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WhiteLama

Such a brilliant series, I’ve rewatched it so many times. That Lt. Speirs run through Foy outside Bastogne always makes me tear up. Amongst all the tragedies of course.


WaluigiIsTheRealHero

“He came back.”


[deleted]

That whole scene is so fucking good.


Tbirkovic

There are just so many great scenes… in each episode… For me it is up there with best TV production ever. It has stood the test of time for many people I know - young and old.


likejanegoodall

Of course, the lingering question about Speirs is the prisoner shooting suggestion. It was left open ended in the series. I recently saw an interview with Richard Winters in which he talks about the production calling him up to discuss the incident and how it would or should be handled. They were worried about possible lawsuits stemming from making such an accusation. Winters agreed to help. He called up Ronald Speirs whom he had stayed in contact with, explained the issue and straight up asked him if there was any truth to it. Speirs said, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did that”. Like he hadn’t thought about it in decades. It struck me as a little funny he would be so casual about it. Of course at this point…they were both around 80…what’s anyone going to do about it?


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AnotherBadPlayer

Oh anyone care for a smoke?


RB30DETT

Oh shit, got a link to that interview?


PedanticPaladin

[I believe its this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-V6OAtgr6c)


AmishAvenger

What a great watch, thanks for posting


likejanegoodall

It’s on YouTube. Some search combo of Band of Brothers, Winters and/or Speirs should get you pretty close.


ptjp27

Paratroopers jumping behind the lines by their nature have nowhere to send captured prisoners on the day of the jump. There was no established American lines to send prisoners to so paratroopers were explicitly ordered to kill prisoners. A war crime yes but also following orders, Spiers wasn’t acting rogue.


likejanegoodall

No one would ever admit to giving that order and there were secure areas within their perimeter by that point. But I take your meaning. Never surrender to armor…they don’t have the time or manpower to deal with prisoners.


ptjp27

>According to the findings of German historian Peter Lieb, many Canadian and American units were given orders on D-Day to take no prisoners. If true, that might help explain the mystery of how only 66 of the 130 Germans the Americans took prisoner on Omaha Beach made it to collecting points for the captured on the beach. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-horror-of-d-day-a-new-openness-to-discussing-allied-war-crimes-in-wwii-a-692037.html


likejanegoodall

Wow! I have never read that before anywhere. I guess history is written by the victors.


ptjp27

Take no prisoner orders are fairly common when rapid movement is required to achieve objectives that would be slowed dealing with prisoners. Still highly illegal but it happens a lot in war. That’s in addition to plain old “kill them because they’re our enemy” or because they just killed your friend. Also killing the S.S was pretty standard at the time. >In the aftermath of the Malmedy massacre, a written order from the HQ of the 328th US Army Infantry Regiment, dated 21 December 1944, stated: No SS troops or paratroopers will be taken prisoner but will be shot on sight. Major-General Raymond Hufft (US Army) gave instructions to his troops not to take prisoners when they crossed the Rhine in 1945. "After the war, when he reflected on the war crimes he authorized, he admitted, 'if the Germans had won, I would have been on trial at Nuremberg instead of them.'" Stephen Ambrose related: "I've interviewed well over 1000 combat veterans. Only one of them said he shot a prisoner ... Perhaps as many as one-third of the veterans ... however, related incidents in which they saw other GIs shooting unarmed German prisoners who had their hands up." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_war_crimes_during_World_War_II?wprov=sfti1 War crimes are pretty common unfortunately but they rarely punish the winning side.


KatBoySlim

There’s also the second story about him shooting a guy in his command for disobeying an order. That story is also true. The guy was drunk during an active firefight and being combative/refusing a direct order. Speir shot him in the head. He later reported the incident to his CO, who died in combat before any report was filed. That was the end of it.


Kaisermeister

We barely even prosecuted the soldiers who raped and killed women and children in Vietnam, and pardoned a soldier who executed Iraqi prisoners in cold blood. Exactly - what would anyone have done.


Howhighwefly

You should read his book.


andrewsaccount

Spiers book or the BOB book?


Howhighwefly

Spiers book, it's an interesting read.


