Band of Brothers is a ten-part, 11-hour television World War II miniseries, originally produced
and broadcast in 2001, based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 book of the same
title.
The executive producers were Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who had collaborated on the
1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan.
The episodes first aired in 2001 on HBO.
They are still run frequently on various TV networks around the world.
The series dramatizes the history of "Easy" Company from jump training in the U.S. through
its participation in major actions in Europe, and up until Japan's capitulation and war's
end.
The events portrayed are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy
Company veterans.
The TV series took literary license, adapting the recorded history for the purposes of dramatic
effect and series structure.
All of the characters portrayed are based on members of Easy Company.
Some of the men were recorded in contemporary interviews, which viewers see as preludes
to each episode.
The men's identities are not revealed until the finale.
The title for the book and the series comes from the famous St. Crispin's Day Speech as
written by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V, for delivery by Henry V of England
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 in the TV series' final episode.
Plot
Band of Brothers is a dramatized account of "Easy Company", assigned to the United States
Army's 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
Over the course of ten episodes, the series details the company's exploits during the
war.
Starting with jump training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, Band of Brothers follows the unit
through the American airborne landings in Normandy, the Siege of Bastogne, Operation
Market Garden, and on to the war's end.
It includes the U.S. taking of the Eagle's Nest in Germany and refers to the surrender
of Japan.
Major Richard Winters is the central character featured, shown working to accomplish the
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 actions during certain events.
As the series is based on historic events, the fates of the characters conform to the
persons they are drawn from.
Numerous characters die or sustain serious wounds, some of which lead to survivors' being
sent home; in other cases, soldiers recover under treatment in hospital and can rejoin
their comrades on the front lines.
Their experiences and the moral, mental, and physical hurdles they must overcome are central
to the story.
Production The series was developed chiefly by Tom Hanks
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, the film which
he and Hanks had collaborated on, to inform the series.
Accounts of Easy Company veterans, such as Donald Malarkey, have continued to be published
and were incorporated into production to add historic detail.
Budget and promotion
Band of Brothers was the most expensive television miniseries made by HBO or any other television
network when it was created.
This record was superseded by the series' 2010 sister show, The Pacific.
The budget for Band of Brothers was approximately $125 million, which comes to an average of
$12.5 million per episode.
An additional $15 million was allocated towards the promotional campaign, which included hosting
screenings for World War II veterans.
One of those screenings was held at Utah Beach, Normandy, where US troops landed on D-Day.
On June 7, 2001, 47 Easy Company veterans were flown to Paris and then travelled by
chartered train to the site, where the series premiered.
Also sponsoring the miniseries was Chrysler, as its Jeeps were used to great extent in
the series.
Chrysler spent $5 to $15 million on its advertising campaign, based on and using footage from
Band of Brothers.
Each of the spots was reviewed and approved by co-executive producers Hanks and Spielberg.
By then Chrysler was jointly owned by US and German manufacturers.
The BBC paid £7 million as co-production partner, the most it had ever paid for a bought-in
program, and screened it on the BBC Two channel.
It was originally to have aired on BBC One, but was moved to allow "an uninterrupted 10-week
run" with a denial that this was because it was not mainstream enough.
Negotiations were monitored by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who personally spoke
to co-executive producer Spielberg.
Location The series was shot over 8 to 10 months at
Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, England.
Various sets, including replicas of European towns, were built here.
This location had also been used to shoot the film Saving Private Ryan.
Replicas were constructed on the large open field to represent twelve different towns,
including Bastogne, Belgium; Eindhoven, Netherlands; and Carentan, France.
The village of Hambleden, in Buckinghamshire, England was used as a location extensively
in the early episodes to depict the site of 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, and at the nearby Hotel Giessbach.
Historical accuracy To preserve historical accuracy, the various
writers conducted additional research.
One source was the memoir of Easy Company soldier David Kenyon Webster.
Written after the war from the diary he kept, his memoir Parachute Infantry: An American
Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich was published by LSU Press
in 1994, following renewed interest in World War II and almost 40 years after Webster's
death in a boating accident.
