BAND OF BROTHERS

'''Band of Brothers''' is an acclaimed 10-part television miniseries set during World War II, co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The miniseries first aired in 2001 on HBO and still runs frequently on different TV channels around the world.
The miniseries centers on the experiences of Company E ("Easy Company") of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division and one of its lieutenants, Richard Winters, from Easy's initial training, through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and on to the end of the war. It is based on the book of the same name written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose.
The events portrayed in the miniseries are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. Some literary license has been taken with the episodes, and other reference books will highlight the differences between recorded history and the film version.^[1] All of the characters portrayed in the miniseries are based on actual members of Easy Company; some of them can be seen in prerecorded interviews as a prelude to each episode. (Their identities, however, are not revealed until the close of the finale.)
A new 10-part miniseries from the creators of ''Band of Brothers'' (Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman), called ''The Pacific'', is in development. The new miniseries will focus on the Pacific Theater. The project is due out in 2009, although this is subject to change.^[2]

Contents

Awards

Episodes

Historical inaccuracies

The title

Main cast

DVD Release

Notes

External links

Awards

The series was nominated for nineteen Emmy Awards, and won six, including "Outstanding miniseries," "Outstanding Casting for a miniseries, Movie, or a Special," and "Outstanding Directing for a miniseries, Movie, or a Dramatic Special." It also won a Golden Globe for "Best miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television," an American Film Institute award, and was selected for a Peabody Award for "...relying on both history and memory to create a new tribute to those who fought to preserve liberty." It also won a 2003 Writers Guild Award (Television, Adapted Long Form) for episode six (Bastogne). It is also the highest-rated miniseries at IMDB.com.

Episodes

#	Episode title	Director	Original airdate

Historical inaccuracies

Both Ambrose's book and the resulting series are marked with numerous minor and some major inaccuracies, many noted by 101st veterans on Web sites such as "Trigger Time," which features an episode-by-episode critique of strengths and weaknesses. Among the errors in the television series:

★ The end of episode three states that Albert Blithe never recovered from the wounds he received in Normandy, and that he died in 1948. Albert Blithe remained on active duty, was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in combat, served in the Korean War and achieved the rank of Master Sergeant, married with two children. He died in December 1967 of complications of surgery for a perforated ulcer after attending a memorial ceremony in Bastogne and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.^[3]

★ According to ''Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich'', Richard Winters was promoted to Major before David Webster returned to Easy Company from the hospital after getting injured in Holland. However, in "The Last Patrol", Winters was still Captain until he received his promotion at the end of the episode.

★ At the end of the final episode, "Points," it is stated that Technician Fifth Class Joseph Liebgott became a San Francisco taxi driver after the war, but most accounts, including that of his son, state that Joseph Liebgott in fact became a barber after returning home from the war.^[4]

★ The series states that Easy Company was the first unit into Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest, capturing the town and surrounding area without incident. Historians usually identify the first Allied troops to arrive as the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division who secured Berchtesgaden and the Berghof, followed four days later by the French 2nd Armored Division who secured the Eagle's Nest, then 1st Battalion of the 506th, led by Company "C." This, however, may be incorrect. The 2nd Battalion of the 506th came into Berchtesgaden by a different route and lost men in a skirmish with the crews of two German 88 mm guns.^[5] Controversy has come up in recent years as to precisely which unit captured Berchtesgaden, but in the book ''Beyond Band of Brothers'', Major Dick Winters states "Major General John W. 'Iron Mike' O'Daniel's 3rd Infantry Division certainly seized neighboring Salzburg without opposition and may have had their lead elements enter Berchtesgaden before we (2nd Battalion, 506 PIR) arrived in force, but let the facts speak for themselves. If the 3rd Division was first into Berchtesgaden, where did they go? Berchtesgaden is a relatively small community. When I walked into the Berchtesgaden Hof with Lieutenant Welsh, neither of us saw anyone except the hotel staff. Goering's officers' club and wine cellar certainly would have drawn the attention of a Frenchman from LeClerc's 2nd Armored Division or a rifleman from the 3rd Division. I find it inconceivable to imagine that if the 3rd Division were there first, they left those beautiful Mercedes staff cars untouched for our men."

★ In the final episode, "Points," Major Winters accepts the surrender of a German Colonel, who offers him an ornate Luger pistol. In the scene, Winters tells him to keep his sidearm, but in the Bonus Features DVD, the real Winters recalls the incident and shows the pistol (a Walther PP) he accepted. In Ambrose's book of the same title, he describes how when Winters examined the firearm, he found it had never been fired, and he hasn't fired it since. He shows this firearm in the HBO documentary ''We Stand Alone Together.'' Also in book ''Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters'' written by Cole. C. Kingseed with Major Dick Winters it is said that the pistol was accepted but the rank of the German soldier was a Major not Colonel.

The title

The title for the series and the book on which it is based comes from a speech delivered by Henry V of England before the Battle of Agincourt in William Shakespeare's ''Henry V''; Act IV, Scene 3:

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

King Henry, V.iii

A shortened version of the quote appears on the first page of the book, Band of Brothers, , Stephen, Ambrose, Pocket Books, , and is also quoted by Carwood Lipton in the final episode.

Main cast

For most of the main characters, actors who resembled their real-life counterparts were cast if possible. Due to the miniseries only casting a limited portion of the Easy Company roster, certain roles had to be changed from their historical counterparts.

