**** HBO's BAND OF BROTHERS: The True Story Of Easy Company.

Are they broadcasting in HD and 5.1??

------------------
Thanks,
Steven R. Simon
HTF Administrator
Theater Pics Updated 7-26-2001
Send Email: darth23@optonline.net

I am so looking forward to this miniseries. I just had cable installed yesterday and got HBO simply because of this. I loved Saving Private Ryan and this has the same look and feel and has Spielburg's masterful eye overlooking all of it. Should be great.

I have to have a cable box installed in order to get HBO and I am not doing that. I guess I will have to wait for the DVDs. I hope they release them first or second quarter of 2002 (but Christmas 2001 would be even better).

Frank

------------------

Thanks for the info, Tino. Does anyone know if they will be shown in widescreen like the Sopranos?

It's widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1...at least on HBO-HD.

- Steve

------------------

Got Remo?

It's widescreen (letterboxed) and DD5.1 (where available) on standard HBO also, with a J6P simulcast on HBO+ like The Sopranos season 3 was.

Looks Great So Far

Give it up for Ron Livingston, PETER from "Office Space"!! Did you recognize him?

What did everyone think of David Swimmers(sp?) performance?

BTW-Did anyone else notice a long sound drop in the second episode and then the sound seemed to be louder and clearer. In fact, I had to turn my Outlaw down to about 42 or so on the dial

Another great HBO miniseries, with a definite SPR feel in DD 5.1, I might add
------------------
Regards,
Todd
My HT




[Edited last by Todd Barattini on September 09, 2001 at 11:54 PM]

I have to say that everyone did a nice job of acting in this very excellent beginning. The great thing about this story is that no embellishing is needed: it's a remarkable drama just by the facts.

Very well done!

I just wathed this monumental achievment, and I must say was VERY immpressed!

But what pathetic sound! HBO is not qualified to show such an epic! As immpressed as I was, i'm half tempted to not even watch the other parts until the dvd's come out, witch will undoubtedly have REAL DD and DTS!

------------------
"How can I heal, when I can't feel time?"

Leonard from Memento

We'll make this the Official Band Of Brothers thread.....


Wow, what a show!!! Very SPR like, yet up close and personal.......

I just watched this show in High Def 1080I, Dolby Digital 5.1 ...
All I can say is, truely amazing.... One of the best Broadcasts I have ever scene on TV.... The Main soundstage in 5.1 sound is powerful, and captivating.... Surround effects are dazzling with Seamless panning across the entire theater......

------------------
Thanks,
Steven R. Simon
HTF Administrator
Theater Pics Updated 7-26-2001
Send Email: darth23@optonline.net

The DD 5.1 Mix was far from this.... Stereo sound just can't do this show any justice... It needs to be heard in 5.1......

By the way.... For all of you guys that have SVS subs.... When you finally here this in 5.1 Bolt down all loose Objects!!!

------------------
Thanks,
Steven R. Simon
HTF Administrator
Theater Pics Updated 7-26-2001
Send Email: darth23@optonline.net

So the real experience is being lost on about 90% of the population!?! I'll wait for the dvd's to come out.

------------------
"How can I heal, when I can't feel time?"

Leonard from Memento

What Tino said.

Wow. Let me say this is shaping up to be something exceptional.

Great casting, with everyone lacking any artificial hollwood touches, even David Schwimmer surprisingly.
Great pacing, the first episode had great character development and their lead-in with anecdotes is touching and effective.
Great action, with very similar cinematography to SPR. I was really involved in their first major action.

I can't wait till next week!


------------------
Bombardment Society - Member

Schwimmer? did a great job of playing a hardass.
I kept waiting for him to pull a handfull of ball bearings out of his pocket ala Bogart.

I have a feeling that alot of people will want to buy the DVD just for the 5.1 audio.
I am still trying to figure out why those Naval shells sounded like 3 F-4 Phantoms with afterburners on screaming thru my living room.
Wow!!

Maybe Steven S. will include dts with the DVD

I'm baffled by your comments, John. The DD 5.1 sound was AMAZING, especially during the battle sequences.

Are you just not receiving 5.1 in your area?

- Steve

Steve, no to say the least! And to add insult to injury, even the 2 channel audio was screwed up! All of the sound was coming from the right front speaker!

------------------
"How can I heal, when I can't feel time?"

Leonard from Memento

Wow. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two installments tonight. This looks to become a true classic of television if it stays on par with the first two installments.

I'm going on record and saying that I liked a lot more than SPR, and it isn't even over. True kid in a candy store time.

A good, solid presentation. Bravo.

Gary

John,

I'm sorry your sound was screwed up.....
From what I heard, through my gear..... The DD 5.1 Mix was masterful.....

------------------
Thanks,
Steven R. Simon
HTF Administrator
Theater Pics Updated 7-26-2001
Send Email: darth23@optonline.net

I feel your pain, John.

See your other thread for some suggestions that might ease it!

- Steve

[Edited last by Steve Tannehill on September 09, 2001 at 11:38 PM]

I may be a wacky guy, but I'm going to severely doubt you're going to see DTS on these discs. It'll probably be another 3-4 DVD set, with 4 eps/disc

Possibly Spielburg's influence would change this, but I DOUBT it

Jeff Kleist

I was also VERY impressed with the first two episodes. At first I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that they had cast David Schwimmer to play a hardass, but I think he did a very good job. I can't wait to hear it in 5.1, but I didn't think the stereo mix was terrible. I am really looking forward to next week.

Anybody else notice that the sound was much quieter on the letterboxed version than on the J6P version?

