| Band of Brothers | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | War drama |
| Created by | |
| Based on | Band of Brothers byStephen E. Ambrose |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | |
| Starring | Cast and characters |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
| Opening theme | Requiem for a soldier |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 49–70 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Budget | $125 million[1] |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | September 9 (2001-09-09) – November 4, 2001 (2001-11-04) |
| Related | |
Band of Brothers is a 2001 American[2]war dramaminiseries based on historianStephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction bookof the same name.[3] It was created bySteven Spielberg andTom Hanks, who also served asexecutive producers, and who had collaborated on the 1998World War II filmSaving Private Ryan, where the series got many of its visual cues and crew members.[4] Episodes first aired onHBO from September 9 to November 4, 2001.
The series dramatizes the history of"Easy" Company, 2ndBattalion,506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the101st Airborne Division. It begins during Easy Company'sparatrooper training and follows its participation in theWestern Front of World War II fromD-Day to their occupation ofBerchtesgaden. The events are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. Although all the characters are based directly on members of Easy Company, the series took some literary license, adapting history for dramatic effect and series structure.[5][6] Each episode begins with excerpts from interviews with some of the survivors, who are identified by name only at the end of the finale. The title of the book and series comes from theSt. Crispin's Day speech inWilliam Shakespeare's playHenry V, delivered byKing Henry before theBattle of Agincourt. Ambrose quotes a passage from the speech on his book's first page; this passage is recited byCarwood Lipton in the series finale.
Band of Brothers received universal acclaim and would go on to win thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries. Retrospective reviews have cited it as one of thegreatest television shows of all time, and it is widely seen as a pioneering entry inPeak TV in large part due to its high production value which many compared favorably toSaving Private Ryan.[7][8] Its success led to the creation of twocompanion piece miniseries, also with Spielberg's and Hanks' involvement, that feature the exploits of other military branches during World War II:The Pacific (2010) andMasters of the Air (2024).
Over the course of ten episodes,Band of Brothers depicts a dramatized account of Easy Company's("Easy" Stands for radio call for "E") exploits during World War II.[4]
Episodes include their training atCamp Toccoa, theAmerican airborne landings in Normandy,Operation Market Garden, theSiege of Bastogne, theinvasion of Germany, the liberation of theKaufering concentration camp, the taking of theKehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest) inBerchtesgaden, theoccupation of Germany, and finally the war's end.[4]
Richard Winters is the central character, shown working to accomplish the company's 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 action.[4]
As the series is based on historical events, the fates of the characters reflect those of the people on whom they are based. Many either die or sustain serious wounds, which lead to their being sent home. Other soldiers recover after treatment infield hospitals and rejoin their units on the front line. Their experiences, and the moral, mental, and physical hurdles they must overcome, are central to the story's narrative.
It follows the story from their initial training starting in 1942 to the end ofWorld War II. They parachuted behind enemy lines in the early hours ofD-Day in support of the landings at Utah beach, participated in the liberation ofCarentan, 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 inBerchtesgaden.
The series features a large ensemble cast.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Main character(s) | Original release date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Currahee" | Phil Alden Robinson | Teleplay by :Erik Jendresen andTom Hanks | Richard Winters andHerbert Sobel | September 9, 2001 (2001-09-09) | 9.90[9] | |
In 1942, Easy Companyjump trains atCamp Toccoa under First Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, a strict disciplinarian who goes out of his way to find fault with his men. The company is shipped toEngland in September 1943, and as training progresses, Sobel's inadequacy as a leader in the field becomes evident. Now-Captain Sobel fabricates a dispute with Lieutenant Richard "Dick" Winters and gives him the option of accepting unwarranted punishment or trial bycourt martial. Winters surprises Sobel by rejecting the punishment and choosing the court-martial. These factors led Easy'snon-commissioned officers to resign en masse. ColonelRobert Sink, the regiment's commander, reassigns Sobel to command a parachuting school for non-infantry personnel. With new leadership, Easy Company prepares forOperation Overlord. | |||||||
