Band of Brothers 

The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division, and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord, through V-J Day.

Stars:

Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston

Top Rated TV #3 | Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 33 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Scott Grimes	...	Donald G. Malarkey 10 episodes, 2001
Damian Lewis	...	Richard D. Winters 10 episodes, 2001
Ron Livingston	...	Lewis Nixon 10 episodes, 2001
Shane Taylor	...	Eugene G. Roe 10 episodes, 2001
Donnie Wahlberg	...	C. Carwood Lipton 10 episodes, 2001
Peter Youngblood Hills	...	Darrell C. (Shifty) Powers 10 episodes, 2001
Matthew Leitch	...	Floyd M. (Tab) Talbert 10 episodes, 2001
Rod Strohl	...	Himself 10 episodes, 2001
Nicholas Aaron	...	Robert E. (Popeye) Wynn 9 episodes, 2001
Philip Barantini	...	Wayne A. (Skinny) Sisk 9 episodes, 2001
Michael Cudlitz	...	Denver (Bull) Randleman 9 episodes, 2001
Dexter Fletcher	...	John W. Martin 9 episodes, 2001
Rick Gomez	...	George Luz 9 episodes, 2001
James Madio	...	Frank J. Perconte 9 episodes, 2001
Ross McCall	...	Joseph D. Liebgott 9 episodes, 2001
Doug Allen	...	Alton M. More 8 episodes, 2001
George Calil	...	James H. (Mo) Alley Jr. 8 episodes, 2001
Nolan Hemmings	...	Charles E. (Chuck) Grant 8 episodes, 2001
Robin Laing	...	Edward J. (Babe) Heffron 8 episodes, 2001
Neal McDonough	...	Lynn D. (Buck) Compton 8 episodes, 2001
Rick Warden	...	Harry F. Welsh 8 episodes, 2001
Dale Dye	...	Col. Robert F. Sink 7 episodes, 2001
Michael Fassbender	...	Burton P. (Pat) Christenson 7 episodes, 2001
Frank John Hughes	...	William J. Guarnere 7 episodes, 2001
Tim Matthews	...	Alex M. Penkala Jr. 7 episodes, 2001
Rene L. Moreno	...	Joseph Ramirez 7 episodes, 2001
Douglas Spain	...	Antonio C. Garcia 7 episodes, 2001
Richard Speight Jr.	...	Warren H. (Skip) Muck 7 episodes, 2001
Kirk Acevedo	...	Joseph D. Toye 6 episodes, 2001
Eion Bailey	...	David Kenyon Webster 6 episodes, 2001
Craig Heaney	...	Roy W. Cobb 6 episodes, 2001
Peter McCabe	...	Donald B. Hoobler 6 episodes, 2001
Matthew Settle	...	Ronald C. Speirs 6 episodes, 2001
Ben Caplan	...	Walter S. (Smokey) Gordon Jr. 5 episodes, 2001
Mark Huberman	...	Lester Hashey 5 episodes, 2001
Phil McKee	...	Maj. Robert L. Strayer 5 episodes, 2001

Storyline

This is the story of "E" Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from their initial training starting in 1942 to the end of World War II. They parachuted behind enemy lines in the early hours of D-Day in support of the landings at Utah beach, participated in the liberation of Carentan and again parachuted into action during Operation Market Garden. They also liberated a concentration camp and were the first to enter Hitler's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden. A fascinating tale of comradeship that is, in the end, a tale of ordinary men who did extraordinary things.

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Plot Keywords:

airborne troops | american abroad | u.s. soldier | american soldier | 20th century | 

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Taglines:

They depended on each other. And the world depended on them.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

HBO Official Facebook

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Dutch French German Lithuanian

Release Date:

9 September 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Band of Brothers

Filming Locations:

Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, DreamWorks Television, HBO Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

594 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the series, Joe Liebgott (Ross McCall) states that he wants to go home after the war and run a taxi service. In real-life, Joe Liebgott was a barber by trade. This is reflected in the first episode's opening montage of the paratroopers getting ready for the D-Day jump, where Liebgott can be briefly seen shaving another soldier's head.

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Goofs

When the 101st Airborne was sent into Belgium just before the Battle of the Bulge they were ordered to remove the Screaming Eagle patch from their uniforms, so the Germans would not know they were facing an elite division. It was only after the battle when they moved into Hagenau that they were able to wear the patches again.

