Band Of Brothers - The Complete Series (Commemorative 6-Disc Gift Set in Tin Box) [Blu-ray] [2010]

Band of Brothers is the true story of Easy Company, one of the most active and important companies in the US Army during the liberation of France and the eventual invasion of Germany. It traces the various characters from beginnings in boot camp (look out for a brilliant David Schwimmer in the first feature length episode), through their time in England waiting for the big push, the terrifying brutality of D-Day, the subsequent chaos of the liberation of Normandy and the ongoing campaign in Europe. The characters remain consistent throughout, though their appearances and importance to the story ebbs and flows, sometimes waiting in the background and occasionally coming to the fore, as the series explores the multi-faceted war machine and the personal stories set within the context of this huge operation over 10 episodes lasting at least an hour each. Band of Brothers comes from the same people that made Saving Private Ryan, and it exemplifies the same approach to production values. There have been no compromises made in terms of the effects, with explosions and gore pounding the camera in very visceral scenes that do not pull any punches, and are not suitable for youngsters. Equally, the visual or aural fidelity is outstanding in this bluray reproduction. There is occasional graininess to the pictures, particularly in some of the darker scenes, but these add to the gritty realism rather than detract from the polish. Overall, the bluray picture is outstanding. Of even greater note is the sound. When listened to in 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound this is an amazing experience, as bullets whizz past your ears and explosions rock your sofa. There is an option to have the full, uncompressed Master HD Soundtrack whic must sound unbelievable, but unfortunately my system is not capable of playing it back, which is a shame. This is an amazing box set, and represents great value for money for what is one of the most important pieces of TV cinematography ever, in my view. The intimate stories it tells, set against such an epic and tragic background, are extremely moving, while the action set pieces are filmed with such flair that your heart rate will soar. Of particular note are early sequences in Normandy where Easy Company storm an anti-air battery, and a later sequence in which soldiers are under siege in a snowy forest, as trees literally start exploding around them. Such scenes are likely to stick in your mind for many years, as well they should.

I'd heard fantastic things about this series. Nothing I'd heard or read though, prepared me for this. Once I'd started watching I simply couldn't stop. I watched the series back to back to back over a 3 day period and I believe I've re-watched it fully 10 or so times. The script is based on the events and real life accounts of the men of the US 101st Airborne Division's "Easy" E-Company. The direction of the series is simply superb and the CGI/ special effects and stunts are excellent and really do the job of portraying the sheer enormity and savage horror of the war. The most fantastical aspect to this series is the acting. Every performance is terrific and really brings to life each character. The main cast, before shooting, had a boot camp in which they had to get to a fitness standard to deal with the physical demands of the manoeuvres and stunts of the series, as well as carry out "ops" in character to make sure they could perform them at a realistic level. An entire generation of British actors can be seen in the series and there is no better performance from any of them than that of Damian Lewis, who plays Major Richard "Dick" Winters. In my opinion this is the greatest TV series of all time. It is essentially 10 mini movies. This is an extremely powerful, emotional and gripping piece of work that demonstrates that even in the most dire, inhospitable circumstances; in the absolute carnage, brutality and stark horror of war, the human spirit in the form of individual courage, selflessness, bravery and a collective bond between brothers, can overcome. The extras include interviews with the real Easy company soldiers and I challenge anyone to get through those and not shed a tear. Major Dick Winters - Asked by his Grandson if he was a hero in the war he replied "No. But I served in a company of them."

I have had the DVD box set for years but when my wife decided she wanted to see it, I found an excuse to buy the very reasonably priced Blu Ray set. There are multitude of reviews about how great the whole series is so I won't waste time talking about the excellent writing, acting, directing, effects, etc. And I won't go on about the excellent interviews with the (then) surviving members of Easy Company which are sprinkled through the series and available in more depth as part of the extras. I learned while rewatching this recently that Major Winters died in only January of this year. He comes across both in the series and in interviews as an ordinary man who, when put in extraordinary circumstances faced them in the way I would hope to if placed in the same situation. It seems like he had a nice life after the war, and he was surely one man who very much earned the peace he craved. Onto the technical aspects of the Blu Ray box set. The tin box is very nice and although the internal fold out box is a little cumbersome and delicate looking, mine did not fall apart in my hands as others have described in their reviews. Picture quality is top notch and serves as a great example of what Blu Ray is all about. However, for me, the sound is what makes the biggest difference. It is truly awesome and deserves to be heard in full lossless 5.1 surround sound. Extras wise, aside from the usual extra 'making of' and interview features, there is a nice timeline feature which gives you additional information about all sorts of things ranging from military terms colloquialisms through to more detail on specific operations, military ranks and other things which may only get a passing reference in the series. There is also Picture in Picture interviews with the men of easy company but be aware if you have a home cinema sound system that the audio from them will only work if you set your player to output 'PCM' audio rather than 'Bitstream'. It would have been nice if there was a note on the disc or in the box to inform oyu of this; I only found out through searching on line as I thought I had either a faulty Blu Ray player or a faulty disc! I'm not a big flag waver but one thing this series definitely does is serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought in the second world war. If you're not teary eyed or at least moved by the end of the series, you must be made of stone.

