Band Of Brothers

The Black Oil · 31-12-2013 12:11pm

I'm behind the curve on some aspects of technology, and so haven't seen anything (film or TV) on Blu Ray. What difference do you notice with a show like this?

krudler · 31-12-2013 12:46pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

I'm behind the curve on some aspects of technology, and so haven't seen anything (film or TV) on Blu Ray. What difference do you notice with a show like this?

Much, much clearer and higher resolution. It looks phenomenal on blu-ray tbh.

DazMarz · 31-12-2013 3:13pm

A huge fan of all things World War II, I don't know how this slipped below my radar. Just started watching it last night.

It's pulled me in so far, and I can't wait to see how it develops. About to start the episode "Day of Days".

Utopia Parkway · 31-12-2013 3:37pm

NIMAN wrote: »

BoB one of the greatest TV shows ever, must get my BluRay set dusted off soon.

I started watching Pacific, and stopped at Episode 4 I think, simply wasn't doing it for me.

It's worth sticking with. The first few episodes are slow enough alright with all the Melbourne stuff but it improves a lot after that. Not as good as BoB but still pretty good. By the end of the Pacific you get the sense that they had a far far tougher time of it over there than the US troops in Europe. Last few episodes are fairly brutal.

krudler · 31-12-2013 4:30pm

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

It's worth sticking with. The first few episodes are slow enough alright with all the Melbourne stuff but it improves a lot after that. Not as good as BoB but still pretty good. By the end of the Pacific you get the sense that they had a far far tougher time of it over there than the US troops in Europe. Last few episodes are fairly brutal.

The European theatre was the more "glamorous" one alright.

The Black Oil · 31-12-2013 5:06pm

The episode after Bastogne, Breaking Point, is equally as tough, perhaps more so. An incompetent guy like Dike, then a crazy bastard like Speirs at the other end of the spectrum.

siblers · 31-12-2013 5:42pm

Never really understand why people dislike The Pacific so much, I thought it was superb. I did have to read the novel its based off of first as I knew so little about it but once I had read the novel I really could appreciate just what a brilliant job the series did. Some of the battle scenes in The Pacific are pretty astonishing and they could not have really done a better job of portraying the horrors of the pacific theater.

Starscream25 · 31-12-2013 5:52pm

I love band of brothers, have not got around to watching pacific yet. I would put it in the top 5 tv shows ever made, although to call it a 'show', might not do it justice, it's a lot more than just a tv show, a work of art maybe.

krudler · 31-12-2013 6:22pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

The episode after Bastogne, Breaking Point, is equally as tough, perhaps more so. An incompetent guy like Dike, then a crazy bastard like Speirs at the other end of the spectrum.

"That" scene with Spiers running across the village is still goosebump inducing.

Starscream25 · 31-12-2013 6:25pm

krudler wrote: »

"That" scene with Spiers running across the village is still goosebump inducing.

I'm not sure was that based on reality that he did that, I'm open to correction, but I thought that it was the cheesiest and only cheesy part in the whole series, I could imagine the America **** yeah music playing when he ran.

Burgo · 31-12-2013 6:35pm

Starscream25 wrote: »

I'm not sure was that based on reality that he did that, I'm open to correction, but I thought that it was the cheesiest and only cheesy part in the whole series, I could imagine the America **** yeah music playing when he ran.

I remember reading about it in band of brothers. Worth a read for a fan of the series btw.

siblers · 31-12-2013 7:13pm

Starscream25 wrote: »

I'm not sure was that based on reality that he did that, I'm open to correction, but I thought that it was the cheesiest and only cheesy part in the whole series, I could imagine the America **** yeah music playing when he ran.

Actually happened in the book. It strays very little from the book. One bit alright where Winters kills the young german soldier who was sitting on the grass, in reality that soldier tried to kill Winters.

snausages · 31-12-2013 7:31pm

David Schwimmer was surprisingly excellent in this.

kryogen · 31-12-2013 9:21pm

Will finish out Generation Kill then definitely get on to The Pacific

kryogen · 31-12-2013 9:22pm

snausages wrote: »

David Schwimmer was surprisingly excellent in this.

Did you think so? I thought he was the only mistake casting wise

Totally unbelievable as a tough guy in fairness/couldn't take him seriously at all on reflection. I got a laugh off him but he was miscast

Tipsy McSwagger · 31-12-2013 9:59pm

kryogen wrote: »

Did you think so? I thought he was the only mistake casting wise

Totally unbelievable as a tough guy in fairness/couldn't take him seriously at all on reflection. I got a laugh off him but he was miscast

You're mistake was thinking he was playing a tough guy.

