers depicts a dramatized account of Easy Company's exploits during World War II.[3]
Episodes include their training at Camp Toccoa, the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Siege of Bastogne, the invasion of Germany, the liberation of the Kaufering concentration camp, the taking of the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) in Berchtesgaden, the occupation of Germany, and finally the war's end.[3]
Richard Winters is the central character, shown working to accomplish the company's missions and keep his men together and safe. While the series features a large ensemble cast, each episode generally focuses on a single character, following his action.[3]
As the series is based on historical events, the fates of the characters reflect those of the persons on which they are based. Many either die or sustain serious wounds which lead to their being sent home. Other soldiers recover after treatment in field hospitals and rejoin their units on the front line. Their experiences, and the moral, mental, and physical hurdles they must overcome, are central to the story's narrative.
It follows the story from their initial training starting in 1942 to the end of World War II. They parachuted behind enemy lines in the early hours of D-Day in support of the landings at Utah beach, participated in the liberation of Carentan and again parachuted into action during Operation Market Garden. They also liberated a concentration camp and were the first to enter Hitler's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden.
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Band of Brothers has a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.8/10 and based on 33 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: "Band of Brothers offers a visceral, intense look at the horrors of war – and the sacrifices of the millions of ordinary people who served."[46] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gives the miniseries a score of 87 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[47]
CNN's Paul Clinton said that the miniseries "is a remarkable testament to that generation of citizen soldiers, who responded when called upon to save the world for democracy and then quietly returned to build the nation that we now all enjoy, and all too often take for granted".[48] Caryn James of The New York Times called it "an extraordinary 10-part series that masters its greatest challenge: it balances the ideal of heroism with the violence and terror of battle, reflecting what is both civilized and savage about war." James also remarked on the generation gap between most viewers and characters, suggesting this was a significant hurdle.[49] Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote that the series was "significantly flawed and yet absolutely extraordinary—just like the men it portrays," rating the series four out of four stars. He noted however that it was hard to identify with individual characters during crowded battle scenes.[50]
Philip French of The Guardian commented that he had "seen nothing in the cinema this past year that impressed me as much as BBC2's 10-part Band of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and Ken Loach's The Navigators on Channel 4", and that it was "one of the best films ever made about men in war and superior in most ways to Saving Private Ryan."[51] Matt Seaton, also in The Guardian, wrote that the film's production was "on such a scale that in an ad hoc, inadvertent way it gives one a powerful sense of what really was accomplished during the D-Day invasion - the extraordinary logistical effort of moving men and matériel in vast quantities."[52]
Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote that though the series is "at times visually astonishing," it suffers from "disorganization, muddled thinking and a sense of redundancy." Shales observed that the characters are hard to identify: "Few of the characters stand out strikingly against the backdrop of the war. In fact, this show is all backdrop and no frontdrop. When you watch two hours and still aren't quite sure who the main characters are, something is wrong."[53]
Band of Brothers has become a benchmark for World War II series. The German series Generation War, for example, was characterized by critics as Band of Brüder (the German word for "Brothers").[54]
Ratings[edit]
Band of Brothers' September 9, 2001, premiere drew 10 million viewers.[55] Two days later, the September 11 attacks occurred, and HBO immediately ceased its marketing campaign.[55] The second episode drew 7.2 million viewers[55] and the last episode received 5.1 million viewers, the smallest audience.[56]
Awards and nominations[edit]
The series was nominated for 20 Primetime Emmy Awards and won seven, including Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special.[57] It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television,[58] American Film Institute Award for TV Movie or Miniseries of the Year,[59] Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television,[60] and the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials.[61]
The show 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."[62] In September 2019, The Guardian ranked the show 68th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, stating that it "expanded the horizons – and budgets – of prestige TV".[63]
A number of books give further insight into Easy Company: