Band of Brothers - A Must-own Set!

I never liked war fliks. OK.. I did like Blackhawk Down and Three Kings, I'm sure there's a few others I might admit to liking thru the years..but over-all if ya put a war movie in I'm bound to groan....loudly. So it was when Nick brought home Band of Brothers the other day. He dislikes war movies too, so I was like WTF?? Well.. it normally sells for $79.99 at Best buy, but was on sale, plus he had a 10% off coupon...and some friends at work had recommended it. I rolled my eyes and we popped it in... and it was me who kept us up all hours of the night with pleas of just one more episode pleaaase?

Hooked. Majorly. This is a mini-series which originaly aired on HBO and I'm telling you now.. whether you hate war movies or not, you must buy this set! Based on the book by Stephen Ambrose, It is the story of WWII, more specifically, the 101st Airborne division..the first Airborn guys ever. This is the true (but slightly modified for dramatic effect) tale of what these guys went thru and how they became so close. From the parachuting into Normandy to the taking of Hitler's Eagles Nest estate, this set will draw you in like no other. You see, it's about the war, yes, but more importantly, it's about this group of guys that went thru soooo much incredible crap! Their bravery and dedication is just awe inspiring.

At the beginning of each episode you get to see the real guys who were there talking about the war. These are some of the guys in the movie. There is also an additional disc at the end that is them talking about it and the reunions they have to this day.

David Frankel and Tom Hanks are the directors and masterminds behind this amazing piece of cinema, along with input and backing from Steven Speilberg. What an awesome job they did! They used mostly unknown actors for this, and got performances out of them that are just downright stellar. I wouldn't be surprised to see every last one of them go on to the big leagues after this.

Every single actor involved in this endeavor was completely and utterly believable. They brought you there, you felt thier pain and thier triumphs with them. At one point Nick wanted to go to bed and I was like No! we can't leave them there in those woods all night! We kept watching.

The Cast
Damian Lewis .... Maj. Richard D. Winters
Donnie Wahlberg .... 2nd Lt. C. Carwood Lipton
Ron Livingston .... Capt. Lewis Nixon
Matthew Settle .... Capt. Ronald Speirs
Rick Warden .... 1st Lt. Harry Welsh
Frank John Hughes .... SSgt. William 'Wild Bill' Guarnere
Scott Grimes .... TSgt. Donald Malarkey
Neal McDonough .... 1st Lt. Lynn 'Buck' Compton
Rick Gomez .... Sgt. George Luz
Eion Bailey .... Pvt. David Kenyon Webster
James Madio .... Sgt. Frank Perconte
Kirk Acevedo .... SSgt. Joseph Toye
Michael Cudlitz .... Sgt. Denver 'Bull' Randleman
Richard Speight Jr. .... Sgt. Warren 'Skip' Muck
Dexter Fletcher .... SSgt. John Martin

Donnie Wahlberg isn't so much an unknown, as a guy who was better known as a musician from his days in New Kids On The Block. I remember him well since my daughter had her entire bedroom just plastered with posters of them! During that time he brought his little brother Mark into the biz .. as Marky Mark... and Mark Wahlberg later got into movies..and now Donnie has followed him there. Donnie shoulda started out here. He did a fantastic job in this movie.

Neal McDonough is the only other person I recognized in this. You may recall him from Star Trek: First Contact and as Gordon Fletcher in Minority Report. A very good actor, and a standing-ovation kinda job in this one in particular!

This DVD is 5 discs long, with 2 episodes on each disc. There is a 6th disc with the actual guys who were portrayed in the movie. It was great fun seeing who was who. Each Episode is about an hour long, for a total run time of about 600 minutes. Start early and watch it all the way thru. Trust me, you won't want to wait til the next day to finish it!

The scenes were shot mostly at the actual locations of the original battles. You can't get more accurate than that!

I cannot find a rating on this set, but there is a lot of violence and gore that looks very real..but it's a war movie! It has to have all that. ok.. 13 and up, depending on your kid. How's that?

I recommend this set very highly. It is moving, and like I said, it just puts you right there with the guys. It's rare these days to get total immersion, this one does pulls it off. This is a series you will want to watch more than once. Most definitely an owner!