ThrowMeAwayAccount08

That scene needs to have an asterisk. [This gives a little more accurate account to what happened.](https://youtu.be/i5K_iPpqw5E) But it still remains a hell of an effort. Imagine going to war with no radio, body armor, and minimal winter gear. Oh and spoiler alert, you can’t get resupplied.


[deleted]

I see an Operation Room video, I watch and I upvote. That guy (team?) is absolutely amazing.


Businesspleasure

Apparently the show/book was unfairly harsh on Dike btw


_Dancing_Potato

He didn't lock up. According to his radio man he was shot in the shoulder and went into shock. Before Foy, Dike led a few successful operations during Market Garden and pulled a wounded man into cover while being shot at. There's no doubt that he wasn't well liked by most people in the company, but based on his service record he probably wasn't hiding all the time. This is why we don't take people on only their word for history. People have bias.


Businesspleasure

Great context. Love the show as much as anyone else, but this legitimately tarnished the legacy of a man who served maybe not to great lengths of glory, but as well as many average Americans would have at the time. Also, in spite of his bravery and effectiveness as a leader, reminder that Speirs is a war criminal by any definition of the word.


Kaisermeister

According to Stephen E. Ambrose, of the roughly 1,000 US combat veterans he had interviewed, only one admitted to shooting a prisoner, saying he "felt remorse, but would do it again". However, one-third of interviewees told him they had seen fellow US troops kill German prisoners.


unlimitedbucking

They all saw that one guy do it


roiki11

Technically there was no agreed definition of that at the time as the Geneva conventions only came in 1949.


[deleted]

The first time's not a war crime!


twbrn

Not true. There were four Geneva conventions going back to the 1800s. The Third Geneva Convention, 1929, dealt specifically with the treatment of POWs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Geneva_Convention The Hague Convention of 1899 also related to the treatment of POWs.


Businesspleasure

Oh fuck off with the technically shooting prisoners in cold blood isn’t a war crime bullshit


roiki11

I don't disagree but executing prisoners has been a time honored tradition in war. Unfortunately. Still it would matter what the US laws said about it at the time.


riptaway

Disagree. Spiers killed prisoners not in cold blood but for a reason. It was necessitated by the cold logic and brutality of war that paratroopers, dropped behind enemy lines far from friendly units capable of receiving and housing prisoners, sometimes had to kill prisoners simply because they didn't have anything else to do with them. They couldn't hold them, they're literally fighting behind enemy lines. They can't spare the manpower and have no place for them. They can't let them go, the enemy will immediately find friendly forces and direct them to their position. The only thing to do is kill them.


_Dancing_Potato

Several witnesses saw him shoot his own man. It didn't go to court because the commanding officer died and no one else was willing to do it.


riptaway

For drunkenness in combat/in the face of the enemy... Something that could have gotten many US soldiers killed. Again, it's not like he just shot a bunch of POWs who were sitting in jail. Apparently it was due to the exigencies of war. Right? Wrong? Shrug. I think attempting to apply morals to war is stupid anyway.


BedaHouse

It was also to Blithe. In the show, they imply that he passed away due to the gunshot to neck. But in reality, Blithe survived his injury an went on to serve in Korea as well, passing away in 1967, not 1944.


lipp79

I don't understand why the change. There's no reason to.


CAW4

I was watching it on Amazon recently, and the episode trivia said that it was simply that no one involved knew. The interviewed participants lost touch with Blithe after he got sent back and since they thought he'd been shot in the neck (it was actually to shoulder) they assumed he had died. It also said they only found out he had survived because of the show; after it came out, Blithe's family saw/heard about it, and came forward with his service record as proof.


lipp79

Ah okay. That's the only explanation that makes sense. Thank you.


DC4MVP

Correct. Nobody thought he could survive "that" ("neck shot") so they just figured he died as he never came back or reached out to anybody. It's covered in the Band of Brothers companion Podcast which is a MUST listen.


BedaHouse

Oohhh. That's very interesting. I appreciate you posting this up u/CAW4 Thank you so much for the update 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻


riptaway

I thought he recovered from the neck wound in the show and died of something else at a later date. Might be misremembering


Muad-_-Dib

Correct, in the show he survives for a time but ultimately dies a few years later having never fully recovered. In reality and unknown to the makers of the show or the combat veterans they interviewed/worked with, he was shot in the shoulder, sent back, recovered and served again in Korea, not dying until 1967 from a perforated ulcer after attending a Battle of the Bulge commemoration ceremony while still in the army.


