Band of Brothers (miniseries)
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''Band of Brothers'' is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. It was created by Steven Spielberg and
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
, who also served as executive producers, and who had collaborated on the 1998
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
film ''
Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depicti ...
.'' Episodes first aired on HBO starting on September 9, 2001. The series won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for best miniseries. The series dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company, 2nd Battalion,
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regi ...
of the 101st Airborne Division, from jump training in the United States through its participation in major actions in Europe, up until Japan's capitulation and the end 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. The characters portrayed are based on members of Easy Company. Excerpts from interviews with some of the survivors are used as preludes to the episodes, but they are not identified by name until the end of the finale. The title of the book and series comes from the
St Crispin's Day Speech The St Crispin's Day speech is a part of William Shakespeare's history play ''Henry V'', Act IV Scene iii(3) 18–67. On the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, which fell on Saint Crispin's Day, Henry V urges his men, who were vastly outnumbered by ...
in
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
'', 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 spoken by
Carwood Lipton First Lieutenant Clifford Carwood Lipton (30 January 1920 – 16 December 2001) was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. On the battlefields of Europe, ...
in the series finale.


Plot

''Band of Brothers'' is a dramatized account of "Easy Company" (part of the 2nd
Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
,
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regi ...
), assigned to the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
's 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Over ten episodes the series details the company's exploits during the war. Starting with jump training at
Camp Toccoa Camp Toccoa (formerly Camp Toombs) was a basic training camp for United States Army paratroopers during World War II west of Toccoa, Georgia. Among the units to train at the camp was the 506th Infantry Regiment. The regiment's Company E ("Easy ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, ''Band of Brothers'' follows the unit through the
American airborne landings in Normandy The U.S. airborne landings in Normandy were the first U.S. combat operations during Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944, during World War II. Around 13,100 American paratroopers of the 82nd and 1 ...
, Operation Market Garden, the
Siege of Bastogne The siege of Bastogne () was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to r ...
, the invasion of Germany, including the liberation of a
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
, and on to the war's end. It includes the taking of the ''
Kehlsteinhaus The (known in English as the Eagle's Nest) is a Nazi-constructed building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein, a rocky outcrop that rises above Obersalzberg near the southeast German town of Berchtesgaden. It was used exclusively by mem ...
'' (Eagle's Nest) at Obersalzberg in Berchtesgaden and refers to the surrender of Japan. Major
Richard Winters Richard Davis Winters (January 21, 1918January 2, 2011) was an American businessman and decorated war veteran who served as a U.S. Army officer during World War II. He is best known for having commanded Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th ...
(1918–2011) 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. As the series is based on historic 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 them 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.


Episodes


Cast and characters

Since ''Band of Brothers'' focuses entirely on the exploits of "E" (Easy) Company during World War II, the series features a large ensemble cast.


