Saturday March 06, 2010 at 9:01

Band of BrothersThis show is phenomenal. Each episode is like a movie. It’s the most expensive miniseries ever made (each episode cost $12 million) and every cent was put into incredible attention to detail. You think Mad Men is doing a good job recreating a past era? Bust this: Almost all the main actors were cast because of their close physical resemblance to the real-life soldiers they were portraying. Around 700 authentic weapons and almost 400 rubber prop weapons were used in production The actors endured a grueling ten day boot camp where they learned the basics, from how to wear a uniform and stand at attention, to sophisticated field tactics and parachute jump training. The average day was 16 hours long, beginning at 5:00 a.m., rain or shine, with strenuous calisthenics and a three-to-five-mile run, followed by hours of tactical training, including weapons handling and jump preparation. The art department reconstructed four World War II-era tanks, using the frames of Soviet T-34 tanks from WW II and British Army Personnel Carriers as the foundations. The wardrobe department hired the Corcoran Boot Co. to manufacture 500 pairs of paratrooper jump boots to the original Army specifications. All of the 1,200 civilian costumes were authentic vintage clothing. All of the insignia are either originals or exact replicas, down to an identical stitch count on the “screaming eagle” patch, and “wings” pins cast from original molds. In “Day Of Days” when the company first attacks the German gun position at Brecourt, there appears to be some kind of cinematic error when it looks as though an American soldier throws a grenade and it explodes upon hitting a fleeing German soldier. Grenades don’t explode on contact; they have timed fuses. However, this actually happened: ‘Buck Compton’ had been an All-American catcher for UCLA and threw that grenade at the enemy with no arc and it exploded as soon as it struck. The white “PT gear” (physical training) tee-shirts worn in the first episode and seen again in the closing scenes of the last episode with the parachutist and the legend “U.S. Paratroops - Camp Toccoa, GA”. are exact reproductions of the ones worn during training. During the actors’ ten day “Basic Training” they were required to stay in character at all times. The only exception was the “Officers” were treated just as poorly as the “Enlisted” by the training cadre. The black and white “Invasion stripes” on the wings of the C-47 in the scene where the soldiers are entering the plane, are wavy and sloppily painted. This is accurate. The word went down to all allied air units on June 4th to paint broad stripes on the planes, for recognition. Maintenance personnel used paint brushes, many of them purchased from English retailers, to paint the stripes on thousands of planes, literally overnight. Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Stephen Ambrose showed each of the scripts around to real-life soldiers of Easy Company to guarantee authenticity.

Band of Brothers

This show is phenomenal. Each episode is like a movie. It’s the most expensive miniseries ever made (each episode cost $12 million) and every cent was put into incredible attention to detail. You think Mad Men is doing a good job recreating a past era? Bust this:

  • Almost all the main actors were cast because of their close physical resemblance to the real-life soldiers they were portraying.
  • Around 700 authentic weapons and almost 400 rubber prop weapons were used in production
  • The actors endured a grueling ten day boot camp where they learned the basics, from how to wear a uniform and stand at attention, to sophisticated field tactics and parachute jump training. The average day was 16 hours long, beginning at 5:00 a.m., rain or shine, with strenuous calisthenics and a three-to-five-mile run, followed by hours of tactical training, including weapons handling and jump preparation.
  • The art department reconstructed four World War II-era tanks, using the frames of Soviet T-34 tanks from WW II and British Army Personnel Carriers as the foundations.
  • The wardrobe department hired the Corcoran Boot Co. to manufacture 500 pairs of paratrooper jump boots to the original Army specifications.
  • All of the 1,200 civilian costumes were authentic vintage clothing.
  • All of the insignia are either originals or exact replicas, down to an identical stitch count on the “screaming eagle” patch, and “wings” pins cast from original molds.
  • In “Day Of Days” when the company first attacks the German gun position at Brecourt, there appears to be some kind of cinematic error when it looks as though an American soldier throws a grenade and it explodes upon hitting a fleeing German soldier. Grenades don’t explode on contact; they have timed fuses. However, this actually happened: ‘Buck Compton’ had been an All-American catcher for UCLA and threw that grenade at the enemy with no arc and it exploded as soon as it struck.
  • The white “PT gear” (physical training) tee-shirts worn in the first episode and seen again in the closing scenes of the last episode with the parachutist and the legend “U.S. Paratroops - Camp Toccoa, GA”. are exact reproductions of the ones worn during training.
  • During the actors’ ten day “Basic Training” they were required to stay in character at all times. The only exception was the “Officers” were treated just as poorly as the “Enlisted” by the training cadre.
  • The black and white “Invasion stripes” on the wings of the C-47 in the scene where the soldiers are entering the plane, are wavy and sloppily painted. This is accurate. The word went down to all allied air units on June 4th to paint broad stripes on the planes, for recognition. Maintenance personnel used paint brushes, many of them purchased from English retailers, to paint the stripes on thousands of planes, literally overnight.
  • Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Stephen Ambrose showed each of the scripts around to real-life soldiers of Easy Company to guarantee authenticity.
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  4. monsterbeard said: YES! Amazing. And soon The Pacific! I absolutely loved watching Band of Brothers.
  5. jakec posted this