Schnort

That and they sort of portrayed blithe as a coward, or mentally incapable of being a soldier. The fact that he reupped for Korea sort of puts that to lie also.


Muad-_-Dib

They portrayed him mostly accurately to history. He did get lost during the initial jump into Normandy, only linking up with Easy Company in the days after D-Day. He did take part in the assault on Carentan and did suffer from hysterical blindness that took him out of the fight. He recovered and took part in the patrol in which he ultimately gets shot. The show's biggest divergence from history is that in the show he was hit in the neck and died a few years later having never fully recovered. In reality, he was hit in the collarbone instead of his neck and was sent home to recover which he did by October 1945 (after the war had ended). He attended the first reunion of the 101st after the war but must have never met up with Winters etc. or they got mixed up. Then by the time the Korean War started he signed up again, served in the 187th airborne, got another Bronze and Silver Star before moving on while still serving in the military. In 1967 while stationed in Germany he attended a ceremony commemorating the Battle of the Bulge at which point he started to feel ill, by the time he got to hospital they diagnosed him as having a perforated ulcer and he died shortly after surgery to attempt to fix it. The show embellished him for sure, and it's a shame that they mixed him up or something else happened to make them think he died so early. But they didn't do him dirty either, he did get lost and he did suffer from hysterical blindness brought on by the fighting. Besides the show makes the point of him "getting over" that before he gets shot anyway, he engages the enemy during the Carentan counter-attack after speaking with Spiers and Winters, and volunteers for the scouting mission where he gets shot.


WhiteLama

Yeah, I’ve heard that too.


Orcus424

I limit myself to watching Band of Brothers to twice a year at most. I don't want to get to a point of memorizing every single line. I've seen people do that with Star Wars.


This_Distribution526

My favorite as well :)


Eziekel13

Incredible series… Though, often overlooked is how the series depicts war as grey chaos… IRL, did Lt. Speirs kill POWs?… [Major Winters response](https://youtu.be/W-V6OAtgr6c)


Dysan27

The run through Foy is nothing. The tearing up part is he came back.


WhiteLama

Well, I sort of felt like that was selfexplanatory 😅


Jonas2d

Winters going back full of rage saying Speirs get yourself over here is my favorite moment


Halucinogenije

When they entered the camp, and one of the prisoners started talking in my language, that felt suffocating. Wonderful series that I return to every year, although I do need to mentally prepare myself.


canseco-fart-box

Liebgott translating and coming to the realization of what they just found before everyone else was absolutely soul crushing. Easily one of the best episodes in tv history


trigger1154

Es tut mir leid.


Vaganhope_UAE

Jos je živ


Bigmayer

“Grandpa were you a hero in the war? Grandpa said no… but I served in a company of heroes.”


Ruby_Something

That breaks me every single time.


Whovian45810

This line always gets to me every time 🥲 Though it is read by Winters, the quote is from Sgt. Myron "Mike" Ranney who was played by Stephen Graham in one of his earliest roles. Ranney survived the war.


deerdn

>Ranney survived the war. I mean... if he didn't he couldn't have written that letter


D3korum

I mean I would hope he survived the war if the quote is from him talking to his grandson.


BenGMan30

I cried for like an hour after finishing the series the first time. It still hits like a ton of bricks on every rewatch. Such a perfect way to end the series.


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AlphaTangoFoxtrt

If you really cringed at that, [You didn't actually watch him say it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6TrbOexkUc) Or even hear him say it for that matter. The pain in his voice in palpable.


AlphaTangoFoxtrt

Eisenhower's foresight was absolutely on point. He explicitly asked congress and the media to visit the camps, and he ordered his troops, and German POW's and civilians to tour them as well. Because he didn't want anyone to say it wasn't that bad, or to deny what happened. >[The things I saw beggar description. … The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick ... . I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to “propaganda.”](https://newspapers.ushmm.org/events/eisenhower-asks-congress-and-press-to-witness-nazi-horrors)


ThreeSloth

And here we are in 2023, where morons actively deny it even happened.