Burgo · 31-12-2013 10:00pm

kryogen wrote: »

Did you think so? I thought he was the only mistake casting wise

Totally unbelievable as a tough guy in fairness/couldn't take him seriously at all on reflection. I got a laugh off him but he was miscast

In fairness this is the real Herbert Sobel, not exactly the toughest looking guy.

kryogen · 01-01-2014 2:06pm

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

You're mistake was thinking he was playing a tough guy.

Ah you know what I meant, I found the scenes where is berating the soldiers, like in ep 1, cringey and almost joke like, had the feel of a spoof about it

DazMarz · 01-01-2014 4:54pm

See, that's the thing about Schwimmer as Sobel. He was not a big, intimidating tough guy. But he was a Lieutenant (later Captain). He was in authority. He commanded these men. Regardless of what they thought of him, they had to obey him. That's the thing about being in the military.

If every soldier who ever existed decided "I don't like my CO, I'm not obeying him", absolute anarchy. That's why it's taken so seriously when

the group of soldiers send letters saying they won't fight if Sobel is their CO. It goes against everything that the military stands for.

As someone has said, Sobel doesn't look badass. He looks like a weedy accountant (which he ironically was). But he was still a Captain in the army. He was still a commissioned officer. He still had to be obeyed and respected, despite what his men thought. It's also shown that while he's an effective trainer, instructor and motivator, he's not a good man in combat. But that's besides the point.

krudler · 01-01-2014 6:57pm

DazMarz wrote: »

See, that's the thing about Schwimmer as Sobel. He was not a big, intimidating tough guy. But he was a Lieutenant (later Captain). He was in authority. He commanded these men. Regardless of what they thought of him, they had to obey him. That's the thing about being in the military.

If every soldier who ever existed decided "I don't like my CO, I'm not obeying him", absolute anarchy. That's why it's taken so seriously when
the group of soldiers send letters saying they won't fight if Sobel is their CO. It goes against everything that the military stands for.

As someone has said, Sobel doesn't look badass. He looks like a weedy accountant (which he ironically was). But he was still a Captain in the army. He was still a commissioned officer. He still had to be obeyed and respected, despite what his men thought. It's also shown that while he's an effective trainer, instructor and motivator, he's not a good man in combat. But that's besides the point.

Easy Company did say that they wouldn't have been the soldiers they were if wasn't for him though, despite hating him they were all the better for it, just not in a combat situation.

I do love the scene in the final episode where

Sobel sees Winters and tries to avoid saluting him "Captain Sobel? you salute the rank, not the man" what a badass Winters was in that.

Hitchens · 01-01-2014 7:18pm

Apart from

the concentration camp scene

, the most poignant clip for me was at the end of an episode set in

England when Mularkey was collecting and paying for his laundry and the woman asked him to bring the uncollected laundry of some of his comrades as well. She started going through the shelves containing each batch and calling out the names as Mularkey just stood there transfixed, knowing they were all dead or wounded and would never need their laundry again

The Black Oil · 01-01-2014 7:47pm

I didn't have an issue with Schwimmer. Sobel was a stickler for detail, standards, regulations and not slacking on the job. As said above, this stood to the men.

Why We Fight is a very sobering episode. I read a rather bizarre analysis of it today.

It's been touched on already in the thread, but I didn't feel much emotional resonance with the characters in the Pacific compared to BoB, would be interesting to jump straight into it having just finished this, though.

kryogen · 01-01-2014 10:55pm

Did you read the comments after the review?

Timmyctc · 02-01-2014 12:17am

kryogen wrote: »

Did you read the comments after the review?

Jesus. Where did that review pop out of. A whole lot of anti Semitic feels going round :

DieselPowered · 02-01-2014 12:25am

I think Band of Brothers came out in 2001. I've seen it most years at Christmas, except this one, and a couple of others.I nearly know it off by heart. Just a great series to watch and get into.

Alfred Borden · 02-07-2014 5:23pm

Just about to start this for the evening. Hopefully it lives uo to the hype i have heard about it.

Timmyctc · 02-07-2014 11:54pm

Raf32 wrote: »

Just about to start this for the evening. Hopefully it lives uo to the hype i have heard about it.