The production team consulted with Dale Dye, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Captain and consultant
on Saving Private Ryan, as well as most of the surviving Easy Company veterans at the
time, such as Richard Winters, Bill Guarnere, Frank Perconte, Ed Heffron, and Amos Taylor.
Dye instructed the actors portraying soldiers in a 10-day boot camp.
The production worked for accuracy in details of weapons and costumes.
Simon Atherton, the weapons master, corresponded with veterans to match weapons to scenes,
and assistant costume designer Joe Hobbs extensively used photos and veteran accounts.
Most actors had contact before filming with the individuals they were to portray, often
by telephone.
Several of the veterans came to the production site.
Co-executive producer Tom Hanks acknowledged 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.
Some inaccuracies were reported.
For instance, Albert Blithe was incorrectly reported as dying in 1948.
Blithe lived to 1967, dying while on active duty in the Army.
Joseph Liebgott was ethnically Jewish, but he was a practising Roman Catholic.
Also a title card shows the date as 11 April 1945 when Capt.
Nixon advises a group of Easy Company that Hitler is dead.
Hitler didn't commit suicide until 30 April 1945.
Cast and characters Since Band of Brothers focuses entirely on
the exploits of "E" Company during World War II, the series features a large ensemble cast.
The show's main character is Lieutenant Richard Winters, played by Damian Lewis.
He leads the cast for most of the episodes and is the main subject of the episodes "Day
of Days", "Crossroads" and the final episode, "Points".
Tom Hanks, co-executive producer, said the production needed a central character to tie
the story together, and they believed that Damian Lewis was best for that role.
Ron Livingston portrays Lieutenant Lewis Nixon, Major Winters' best friend and frequent confidant
during the series.
The episode "Why We Fight" largely centers on him, dealing with his problems with alcoholism,
in particular.
Captain Ronald Speirs, played by Matthew Settle, leads the Company into the field in the series'
latter half and is the subject of rumors among the soldiers starting in the third episode,
"Carentan."
Appearing alongside Lewis and Livingston in all ten episodes are Donnie Wahlberg as Sergeant
Carwood Lipton, Scott Grimes as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey, Peter Youngblood
Hills as Staff Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers, Shane Taylor as Technician Fifth Grade Eugene
"Doc" Roe, and Matthew Leitch as Staff Sergeant Floyd Talbert.
The episode "The Breaking Point" features Lipton prominently and the importance he played
in maintaining the company's morale, while "Bastogne" features Doc Roe's experience as
a medic during the siege of Bastogne.
Appearing in nine episodes are Rick Gomez as Technician Fourth Grade George Luz, Michael
Cudlitz as Staff Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman, Nicholas Aaron as Private First Class Robert
"Popeye" Wynn, and James Madio as Technician Fourth Grade Frank Perconte.
Randleman was the subject of his own episode, "Replacements", which featured his escape
from a German-occupied village in the Netherlands.
Philip Barrantini as Private Wayne A. "Skinny" Sisk is uncredited in the opening sequence
but also appears in nine episodes.
Neal McDonough as First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton, Dexter Fletcher as Staff Sergeant
John "Johnny" Martin, Ross McCall as Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Liebgott appear in eight
episodes.
George Calil as Sergeant James "Moe" Alley Jr., Nolan Hemmings as Staff Sergeant Charles
E. Grant and Rick Warden as First Lieutenant Harry Welsh and Robin Laing as Private First
Class Edward "Babe" Heffron, although uncredited in the opening appear in eight episodes.
Stephen McCole portrayed First Lieutenant Frederick Heyliger, who took part in D-Day
and Operation Market Garden before being wounded by friendly fire.
Credited in the opening in seven episodes or fewer are:
Dale Dye as Colonel Robert F. Sink Michael Fassbender as Technical Sergeant Burton
"Pat" Christenson Frank John Hughes as Staff Sergeant William
"Wild Bill" Guarnere Tim Matthews as Private First Class Alex Penkala
Rene L. Moreno as Technician Fifth Grade Joseph Ramirez
Douglas Spain as Technician Fifth Grade Antonio C. Garcia
Richard Speight, Jr. as Sergeant Warren "Skip" Muck
Kirk Acevedo as Staff Sergeant Joseph Toye Eion Bailey as Private First Class David Kenyon
Webster Craig Heaney as Private Roy W. Cobb
Jamie Bamber as Second Lieutenant Jack E. Foley
Rocky Marshall as Corporal Earl 'One Lung' McClung
Peter O'Meara as First Lieutenant Norman Dike David Schwimmer as Captain Herbert Sobel
Marc Warren as Private Albert Blithe Stephen Graham as Sgt.