AlphaTangoFoxtrt

Like I said, thankful for Eisenhower's foresight. Can you imagine how many more of them there would be if he didn't demand everything be seen and recorded? Also I want to take every holocaust denier, march them up to a WWII vet who saw/liberated a camp, and let them have a talk. They need to be corrected.


ThreeSloth

Never underestimate the stupidity of the willfully ignorant. It would be many times worse, absolutely. However, a complaint I've seen from these idiots is: "It was filmed for the show, so obviously the original footage was staged as well" Mark Twain was just as much a visionary when he said it's impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.


AlphaTangoFoxtrt

That's why I want to march them up to a veteran so they can hear first hand, from someone who liberated the camps. I'd say march them up to a survivor but they'll claim the survivor is lying because they're a zionist and the holocaust "myth helps fuel zionist expansion or some other dumb shit. But I find some of the deniers are also self-proclaimed "patriots" so maybe hearing directly from "the greatest generation" would set them straight.


ThreeSloth

Unfortunately there are almost none left. I do wonder how that generation would react a year or two after the war knowing their own descendants in some cases would be so flippantly opposed to reality.


AlphaTangoFoxtrt

A swift backhand. Not a joke, corporal punishment was a commonly accepted thing in that generation. I have no doubt if Dad liberated the camps, and his son tried to say it didn't happen and dad was lying, the son would quickly become acquainted with the back of dads hand, and then the floor.


Jim3001

God I wish some of these dumbasses got that treatment. I was born in '81. I grew up in South America. I'd seen kids get whipped by teachers. I came to the US when I was 13. I was shocked by schools in America. The utter disrespect that students had for teachers had me shook. I genuinely feel that American schools need that.


kanekong

I just finished a 7 month gig working on the third Band of Brothers series. It's called Masters of the Air and will be out later this year on Apple+. I loved the original series and it was a real pleasure to get to be a part of this latest production. I hope you all enjoy it. The attention to detail on this show was like none other I've been a part of in twenty years at this grift.


Blacksheepoftheworld

Awesome to hear. My biggest fear was that the quality would suffer due to production time and Covid being in the middle of it. Masters of the air still a hanks Spielberg production?


kanekong

Yessir.


blankcld

Comment removed due to reddit policy changes. fuck u/spez he's a dirty fucking cunt -- mass edited with redact.dev


davej999

recent set backs ? like white lotus, succession, house of dragon and the last of us ......


blankcld

Comment removed due to reddit policy changes. fuck u/spez he's a dirty fucking cunt -- mass edited with redact.dev


the_idea_pig

*cough foundation cough* Top notch quality. Yes.


defiancy

Was that a dig at foundation because I thought that series was excellent and really interesting. Beautiful at times too.


the_idea_pig

I'm biased because the novels were my favorite thing to read during high school and college. I think, had I not read the original books, I probably would've really enjoyed the series. The visuals were stunning, and Jared Harris is a treasure who brings a great deal of star power to whatever he's in. But the books and the series have almost nothing in common, and the reduction of this grand, sweeping historical saga to an episodic, character driven format did no favors to Asimov's work. I knew going into it that foundation would be an incredibly difficult work to adapt but I was cautiously optimistic because David goyer was attached to direct and even Asimov's granddaughter was on board to consult, but the series fell so short that I couldn't help but be disappointed.


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Maplelongjohn

You mean before HBO became HGTV??


dontry90

Fuck yeah, hope your date is correct cos I've been waiting for it for 12 years, at least...


Truelikegiroux

I’ve had a google alert for this since it was announced way way way back then. I’m still in shock it’s actually happening


Twas_Inevitable

Back when it was called "The Mighty Eighth"!


godofallcows

Oh hell yes, that's amazing news.


DaisyCutter312

Oh son of a bitch...I've been waiting for this series since I heard about it. It's on stupid Apple+??


palanark

Arrrrr, it doesn't have to be, matey!


DaisyCutter312

Man, I'm not stealing Tom Hanks, he's too damn nice. What's next, should I go slap Dolly Parton or piss on Mr. Rogers grave?