This has to be IMO one of the best blu-rays out there. Anyone on the fence or put off for the fact its a drama based on World War 2 and thinks may not look good on Blu-ray then dont be. This mini-series is an epic represenation of World War 2 and the quality in pictiure is astounding considering the drama is set in the 1940s. Every grain, every detail of Easy Company's wear and tear in the face of battle combined with the incredible sounds of explosives (and believe me theres a lot of them) really set this blu-ray apart from anything else. Add to that the drama is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg and published by HBO (IMO the greatest broadcaster of television ever) then u really r in 4 a treat. The package 4 what its worth is fantastic. Not only do u get 10 brilliant 1 hour episodes which is worth the price alone, u also get a full 1 hour documentary on World war 2, a half hour insight in2 the making of BOB, commentary of every episode from the real soldiers of Easy Company, a timeline scaling dates of every historical period in WW2 and finally profile featurettes of the men of Easy Company which last around 4 minutes each. This all concludes to one hell of a package and for 24.99 thats an absolute bargain in my book. Anyone on the fence I urge u 2 buy it caus Its the greatest adaptation of World War 2 ever produced and that price may not last forever. So buy it, show ur family, marvel at the scenery, share a tear or 2 and who knows u may actually learn something in perspective of what these men actually went through.

I had this series on DVD and enjoyed it very much. I had been wanting to pick it up on blu-ray since I upgraded last year and finally got it last week. The blu-ray is a huge improvement over the DVD's in my opinion. The film has an intended grain to it in certain parts, and is for the most part not a series with brilliant colors, but the blu-ray works and in spots is simply brilliant. You get some very crisp and clear details, and the lines are clear and sharp. It has a certain tint to it, which some may not like, but it makes it more realistic and immersive as a WWII story. Overall, an excellent video presentation. The acting is great, all actors complement each other well. i.e. Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, the guy from "office space", and Donnie Wahlberg, among others, all bring a human aspect to the film and make the dramatic scenes very moving. At times it is humorous, and other times you will be captivated by the well-written script. The story line is interesting, true, and at times action packed, at all times riveting, and you will surely fly through the series. The sound is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and is a powerful track, the score sounds excellent, the battle scenes immerse you with full use of the surrounds and it has nice bass. The dialogue is clear even in the heavy action sequences, and the atmospherics are nice even in the non-action scenes. It is a solid sound presentation. Basically, there is no reason NOT to buy this. You get arguably one of the best series ever made, in high quality video, with a solid DTS HD MA track, and in a nice box set all for less than two tenners. Probably the best blu-ray deal going. Big thumbs up!

After hearing so much about Band Of Brothers from friends and colleuges I knew I would like it. Decided to take advantage of the great price for blu ray. I was not disspointed! This has to go down as one of the best war dramas and indeed tv shows in modern tv history. Great production values, superb acting which reads like a who's who of of top new American and British talent, superb enthralling story based on the real events of easy company before during and after the D-day landings. It has everything from action, intriuge, empathy, educational value and gut renching moments. Never before has a tv show engrossed me so much, I watched all ten episodes in two sittings! This can sit along side Battlestar Gallactica, Lost, Heroes and anything else you care to mention. Although we should not belittle what those brave men went through by comparing it to sci-fi tv shows, it's just the writing is sooo good and directed so beautifully you can't help comapre to other great tv of recent times, and because it's an historical drama you buy into more and learn in the process, great! Buy this now you will not be disspointed. Roll on The Pacific.!

As yet I cannot see a Blu Ray review regarding the general transfer of this series. I was torn about how many stars to give this, as a series and the content it would be 5, for the Blu Ray transfer it would be 3, so I evened it out at 4. This series is awesome and a real triumph in general. I saw it ages ago on DVD and wanted to revisit it on Blu Ray. The sound is fine no problems there, the picture is a mixed bag. Some scenes look great and clear and satisfactory, others are so grainy it's like I'm looking at my jar of wholegrain mustard! Not sure what the issue was with this transfer given that it was such a major project I though they would have sorted the grainyness in some of these shots. the only way I can let it go is that it is a war series and I suppose in some shots it makes it look authentic, I would however still exchange that stretch of the imagination for a crystal clear Blu Ray transfer!

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks produced this extremely classy World War II drama based on the real life exploits of Easy Company 2nd Batallion of the United States 101st Airbourne Division. Easy Company's involvement in the war began on D-Day June 6, 1944, when they were dropped into Normandy by parachute with orders to destroy German positions to aid the beach assault. From here they went on to fight in Eindhoven, the Ardennes forest and Bastogne and finally in Germany itself. During this time they suffered heavy casualties and endured extreme hardship in difficult conditions. HBO's ten part mini-series cost in excess of $125 million dollars, and it shows; the battle scenes, when they come, are simply jaw-dropping, and provide an authentic and unflinching portrayal of battle. However, the show's main strength is in it's characterisation. Though there are a number of characters that could be described as 'main characters', each episode generally centres around the experience and viewpoint of one different character, whether he be commanding officer or private, giving the series a very human angle. In one episode for example the story follows the company Medic, in another the unfortunate Private Blithe. The producers rightly plumbed for (at the time) little known actors rather than major stars. Each episode also begins with input from some of the real heroes of Easy Company, giving their own views and memories. The quality of the performances and cinematography of Band of Brothers is second to none. It is a truly excellent way to spend 10 hours and a respectful tribute to all those who fought for their countries in the Second World War. Blu-Ray: The quality of the blu-ray transfer is superb, in picture (particularly long distance shots) and sound, and well worth buying over the standard DVD presentation.