Band of Brothers (2001) – Encore Review

“That night, I thanked God for seeing me through that day of days and prayed I would make it through D plus 1. I also promised that if some way I could get home again, I would find a nice peaceful town and spend the rest of my life in peace. ” – Richard Winters

Number of Times Seen –Between 5-10 times (2001 on TV, DVD, 1-3 Jun 2015 and 1-3 Aug 2017)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – Miniseries depicting the journey of a company of soldiers during World War II from their basic training until they reached Hitler’s base of operations in Austria three years later.

My Take on it – This is one of my personal favorite movies because it is so well made and it’s depiction of the bonds of friendship during battle are so amazing to watch.

I know many people don’t count miniseries the same way as a movie, but I do because its basically just a longer movie that has the time to develop characters and the stories so much better.

The fact that this film takes the time to develop so many of the characters despite knowing that not all will be alive by the end and none will be unscathed by the end is great because this is not just a story about a war but the men who lived and died while fighting it.

Knowing that this is based on fact rather than fiction helps make it even more thrilling to watch as the story moves along.

Each segment is prefaced with a short bout of interviews with the real men depicted here and listening to them is so inspiring because we learn so much about how these battles and friendships affected them even 55 years after the events.

The fact that this film was made over 16 years ago makes it even more emotional watching these interviews because most of the men are no longer with us anymore.

The cast is superb, but Damien Lewis is by far the best here which obviously helped him make a name for himself in future films and TV shows.

Many of the then unfamiliar faces are now quite well known actors and its a lot of fun trying to spot some of them.

The realistic fashion this film is shot in really makes us feel as iof we are right there with them.

This is probably the best realistic depiction of war ever filmed even surpassing the amazing Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Really love the way that each segments tells the point if view of different characters in the unit which allows us to see varied perspectives of the events, stories and bonds portrayed.

I’m aware that the IMDB ranking means very little in the overall scheme of things but this film has a 9.5/10 ranking overall that includes a whopping 69.1% of the 264,252 (as of today 5/8/17) IMDB users who voted giving it a 10/10. By comparison, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (#1 film ranked on IMDB) has a 57.1% 10/10 of its 1,839,540 votes.

The theme music composed by Michael Kamen is quite inspirational and I am always moved listening to it. I can listen to this music over and over.

Check it out here:

Short version

Long Version

This is a movie that I can never get tired of watching and despite its length is such an amazing experience.

It’s easily my top film of 2001.

If I ever chose to make a top ten list of my all time favorite movies, it wouldn’t surprise me to see that this is quite high on that list.

If for some reason you’ve never seen this, I highly suggest that you check it out!

Bottom Line – One of the best movies/mini-series ever made because it takes the time to develop the characters eventhough we never really know who will make it all the way until the end of the story. The fact that this is based on true events helps make it even more thrilling to watch. The cast is superb with the unknown Damien Lewis making a name for himself as a lead actor with this film.  The mini-interviews opening each segments works so well to get us into the mood for the story because it’s so inspiring hearing the real men portrayed in this film tell their true feelings about the experiences that they endured during World War II. The realism of this film is excellent and it easily surpasses every other movie in its depiction of the reality of war and the bonds formed by soldiers who live through these ordeals together.  Loved the way each chapter focused on different characters to give us a more varied perspective on the men and the stories of their service.  The music by Michael Kamen is spectacular and I love listening to it over and over.  I never can get bored of watching this and despite its length, I can watch it over and over without ever getting tired or bored by everything they are trying to show us.  One of my favorites movies and would likely make my top ten. Highly Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The ten-part miniseries featured five hundred speaking roles. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (no change from original review)

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