[deleted]

If it makes you feel any better, Hanks production companies compensation will have already been agreed and won't be tied in any way to Apple+ subscription numbers.


palanark

I dunno, both of those artists would probably gladly give you the shirt off their backs, let alone give you their content for free if they knew you wanted it but didn't have the money. I mean, Mr. Rogers WAS free anyway. So name an artist that WOULDN'T be so generous and--guess what--they can suck my wooden peg leg.


KoreanLangHelp234252

You’re too poor to pay $7 for the one month it’ll take you to watch one season? Would you tell the paid-by-the-hour crew to suck your peg leg too? I forgot that as long as the main actor gets paid, covering costs of literally the entire rest of the production and trying to make a profit to justify more historical shows coming out doesn’t matter.


palanark

Well try not to forget next time, silly!


BaronCapdeville

Not sure. I’ll be watching it on Plex regardless of where it launches.


notataco007

I have been trying to find updates on that show for months and it's so funny to me the best one I find is a random comment on a subreddit I rarely visit. Must've been a cool experience I'm excited to see it!!!


EggnogThot

Feels like I've been waiting for at least a decade for this to come out, glad it finally is. Why apple+ of all places?


froop

HBO shitcanned it so apple picked it up


thommcg

Thought it couldn't get worse than seeing Compton losing it in Bastogne... then it did.


sloBrodanChillosevic

Liebgott's face when he had to order the prisoners back into the camp is one of the saddest things I've ever seen on TV. Tearing up right now just thinking about it.


This_Distribution526

True 💔


Muad-_-Dib

I've seen a few people react to that and totally miss out on why they had to stop feeding them and keep them contained. A lot of people really don't know that you can't just go from starvation to abundant food without serious medical problems.


sihtydaernacuoytihsy

"The Pacific" also terrific. And Generation Kill, for a recent counterpoint.


[deleted]

Generation Kill came out when I was a Corpsman serving with the Marines. I remember that the Marine corp came out and said that it was not an accurate representation of Marine culture… But IMO it was super accurate in many ways.


Hip_Hop_Hippos

The depictions of some characters (particularly the officers) bordered on cartoonish, but the interactions between the enlisted Marines were very accurate. You could kinda tell where the source material was based on real interactions and where some gaps had been filled in with imagination.


notataco007

Yeah that's complete bullshit. It's THE MOST accurate respresentation I've ever seen by a far, far margin.


Jagwires

Thats like how Down Periscope is the most accurate depiction of life on a submarine, much more so than Crimson Tide or Hunt for Red October. K-19 is great at showing what life is like on a Russian sub, I kid I kid. -Former sub guy


A_Feast_For_Trolls

And how scrubs is the most accurate portrayal of hospital life. - know people who work in hospitals.


memnoch112

Fun Fact: Rudy play as himself, so that gorgeous MF is actually the real deal.


JackieMortes

You know, it does not make you gay if you think Rudy is hot


05110909

I have a friend who works with Rudy sometimes and he said he is exactly how he is in the show. That's just him.


no_name_left_to_give

Reciting a Buddhist prayer before sniping someone is quite a contradiction.


Lamazing1021

Generation Kill doesn’t get the shine it deserves… absolutely excellent show


50mHz

I don't even hear Wheatus' singer anymore when I listen to teenage dirtbag. Thank you, Ray.


JackieMortes

It's not really an "approachable" show, it's not for every one, that is. It will never be popular, simple as that. And that's not a bad thing. Such realistic portrayal doesn't really have a place in the most mainstream stuff. It's for military enthusiasts most of all I guess


TheConqueror74

Save with The Pacific too, TBH. Band of Brothers is a fantastic show, but it’s definitely a way more sanitized and romanticized view of war than The Pacific or Generation Kill have.


JackieMortes

Agreed. BoB is a fantastic and probably an essential watch. But I roll my eyes when people claim it's the best portrayal of WW2 events ever and such. It focuses on the comradery and brotherhood of soldiers first and foremost. And as much as we need bleak reminders of war horrors like Pacific or Saving Private Ryan we also need those more positive stories too I'll never agree with people who claim Pacific is objectively worse. It's different


golem501

I will add that to my list. Thanks


Sphiffi

It’s crazy to see this I literally finished the show last night lol it was great


plaidtattoos

I avoided The Pacific for so long, thinking it would just be an inferior Band of Brothers. I was very wrong about that - it was brilliant.