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Quotes

Nixon: Division has decided to pluck one officer from each regiment who served in the heroic defense of Bastogne and send them back to the States on a thirty day furlough... get him out banging the drum for the war bonds, that kind of thing. Turns out I've been plucked.
Richard Winters: Hey, that's fantastic, Lew. Good for you.
Nixon: Thank you.
Richard Winters: But how does your leaving help me?
Nixon: It doesn't. I'm not going. I've already seen the States, I grew up there. That's why I came to Europe. I just wish they told me a war was going on....

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Alternate Versions

The series was actually a BBC/HBO co-production (with HBO contributing the majority of the cash). When the series aired in the UK, the title sequence began "HBO and the BBC present...". The DVD versions, and presumably all other international versions, begin "HBO presents..."

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Mother's Day Special (2001)

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Soundtracks

Band Of Brothers (Suite One)
(uncredited)
Composed by Michael Kamen
Performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra

User Reviews

Magnificent, absolutely magnificent

BAND OF BROTHERS

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

(10 episodes)

The trials and tribulations of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, from the D-Day landings in Normandy to their capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest in Austria at the end of World War II.

Co-produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, HBO's epic 10-part miniseries (based on a terrific bestselling book by the late Stephen E. Ambrose) was the most expensive TV undertaking of its day, costing a massive $120 million to produce. And, as the old saying goes, every penny is up there on the screen. Borne from the success of Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) - with which it shares a similar dramatic and visual style - BAND OF BROTHERS' recreation of a glorious (and hard-won) chapter in American history assumed an even greater patriotic significance during its initial US broadcast, when it coincided with the horrific events of September 2001. Written with economy and grace, and directed with emotional intensity by a series of directors (including Phil Alden Robinson, Richard Loncraine and Hanks himself) whose combined efforts achieve a genuine aesthetic uniformity, the movie is a masterpiece of storytelling and historical documentation. Punctuated by horrific battle sequences, in which the camera is placed within mere inches of the death and destruction, the film transcends its educational remit by focusing intently on the human cost of war. Almost every episode opens with testimony from surviving members of Easy Company (none of whom are identified until the end of the series), which further strengthens the emphasis which BAND OF BROTHERS - book and film - places on the bonds which drew them together in times of conflict. And, because it's a true story, there's no telling from one episode to the next which of the 'characters' will live or die, which makes it all the more potent and visceral.

The entire production represents quality writ large: Beautifully filmed on various European locations (including the UK and Austria), the movie is noble without being the least bit pompous or austere, and it manages to humanize a large cast of essential characters with small touches of humanity and humor, all of which serves to heighten the sense of terror as they descend into the maelstrom of conflict. The first - and longest - episode is deceptively staid, featuring David Schwimmer (a long way from TV's "Friends") as a cowardly, bullying commanding officer whose tyrannical methods nevertheless shaped Easy Company into a fighting force which eventually cut a swathe through the heart of occupied Europe. Brit actor Damian Lewis takes the spotlight thereafter as Easy Company's most respected platoon leader, with Ron Livingston as his right hand man. Other standout performances in a flawless cast include Matthew Settle as battle-hardened platoon leader Ronald Speirs whose wartime career was distinguished by numerous acts of bravery (fuelled by a unique - if morbid - personal philosophy), Shane Taylor as company medic Eugene Roe, Neal McDonough as 2nd lieutenant 'Buck' Compton (laid low by his horrific combat experiences), and Donnie Wahlberg as 1st sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, who maintained the morale of his fellow soldiers, even when the odds seemed stacked against them. Every episode has its merits, but stand-outs include David Leland's 'Bastogne' (ep. 6), which recounts the horrendous circumstances surrounding Easy Company's involvement in the Battle of the Bulge, and David Frankel's 'Why We Fight' (ep. 9), in which the full horror of the Nazi regime is uncovered in a German forest. Additionally, the closing moments of chapter 10 ('Points', directed by Mikael Salomon) are truly heartbreaking.

It's doubtful that a more fitting tribute to the men of Easy Company could have been devised than BAND OF BROTHERS, a truly remarkable film in every conceivable way. By turns engrossing, provocative and *deeply* moving, it stands as a testament to those who fought and died for our freedoms, almost a lifetime ago.