Skull

Those that have seen the series, how good is it?
Is it better than SPR?

Hendrik

...lots of war movies are "better than SPR"...

...just mnsho, as always...

. . . . . .

Geofferson

I thought it was a very good series. It can be compared to SPR in its authenticity, but really shouldn't be. It is a 10-hour story and is quite powerful. If you're debating on whether or not to buy the box set, I say go for it. It's well worth the money, IMO.

Skull

When will the DVDtalk review of Band of Brothers be out?

shanester

so far so good I only saw the first part..the transfer and sound is excellent..The only bad part was seeing that dufus from friends David Schwimmer as Sgt Soble ( I think his name was)..He was badly miscasted IMO

purplechoe

I was very impressed. I got rid of cable last year, so I mist out on BOB. Sound and picture are, dare I say "perfect". I only watched 2 episodes so far but I imagine that it will only get better. I thought Schwimmer did a good job, although I thought he look a little to young for the part. Even though this series was produced by Hanks & "El Spilbergo", BOB is way better than Private Ryan. Than again I thought that We Were Soldiers was a terrible movie and highly praise The Thin Red Line.

JaxComet

Hit and miss.......Good overall story. Lots of nameless hard to keep track of characters.....

Skull

How's the action in the movie?

EskimoJoe

Schwimmer was not miscast. He played an ass, like he was cast to do. He was probably too big of a name, but if you see Stephen Ambrose's book (of the same name) they look EXACTLY alike. Same goes for Rob Livingston.

DusterAZ

I love BoB, I watched each episode 2-3 times as they aired on HBO (caught it during it's second running since I didn't have HBO during the first). There is something about the series, I can watch them several times, they never get old to me. And episodes I didn't like as much the first time around get better with each viewing. I think the cast is wonderful, of course it is hard to keep track of all the different characters, but you will be surprised when you know all their names when you get through with the series.

The other thing about BoB is that it made me so interested that I would go search for more background and history about the characters portrayed. This makes it more enjoyable with each viewing when you have learned a considerable amount of history behind each character.

I suggest viewing the talk forums on the official HBO BoB page and search the history if you crave very specific information on each episode before or after you watch it. These forums were extremely active during the initial airing.

The included documentary, "We Stand Alone Together", is wonderful although very tough to watch in parts, I couldn't hold back some of the tears.

This is the best TV I have ever seen and I like it better than any movie I have ever seen. It is not perfect, but as close as you can get.

minesh1

I saw the original broadcast on HBO, and in the beginning it is very difficult to keep track of all the various characters, because they are all very similar: young, white, uniformly dressed. As the series progresses you do learn who's who, which helps a lot. The action scenes are every bit as good as SPR, but not quite as graphic as the D-Day scene in SPR.

I wish I had taken time to learn more about the European war and the involvment of Easy Company, the Battle of the Bulge, etc., but all in all it is one of the best war related series I've ever seen. The fact that it's all true makes it even more powerful. I don't know if they include any documentary information in this package but that would be a wonderful addition for background knowledge.

I haven't seen the dvds so I can't comment on the quality of the actual package, but if you like WWII or just the "comrades in arms" concept get the set.

indycohiba

Movie A
Video A
Sound DTS/DD B+/B+
Packaging A+
Extras (Have not watched yet)

This is a fantastic set! The sound is the only thing that is not stellar. It is very good, but just not as dynamic or powerful as Saving Private Ryan DTS or other good DTS tracks I own, but by no means a disaapointment.

JimRochester

Am absolutely loving this set. Seen through episode 6 so far. No complaints A+ all the way.

thecrazydude

fantastic series. a must buy for any history or war fan. heck, a must buy for everyone!!

uteotw

A GREAT set and a must-own for me. I do not agree that it was "hit and miss." I'd say it was all hit.
Superb DVD packaging, great extras, good picture/sound.
You truly can't go wrong...

Edit:Hey--I just made Special Edition! Cool...