| 2 | "Day of Days" | Richard Loncraine | John Orloff | Richard Winters | September 9, 2001 (2001-09-09) | 9.90[9] | |
On June 6, 1944, Easy Companyparachutes into Normandy, but is scattered and many miles away from their designated drop zones. Most of Easy reconnects, but its company commander, Lieutenant Thomas Meehan, is missing. Winters assumes command and successfully leads a group in destroyingGermanartillery emplacements firing onUtah Beach fromBrécourt Manor. Winters also discovers a map of all German artillery emplacements in Normandy. Several of Easy's men earn combat decorations for their part in the attack, including Winters, who is awarded theDistinguished Service Cross. | |||||||
| 3 | "Carentan" | Mikael Salomon | E. Max Frye | Albert Blithe | September 16, 2001 (2001-09-16) | 7.27[11] | |
Easy fights in theBattle of Carentan and loses several men. Rumors begin to circulate that LieutenantRonald Speirs killed a group of Germanprisoners. PrivateAlbert Blithe, who has been struggling withshell shock, is finally spurred into action by Winters during theBattle of Bloody Gulch. Several days later, Blithe is shot through the neck by asniper while on patrol. Note: The episode ends with the inaccurate statement that Blithe never recovered from his wounds and died in 1948. In reality, he recovered and continued to serve in the Army until he died in Germany as an active-duty serviceman in 1967.[10] | |||||||
| 4 | "Replacements" | David Nutter | Graham Yost andBruce C. McKenna | Denver "Bull" Randleman | September 23, 2001 (2001-09-23) | 6.29[12] | |
Replacements join Easy Company and struggle to be accepted by the veterans who fought at Normandy. Winters is promoted to captain. Sobel is the regiment's new supply officer. The company parachutes into theNetherlands as part ofOperation Market Garden and liberatesEindhoven. During combat inNuenen, the replacements integrate themselves with the company, but Easy is forced to retreat. Denver "Bull" Randleman is left behind. Wounded, he hides in a barn and engages inclose quarters combat with a German soldier. He is reunited with the rest of the company the following day. | |||||||
| 5 | "Crossroads" | Tom Hanks | Erik Jendresen | Richard Winters | September 30, 2001 (2001-09-30) | 6.13[13] | |
Winters writes an after-action report on Easy's actions during aGerman counter offensive on the Nijmegen salient; he is troubled by the fact that he shot an unarmed, teenageWaffen-SS soldier during the battle. Winters is promoted to battalion executive officer, and command of Easy is given to "Moose" Heyliger. Easy Company assists Lieutenant ColonelDavid Dobie of the British1st Airborne Division inOperation Pegasus to rescue 140 of his comrades. The operation succeeds, and the rescued British troops celebrate with Easy. Heyliger is injured in a friendly fire incident, and command of the company passes to Lieutenant Norman Dike before Easy is rushed toBastogne to fight in theBattle of the Bulge. | |||||||
| 6 | "Bastogne" | David Leland | Bruce C. McKenna | Eugene Roe | October 7, 2001 (2001-10-07) | 6.42[14] | |
Easy faces harsh winter conditions in theArdennes, running dangerously low on supplies.Combat medic Eugene "Doc" Roe helps his fellow soldiers where he can, while also scrounging for supplies. He befriends a Belgian nurse namedRenée; she is later killed in a German bombing raid. Easy and other American units are surrounded, but GeneralMcAuliffe, their commander, rejects a German demand to surrender. | |||||||
| 7 | "The Breaking Point" | David Frankel | Graham Yost | Carwood Lipton | October 14, 2001 (2001-10-14) | 6.43[15] | |
Easy holds the line nearFoy, Belgium, losing numerous soldiers, including Hoobler, who dies after accidentally shooting himself with aLuger pistol. Winters and the men worry about Norman Dike, who is frequently absent without explanation. First SergeantCarwood Lipton attempts to keep Easy's morale up. LieutenantLynn "Buck" Compton watches in horror as his close friendsWilliam Guarnere and Joe Toye each lose a leg to shelling, and he too is pulled from the line. During the assault on Foy, Dike freezes up during an attack, so Winters orders Speirs to relieve him. Victorious but having taken heavy casualties, Easy takes shelter in a church, where Lipton is told he has been given afield commission as a second lieutenant, and Captain Speirs is officially assigned command of Easy. | |||||||
| 8 | "The Last Patrol" | Tony To | Erik Bork and Bruce C. McKenna | David Webster | October 21, 2001 (2001-10-21) | 5.95[16] | |
InHaguenau, Easy adjusts to leaving the combat zone and gives a cold welcome to PrivateDavid Webster, who did not break out of the hospital to rejoin the company like others, and new replacement Second Lieutenant Henry Jones, fresh fromWest Point. Jones and Webster participate in a night raid across the river to get prisoners for interrogation, which gains them some respect. Winters is promoted tomajor, Lipton's commission becomes official, and Jones is promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to theregimental staff. | |||||||
| 9 | "Why We Fight" | David Frankel | John Orloff | Lewis Nixon | October 28, 2001 (2001-10-28) | 6.08[17] | |