------------------
My DVD's

I was eagerly awaiting the series, and I didn't have false hopes for it being the greatest thing I've seen, but I'm quite disappointed. After watching two hours of it, I still feel I know very little about the characters, surprising since that's basically what the first episode tries to do alltogether; the most well drawn out character is Sobel, who is already gone by the end of the first episode. The production values are superb, and the acting in general is adequete, but both episodes gave me nothing to be excited about. The whole attack on the German guns in part 2 was excellent in terms of action, but it just sort of bored me. Like episodes themselves, the attack just seem to happen without any importance being emphasized or theme running through. The narration at the end of part 2 also struck me as awkward; the intros in the beginning of each episode already accomplish that, the narrations seems too eager to push our emotions over the top. I'm definitly going to catch every episode if I can, but it's not too encouraging up to now.

Outstanding!

I had HBO hooked up just so I could watch Band of Brothers, and I must say, it's going to be WELL worth the $15 a month cost. I am a bit envious towards those of you who can watch this in HD, but I guess the eventual DVDs will need to keep me happy as far as quality goes.

I had read some review that said the first couple episodes were kind of slow, and it was okay to skip them and start watching with the 3rd episode... I dont know what the hell he was talking about... the 1st episode was quite good, and #2 was almost non-stop action.

Also watched that episode of The Sopranos that was on before the show... thought it was pretty good, but I think it's probably one of those shows I'd appricate more if I had followed it from the beginning and knew the overall storyline (other than Tony being a mafia guy of course )

Now out of curiosity, did anyone check the full-screen version on HBO-Plus? I was just wondering if it was pan and scan or full frame... not that I'd pass up the widescreen version, I was just wondering.

Oh, and

Spoiler:

I had never thought that there were actually Americans that had gone back to Germany because of their descent and fought for the German army. Were there many instances of this. I did hear a story once about some guy from Chicago that was fighting for the Iraqi army during Desert Storm. He was captured by our guys, though I dont think they shot him!

Brian

[Edited last by BrianShort on September 10, 2001 at 01:37 AM]

The first episode was good, a little too sentimental though. The second episode was a disaster, just an exercise in camera work, no script, no acting, nothing. At the rate Germans die in World War II non-German movies I'm surprised their army lasted more than 5 days.

And yes, the stereo sound on Dish channel 303 was horrible - episode 2 only.

Razvan

Well, I initially had my reservations about this series: from the previews it looked like a 10-hour version of Saving Private Ryan, which is my definition of Hell.

Boy, am I glad to say I was wrong! Based on the first two episodes, this has already blown away whatever dubious achievements SPR had.

The first episode was a pleasant surprise, focusing exclusively on building up three-dimensional characters and establishing relationships. David Schwimmer was a minor revelation, very effective as a hardass. To be honest, I've only previously seen Schwimmer in (ugh) a few episodes of "Friends" and (double ugh) The Pallbearer, so his performance was a bit of shock to me. The formation and training sequences were also a treat to watch, because of all the minor nitty gritty details shown (the pig guts in the trenches, the chewing out of soldier for having a rusty bayonet, etc.), rather than just give it a broad overview.

I commend Phil Alden Robinson, Tom Hanks, Erik Jendresen and Steven Spielberg for kicking off the show like this rather than plunge straight into an action sequence...

...which is precisely what Part Two has in spades. The nighttime paratrooper jump was striking visually, with some haunting imagery. I especially liked the jump from the POV of one of the soldiers.

The bunker-and-trench takeover was also exquisitely done technically, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't always clear on where and who the soldiers were; maybe this was intentional...or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Little touches, like a soldier fumbling a grenade, or another getting shot in the ass, were nice touches.

Overall, an impressive start for the series, and I am eagerly waiting for the next installment. However, there are some drawbacks: while the characters are nicely defined, I still feel somewhat cold towards them. In a way, I know about them but I don't KNOW them. And while the opening score by Michael Kamen is lovely, the blaring horns and orchestra overkill may lead to the same horrible John Williams SPR score. Hopefully the future music will be more restrained.

And I hope I'm wrong, but there a couple of signs that this series may lapse into an America-is-the-best mentality that marred SPR. The Germans--except for one segment in Pt. 2--are still portrayed as faceless and generally incompetent on the battlefield. Like I said earlier, I hope the remaining shows prove me incorrect.

And I'd also like to give a shout out to Ron "He'll Always Be Peter Gibbons to Me" Livingston.

------------------
Have you ever noticed anyone driving slower than you is an idiot? And anyone driving faster than you is a maniac!! - George Carlin

ICQ: 55259446 (or just search for "John Shaft"...can you dig?)

I thought the second episode was surprisingly good-- both visceral and moving; hopefully, the series won't dovetail into the sentimentality and heavy-handed messages which marred the third act of Saving Private Ryan.

Nice to see Richard Loncraine (Richard III, Brimstone & Treacle, the grossly underrated Bellman & True) get some work, too. He's a terrific director. I can't believe next week's episode is written by Max (Something Wild, Amos & Andrew) Frye!

Brian, to answer your question:


Oh, and Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I had never thought that there were actually Americans that had gone back to Germany because of their descent and fought for the German army. Were there many instances of this. I did hear a story once about some guy from Chicago that was fighting for the Iraqi army during Desert Storm. He was captured by our guys, though I dont think they shot him!

Yes, actually, there were several thousand citizens who went back.

Show was fanastic. I saw it on regular HBO, in the 5.1 mix, very good.

Even the DPL mix was not that bad, however; the show itself really sold me on it general acting and photography/direction which impressed me from the get-go.

CW