Skull

Anyone else having trouble keeping up with all the names in the episodes?

Spiderbite

I watched all of disc #6 last night. It has all the extras & I was impressed with all of them.

The 80 minute documentary "We Stand Alone Together" is top notch. I was fascinated from beginning to end. Hearing the stories straight from the men who lived it is jaw-dropping. It is refreshing hearing it from these men who lived it instead of historians who have only read about the war. To say these men are humble is an understatement.

Ron Livingston's Video diaries are hilarious and are a great addition to set. It is quite funny seeing these actors go thru a boot camp with Dale Dye screaming at them. Livingston was definitely the best person to do this to in my opinion. He has just the right amount of humor and reverence in the diaries.

The 30 minute "Making of BOB" was also excellent. It is definitely not the puff-piece behind the scenes crap you normally catch on HBO. Lots of behind the scenes footage and interviews that are not very repetitive with the previous extras.

The short footage given of the premiere is good and left me wanting more.

The promo spots for the different characters was interesting but I wished they had included a pic of the real person in each of those so you could put the real soldier with the actor.

And for those that have a hard time keeping up with characters...quit crying. Can you imagine the new guys coming in and out of units back then? I bet the soldiers themselves had trouble keeping up sometimes. Just watch the series over & over until you can keep up. It's worth it.

My wife's grandfather was on the beaches of Omaha on D-Day and though he does not talk about it a lot, it is truly awesome when he does discuss just a little. Quality productions like this should help all of us better appreciate what these men did and how they have given us the freedom to discuss such trivial things as extras on a dvd boxset.

djones6746

All I can say is WOW!!! Still have to finish the last three episodes but this is one hell of a show. I had originally planned on viewing this and selling on ebay but did not anticipate enjoying the story so much. Alot of attention to the details and realities which occurred in WWII...the documentary was absolutely excellent!!!! Have decided BOB is a keeper especially at the $55.00 I paid thru Amazon.ca. I would probably keep it even if I had paid a higher price.

seisui

The first time I watched BoB I had trouble keeping track who was who. But by the time they got to Bastogne, I pretty much got everyone down. Its a cumulative process. After I watched the end, I immediately had to watch the whole series again b/c I'm sure I missed a lot of the small details since I wasn't able to identify the characters the first time around.

Just keep watching. You've be surprised at how easy it is to match names with faces as the series goes on.

shanester

Only half way through but I'm very pleased so far great series with lots of dramatic and touching moments..

My only complaint and it's minor one at that would be some of the dialogue scenes

It sounds very soft and I have to raise the volume sometimes to hear better what's beeing said but as soon as the bombs go off It's too darn loud I have to reduce the volume back down again..Is this normal with war movies or am I imagining this??

djones6746

I did not exerience this problem at all.....I used the DTS track on the disc and also have the advantage of my Panny RP82's dialogue enhancer which helps out with certain movies which may have soft dialogue. I can watch this as I did last night when the kids are sleeping and still get a great listening experience when things start to rock. Another thing you may want to try if this continues to be a problem....set your decoder or player(if decoder is in your player) to the on position for the dynamic range compression for night viewing when things need to be a little quieter in the loud scenes. This should not affect your dialogue...should allow you to turn things up a little bit without the sudden loud scenes you are experiencing.

shanester

thanks for the tip

shanester

I have a question regading the actor who plays Sgt. Winters I think his name is Damion Lewis.

The other night I came across one of those english period pieces on PBS by chance an low and behold there he was playing an elegant englishman with accent and all

So what's the deal is he american or british??

djones6746

He is a British actor...check out this link.

Lewis was concerned at the world premiere for good reason...the real Captain Winters was there along with some other veterans. The article goes on to say after the premiere was over....all of the vets walked up to Lewis and told him he nailed the character perfectly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/bandofbro...an_lewis.shtml

shanester

thanks djones!...They were right his american accent was flawless!