We watched the first two episodes of Band of Brothers last night and I think this is one not to be missed. I am not one of those currently caught up in the ‘Great Generation’ crap (perhaps because my dad was a couple of years too young to fight) but I do appreciate good storytelling, good acting, and well-paced direction which this mini-series certainly has. Band tells the story of Easy Company, E Company of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, which saw WWII action from jumping in behind the German lines the night before D-Day through the end, the capture of Hilter’s bunker at Berchtesgarden.
Truly outstanding was the beginning scene of episode two showing the Company being flown to France and the parachute drops. While the Germans reportedly were taken by surprise on both timing and location, their troops did respond quickly and with lethal force, which Band shows unflinchingly. Highly reminiscent of the opening beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan, which is not too surprising given that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, along with author Stephen Ambrose, were the driving forces behind both efforts; in fact, in this episode we see the other side of the landing when Easy Company attacks a German position that is pounding the beach.
Since HBO generally repeats episodes of its series several times during the week, I encourage you to catch this if you missed it.
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