As CaptainLewis Nixon scrounges for his favored whisky,Vat 69, Easy Company entersNazi Germany. Nixon is distraught after learning that his wife is divorcing him; he is demoted to operations officer for the battalion. A small patrol of Easy Company men stumble upon aconcentration camp nearLandsberg and free the surviving prisoners. Easy secures food for the survivors, but the regiment's surgeon warns ofrefeeding syndrome; the survivors have to remain in the camp so they can be monitored. The German localsdeny knowing about the camp. The 101st Airborne's commander, GeneralTaylor, imposesmartial law and orders all able-bodied civilians from ages 14 to 80 to clean up the camp, including removing the bodies. Nixon informs Easy thatAdolf Hitler has committed suicide. | |||||||
| 10 | "Points" | Mikael Salomon | Erik Jendresen and Erik Bork | Richard Winters | November 4, 2001 (2001-11-04) | 5.05[18] | |
Easy captures theEagle's Nest inBerchtesgaden without resistance, and theend of the war in Europe is announced. Finding a collection of alcoholic beverages in a cellar atHermann Göring's house, Winters allows the company to celebrate before they travel toAustria to become an occupying force. It is then announced that the division will be redeployed to thePacific Theater, but those with enoughpoints will get to go home. General Taylor authorizes a drawing for each company to rotate one soldier home, and Staff SergeantShifty Powers wins Easy's drawing but is severely injured in an automobile accident on his way to the airfield. Private Liebgott leads a trio that tracks down andsummarily executes a concentration camp commandant at a farm. Desiring to redeploy sooner, Winters applies for a transfer to the13th Airborne, but is denied. Despite the war's end, Easy Company men continue to be injured or die. Easy oversees the surrender of 25,000 German troops inZell am See. Over a company baseball game, Winters narrates the fates of some of the men. He interrupts the game to announce the surrender of theEmpire of Japan, whichends the war, and then narrates Nixon's fate and finally his own. The episode concludes with interviews with actual surviving Easy Company members, where they are named onscreen for the first time. | |||||||
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Main character(s) | Original release date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "We Stand Alone Together" | Mark Cowen | William Richter | Easy Company real-life members | November 10, 2001 (2001-11-10) | Unknown | |
SubtitledThe Men of Easy Company, an official companion documentary included on home video for the miniseries and available on streaming services. Consists of interviews with the surviving real-life members of Easy Company, including Winters, Lipton, Guarnere, Heffron, and Powers, and also photos and video from and related to their service and their annual reunions. Also includes Guarnere and Heffron revisiting Foy and interviews with Easy Company members' families. | ||||||
The series was developed chiefly byTom Hanks andErik Jendresen, who spent months detailing the plot outline and individual episodes.[19]Steven Spielberg served as "the final eye" and usedSaving Private Ryan, the film on which he and Hanks had collaborated, to inform the series, although Jendresen served as showrunner.[20][21] Accounts of Easy Company veterans, such asDonald Malarkey, were incorporated into production to add historic detail.[20]
Band of Brothers was at the time the most expensiveTV miniseries to have been made by any network.[22][23] Its budget was about $125 million, or an average of $12.5 million per episode.[20]
An additional $15 million was allocated for a promotional campaign, which included screenings for World War II veterans.[22] One was held atUtah Beach, Normandy, where U.S. troops had landed onJune 6, 1944. On June 7, 2001, 47 Easy Company veterans were flown to Paris and then traveled by chartered train to the site, where the series premiered.[24][25]Chrysler was a sponsor, as itsJeeps were used in the series.[26] Chrysler spent $5 million to $15 million on its advertising campaign, using footage fromBand of Brothers.[26] Each of the spots was reviewed and approved by the co-executive producers Hanks and Spielberg.[26]
TheBBC paid £7 million ($10.1 million) as co-production partner, the most it had ever paid for a bought-in program, and screened it onBBC Two. Originally, it was to have aired onBBC One but was moved to allow an "uninterrupted ten-week run", with the BBC denying that this was because the series was not sufficiently mainstream.[27][28] Negotiations were monitored byBritish Prime MinisterTony Blair, who spoke personally to Spielberg.[29]
The series was shot over eight to ten months on Ellenbrook Fields, atHatfield Aerodrome inHertfordshire, England. This location had been used to shoot the filmSaving Private Ryan.[20][23] Various sets were built, including replicas on the large open field of 12 European towns, among themBastogne, Belgium;Eindhoven, Netherlands; andCarentan, France.[30][25]North Weald Airfield inEssex was used for shots depicting the take-offs for theD-DayNormandy landings.