Main cast

* Kirk Acevedo as Staff Sergeant Joe Toye *
Eion Bailey Eion Francis Hamilton Bailey ( ; born June 8, 1976) is an American actor. He stars as Jim Matthews in the epix horror series '' From''. He played Pvt. David Kenyon Webster in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' and appeared in the films ...
as Private First Class David Kenyon Webster *
Michael Cudlitz Michael Cudlitz (born December 29, 1964) is an American actor known for portraying John Cooper in the NBC/ TNT drama series '' Southland'' for which he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013 ...
as Staff Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman * Dale Dye as Colonel
Robert Sink Robert Frederick Sink (April 3, 1905 – December 13, 1965) was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II and the Korean War, though he was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the ...
*
Rick Gomez Richard Harper Gomez (born June 1, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Radio Technician 4th Grade George Luz in the HBO television miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the Nickelodeon ...
as Technician Fourth Grade George Luz * Scott Grimes as Technical Sergeant
Donald Malarkey Donald George Malarkey (July 31, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Mala ...
*
Frank John Hughes Frank John Hughes (born November 11, 1967) is an American film and television actor, and screenwriter. Hughes is best known for his portrayals of "Wild Bill" Guarnere in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', Tom Fox in ''Catch Me If Yo ...
as Staff Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere *
Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...
as Major Richard "Dick" Winters *
Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film ''Office Space'' and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries '' Band of Brothers.'' Livingston's other roles include ...
as Captain Lewis Nixon *
James Madio James Madio (born November 22, 1975) is an American actor, known for his roles in ''USA High'', ''Hook'' and as Technician Fourth Grade Frank Perconte in '' Band of Brothers''. Early life A native of The Bronx, Madio was raised in Morris Par ...
as Technician Fourth Grade Frank Perconte *
Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on ''Boomtown'' (2002–20 ...
as First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton * Rene L. Moreno as Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Ramirez *
David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...
as Captain
Herbert Sobel Herbert Maxwell Sobel Sr. (26 January 1912 – 30 September 1987) was an American commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Sobel was portraye ...
*
Richard Speight, Jr. Richard Speight Jr. (born September 4, 1969) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer who is known for a variety of roles including CBS TV series ''Jericho'', '' The Agency'', and the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. Spe ...
as Sergeant Warren "Skip" Muck *
Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond Wahlberg Jr. (born August 17, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, record producer, and film producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the ''Saw' ...
as Second Lieutenant
Carwood Lipton First Lieutenant Clifford Carwood Lipton (30 January 1920 – 16 December 2001) was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. On the battlefields of Europe, ...
*
Matthew Settle Jeffrey Matthew Settle (born September 17, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Ronald Speirs on the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' and Rufus Humphrey on the CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl''. Early life Settl ...
as Captain Ronald Speirs *
Douglas Spain Douglas Spain (born April 15, 1974) is an American film and television actor, director and producer. In 1998 Spain was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Debut Performance for his role in the film ''Star Maps''. In ...
as Technician Fifth Grade Antonio C. Garcia *
Rick Warden Richard George Warden is an English actor. Warden studied at Dr Challoner's Grammar School and received a B.A. honours in history at Churchill College, Cambridge, 1994. He married actress Lucy Barker on 1 May 2004. He is probably best known ...
as First Lieutenant Harry Welsh *
Marc Warren Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967) is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in '' Band of Brothers'', Danny Blue in '' Hustle'', Dougie Raymond in ''The Vice'', Dominic Foy in '' State ...
as Private Albert Blithe * Shane Taylor as Technician Fourth Grade Eugene "Doc" Roe *
Dexter Fletcher Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English film director and actor. He has appeared in Guy Ritchie's ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'', as well as in television shows such as the comedy drama '' Hotel Babylon'' and the HBO serie ...
as Staff Sergeant John "Johnny" Martin *
Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including '' Orange County'', ''King Kong'', '' The House Bunny'', '' The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits includ ...
as First Lieutenant Henry S. Jones * Ross McCall as Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Liebgott


Recurring cast

*
Matthew Leitch Matthew Leitch (born 19 March 1975) is an English actor, known for his portrayal of Floyd Talbert in the award-winning HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. He also starred in the 2006 action film ''The Detonator''. Biography Leitch started hi ...
as Staff Sergeant Floyd Talbert *
Peter Youngblood Hills Peter Youngblood Hills (born 28 January 1978) is an England, Anglo-American actor. He is perhaps best known for his supporting role of Sgt. Darrell Powers, Darrell "Shifty" Powers in HBO’s World War II mini-series, ''Band of Brothers (minise ...
as Staff Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers * Nicholas Aaron as Private First Class Robert "Popeye" Wynn * Philip Barantini as Private Wayne A. "Skinny" Sisk * Doug Allen as Private Alton More *
George Calil George Calil (born 29 March 1973) is an English actor known for his role in the TV mini-series '' Band of Brothers,'' where he portrayed Sergeant James H. "Mo" Alley, Jr. Early life Calil was born in England in 1973. He is the son of Lebane ...
as Sergeant James "Moe" Alley Jr. *
Nolan Hemmings Nolan Hemmings (born 1970) is an English stage and film actor. He is known for his role as Charles E. Grant in '' Band of Brothers''. Early life Hemmings is the son of British actor/director David Hemmings and American actress Gayle Hunnicutt. ...
as Staff Sergeant Chuck Grant * Robin Laing as Private First Class Edward "Babe" Heffron * Michael Fassbender as
Technical Sergeant Technical sergeant is the name of two current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States Armed Forces, as well as in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol. Outside the United States, it is used only by the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force and the ...
Burton Christenson * Tim Matthews as Private First Class Alex Penkala *
Craig Heaney Craig Heaney (born August 1973) is a British screen, stage and radio actor. He may be best known as Private Roy W. Cobb in the award-winning ten-part mini-series '' Band of Brothers'' (2001). He played Phil in Danny Cannon's 2005 football movie ...
as Private Roy W. Cobb * Peter McCabe as Corporal Donald Hoobler *
Jamie Bamber Jamie Saint John Bamber Griffith (born 3 April 1973), known professionally as Jamie Bamber, is a British actor, known for his roles as Lee Adama in ''Battlestar Galactica'' and Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin in the ITV series '' Law & Order: ...
as Second Lieutenant Jack E. Foley * Ben Caplan as Corporal Walter 'Smokey' Gordon * Mark Huberman as Private Lester A. Hashey * Phil McKee as Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Strayer * Mark Lawrence as Corporal William Dukeman * Rocky Marshall as Staff Sergeant Earl McClung