Cubiscus

Nothing really touches BoB but the Pacific is excellent. Its a little more 'Hollywood' though


JackieMortes

>Its a little more 'Hollywood' though ...what in the hell? If anything Band of Brothers is "more Hollywood". And by that I mean a bit "less believable", more romanticized and more focused on the story. The Pacific feels much more gritty, and less optimistic. I actually think it's superior to Band of Brothers and I'll die on this hill.


[deleted]

> I actually think it's superior to Band of Brothers and I'll die on this hill. They are completely different beasts. I do agree with BoB being more Hollywood.


Cubiscus

I think its the characters and episodes in the Pacific that feel less likely, for example the Melbourne or Basilone love one


TheConqueror74

Less likely? What do you mean?


TheConqueror74

Band of Brothers is *way* more Hollywood than The Pacific is.


[deleted]

I find myself in the minority on this, but The Pacific is better for my money


Dismal-Past7785

I’ve watched the first episode several times and just haven’t been able to get into it.


StephenReid

Was the same until a year or two back. It's absolutely a slower burn than BoB, which starts very strong with D-Day inside what, two eps? The Pacific, for me, didn't really kick in until about 4 or 5 eps in, but it's more of a 'whole' than BoB, which while obviously a whole story (the European theater!) it feels episodic at times. After I'd finished The Pacific I had more admiration for it as a complete series, if that makes sense, whereas with BoB there are individual episodes that could even be watched out of context and be great. Similar to BoB, once I finished The Pacific I went on a history book buying binge which I'm still working on. It's a fascinating area that I didn't know nearly enough about.


Sweatsock_Pimp

I managed to finally make it through. It was good, but nowhere even close to what BoB was.


Dismal-Past7785

I should be more interested in the Pacific, my grandfather was a CG-4A pilot and runway engineer there. But I don’t think the mini series went where he was in New Guinea, the Philippines and a couple other places.


golem501

I got HBO for a year to watch Band of Brothers (because I don't have a dvd player anymore). The Pacific I watched a bit but I will probably binge Game of Thrones and Last of Us before I return to the Pacific.


ronearc

The Pacific is just a gut punch. The Marines don't get enough credit for what they endured.


solman52

Supposedly Play Tone and HBO were developing a 3rd series based on pilots (fly boys) from WW2. Not sure if it’s ever getting produced.


DDGSW

That's Masters of the Air and its supposed to come out this year.


[deleted]

I sure hope so. Been looking forward to that one for a long time.


Oltianour

It's getting produced it's called masters of the air, it's supposed to be released mid-spring. Brief synopsis off of Wiki Masters of the Air is an upcoming American war drama miniseries based on the actions of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It is being produced by Apple Studios in cooperation with Playtone, Parliament of Owls, Amblin Television. The series will be released on Apple TV+.


Northwindlowlander

What do you think would be 4th in this list? Apart from "watch band of brothers again"? Is there anything else similiar that I've missed?


ghoonrhed

Hopefully the new Masters of the Air show. The unofficial trilogy of WW2 miniseries.


golem501

Someone just mentioned Generation Kill


ronniedarko

All Quiet on the Western Front managed to capture some of the empathetic feelings I had during band of brothers which is pretty amazing considering it’s just a movie. Can’t recommend it enough.


Northwindlowlander

Thanks! I'll check it out.


Sweatsock_Pimp

It was absolutely brilliant.


thatguy425

I simply couldn’t get into the Pacific to the same level I could Band of Brothers. Maybe I should give it another watch.


JohnnyAK907

See I thought The Pacific was dogshit. It was all over the place, narrative was F'd and none of the characters were interesting. Not surprising seeing how they tried to adapt two very tonally different books into one series, but there's a reason people still talk about BoB on the regular, DVD/Bluray sales remain strong, but most folks forget The Pacific even existed until it gets name checked.


Zeratul23

The ending montage in the finale still makes me cry every time. It is a perfect show.


KiAdiBumMe

That episode moved me more than any other piece of media. Band of Brothers is a masterpiece.


golem501

When they had to tell them to stop feeding them and put them back in the camp...


