Band Of Brothers Day Of Day's September 9th 2001, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg aired their second installment of the Band of Brothers mini series, "Day of Days", and it was nothing short of amazing. There are times throughout the episode, let alone the entire series, you feel you are right there in the fight with the men of Easy Company. From the landing in occupied Normandy France, to the men's first real mission of taking out a German artillery battery preventing the D-Day invasion. The true brutality, fear and comradeship, of war are seen throughout. Having watched the entire series multiple times, I strongly believe that what Hanks and Spielberg have created is by far the most accurate depiction of World War Two to this day. Many great movies like Saving Private Ryan or the series The Pacific have come close but neither was able to portray the art of war like Band of Brothers Plot This episode revolves around Operation Overlord, which took place on the 6th h of June 1944. This was the military code name for the Battle of Normandy, which famously included the vast D-Day beach landings. Easy's job, along with that of many other paratrooper companies, was to land behind enemy lines and secure the causeway leading off the beach. At the episode's beginning, as the armada of aircraft encounter intense enemy fire and other planes begin exploding around them, nervous flight crews flew off course and also let their men jump out early. This resulted in the men of Easy Company being scattered all across Normandy, often miles from their objectives. In one early stand-out sequence, the camera follows Dick Winters (Damien Lewis) as he jumps out of his plane amidst the raging carnage before following him down through the gunfire and into the eerie calm of the French countryside, allowing us to witness the crashing planes and explosions just as he does. Throughout these scenes you really get a sense of the confusion that reigned on that night back in 1944 as soldiers landed across the vast French countryside, often losing their equipment in the process and winding up miles from their comrades and simply joining up with whoever they could find. The final big showpiece of the episode sees Winters and a squad of men take out a set of German guns. This sequence cements Winters' position as a great military tactician and demonstrates why his men respect him so highly. The visceral action and kinetic camera work do a great job of putting the viewer into the heat of combat and this assault serves as a small precursor to what will follow in later episodes. Such was the effectiveness of Winters' assault, we are informed at the episode's end that the taking of these guns is still used in military training at West Point military academy when teaching an assault on a fixed position.
Cast 4/4 This episode's focus was again largely Dick Winters played by Damien Lewis and it is he who becomes the sole leader of Easy Company once 1st Lieutenant Meehan is killed during the jump. In this episode however, you begin to pick out a few of the recognizable characters that will rise in prominence over the series. The likes Carwood Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg), Buck Compton (Neal McDonough), Donald Malarkey (Scott Grimes) and Bill Guarnere (Frank John Hughes), to name but a few. It can upon first watch be hard to keep up with who's who in a cast as large as this one, especially when the men are sometimes referred to by nickname and are frequently ducking out of the way of gunfire. However there are undoubtedly key sets of ten or fifteen characters you slowly begin to recognize by name. These men are the big characters of the Company who will ultimately play a large part in keeping it together in fraught times.
Historical Accuracy 4/4
Throughout the episode you encounter different military lingo such as operation or battle names, several different key characters, and many aspects of the military that an ordinary person might not be familiar with. Doing some very careful research I have concluded that just about every aspect in this episode is historically accurate. The uniform that the paratroopers wore were identical to the real life thing. The weapons that were used throughout the episode were specially manufactured to look just like the real thing. However most of the rifles and machine guns that were used in the series were much lighter. The major battle depicted in the episode (Operation Overlord) was accurate. Even the assault on the German guns lead by Dick Winters was on point.
Rating 4/4
After careful consideration and spending numerous hours with this episode I would give it a rating of 4/4. The effort put into this episode by the producers and the cast I believe will never be redone. Making a film about one of the most gruesome wars to date is tricky. Make too many mistakes, and the film is ruined. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have expertly portrayed what the actual men of Easy Company went through.
Cast 4/4 This episode's focus was again largely Dick Winters played by Damien Lewis and it is he who becomes the sole leader of Easy Company once 1st Lieutenant Meehan is killed during the jump. In this episode however, you begin to pick out a few of the recognizable characters that will rise in prominence over the series. The likes Carwood Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg), Buck Compton (Neal McDonough), Donald Malarkey (Scott Grimes) and Bill Guarnere (Frank John Hughes), to name but a few. It can upon first watch be hard to keep up with who's who in a cast as large as this one, especially when the men are sometimes referred to by nickname and are frequently ducking out of the way of gunfire. However there are undoubtedly key sets of ten or fifteen characters you slowly begin to recognize by name. These men are the big characters of the Company who will ultimately play a large part in keeping it together in fraught times.
Historical Accuracy 4/4
Throughout the episode you encounter different military lingo such as operation or battle names, several different key characters, and many aspects of the military that an ordinary person might not be familiar with. Doing some very careful research I have concluded that just about every aspect in this episode is historically accurate. The uniform that the paratroopers wore were identical to the real life thing. The weapons that were used throughout the episode were specially manufactured to look just like the real thing. However most of the rifles and machine guns that were used in the series were much lighter. The major battle depicted in the episode (Operation Overlord) was accurate. Even the assault on the German guns lead by Dick Winters was on point.
Rating 4/4
After careful consideration and spending numerous hours with this episode I would give it a rating of 4/4. The effort put into this episode by the producers and the cast I believe will never be redone. Making a film about one of the most gruesome wars to date is tricky. Make too many mistakes, and the film is ruined. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have expertly portrayed what the actual men of Easy Company went through.