Tom Hanks’ war series is still a masterpiece today and 22 years later comes the sequel, which is incredibly elaborate

There are many war films. War series are much rarer. The Mini Series Band of Brothers set a new standard as a 2001 World War II tale and is still considered one of the best series ever. For which we can especially thank Tom Hanks.

What makes the Band of Brothers war series so special

The HBO production Band of Brothers follows a US soldier unit into the Second World War in 1942: The 2nd Battalion “Easy Company” are a paratrooper regiment of the 101st Airborne Division led by Richard Winters (Damian Lewis). We accompany them from their training to the air landing in Normandy, to then advance to the Netherlands at their side. Important war events such as the Ardennes Battle, the siege of Bastognes and the liberation of a concentration camp follow over the course of the 10 episodes.

What makes Band of Brothers so extraordinary is that the series The horrors of war before 1945 can be experienced up close through the fates of individuals over a longer period of time can be. Many of the main characters may appear as clear heroes, but we don’t encounter any unreflected patriotism here. Winters’ feelings of guilt about a shot teenager in the ranks of the SS are discussed here, as well as the craft of a medic who gets under your skin and who (in episode 6) commutes between the front and the hospital until the last reserve of strength.

The fact that, alongside Damien Lewis, we can discover many newcomers from the time who are now stars in the ranks of the cast is an almost irrelevant bonus (e.g. Michael Fassbender, David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, James McAvoy and Tom Hardy are worth spotting). .

In 2001, HBO was still in its infancy as a prestige television channel, but it quickly became apparent that Band of Brothers a historical series like no other would become. Tom Hanks was a big part of the story’s critical acclaim and multiple Emmy awards.

Tom Hanks’ influence on the Band of Brothers war series was enormous

Whether Greyhound, Captain Phillips or Bridge of Spies: When looking at tom hanks Filmography becomes clear that the actor one Lovers of true historical material is. His private interest extends in particular to the Second World War. After Steven Spielberg’s success Saving Private Ryan (1998), Tom Hanks was instrumental in setting up the 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers in 2001.

Tom Hanks and Erik Jendresen developed the series based on a non-fiction book by Stephen Ambrose. By making a War series instead of a war movie formed from the fabric, there was enough time to illuminate the fates of different soldiers in detail. Whereby Tom Hanks personally approached war veterans to share their memories with Band of Brothers as realistic as possible to tell.

Tom Hanks didn’t act as an actor for Band of Brothers, preferring instead to write the pilot episode, which introduced all the heroes in an impressive way. He also directed Episode 5. He is even said to have had a hand in the search for suitable locations. He capitalized on his star status off-camerato make the war epic a success.

War series replenishment after 22 years: Band of Brothers will soon have two sequels

You can currently stream Band of Brothers in its entirety with all episodes on WOW * or bring it home as a Blu-ray box *. If you want to watch even more haunting war series afterwards, you should also watch the ones co-produced again 9 years later by Tom Hanks and in spirit associated mini-series The Pacific (2010) look.

While Band of Brothers detailed the land warfare on European soil, The Pacific examined the island warfare in the Pacific Ocean, where Japan was the adversary.

In addition, the third matching series starts this year yet Masters of the Air on AppleTV+, which will approach World War II from the air with the likes of Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan and Callum Turner alongside a flying team. Of course, Tom Hanks has his fingers in the pie again.

The size of Master of the Air as lavish new war series with a budget of $300 million was shown in advance by the fact that 12 months beforehand she reconstructed barracks from the Second World War, used virtual sets for innovative cockpit scenes on site and cast almost 100 actors with role names.

Podcast: The 20 best series starts in August on Netflix, Amazon and Co.

Need more fresh streaming tips? You can find the most exciting August series, which you can stream on Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, among others, here in the monthly preview:

We have checked the long starting lists of the streaming services and present you the 20 big highlights of the month in the Moviepilot podcast stream trawl. Also included are Netflix’s highly anticipated One Piece series and Star Wars novelty Ahsoka. In addition to insider tips, there are also new seasons of Heartstopper, The Bear and Only Murders in the Building.

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