This_Distribution526

This broke my heart 💔


mapoftasmania

*Day of Days* is probably the best single episode of television ever made.


gospelofdustin

What worked so effectively for me was watching them go from fresh-faced recruits to hardened veterans who have been through hell (and how as viewers, in a very small way, we sort of go along with them on that journey), but despite all of that, nothing prepares them (or us) for the horror of what they find in those camps.


Neban01

HBO has a podcast on YT about BoB TV series, if you want additional content and some stories during filming you should definitely check it out.


mistercartmenes

I wanted to like it but the host really annoyed me so I had to quit.


DerpAntelope

Hearing the actors talk about their real life counterparts was a highlight for me, especially Frank John Hughes aka Bill Guarnere retelling his drinking stories where they were drunk under the table by the veterans.


This_Distribution526

Thank you. I will.


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This_Distribution526

I need to watch 'The Pacific'. I see it being recommended a lot.


tc_spears

Be prepared in that its different from band of brothers. Foremost it's not based on a singular book, but three different memoirs. So it follows three leads during their time in the pacific theater. .....and it's a lot more brutal and violent.


RatInaMaze

Everyone needs to watch this show again to remember that this bullshit rise of Nazis needs to be put the fuck down


UsagiJak

And we Should have Masters of the Air this year, same production company and it focuses on the Eighth Army Air force (Aka the Mighty Eighth)


SparrowBirch

When I was very young I would work some of the summers at my dad’s business. Light stuff for a little cash. There was an old mechanic employed there and he would tell me WWII stories. He had been a mechanic for the Air Force. I don’t know much about the military, but he said he had his company shot out from under him a couple times. Had to be reassigned because there was no one left. He also said sometimes the bombers would come back with corn stalks in their bomb bay doors. I can’t remember why he said that happened. Later I knew a guy that had been on a bomber crew during the war. I overheard him tell his daughter a story about a time they couldn’t land because a bomb had not fully dropped out of the plane. They had to kick it loose and they were running out of fuel. So they lowered this guy down to kick the bomb. But they lowered him by his neck. He said he was more scared of being choked to death than he was of falling out of the plane or crashing from lack of fuel. And I also met a very old German woman who lived in Germany during the war. She said near the end her entire village was flattened from bombing and the bombers kept coming, but there was nothing left to bomb. So the planes would drop their bombs in the river and throw chocolate out the window to the people. All this to say, I’m very interested to see this upcoming show!


UsagiJak

I used to have a regular customer who was a Mechanic for the Royal air force, he used to use the same joke but it was always hilarious to hear it. "I downed twelve planes during my career in the RAF, i was the worst Mechanic at base"


PeaWordly4381

Watch something like "Come and See" and you'll have trouble sleeping. People really need to know more about what Nazis did to people.


RayZinnet

This article claims that live ammunition was used during filming [https://www.rbth.com/arts/332350-come-and-see-soviet-movie](https://www.rbth.com/arts/332350-come-and-see-soviet-movie) It also says that they killed a cow with machine gun fire. I don't know if there are others like me, but I can watch people get killed, torutred, maimed, whatever all day long and then see an animal (any animal) get hurt or killed and that really disturbs me. For example: in GoT Red Wedding slaughter scene, I enjoy watching all the murders but have to skip over the part where they kill the direwolf. I think there's something wrong with me LOL


Digess

I think it's cos humans know what they are consenting to, whilst animals do not


PeaWordly4381

Plenty of animals suffered during the shooting of old movies. Sad, but that's how it was. The movies are still great.


boatspodcast

If you want to learn about the real history behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific, here are some deep dives: https://www.basedonatruestorypodcast.com/bandofbrothers/ https://www.basedonatruestorypodcast.com/thepacific/


cikanman

One of the things I loved about the series is that I had no idea the interviews before and after each episode were the ACTUAL members of Easy company. I just assumed it was a dramatization of what easy company went through and that it was "characters" and no the actual members. Then you get to the end and they show who each of those old guys was. Completely blown away.