The village ofHambleden, inBuckinghamshire, England, was used extensively in the early episodes to depict 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 ofBrienz in theBernese Oberland, and at the nearby Hotel Giessbach.[31]
To preserve historical accuracy, the writers conducted additional research. One source was the memoir of Easy Company soldierDavid Kenyon Webster,Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich (1994).[citation needed] This was published byLSU Press, following renewed interest in World War II and more than 30 years after his death in a boating accident. InBand of Brothers Ambrose quoted liberally from Webster's unpublished diary entries, with permission from his estate.[3][note 2]
The production team consultedDale Dye, a retiredUnited States Marine Corps captain and consultant onSaving Private Ryan, as well as with most of the surviving Easy Company veterans, including Richard Winters, Bill Guarnere, Frank Perconte, Ed Heffron, and Amos Taylor.[20][32] Dye (who portrays ColonelRobert Sink) instructed the actors in a 10-dayboot camp at theLongmoor Military Camp in Hampshire, culminating with parachute training atRAF Brize Norton.[32][33][34]
The production aimed for accuracy in the details of weapons and costumes. Simon Atherton, the weapons master, corresponded with veterans to match weapons to scenes, and assistant costume designer Joe Hobbs used photos and veteran accounts.[20]
Most actors had contact with the individuals they were to portray before filming, often by telephone. Several veterans came to the production site.[20] Hanks acknowledged that 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, and 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."[25] As a final accuracy check, the veterans saw previews of the series and approved the episodes before they were aired.[35]
Shortly after the premiere of the series, Tom Hanks asked Major Winters what he thought ofBand of Brothers. The major responded, "I wish that it had been more authentic. I was hoping for an 80 percent solution." Hanks responded, "Look, Major, this is Hollywood. At the end of the day, we will be hailed as geniuses if we get this 12 percent right. We are going to shoot for 17 percent."[36]
The liberation of one of theKaufering subcamps ofDachau was depicted in episode 9 ("Why We Fight"); however, the 101st Airborne Division arrived at Kaufering Lager IV subcamp on the day after[37] it was discovered by the 134th Ordnance Maintenance Battalion of the12th Armored Division, on April 27, 1945.[38][39] German historian andHolocaust researcherAnton Posset worked with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as a consultant, providing photographs of the liberators and documentation of the survivors' reports he had collected over the years. The camp was reconstructed in England for the miniseries.[40]
It is uncertain which Allied unit was first to reach theKehlsteinhaus. Several claim the honor, compounded by confusion with the town ofBerchtesgaden, which was taken on May 4 by forward elements of the7th Infantry Regiment of the3rd Infantry Division.[41][42][note 3] Reputedly, members of the 7th went as far as the elevator to theKehlsteinhaus,[41] with at least one individual claiming he and a partner continued on to the top.[45] However, the101st Airborne maintains it was first to both Berchtesgaden and the Kehlsteinhaus.[46][failed verification] Elements of theFrench 2nd Armored Division, Laurent Touyeras, Georges Buis and Paul Répiton-Préneuf, were present on the night of May 4 to 5, and took several photographs before leaving on May 10 at the request of US command,[47][48] and this is supported by testimonies of the Spanish soldiers who went along with them.
