There are other portrayals of harsh treatment toward prisoners; Toye hits one German with brass knuckles after he surrenders, while another member of Easy Company shoots another surrendering German in the streets of Carentan with his sidearm.
Spiers will later take a more prominent role when he is appointed company commander for Easy Company. The greatest insight into his character comes with a discussion he has with Private Albert Blithe, who had suffered, temporarily, from hysterical blindness.
Spiers tells Blithe that his problem is that he still thinks there is hope and once he lets go of that, he can function as a soldier, a stark and chilling reminder of the horror of combat, particularly since Blithe did not survive. The series is not without limitations.
The portrayal of a company of soldiers necessitates a large cast and even with ten hours of film, it is difficult to keep track of who is who at all times, particularly during combat. Even with a copy of the book, there are sequences that do not seem to flow well, or are never fully explained. Since many of the veterans assisted in the filming, there are several sequences that do not appear in the book and this tends to make for some additional gaps in the stream of events.
Each show is capable of standing on its own, but to truly appreciate it requires the viewer to watch all the previous parts to understand the complete storyline, and this is a large commitment of time for some. These limitations pale in comparison to the accuracy, detail, and scope of the effort put forth by Spielberg, Hanks, the directors, cast, and crew of Band of Brothers. To overcome some of these problems, the producers have gone to great lengths to provide resource material on the series in the hope of educating the public about the exploits of the American soldier.
HBO has also consented to the use of the series for in-class presentations. I recently showed several of the episodes to my World Civilization sections and their comments were as diverse as the students. Some were offended by the depiction of combat and the foul language used by the soldiers. Others believed that this showed war as it actually was, without an effort by the filmmakers to clean it up.
Several ex-servicemen commented about the realism, from the use of hand-signals, to the proper terminology used in the targeting and firing of mortars. The large majority rated the show highly and expressed an interest to view the other episodes, although they will have to do this out of class. A minority also asked if it was appropriate to be viewing this type of program following the recent tragedies in New York and Washington. They wondered if some Americans were not in similar predicaments in the hills of Afghanistan, and this is perhaps the best question that could have been asked.
Realizing, appreciating, and attempting to understand war can perhaps influence this newest generation to avoid war and maintain eternal vigilance in the future. The most encouraging effect of the shows was the discussion it generated. Students wanted to find out more about the soldiers. What happened to them? In fact, Band of Brothers goes out of its way to show how such views of war are dangerous and harmful. By focusing on a whole company rather than just a couple of characters, the series shows war from all of its angles, through the eyes of many different kinds of men in many different sorts of roles.
The triumphs in the show rarely come when the enemy is demolished, but rather, they come when the soldiers endure through their united will.
In Band of Brothers , war is something to be avoided if possible and survived if inevitable, not something to be hoped for in a foolish quest for valor. The series balances the heroism of its characters with the deplorable nature of their circumstances, crafting a narrative that manages to reach beyond simple war stories and say something more essential about brotherhood and the human spirit.
At the time it was produced, Band of Brothers was the most expensive miniseries ever put to film. Of course, credit must also be paid to the direction and cinematography of the show, which brought the battles of World War II to the screen in hauntingly vivid ways that have still rarely been matched or exceeded.
There are those through the years who have thrown Band of Brothers into the conversation of being the greatest TV show ever made. After twenty years, it still holds up quite well, but is it truly in that absolute top tier?
Of course, the answer is impossible to say. What can be said though is that as a series about war and human endurance, Band of Brothers may be best in class. Finally, to simulate the jump into Normandy, the actors leapt from a foot-high prop aircraft while wearing wires connected to a harness.
In the third episode, Pvt. Albert Blithe, played by Marc Warren, is shot in the neck, and is last seen in a hospital ward. Blithe survived the war, and stayed in the Army, going on to serve during the Korean War according to Together We Served. The art department constructed the set that was used for the Siege of Bastogne inside a massive airplane hangar using real trees as well fake trees that the special effects department made from fiberglass, hemp, latex and foam.
Not only did the crew create a forest, they had to make it look like it was snowing. It took four weeks to cover the set with fake snow created from paper and plastics to get a mix of snow, from flakes, to slush.
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