Let us know how blown your mind has been :pac:

Alfred Borden · 03-07-2014 12:36am

Timmyctc wrote: »

Let us know how blown your mind has been :pac:

5 episodes in and absolutely mind blown :eek:

Timmyctc · 03-07-2014 12:44am

Raf32 wrote: »

5 episodes in and absolutely mind blown :eek:

Fair play. Thats 5 hours of the last 7 or so :pac: :P

Alfred Borden · 03-07-2014 12:46am

Timmyctc wrote: »

Fair play. Thats 5 hours of the last 7 or so :pac: :P

I have never got into anything war related until now, dunno how i havent seen this show before :pac:

GottaGetGatt · 03-07-2014 12:49am

Can't beleive this was made 13 years ago.i was only watching some if the battles last week.You should check out The Pacific afterwards

Alfred Borden · 03-07-2014 12:52am

GottaGetGatt wrote: »

Can't beleive this was made 13 years ago.i was only watching some if the battles last week.You should check out The Pacific afterwards

Saw that come up a lot when reading about this, will defo give it a look, thanks!

PhiloCypher · 03-07-2014 1:02pm

Apparently they are doing the aerial theatre next, think Memphis Belle but over 10 episodes.

FloatingVoter · 03-07-2014 4:59pm

Be ready for a disappointment with The Pacific - its not in the same league as BoB. It is extremely disjointed and you wind up forgetting who the lead characters are.

Thargor · 04-07-2014 10:43am

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Apparently they are doing the aerial theatre next, think Memphis Belle but over 10 episodes.

I cant believe this! Brilliant news, I remember thinking something in bomber command or the battle of Britain would have been money better spent than The Pacific at the time. Didn't think that show captured the nightmare time they had at all, it was a bit of a mess.

BoB marathon this weekend I think, nothing else to watch.

GottaGetGatt · 04-07-2014 1:40pm

Snafu was an excellent character in the Pacific

Kilkenny14 · 13-09-2014 7:13am

Rewatched all of it again. Really has aged well.

The quote that still sticks me was one of the veterans in the intro for episode 6:

"Even today, a real cold night, we go to bed, my wife’ll tell ya, that the first thing I say, ‘I’m glad I’m not in Bastogne.’”

Hopefully the Might Eight is as good.

Mycroft H · 13-09-2014 1:06pm

BBC would be well making thier own version. Dunkerque, North Africa, D-Day, Arnhem. So many stories they could choose from.

Owryan · 13-09-2014 1:10pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

BBC would be well making thier own version. Dunkerque, North Africa, D-Day, Arnhem. So many stories they could choose from.

The BBC already have a 3 part series about Dunkirk. Well worth a look.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_(TV_series)

Mycroft H · 13-09-2014 1:36pm

Owryan wrote: »

The BBC already have a 3 part series about Dunkirk. Well worth a look.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_(TV_series)

I've seen the docudrama, it's rather good.

A fully fledged series would be nice though.

CountyHurler · 13-09-2014 3:37pm

GottaGetGatt wrote: »

Snafu was an excellent character in the Pacific

I absolutely HATED him... Got sick of listening to the stupid long drawn out voice after the first few episodes...

I thought The Pacific was good though.. The ones with John Basilone were good.

Red Nissan · 13-09-2014 3:51pm

Don't forget that Band of Brothers is available in a box set. It's on my shelf and I do watch it a fair bit.

Pacific, not the same thing at all, Pacific does have a viewpoint that others do not have, and I like that aspect. However, when I saw Pacific first time I was bitterly disappointed.

Mycroft H · 13-09-2014 3:54pm

Anywhere handy to watch the Pacific? Netflix?

Used to have a copy on the old external but that's died a death.

knucklehead6 · 13-09-2014 4:10pm

Mycroft H wrote: »

Anywhere handy to watch the Pacific? Netflix?

Used to have a copy on the old external but that's died a death.

Where are you? I have the box set here if you want a loan?

The Black Oil · 03-09-2021 10:20am

Podcast from Hanks.

https://deadline.com/video/tom-hanks-band-of-brothers-podcast-trailer-steven-spielberg-roger-bennett-hbo/

GottaGetGatt · 03-09-2021 10:53pm

20 Years! Christ

pixelburp · 04-09-2021 8:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117844559#Comment_117844559

Still nothing like it since with TV, even in the golden era for television. The Pacific tried to recreate things but it never quite landed for me. BoB remains one of the greats.