Myron "Mike" Ranney Colin Hanks as First Lieutenant Henry Jones
Tom Hardy as Private John Janovec Simon Pegg as First Sergeant William S. Evans
Andrew Scott as Private John "Cowboy" Hall Alex Sebga as Corporal Francis J. Mellet
Luke Griffin as Staff Sergeant Terrence 'Salty' Harris
James McAvoy as Private James W. Miller Jordan Frieda as Private Harold D. Webb
Reception Critical reception
Band of Brothers received critical acclaim.
CNN'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 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 noted the generation gap between most viewers and characters, suggesting this
was a significant hurdle.
Robert Bianco of USA Today said 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 that it was hard to identify with individual characters during crowded battle
scenes.
Tom Shales of The Washington Post said that though the series is "at times visually astonishing,"
it suffers from "disorganization, muddled thinking and a sense of redundancy."
Shales noted 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 kind of benchmark for WWII series.
The German series Generation War, for example, was characterized by critics as Band of Brüder.
Ratings The premiere of Band of Brothers on September
9, 2001, drew 10 million viewers.
Two days later, the September 11 attacks occurred, and HBO immediately ceased its marketing campaign.
The second episode drew 7.2 million viewers.
The last episode of the miniseries received 5.1 million viewers, the smallest audience.
Awards The series was nominated for 20 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 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.'
Home video releases All ten parts of the miniseries were released
in a DVD box set on November 5, 2002.
The set includes five discs containing all the 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, who played Lewis Nixon.
A collector's edition of the box set was also released, containing the same discs but held
in a tin case.
Band of Brothers is one of the best-selling TV DVD sets of all time, having sold about
$250 million.
The series was released as an exclusive HD DVD TV series in Japan in 2007.
With the demise of the format, they are currently 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, though many video enthusiasts contend that the HD DVD
version features superior visual quality due to the presence of digital noise reduction
on the Blu-ray release.
See also
List of Easy Company veterans Notes
Further reading A number of books have been published which
give further insight into Easy Company.
A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They
Left Us, by Marcus Brotherton.
Penguin.
Profiles of deceased Easy Company men by their family members.
Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's
Nest, by Stephen Ambrose.
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, by Major Richard Winters
and Colonel Cole Kingseed.
The first of Winters' memoirs.
Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, by Larry
Alexander.
The second of Winters' memoirs.
Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends, by William Guarnere and Edward Heffron with Robyn Post.
Call of Duty, by Lynn Compton with Marcus Brotherton.
Recounts Compton's career as an attorney and prosecutor of Sirhan Sirhan.
Easy Company, by Genesis Publications.
A limited edition coffee table book.
Easy Company Soldier, by Donald Malarkey with Bob Welch.
From Toccoa to the Eagle's Nest: Discoveries in the Bootsteps of the Band of Brothers,
by Dalton Einhorn.
In the Footsteps of the Band of Brothers: A Return to Easy Company's Battlefields with
Sgt.
Forrest Guth, by Larry Alexander.
Part travelogue, part historical perspective.
Parachute Infantry, by David Kenyon Webster.
Published posthumously in 1994.
Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter
from the Band of Brothers, by Marcus Brotherton.
The Way We Were, by Forrest Guth and Michel de Trez.
A collection of Guth's war time pictures and memoirs.
We Who Are Alive and Remain, by Marcus Brotherton.
Oral history featuring 20 surviving members of E Co.
External links Official website
Band of Brothers at AllMovie Band of Brothers at TV.com
Band of Brothers at the Internet Movie Database Rotten Tomatoes.com Band of Brothers reviews
Mark Bando's Band of Brothers pages Original film of the U.S. Army: liberation
of the concentration camp Kaufering IV, in April 1945: 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.
Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron discuss their experience as part of the Band of Brothers