Product Description
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Band of Brothers-
Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part
miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company,
506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn
from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as
soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the
experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and
extraordinary fear. They were an elete company parachuting
into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the
Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They
were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose
lives became legend.
The Pacific-
The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a
realistic portrait of WWII's Pacific Theatre as seen through the
intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie, John
Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of
these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash
with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through
the impenetrable rain firests of Cape Gloucester, across the
blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces
of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the
triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer
will be immersed in combat through the perspective of
this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in
battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless
enemy unlike any encountered before.
He Has Seen War- is an exclusive documentary that examines the
postwar lives of veterans of both Band of Brothers and The
Pacific. From their initial steps at reintegrating into civilian
life to the lasting impact the war had on each of their lives, He
Has Seen War features Easy Company and 1st Marine Division
veterans and their families relaying their own unique stories.
Complemented by renowned historian and author Donald L. Miller as
well as rarely seen archival and documentary footage, He Has Seen
War captures the struggle and ultimate triumph of a generation
who, after helping rescue the world from unprecedented calamity,
recled their lives and re-forged a country.
.com
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Band of Brothers-
An impressively rigorous, unsentimental, and harrowing look at
combat during World War II, Band of Brothers follows a company of
airborne infantry--Easy Company--from boot camp through the end
of the war. The brutality of training takes the audience by
increments to the even greater brutality of the war; Easy Company
took part in some of the most difficult battles, including the
D-Day invasion of Normandy, the failed invasion of Holland, and
the Battle of the Bulge, as well as the liberation of a
concentration camp and the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest. But
what makes these episodes work is not their historical sweep but
their emphasis on riveting details (such as the rattle of a plane
as the paratroopers wait to leap, or a flower in the buttonhole
of a German soldier) and procedures (from tactics to the
workings of bureaucratic hierarchies). The of this
miniseries (10 episodes, plus an actual documentary filled with
interviews with surviving veterans) allows not only a
thoroughness impossible in a two-hour movie, but also captures
the wide range of responses to the stress and trauma of
war--fear, cynicism, cruelty, compassion, and all-encompassing
confusion. The result is a realism that makes both simplistic
judgments and jingoistic enthusiasm impossible; the things these
soldiers had to do are both terrible and understandable, and the
psychological price they paid is made clear. The writing,
directing, and acting are superb throughout. The cast is largely
unknown, emphasizing the team of actors as a whole unit, much
like the regiment; Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston play the
central roles of two officers with grit and intelligence. Band of
Brothers turns a vast historical event into a series of potent
personal experiences; it's a deeply engrossing and affecting
accomplishment. --Bret Fetzer
The Pacific-
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have long since shown that they
can spin a good World War II yarn. But while their previous
collaborations (Saving Private Ryan, which they starred in and
directed, respectively, and Band of Brothers, for which they were
part of the producing team) were set in Europe, The Pacific is
their first look at the conflict with the Japanese on the other
side of the world--and the two executive producers, along with an
outstanding cast, an able crew, and a slew of top-notch writers
and directors, have done a superb job. In making a 10-episode HBO
miniseries (on five discs, with a sixth containing bonus
material) that combines real events and participants with other
dramatic elements newly created for the project, the filmmakers
took a personal, experiential approach, focusing in particular on
three marines, all of them real individuals: Robert Leckie
(played by James Badge Dale), an aspiring writer who sees his
first action at Guadalcanal, falls in love while on leave in
Australia, and later suffers serious war wounds; John Balisone
(Jon Seda), who performs heroically at Guadalcanal, earns a Medal
of Honor, and is then sent home to help sell war bonds, only to
return to action at Iwo Jima; and Eugene Sledge (Joseph
Mazzello), who enlists later than the others, but not too late to
witness and take part in some unimaginable horrors (books written
by Sledge and Leckie about their experiences were used as source
material for the miniseries). Of course, no one who's never been
in combat can understand what it's really like, but through these
three, and other men as well, we get some idea of the
debilitating effects of war, both physical and psychological, and
how those who managed to survive it might cope. As Leckie would
write, "There are things men can do to one another that are
sobering to the soul. It is one thing to reconcile these things
with God, but another to square them with yourself." A number of
episodes depict the characters at home, on leave, or otherwise
away from the field of battle, but the greatest impact comes from
the extraordinarily powerful fighting scenes in which the
marines--exhausted, half-starving, riddled with malaria, and
enduring the appalling conditions (from extreme heat to
relentless, torrential downpours) of an impenetrable, unforgiving
jungle--battle an implacable, fanatical foe who would much rather
die than surrender or be taken prisoner. A sequence in Part Five,
when we're with Sledge as he lands at Peleliu for his first real
action, is especially gripping; battles at night and in the rain
at Cape Gloucester in Part Four, on Iwo Jima in Part Eight, and
on Okinawa in Part Nine are also wrenching, but really, all the
fighting sequences manage to convey the sheer, visceral terror
the men experienced. To the filmmakers' credit, a number of real
WWII veterans are on hand to share their memories, both in a
49-minute featurette on disc 6 and during the short introductions
to each episode narrated by Hanks. Other extras include a
22-minute "making of" piece and a brief but interesting
description of the cultural differences that made the conflict
between the Japanese and the Americans even more brutal than it
might have been. The menus are easily navigable, offering a
synopsis of each episode. --Sam Graham