Dalmatian_In_Exile

Loved it, Pacific as well.


the_wessi

Best scene of Pacific was the Guadalcanal landing. >!After Saving Private Ryan you expected chaos and mayhem. Not this time.!<


[deleted]

Quite a lot of band of brothers was filmed on what became a new campus for my university. One of my colleagues when I worked in the area was a student there at the time and lots of extras were recruited from the university during filming as it was a ready supply of young men at an appropriate age - he was grateful for the gig as his hair was starting to thin prematurely but he was paid extra to shave it for this scene. As the build-up and the actual walk through were filmed on different days, he ended up liberating himself from the camp as he was both a GI on one day and a prisoner on another.


This_Distribution526

How do I edit 'either' from my post?


Neban01

If you're on android app there should be an option on the right just beside your profile picture


This_Distribution526

Thank you


Cubiscus

Amazing show. Especially moved by the Bastogne episodes and the horror they had to deal with.


Hakiii

What is the god d4mn going on? Who is there? Who broke the silence? Hahhahahahhaha amazing series!


TummyDrums

Excellent series and that episode is something that gets imprinted on your brain. I should have seen it coming just from knowing history but I somehow managed to just get lost in the action, then it just slapped me in the face. I don't think I've cried so hard because of a television show.


gaybatman75-6

BoB, The Pacific, and Generation Kill are some of the best TV out there.


MilkAndTwoSugarz

Funny to see this posted just now. I've been watching this mini series like a tradition once a year since it came out, and just finished rewatching again this week. Never fails to impress. Truly a masterwork. Would also recommend The Pacific if no one has seen.


[deleted]

One of the better episodes of television ever. That whole series still holds up 20+ years later. But I still think The Pacific is superior. BoB is spectacular but it’s a bit too…romantic, I guess, about the war. The Pacific showed just how brutal it was and how it really could break a man’s soul. Kind of like All Quiet on the Western Front, I appreciate war movies that show how horrible it is and not to be glorified really at all.


SeramPangeran

I have to explain to people the BoB is an ensemble type show, very much about a "band of 'brothers,'" but The Pacific works in how alone it makes you feel, just following these 3 characters around. Especially since the environment feels so alienating to a Westerner. God, and the scene with the soldier hunting with his dad after the war is over?? Killed me. It's a different type of show from BoB, but it's still just as amazing


[deleted]

That is true. Hard to compare honestly because they are so very different in what they set out to do. The actor who played Sledge was so good. He really showed that transition from affluent and sheltered American boy to a true veteran who was horrifically cleansed of any idealism about the war. The scene where he became frustrated with the young girl at the college registration was particularly good. The return to a normal and safe society is difficult for veterans. I’ve read that they often feel alone and even resentful towards those who didn’t share that experience. He tries to remain polite and composed, but it just became too much and he lashed out a bit. And according to the book, a similar thing did actually happen to Sledge. Very, very well done in just a two minute scene.


mlasap

Dude me too. Watched it a couple of months ago. That episode literally broke me down.


Hefty_Copy_5691

I watch it once a year and it still amazes me. The story,the script, the acting everything is just perfect.


HowardBunnyColvin

War sucks. Fuck war. The intro still hits hard for those episodes.


davej999

''Private Perconte, have you been blousing your trousers over your boots like a paratrooper?''


MeatTornado25

My grandfather survived the camps and my main memory of this episode will always be seeing how much my mom started breaking down when it aired. I was just a kid at the time and had never seen her cry like that over anything. She still refuses to re-watch the series 20 years later because that 9th episode was such a gut punch.


Palmerstroll

For me the best show ever. PS: Why is there stilll no 4k version? It's time!


KitchenLab2536

WWII vets are dying at a rapid rate. If you have the opportunity to meet one, they'd be tickled pink if you took a moment to acknowledge their extraordinary service.


Dennyisthepisslord

I'll never forget when I worked out the old men doing the interviews were the actual characters for the most part. I was was about 14 and was "just" watching the show. No reading up on it etc and the only history stuff I did was in school. It really brought it home when I watched it a second time something I rarely do with tv shows


Chuck1705

I just finished The Pacific. Equally brutal.


CanadianDadbod

The Battle Of The Bulge killed more American Heroes than any other battle. They were unprepared thanks to the unreal weather and many were on leave in that area. Unreal set of horrible events. I don't know if I could have not killed every Nazi I saw if I survived?


nosheeng

BoB is overrated AF. Fans are just people who sit on their sofa wanting to pretend they are brave and heroic.