Minor

* David Andrews as General Elbridge G. Chapman * Bill Armstrong as General
Anthony McAuliffe Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe (July 2, 1898 – August 10, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer who earned fame as the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division defending Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in Wor ...
* Jonie Broom as Hans Schmidt * Doug Cockle as Father John Maloney *
Alexis Conran Alexis Conran is a British actor, writer and presenter on TV and radio, who currently hosts the weekend afternoon show on Times Radio. He is perhaps best known for co-hosting the BBC Three show ''The Real Hustle'' from 2006 until 2012. He was ...
as George Lavenson *
Dominic Cooper Dominic Edward Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor known for his portrayal of comic book characters Jesse Custer on the AMC show ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with appearances ...
as Allington * Marcos D'Cruze as Joseph P. Domingus * Tony Devlin as Ralph R. "Doc" Spina * Jimmy Fallon as Lt. George C. Rice * Simon Fenton as Gerald J. Lorraine *
Iain Fletcher Iain Fletcher is a British actor, best known for his role as DC Rod Skase in the ITV1 drama series ''The Bill''. He portrayed the character for six years from 1994 to 2000. Other television credits include '' Band of Brothers'', '' Murphy’s ...
as Bernard J. "Doc" Ryan * Tom George as Private White * Ezra Godden as Robert van Klinken * Stephen Graham as Sgt. Myron "Mike" Ranney * Luke Griffin as Terrence C. "Salty" Harris * Tom Hardy as Private John Janovec * Matt Hickey as Private Patrick O'Keefe *
Andrew Howard Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Training Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...
as Captain Clarence Hester * Nigel Hoyle as Staff Sergeant Leo Boyle *
Lucie Jeanne Lucie Jeanne (born 13 March 1976) is a French television actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media su ...
as
Renée Lemaire Renée Lemaire (1914-1944) was a Belgian nurse who volunteered her service at an American military aid station during the Siege of Bastogne in December 1944. She was killed during a German air raid on Christmas Eve in 1944. Early life Renée Ber ...
* Corey Johnson as Major Louis Kent * Marc Ryan-Jordan as John T. Julian * Wolf Kahler as German General * John Light as Lieutenant Colonel O. Dobie *
Joseph May Joseph May is a British-born Canadian actor, who has appeared in television and film. He is best known for his role as Andy Button in the television series ''Episodes'', Paul who was the boyfriend of Sam Colloby, in '' Casualty'', Luke in ''I Liv ...
as Edward J. Shames *
James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. His notable television work includes ...
as Pvt. James W. Miller *
Stephen McCole Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. He is best known for starring in the dark comedy series ''High Times'',Paul English"High Times duo Stephen and Paul McCole find fame in unlikely places" '' The Daily Record'', 28 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 20 ...
as Frederick T. "Moose" Heyliger * Hugo Metsers as John van Kooijk * Benjamin Montague as Private Matt McDowell * Hans Georg Nenning as German Baker * David Nicolle as First Lieutenant Thomas Peacock *
Kieran O'Brien Kieran O'Brien (born 1973) is an English actor. Early life and education Born in Oldham, Lancashire, O'Brien grew up in nearby Royton, and was educated at the Bishop Henshaw Roman Catholic Memorial High School in Rochdale. Career O'Brien bega ...
as Private Allen Vest * Rebecca Okot as Anna the Nurse *
Jason O'Mara Jason O'Mara (born 6 August 1972) is an Irish actor. He has starred in the American television network dramas ''In Justice'', ''Life on Mars'', '' Terra Nova'', ''Vegas'', and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. O'Mara won an Irish Film and Television A ...
as First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III * Peter O'Meara as First Lieutenant Norman Dike * Oscar Pearce as Richard H. Hughes *
Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...
as First Sergeant William S. Evans *
Ben Peyton Ben Peyton (born 1977) is a former British actor best known for playing PC Ben Hayward in ''The Bill'' from 2000 to 2002. Other credits include Band of Brothers, Emmerdale, Welcome to Orty Fou and Holby City. In 2017, Ben shared his memories ...
as Warrant Officer Hill *
Andrew Lee Potts Andrew-Lee Potts (born 29 October 1979) is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as the quirky Connor Temple on ITV's British science fiction programme '' Primeval'' and Space's Canadian spinoff '' Primeval: New World'' ...
as Eugene E. Jackson * Dave Power as Rudolph R. Dittrich *
Luke Roberts Luke Justin Roberts (born 25 January 1977) is a sports director and former Australian racing cyclist specialising in both track cycling and road bicycle racing. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he resides both in Adelaide and in Cologne, ...
as Herbert J. Suerth * Iain Robertson as George Smith * Toby Ross Bryant as Medic Paul Jones *
Bart Ruspoli Bartolomeo Sebastian "Bart" Ruspoli (born 8 November 1976 in London) is an Italian and English actor. Career Bart Ruspoli trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where he graduated in 1998. He is also the writer and Producer of ...
as Private
Edward Tipper Edward Joseph Tipper Jr. (3 August 1921 – 1 February 2017) was an enlisted man in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army during World War II. Tipper was one of t ...
* Alex Sagba as Francis J. Mellet * Simon Schatzberger as Private First Class Joseph Lesniewski * Andrew Scott as Private John "Cowboy" Hall *
Graham Seed Graham Seed (born 12 July 1950, in London) is an English actor. Education Seed was educated at Charterhouse School, an independent boarding school in the market town of Godalming in Surrey, followed by RADA in London. Career Seed is best kn ...
as Brigadier General Red Beret * Adam Sims as John S. Zielinski, Jr. * Anatole Taubman as Otto Herzfeld * Stephen Walters as Technician Fifth Grade John "Jack" McGrath, Sr. * Paul Williams as Private Jack Olsen * Jonathan Young as Lieutenant John W. Kelley


