Product Description
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Band of Brothers- Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose,
the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of
Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S.
Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as
well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers
chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary
bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite company
parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the
Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at
Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent
casualties, and whose lives became legend.
The Pacific- The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that
delivers a realistic portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen
through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert
Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary
experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from
the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of
Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain firests of Cape
Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up
the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields
of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J
Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the
perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the
limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a
relentless enemy unlike any encountered before.
He Has Seen War- is an exclusive documentary that examines the
postwar lives of veterans of both Band of Brothers and The
Pacific. From their initial steps at reintegrating into civilian
life to the lasting impact the war had on each of their lives, He
Has Seen War features Easy Company and 1st Marine Division
veterans and their families relaying their own unique stories.
Complemented by renowned historian and author Donald L. Miller as
well as rarely seen archival and documentary footage, He Has Seen
War captures the struggle and ultimate triumph of a generation
who, after helping rescue the world from unprecedented calamity,
recled their lives and re-forged a country.
.com
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Band of Brothers- An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and
harrowing look at combat during World War II, Band of Brothers
follows a company of airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot
camp through the end of the war. The brutality of training takes
the audience by increments to the even greater brutality of the
war; Easy Company took part in some of the most difficult
battles, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed
invasion of Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the
liberation of a concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's
Eagle's Nest. But what makes these episodes work is not their
historical sweep but their emphasis on riveting details (such as
the rattle of a plane as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a
flower in the buttonhole of a German soldier) and procedures
(from tactics to the workings of bureaucratic
hierarchies). The of this miniseries (10 episodes, plus an
actual documentary filled with interviews with surviving
veterans) allows not only a thoroughness impossible in a two-hour
movie, but also captures the wide range of responses to the
stress and trauma of war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion,
and all-encompassing confusion. The result is a realism that
makes both simplistic judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm
impossible; the things these soldiers had to do are both terrible
and understandable, and the psychological price they paid is made
clear. The writing, directing, and acting are superb throughout.
The cast is largely unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a
whole unit, much like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron
Livingston play the central roles of two officers with grit and
intelligence. Band of Brothers turns a vast historical event into
a series of potent personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing
and affecting accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer
The Pacific- Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have long since shown
that they can spin a good World War II yarn. But while their
previous collaborations (Saving Private Ryan, which they starred
in and directed, respectively, and Band of Brothers, for which
they were part of the producing team) were set in Europe, The
Pacific is their first look at the conflict with the Japanese on
the other side of the world--and the two executive producers,
along with an outstanding cast, an able crew, and a slew of
top-notch writers and directors, have done a superb job. In
making a 10-episode HBO miniseries (on five discs, with a sixth
containing bonus material) that combines real events and
participants with other dramatic elements newly created for the
project, the filmmakers took a personal, experiential approach,
focusing in particular on three marines, all of them real
individuals: Robert Leckie (played by James Badge Dale), an
aspiring writer who sees his first action at Guadalcanal, falls
in love while on leave in Australia, and later suffers serious
war wounds; John Balisone (Jon Seda), who performs heroically at
Guadalcanal, earns a Medal of Honor, and is then sent home to
help sell war bonds, only to return to action at Iwo Jima; and
Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello), who enlists later than the
others, but not too late to witness and take part in some
unimaginable horrors (books written by Sledge and Leckie about
their experiences were used as source material for the
miniseries). Of course, no one who's never been in combat can
understand what it's really like, but through these three, and
other men as well, we get some idea of the debilitating effects
of war, both physical and psychological, and how those who
managed to survive it might cope. As Leckie would write, "There
are things men can do to one another that are sobering to the
soul. It is one thing to reconcile these things with God, but
another to square them with yourself." A number of episodes
depict the characters at home, on leave, or otherwise away from
the field of battle, but the greatest impact comes from the
extraordinarily powerful fighting scenes in which the
marines--exhausted, half-starving, riddled with malaria, and
enduring the appalling conditions (from extreme heat to
relentless, torrential downpours) of an impenetrable, unforgiving
jungle--battle an implacable, fanatical foe who would much rather
die than surrender or be taken prisoner. A sequence in Part Five,
when we're with Sledge as he lands at Peleliu for his first real
action, is especially gripping; battles at night and in the rain
at Cape Gloucester in Part Four, on Iwo Jima in Part Eight, and
on Okinawa in Part Nine are also wrenching, but really, all the
fighting sequences manage to convey the sheer, visceral terror
the men experienced. To the filmmakers' credit, a number of real
WWII veterans are on hand to share their memories, both in a
49-minute featurette on disc 6 and during the short introductions
to each episode narrated by Hanks. Other extras include a
22-minute "making of" piece and a brief but interesting
description of the cultural differences that made the conflict
between the Japanese and the Americans even more brutal than it
might have been. The menus are easily navigable, offering a
synopsis of each episode. --Sam Graham