Major Dick Winters, who commanded the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. 506th PIR in May 1945, stated that they enteredBerchtesgaden shortly after noon on May 5. He challenged competing claims, stating, "If the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division was first in Berchtesgaden, just where did they go? Berchtesgaden is a relatively small community. I walked into the Berchtesgaden Hof with Lieutenant Welsh and saw nobody other than some servants. Goering's Officers' Club and wine cellar certainly would have caught the attention of a French soldier fromLeClerc's2nd Armored Division, or a rifleman from the U.S. 3rd Division. I find it hard to imagine, if the 3rd Division was there first, why they left those beautiful Mercedes staff cars untouched for our men."[49]
Band of Brothers has a 94% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.1/10 and based on 34 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: "Band of Brothers offers a visceral, intense look at the horrors of war – and the sacrifices of the millions of ordinary people who served."[50]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, gives the miniseries a score of 87 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[51]
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".[52] Caryn James ofThe 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 remarked on the generation gap between most viewers and characters, suggesting this was a significant hurdle.[53] Robert Bianco ofUSA Today wrote that 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, however, that it was hard to identify with individual characters during crowded battle scenes.[54]
Philip French ofThe Guardian commented that he had "seen nothing in the cinema this past year that impressed me as much as BBC2's 10-partBand of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, andKen Loach'sThe Navigators on Channel 4", and that it was "one of the best films ever made about men in war and superior in most ways toSaving Private Ryan."[55] Matt Seaton, also inThe Guardian, wrote that the film's production was "on such a scale that in an ad hoc, inadvertent way it gives one a powerful sense of what really was accomplished during the D-Day invasion - the extraordinary logistical effort of moving men and matériel in vast quantities."[56]
Tom Shales ofThe Washington Post wrote that though the series is "at times visually astonishing," it suffers from "disorganization, muddled thinking and a sense of redundancy." Shales observed that 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 front drop. When you watch two hours and still aren't quite sure who the main characters are, something is wrong."[57]
Band of Brothers has become a benchmark for World War II series. The German seriesGeneration War, for example, was characterized by critics asBand of Brüder (the German word for "Brothers").[58]
Band of Brothers' September 9, 2001 premiere drew almost 10 million viewers.[59] Two days later, theSeptember 11 attacks occurred, and HBO immediately ceased its marketing campaign.[59] The third episode drew 7.2 million viewers[59] and the last episode received almost 5.1 million viewers, the smallest audience.[60]
The series was nominated for 20Primetime Emmy Awards and won seven, including Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special.[61] It also won theGolden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television,[62]American Film Institute Award for TV Movie or Miniseries of the Year,[63]Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television,[64] and theTCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials.[65]
The show was selected for aPeabody Award for "relying on both history and memory to create a new tribute to those who fought to preserve liberty."[66] In September 2019,The Guardian ranked the show 68th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, stating that it "expanded the horizons – and budgets – of prestige TV".[67]
| Category | Nominee(s) | Episode | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Miniseries | Steven Spielberg,Tom Hanks,Gary Goetzman,Tony To,Stephen E. Ambrose, Eric Bork, Eric Jendresen, Mary Richards | Won | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Television Programming | Won | ||
| Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie | Anthony Pratt, Dom Dossett, Alan Tomkins, Kevin Philpps, Desmond Crowe, Malcolm Stone | "The Breaking Point" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special | Meg Liberman, Camille H. Patton, Angela Terry, Gary Davy, Suzanne M. Smith | Won | |
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie | Remi Adefarasin | "The Last Patrol" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special | David Frankel, Tom Hanks,David Nutter,David Leland,Richard Loncraine,Phil Alden Robinson,Mikael Salomon, Tony To | Won | |
| Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Helen Smith & Paula Price | "Crossroads" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Main Title Design | Michael Riley, Michelle Dougherty, Jeff Miller, Jason Web | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Non-Prosthetic) | Liz Tagg & Nikita Rae | "Why We Fight" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Prosthetic) | Daniel Parker, Matthew Smith,Duncan Jarman | "Day of Days" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Frances Parker | "Day of Days" | Won |
| Billy Fox | "Replacements" | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special | Campbell Askew, Paul Conway, James Boyle, Ross Adams, Andy Kennedy, Howard Halsall, Robert Gavin, Grahame Peters, Michael Higham, Dashiell Rae, Andie Derrick, Peter Burgis | "Day of Days" | Won |