Production

The series was developed chiefly by
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and Erik Jendresen, who spent months detailing the plot outline and individual episodes. Steven Spielberg served as "the final eye" and used ''
Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depicti ...
'', the film on which he and Hanks had collaborated, to inform the series, although Jendresen served as showrunner. Accounts of Easy Company veterans, such as
Donald Malarkey Donald George Malarkey (July 31, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Mala ...
, were incorporated into production to add historic detail.


Budget and promotion

''Band of Brothers'' was at the time the most expensive TV miniseries to have been made by any network. Its budget was about $125 million, or an average of $12.5 million per episode. An additional $15 million was allocated for a promotional campaign, which included screenings for World War II veterans. One was held at
Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...
, Normandy, where U.S. troops had landed on June 6, 1944. On June 7, 2001, 47 Easy Company veterans were flown to Paris and then traveled by chartered train to the site, where the series premiered. Also sponsoring was Chrysler, as its Jeeps were used in the series. Chrysler spent $5 million to $15 million on its advertising campaign, using footage from ''Band of Brothers''. Each of the spots was reviewed and approved by the co-executive producers Hanks and Spielberg. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
paid £7 million ($10.1 million) as co-production partner, the most it had ever paid for a bought-in program, and screened it on BBC Two. Originally, it was to have aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
but was moved to allow an "uninterrupted ten-week run", with the BBC denying that this was because the series was not sufficiently mainstream. Negotiations were monitored by British Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, who spoke personally to Spielberg.


Location

The series was shot over eight to ten months on Ellenbrooke Fields, at
Hatfield Aerodrome Hatfield Aerodrome was a private airfield and aircraft factory located in the English town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire from 1930 until its closure and redevelopment in the 1990s. Early history Geoffrey de Havilland, pioneering aircraft desi ...
in Hertfordshire, England. Various sets, including replicas of European towns, were built. This location had also been used to shoot the film ''
Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depicti ...
''. Replicas were constructed on the large open field to represent twelve different towns, among them
Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogn ...
, Belgium; Eindhoven, Netherlands; and
Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was mer ...
, France. North Weald Airfield in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
was also used for location shots depicting the take-off sequences before the D-Day
Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
landings. The village of
Hambleden Hambleden is a small village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. The village is around west of Marlow, and around north-east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The civil parish also includes the villages of Fingest and ...
, in Buckinghamshire, England, was used as a location extensively in the early episodes to depict the company's training in England, as well as in later scenes. The scenes set in Germany and Austria were shot in Switzerland, in and near the village of Brienz in the
Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...
, and at the nearby Hotel Giessbach.