★ Damian Lewis as Major Richard Winters (1918–), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

★ Ron Livingston as Captain Lewis Nixon (1918–1995) born in New York City, New York

★ Matthew Settle as Captain Ronald Speirs (1920–2007), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.

★ David Schwimmer as Captain Herbert Sobel (1912–1987), born in Chicago, Illinois

★ Rick Warden as First Lieutenant Harry Welsh (1918–1995), born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

★ Neal McDonough as First Lieutenant Lynn Compton (1921–), born in Los Angeles, California

★ Donnie Wahlberg as Second Lieutenant C. Carwood Lipton (1920–2001), born in Huntington, West Virginia

★ Ross McCall as Technician Fifth Class Joseph Liebgott (1915–1992), born in Michigan

★ Frank John Hughes as Staff Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere (1922–), born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

★ Scott Grimes as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey (1921–), born in Astoria, Oregon

★ Rick Gomez as Technician Fourth Class George Luz (1921–1998), born in Rhode Island

★ Eion Bailey as Private First Class David Kenyon Webster (1922–1961), born in New York, New York.

★ James Madio as Technician Fourth Class Frank Perconte (1917–), born in Joliet, Illinois

★ Michael Cudlitz as Sergeant Denver "Bull" Randleman (1920–2003), born in Rector, Arkansas

★ Dexter Fletcher as Staff Sergeant John Martin (1922–2005), born in Columbus, Ohio

★ Shane Taylor as Technician Fifth Class Eugene "Doc" Roe (medic) (1921–1999), born in Bayou Chene, Louisiana

★ Matthew Leitch as Staff Sergeant Floyd "Tab" Talbert (1923–1982), born in Kokomo, Indiana

★ Dale Dye as Colonel Robert F. Sink (1905–1965) Lexington, North Carolina

★ Nicholas Aaron as Private First Class Robert "Popeye" Wynn, (1921–2000), born in South Hill, Virginia

★ George Calil as Sergeant James H. "Mo" Alley, Jr.,(1922–), born in Mount Ida, Arkansas

★ Kirk Acevedo as Staff Sergeant Joseph Toye (1919–1995)

★ Richard Speight, Jr. as Sergeant Warren "Skip" Muck (d. 1945)

★ Peter McCabe as Corporal Donald Hoobler (d. 1945)

★ Robin Laing as Private Edward "Babe" Heffron (1923–)

★ Ben Caplan as Corporal Walter "Smokey" Gordon

★ Stephen Graham as Private Myron 'Mike' Ranney (d. 1988)

★ Marc Warren as Private Albert Blithe (1923–1967)

★ Peter Youngblood Hills as Staff Sergeant Darrel "Shifty" Powers (1923–)

★ Mark Huberman as Private Lester "Leo" Hashey (1925–2002)

★ Tim Matthews as Corporal Alex Penkala (d. 1945)

★ Michael Fassbender as Sergeant Burton P. "Pat" Christenson (1922–1999)

★ Doug Allen as Private Alton Moore (1920–1958)

★ Nolan Hemmings as Sergeant Charles E. "Chuck" Grant (1915–1985)

★ Matt Hickey as Private Patrick O'Keefe (1926–2003)

★ James McAvoy as Private James Miller (d. 1944)

★ Tom Hardy as Private John A. Janovec (d. 1945)

★ Stephen McCole as First Lieutenant Frederick T. 'Moose' Heyliger (d. 2001)

★ Simon Pegg as First Sergeant William Evans (d. 1944)

★ Kieran O'Brien as Private Allen Vest (1925–2001)

★ Douglas Spain as Corporal Antonio C. Garcia (1925–2005)

★ Rene L. Moreno as Corporal Joseph Ramirez

★ Jamie Bamber as Second Lieutenant Jack E. Foley (1922–)

★ Philip Barrantini as Private Wayne A. "Skinny" Sisk (1922–1999)

★ Craig Heaney as Private Roy Cobb

★ Rocky Marshall as Private Earl "One Lung" McClung (1923–), born in Inchelium, Washington

★ Jason O'Mara as First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III (1921–1944)

★ Peter O'Meara as First Lieutenant Norman Dike

★ Colin Hanks as Second Lieutenant Henry Jones

★ Iain Robertson as Private George Smith

★ Bart Ruspoli as Private Edward Tipper

DVD Release

All ten parts of the miniseries were released in a DVD boxset on November 5, 2002.

Notes

1. In particular, the books ''Biggest Brother: The Life of Dick Winters'' and ''Parachute Infantry'', an autobiography by David Kenyon Webster. Also, the website ''Trigger Time'' by 101st historian Mark Bando has a detailed discussion of the miniseries' historical accuracy.
2. IMDB.com
3. Arlington National Cemetery
4. http://forums.wildbillguarnere.com/lofiversion/index.php/t256.html
5. historynet.com article

External links

★ The official website of the veterans of E-Company Band of Brothers

★ Official Currahee memorial site

★ CMOH Website for Major Richard D. Winters

★ WildBillGuarnere.com: Official site of William 'Wild Bill' Guarnere

★ Website for the series, vets by the medic Eugene Roe family

★ Mark Bando's Band of Brothers pages (Bando is a prolific historian of the 101st Airborne)

★ ''Band Of Brothers'' and Thomas Meehan background

★ Band Of Brothers Band Of Brothers French website

★ Band Of Brothers at WOWOW INC.

★ Band Of Brothers Band Of Brothers Polish website

★ William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward Babe Heffron's book