Band of Brothers
Has anybody seen this miniseries?? I just got it for Christmas and I just finished it and I loved it. I'm going to go pick up the book soon, see if that's better but over all I was very impressed. I really liked the actor in office space and he was in there which was pretty cool.
Anybody else like it?
Anybody else like it?
Comments
The actor from Office Space you talk about is Ron Livingston. He's a great actor.
Originally posted by Argento
Has anybody seen this miniseries?? I just got it for Christmas and I just finished it and I loved it. I'm going to go pick up the book soon, see if that's better but over all I was very impressed. I really liked the actor in office space and he was in there which was pretty cool.
Anybody else like it?
I haven't seen any of it, but would love to. Guess I'll have
to buy it to do so. I didn't want to see it piecemeal or
out of order. That ruins it for me somewhat. So I'm
waiting...
Did you ever seen Ken Burn's Civil War series all the way
through? I guess I'll have to buy that one too.
Is Band of Brothers considerably better than Civil War?
Anyone have an opinion about that?
Too many kids today have absolutley NO CLUE what kind of sacrifices were made during WWII, by whom and why. They think the whole war was about saving the Jews and that we ended it by dropping the Bomb. That's all they know. The rest of the context is lost on them....
It really does give you an idea of what WWII was like.
All our soldiers are hero's, regardless the "politics" that may put them in harms way.
Randy
Originally posted by Moogs
By far the best miniseries / documentary drama on WWII ever done IMO. Hanks took the grittiness and tone of Saving Private Ryan, and applied it to the real-life stories of the men from 101st. Very few dramas ever made me shed tears the first time I watched them, let alone the second or third time. Every high school student in America should be forced to watch the entire series as a part of their history credits.
Too many kids today have absolutley NO CLUE what kind of sacrifices were made during WWII, by whom and why. They think the whole war was about saving the Jews and that we ended it by dropping the Bomb. That's all they know. The rest of the context is lost on them....
Do you think the series would be too intense for seventh and/or eighth graders?
Would they have to see it all to get any impact? Or is there any one part they could see that would be of some benefit?
I hate to tell you this, but if there's any fear that even ONE parent would object to something shown at school, it either won't be shown, or permission slips would have to be required, with alternative assignments for those not allowed to see it.
I also hate to tell you this, but if you had ANY idea of all the things about which the kids are clueless wrt history, you would just die.
Don't even get me started.....
Carol
Originally posted by Carol A
Do you think the series would be too intense for seventh and/or eighth graders?
Would they have to see it all to get any impact? Or is there any one part they could see that would be of some benefit?
I hate to tell you this, but if there's any fear that even ONE parent would object to something shown at school, it either won't be shown, or permission slips would have to be required, with alternative assignments for those not allowed to see it.
I also hate to tell you this, but if you had ANY idea of all the things about which the kids are clueless wrt history, you would just die.
Don't even get me started.....
Carol
Then get the permission slips. If you are a teacher (as it seems from your post), then Thank You for the Good Work that you do.
The atomic bombing museum in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1999, had one blurry picture of the USS West Virginia on fire at Pearl Harbor to possibly give a context as to why Little Boy was dropped on the city. No caption on the picture, if you hadn't seen that photo of USS West Virginia previously, you'd never know what you were looking at or even why it was in the exhibit. Indeed, you might even think that an Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship had been in Hiroshima Harbor when Little Boy was dropped (I hadn't thought of that before!). American kids aren't the only ones losing connection to the past.
Aries 1B
Ambrose is quite the historian. I read _Nothing Like It in the World_ about the transcontinental railtroad---not as exciting as Brothers, but pretty interesting all the same.
Originally posted by Aries 1B
Then get the permission slips. If you are a teacher (as it seems from your post), then Thank You for the Good Work that you do.
The atomic bombing museum in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1999, had one blurry picture of the USS West Virginia on fire at Pearl Harbor to possibly give a context as to why Little Boy was dropped on the city. No caption on the picture, if you hadn't seen that photo of USS West Virginia previously, you'd never know what you were looking at or even why it was in the exhibit. Indeed, you might even think that an Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship had been in Hiroshima Harbor when Little Boy was dropped (I hadn't thought of that before!). American kids aren't the only ones losing connection to the past.
Aries 1B
Hi Aries -
Thank you for the thanks. It's appreciated.
Actually, I teach English, and our new principal (an English teacher) doesn't want the English teachers showing videos - even of works we've just taught(!) - because we have so much to cover for all the testing that there is no time for such frivolous things as videos! (grrrrrrr...)
So, maybe I can prevail upon the eighth grade government classes to show part of B.O.B. Or maybe they can show it in 7th grade American History, though their curriculum technically stops at the Civil War.
When they show 'Glory,' I think they have to have permission slips for the 'N-word.'
Carol
Originally posted by dmz
Ambrose kicks ass---I've read the book and have the series. Check out Livingston's video diary about how they put the actors through boot camp---much thesame way they did the actors in _Platoon_. The miniseries is VERY true to the book---the only sin is in the compression of time and space to fit various incidents into a compact space.
Ambrose is quite the historian. I read _Nothing Like It in the World_ about the transcontinental railtroad---not as exciting as Brothers, but pretty interesting all the same.
Are you into Vietnam books, by any chance?
I'm wondering because of your name, 'dmz.'
(Or is that some computer term I don't know about?)
Santa doesn't love me.
Originally posted by Carol A
Do you think the series would be too intense for seventh and/or eighth graders?
Given the kinds of movies kids of that age are allowed to watch nowadays, my opinion is no way. If it is too intense, it might be a good excercise in teaching them what death is really like -- that it's not what video games and "gangsta" movies make it out to be.
Would they have to see it all to get any impact? Or is there any one part they could see that would be of some benefit?
I think that the first couple episodes would have less impact than the others because it's more about the men's training and journey to England before the drop over France.
If you have to eliminate any episodes, I might eliminate those two and watch the rest. As for single episodes, the one that depicts the events in Bastogne is probably the single most compelling, and shows the many aspects of what made WWII so brutal. Also, the last episode or two makes it very clear that we really didn't understand what was happening to the Jews in Germany and Austria until close to the war's end.
We understood they were being persecuted, but our officers and troops didn't go over there with the mindset of liberating people from concentration camps. In those days we didn't have spy planes and satellite intelligence photos the way we did in Bosnia. The camps came as a brutal shock to the troops....
I hate to tell you this, but if there's any fear that even ONE parent would object to something shown at school, it either won't be shown, or permission slips would have to be required, with alternative assignments for those not allowed to see it.
There will always be at least one parent that objects to things like this. I don't know the policies at your school but I would find a way around those parents. Put their kids in a study hall or something for those hours, but don't deprive the rest of those kids from such a crucial lesson. One they can truly carry with them for the rest of their lives.
I also hate to tell you this, but if you had ANY idea of all the things about which the kids are clueless wrt history, you would just die.
I don't doubt it. I know more than I want to already. Aside from lack of historical knowledge, I know most kids today can't tell time from an analog clock or watch... I know most can't name the even half of the 50 states, much less describe their geographic relationship to one another. I know most think the Civil War was about slavery when it wasn't.
Don't even get me started.....
I'm sure we could have a few laughs / cries over a case of beer sometime were the opportunity to present itself.
Hi Moogs -
Thanks for the great reply.
I'm going out for breakfast right now, but I'll be back later
to answer.
A CASE of beer????
One of us must be really thirsty!!!
Carol