Historical accuracy

To preserve historical accuracy, the writers conducted additional research. One source was the memoir of Easy Company soldier David Kenyon Webster, ''Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich'' (1994). This was published by LSU Press, following renewed interest in World War II and more than 30 years after his death in a boating accident. In ''Band of Brothers'' Ambrose quoted liberally from Webster's unpublished diary entries, with permission from his estate. The production team consulted Dale Dye, a retired
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
captain and consultant on ''Saving Private Ryan'', as well as with most of the surviving Easy Company veterans, including Richard Winters, Bill Guarnere, Frank Perconte, Ed Heffron, and Amos Taylor. Dye (who portrays Colonel
Robert Sink Robert Frederick Sink (April 3, 1905 – December 13, 1965) was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II and the Korean War, though he was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the ...
) instructed the actors in a 10-day boot camp. The production aimed for accuracy in the detail of weapons and costumes. Simon Atherton, the weapons master, corresponded with veterans to match weapons to scenes, and assistant costume designer Joe Hobbs used photos and veteran accounts. Most actors had contact with the individuals they were to portray before filming, often by telephone. Several veterans came to the production site. Hanks acknowledged that alterations were needed to create the series: "We've made history fit onto our screens. We had to condense down a vast number of characters, fold other people's experiences into 10 or 15 people, have people saying and doing things others said or did. We had people take off their helmets to identify them, when they would never have done so in combat. But I still think it is three or four times more accurate than most films like this." As a final accuracy check, the veterans saw previews of the series and approved the episodes before they were aired. Shortly after the premiere of the series, Tom Hanks asked Major Winters what he thought of ''Band of Brothers''. The major responded, "I wish that it would have been more authentic. I was hoping for an 80 percent solution." Hanks responded, "Look, Major, this is Hollywood. At the end of the day we will be hailed as geniuses if we get this 12 percent right. We are going to shoot for 17 percent." left, 150px, 506th PIR Unit emblem Liberation of one of the Kaufering subcamps of Dachau was depicted in episode 9 ("
Why We Fight ''Why We Fight'' is a series of seven propaganda films produced by the US Department of War from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. It was originally written for American soldiers to help them understand why the United States was involved in the ...
"); however, the 101st Airborne Division arrived at Kaufering Lager IV subcamp on the day after it was discovered by the 134th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion of the 12th Armored Division, on April 27, 1945. German historian and
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
researcher Anton Posset worked with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as a consultant, providing photographs of the liberators and documentation of the survivor's reports he had collected over the years. The camp was reconstructed in England for the miniseries. It is uncertain which Allied unit was first to reach the ''
Kehlsteinhaus The (known in English as the Eagle's Nest) is a Nazi-constructed building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein, a rocky outcrop that rises above Obersalzberg near the southeast German town of Berchtesgaden. It was used exclusively by mem ...
''; several claim the honor, compounded by confusion with the town of Berchtesgaden, which was taken on May 4 by forward elements of the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division. Reputedly members of the 7th went as far as the elevator to the ''Kehlsteinhaus'', with at least one individual claiming he and a partner continued on to the top. However, the
101st Airborne The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
maintains it was first both to Berchtesgaden and the Kehlsteinhaus. Also, elements of the French 2nd Armored Division, Laurent Touyeras, Georges Buis and Paul Répiton-Préneuf, were present on the night of May 4 to 5, and took several photographs before leaving on May 10 at the request of US command, and this is supported by testimonies of the Spanish soldiers who went along with them. Major Dick Winters, who commanded the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. 506th PIR in May 1945, stated that they entered Berchtesgaden shortly after noon on May 5. He challenged competing claims stating, "If the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division was first in Berchtesgaden, just where did they go? Berchtesgaden is a relatively small community. I walked into the Berchtesgaden Hof with Lieutenant Welsh and saw nobody other than some servants. Goering's Officers' Club and wine cellar certainly would have caught the attention of a French soldier from LeClerc's 2nd Armored Division, or a rifleman from the U.S. 3rd Division. I find it hard to imagine, if the 3rd Division was there first, why they left those beautiful Mercedes staff cars untouched for our men."


