Band Of Brothers Was Just That Good

source

The problem for any war film or series that gets produced today is they are going to be compared against the "Band Of Brothers" series and nothing has come close. Dunkirk which could have been so good was literally a dud and looked like a cheap budget "B" grade film in comparison. Hacksaw Ridge is probably the closest we have seen since Band Of Brothers with regard to storylines and quality.

source

This week we saw the final episode of Masters of The Air released and if I had to sum up the entire series I would say it was very disappointing as I expected far more. The story line offered so much being based on the United States 8th Airforce during the Second World War.

I think the problem is every war series gets judged against Band Of Brothers because it is the same producers involved being Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. This is bound to happen because they set the bar so high with that series. Being frank fully honest nothing will come close and you always hope something does. The Pacific which was the first series after Band Of Brothers I watched once and have never watched again compared to Band Of Brothers which I have seen many times over and over. This maybe a little unfair because the Band Of Brothers story line cannot be compared to this as they were involved in every major battle during the war in Europe.

Easy Company which the series Band of Brothers was based on only lost 49 men out of 360. The 8th Airforce on the other hand lost 75% of their crews either being killed, injured or captured and making it through the war was an achievement on it's own. They are two different story lines with one group basically being massacred and there can never be a feel good factor under that type of story line.

I don't think you can do this tragic story justice over 9 episodes and I think it is down to the difference in the authors of the books these two different series are based on. The producers also used the same author for the series Pacific which was also disappointing and possibly why the detail in story line and characters are not as thorough.

Another important fact we cannot forget the Band Of Brothers series was filmed when surviving members of Easy Company were still alive which helped make the accuracy of the story adding a personal touch. Masters Of The Air did not have this luxury with the main characters the story was based on all having passed away. The attention to detail was just off and you would never have guessed the storyline was based on real people.

Masters Of The Air cost a reported $250 million to produce so they had a decent budget and was comparable with Band Of Brothers which cost $125 million back in 2000 and with inflation would cost $240 million today. Today you have AI technology which does help make things more realistic and you don't have to be so creative compared to what special effects teams had to create in the past.

I think this will be the final war series Spielberg and Hanks do together because there is not much left unless they do a naval series. What is important is that every series is not just a series, but it pays tribute to the men who fought in the Second World War by highlighting personal experiences of heroism. The characters in every series could have been a story on their own and that is what is important because this all happened 80 years ago and many people today are ignorant to what took place.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha



0
0
0.000
19 comments
avatar

and here Im writing my post about episode 9 with a similar note, Master of The Air was just too short, I dont understand WHY mini series are popular now days specially about WWII, cant have a mini series about WWII any story is just too long for 10 episode, I dont feel it was bad but for sure so much content for so few episodes, specially the Tuskegee imagine a season full of P-51 air battles 🤬😱

avatar

Yes they were basically a non event and it felt like they had to include the Tuskegee part. They definitely didn't make the most of this entire story of the 8th Airforce and that is what I found disappointing.

avatar

I liked Dunkirk although I understand your picky point of view after seeing such well-crafted work in Band of Brothers. I didn't get to see it because it seemed too cruel at the time, after seeing Saving Private Ryan I imagined it could be that cruel, but I'll give it a chance after reading you.

I recommend watching 1917. It's different and very well done. I hope you like it. Cheers!

avatar

I watched 1917, but again like Dunkirk it was more about the artistic license the producer wanted to portray and just cannot rank it as a proper war film due to the fighting scenes being a non event. If you thought Saving Private Ryan was cruel then skip Band of Brothers.

avatar

I've never seen Band of Brothers, but my wife and I have been enjoying Masters of the Air. We still have a few more episodes to go though.

avatar

Band Of Brothers is that good and have watched it regularly every 6 months or so and even had the pleasure of visiting the 101's museum in Normandy. Spielberg donated the Dakota plane simulator used in the series and you get to ride in it which is quite awesome.

avatar

Oh wow, that sounds really cool. I will have to try to watch it sometime. I don't think I want to sign up for HBO though.

avatar

I stream it for free on one of the many tv apps like cyberflix and cinema.

avatar

That's seems interesting wanna watch it soon after my exams

avatar

We learn lessons from such movies. I haven't seen this movie yet but I'm trying to watch it in the next free time and then tell you how I like it.

avatar

I finally watched Band of Brothers for the first time a few months ago. It was awesome!! Then I watched The Pacific after, haha.

avatar

Band Of Brothers is just that good because of the story line having been involved in every major battle in Europe. Have you seen Hacksaw Ridge which is also very good and is also a true story.

avatar

Agreed!! Yes Hacksaw Ridge was great too!!

avatar

I was really excited to see this was released as well but was underwhelmed too. Band of Brothers and even "The Pacific" set the bar really high. It's still better than most series out there though.

avatar

I have seen quite a few people say it was too rushed and never gave you the chance to even know the characters. I was glad hey made he series because the young generation have no idea. Just visiting Omaha Beach is moving enough and everyone should at least experience this once to actually understand the magnitude of lives lost.

avatar

I hadn't thought about it in that capacity but I think you have a good point. It did seem a bit rushed and at the end of it all I didn't really remember who many of the characters were because there was so many of them.