| Outstanding Single Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Colin Charles, Mike Dowson, Mark Taylor | "Carentan" | Won |
| David Stephenson, Mike Dowson, Mark Taylor | "Day of Days" | Nominated | |
| Colin Charles, Keven Patrick Burns, Todd Orr | "The Breaking Point" | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Angus Bickerton, John Lockwood, Ken Dailey, Joe Pavlo, Mark Nettleton, Michael Mulholland, Joss Williams, Nigel Stone | "Replacements" | Nominated |
| Angus Bickerton, Mat Beck, Cindy Jones, Louis Mackall, Nigel Stone, Karl Mooney, Laurent Hugueniot, Chas Cash | "Day of Days" | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Stunt Coordination | Greg Powell | "Carentan" | Nominated |
| Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special | Erik Bork,E. Max Frye, Tom Hanks, Erik Jendresen,Bruce C. McKenna, John Orloff,Graham Yost | Nominated |
| Category | Nominee | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Best Miniseries or Television Film | Won | |
| Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film | Damian Lewis | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film | Ron Livingston | Nominated |
The miniseries was released onVHS andDVD box sets on November 5, 2002. The DVD set has five discs containing all ten episodes, and a bonus disc includingWe Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company and an official video diary byRon Livingston (Lewis Nixon) showing the actors' boot camp at Longmoor.[68] A collector's edition of the box set was also released, containing the same discs in a tin case instead of cardboard. As of 2010[update],Band of Brothers was one of the best-selling TV DVD sets,[69] having sold about $250 million worth.[70]
The series was released as an exclusiveHD DVD TV series in Japan in 2007. With the demise of the format, they went out of production. ABlu-ray Disc version ofBand of Brothers was released on November 11, 2008, and has become a Blu-ray Disc top seller.[71]
In 2011, HBO aired a documentary entitledHe Has Seen War with Tom Hanks as executive producer and Mark Herzog as director about the postwar stories of and lasting effects of the war, includingpost-traumatic stress disorder, on not only Easy Company members but also members of the1st Marine Division who were subjects ofThe Pacific after the division fought atGuadalcanal,Cape Gloucester,Peleliu,Iwo Jima andOkinawa.William "Wild Bill" Guarnere andDonald Malarkey both appear alongside their families, as does the family ofLynn "Buck" Compton and also the families of CorporalEugene Sledge and PrivateRobert Leckie, two of the members of the 1st Marine Division who are central characters inThe Pacific.[72][73][74]
In 2012, the Richard D. Winters Leadership Monument nearSainte-Marie-du-Mont in Normandy, recognizing all American junior officers, together with their divisions and corps, who led the way onD-Day, was unveiled on the 68th anniversary of the invasion. For the occasion, the World War II Foundation, which raised the funds for the monument, produced a biographical documentary entitledDick Winters: Hang Tough.Damian Lewis, who played Winters, narrates the film in the American accent he used while playing him. Documentary filmmaker and World War II Foundation founder and president Tim Gray is the creator of the overall film, which includes actual photos, photos from the miniseries and interviews with the real-life Winters and other Easy Company members including a number who were portrayed in the show such as Guarnere, Malarkey,Edward "Babe" Heffron, Frank Perconte andEdward Tipper.
Special attention was paid to theBrécourt Manor Assault including the owners of Brécourt Manor to this day — the Vallavieille family, including Utah Beach Museum founder Michel de Vallavieille, who was wounded after being mistaken for a German soldier — and the creation of the 13-foot (4.0 m) bronze statue of Winters by sculptor Steven Spears.[75]
In 2021, on the occasion of the miniseries' 20th anniversary, HBO produced an official podcast hosted by British-American author, broadcaster, and filmmakerRoger Bennett of theMen in Blazers soccer show and podcast. After a prologue episode featuringTom Hanks as executive producer, it progresses through each episode, giving a summary before interviewing actors and crew members about their roles, their careers leading up to the miniseries, their experiences with the show, and the specific episode.[76]
| No. | Episode/Topic | Guest(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Prologue | Tom Hanks (Executive producer) |
| 1 | "Currahee" | Ron Livingston (Lewis Nixon) |
| 2 | "Day of Days" | John Orloff (Writer, Episodes 2 and 9) andRichard Loncraine (Director, Episode 2) |
| 3 | "Carentan" | Capt.Dale Dye (Robert Sink / Senior military advisor) andMatthew Settle (Ronald Speirs) |
| 4 | "Replacements" | Frank John Hughes (William "Wild Bill" Guarnere) |
| 5 | "Crossroads" | Erik Jendresen (Supervising producer / Lead writer) |
| 6 | "Bastogne" | Shane Taylor (Eugene "Doc" Roe) |
| 7 | "The Breaking Point" | Donnie Wahlberg (Carwood Lipton) |
| 8 | "The Last Patrol" | Scott Grimes (Donald Malarkey) |
| 9 | "Why We Fight" | Ross McCall (Joseph Liebgott) and John Orloff |
| 10 | "Points" | Damian Lewis (Richard "Dick" Winters) |
In U.S. Seventh Army's XV Corps area, 7th Inf of 3d Div, crossing into Austria, advances through Salzburg to Berchtesgaden without opposition.
"On May 4 the 3d division of the same corps captured Berchtesgaden." (The corps mentioned was the US XV Corps. The term "Eagle's Nest" is not in the quote nor the paragraph that mentions the capture of Berchtesgaden.)
3d Division units got into Berchtesgaden ahead of us on the afternoon of May 4
Several books give further insight into Easy Company:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