Reception


Critical reception

''Band of Brothers'' has a 97% approval rating with an average score of 8.80/10 based on 32 reviews from
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. The website's critics consensus is, "''Band of Brothers'' offers a visceral, intense look at the horrors of war – and the sacrifices of the millions of ordinary people who served." While on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average, the miniseries received a score of 87 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
'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". Caryn James of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' 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. Robert Bianco of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' 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. Philip French of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 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 Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...
'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''." 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."
Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' 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." ''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").


Ratings

''Band of Brothers'' September 9, 2001 premiere drew 10 million viewers. Two days later, the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
occurred, and HBO immediately ceased its marketing campaign. Hence, while the second episode drew 7.2 million viewers, the last episode received 5.1 million viewers, the smallest audience.


Awards and nominations

The series was nominated for twenty Primetime Emmy Awards, and won seven, including Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television, American Film Institute Award for TV Movie or Miniseries of the Year,
Producers Guild of America Award The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...
for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television, and the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials. The show was also selected for a Peabody Award for ' ... relying on both history and memory to create a new tribute to those who fought to preserve liberty.' 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".


Primetime Emmy Awards


Golden Globe Awards


Home media

The miniseries was released on VHS and
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
box sets on November 5, 2002. The DVD set has five discs containing all ten episodes, and a bonus disc with the behind-the-scenes documentary ''We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company'' and the video diary of actor
Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Peter Gibbons in the 1999 film ''Office Space'' and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the 2001 miniseries '' Band of Brothers.'' Livingston's other roles include ...
, who played Lewis Nixon. A collector's edition of the box set was also released, containing the same discs in a tin case instead of cardboard. , ''Band of Brothers'' was one of the best-selling TV DVD sets, having sold about $250 million worth. The series was released as an exclusive
HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the ...
TV series in Japan in 2007. With the demise of the format, they went out of production. A Blu-ray Disc version of ''Band of Brothers'' was released on November 11, 2008, and has become a Blu-ray Disc top seller.


See also

* '' The Pacific'' * ''
Masters of the Air ''Masters of the Air'' is an upcoming American war drama miniseries based on the actions of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It is being produced by Playtone, Parliament of Owls, Amblin Television ...
'' * '' Battleground'', a 1949 film that followed a company of the
327th Glider Infantry Regiment The 327th Infantry Regiment (Bastogne Bulldogs) is an infantry regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) of the United States Army. During World War II, the 327th was a glider-borne regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. It foug ...
, 101st Airborne Division during the
siege of Bastogne The siege of Bastogne () was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to r ...
.


Notes


References

;Bibliography *


Further reading

A number of books give further insight into Easy Company: * Part travelogue, part historical perspective. * Profiles of deceased Easy Company men by their family members. * * Oral history featuring 20 surviving members of Easy Company. * Recounts Compton's career as an attorney and prosecutor of
Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ar, سرحان بشارة سرحان ''Sirḥān Bišāra Sirḥān'', born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian Jordanian man who was convicted for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy, a United States Sena ...
. * * * * A limited edition
coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and from which it can serve to inspire convers ...
. * Published posthumously. * A collection of Guth's war time pictures and memoirs. *


External links

* * * *
Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron discuss their experience as part of the Band of Brothers


(Bando is a prolific historian of the 101st Airborne)

This film and the photos, made by the U.S. Army, served as a template for Part 9 ''Band of Brothers''. These documents were given to the team of director and producer Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks by the European Holocaust Memorial (Landsberg). {{DEFAULTSORT:Band Of Brothers (Tv Miniseries) 101st Airborne Division 2000s American television miniseries 2001 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings American action television series American biographical series BBC television dramas Best Miniseries or Television Movie Golden Globe winners English-language television shows HBO original programming American military television series Peabody Award-winning television programs Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries winners Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Television series based on actual events Television series by Home Box Office Television series by DreamWorks Television Television shows based on non-fiction books World War II television drama series Television series by Playtone Fiction about the United States Army Television series set in 1944 Television series set in 1945 Television series about the United States Army