Band of Brothers E05 'Crossroads' - FULL REACTION!
Added 2020-06-22 22:13:20 +0000 UTCThis was somehow a very different episode, but still as impactful as the rest, and beautifully directed by Tom Hanks himself! We got to focus a lot more on Winters, and we really enjoyed that. But now it seems like we are getting ready for something very different yet again in the next episode..
Comments
I apreciate you mentioned Walsh and he deserves to be a called a Hero for his deeds in the war but I think you might overlook the diffrence between Wehrmacht and Waffen SS here and wihtout want to discredit you i think your argument of Hubris is a bit to shallow and missing the point here. Btw Cherbourg where held by the Wehrmacht and most of them where recervists or fortress battalions with old man,recovering wounded or kids. Alot of them never saw combat and since they where draftet most even against their will lead to overall low moral and a higher chance they might surrender. Although it has to be said that the defenders of Cherbourg hold out longer and fought with greater determination than most Garrison units the Germans had in Normandy. I dont want to defend the Waffen SS or uplift them in any way but what most non Germans dont know or tend to ignore is that Wehrmacht and Waffen SS where completly diffrent and that even that late in the war a huge portion of SS soldiers where still volunteers and hard belivers in the nazi cause and in contrast to their Wehrmacht pendants most of them had way more battle experience. So i dont really belive in your argument that they just knew the war is over and did not really wanted to put on a proper fight anymore. Just look at the Battle of Caen or as it is also called the Battle of the European SS. Caen where held by mostly Waffen SS units and they knew they are outnumbered and where under constant shelling by air and ships and often fougt against 3-5 to 1 or even worse odds and they held a city for weeks that where supposed to fall in two days while most Regular German units in the area already witdrawed or where routed. So you might think about your argument and give them the benefit of a doubt instead of just dont root for them cause they where on the wrong side.
SirPurrsalot
2020-06-26 11:35:55 +0000 UTCGeorge Rice was portrayed by Fallon. Wrong host. ;)
William
2020-06-24 03:56:21 +0000 UTCOne of the things I like about Band of Brothers is that it shows the psychological impact of combat on the soldiers and how different people deal with that differently. Buck and Winters get quite and introspective, Lutz gets talkative and obnoxious and then there are those like Spears. Notice how almost all of their attitudes have changed they are no longer the happy go lucky guys of episodes 1 and 2. Like Kat noted it scars them for years or life. During the interviews with the soldiers for episode 2 one of the guys says we lost a lot of guys that night and struggles to contain his emotions about those events and that's 60 plus years in the past. I also like the part with Winters on the train where he visibly exhales followed a second or 2 later by Kat visibly exhaling. Jimmy Kimmel, WTF is Jimmy Kimmel doing in this show? Anyway file this away as I'll have a rant later on about this but not about Kimmel. George Rice(the character portrayed by Kimmel) is an unsung hero of the battle of Bastogne you only see him making 1 trip in the show but he actually made several trips. I also want you to note the army unit he was from the 10th Armored Division.
Mark Valverde
2020-06-24 03:34:34 +0000 UTCOut of those 3....6 is def the easiest one, in my opinion.
GV
2020-06-24 00:34:48 +0000 UTCThe toughest episodes are 6, 7, and 9. The one you really have to prepare for is 9.
GV
2020-06-24 00:32:29 +0000 UTCQuentin R. Walsh. Correction: his unit captured 750 German soldiers.
William
2020-06-23 15:59:33 +0000 UTC"The attack by the SS forces down the Deich was very sloppy and would most likley not happen this way." It's called *hubris* and it can still be quite common, even with experienced units. That's what allowed about 500 German troops to be captured by a USCG officer leading a 50 man unit shortly after the landings. The campaign was littered with events similar to this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
William
2020-06-23 15:53:34 +0000 UTCThe Mardasson Memorial in Luxembourg is pretty nice. It commemorates the battle and the 101st. ;)
William
2020-06-23 15:50:25 +0000 UTCWhat would be neat to see are some of the monuments put up for these battles. There is a statue of Winters I just found out about that I would like to see.
Robert Kelly
2020-06-23 15:01:41 +0000 UTCSeeing Buck Compton a friendly open man become like this tear my heart apart. The actor who portraied him did a good impression of the infamous 1000yard stare.
SirPurrsalot
2020-06-23 10:37:18 +0000 UTCThe attack by the SS forces down the Deich was very sloppy and would most likley not happen this way. There was simply no reason for them to push down and give up flank and high ground. Given the fact that most SS units at this time of war where combat proofen and Ostfront vets this is more likley a liberty by the writers. As for the attack on the resting German unit. There is no way a German unit camping in the field after an engagement the night before would not have put some perimeter guard up or even some mg positions to guard the sleeping men. Dont know if this weak depiction of German forces come from weak writing by Ambrose or are bias by the writers who adapt his book but it was way better done in the episodes before and after this.
SirPurrsalot
2020-06-23 10:20:16 +0000 UTCOh, and when this was filmed Jimmy Fallon was not very famous and it was not as jarring to see him as it is today. Now it just seems crazy that he's there, to me anyway.
Maria Hammon
2020-06-23 03:12:28 +0000 UTCI loved watching your reaction to this episode, the way you looked at one another when serious stuff went down, in tune with what you're both feeling...I love it. The worst is yet to come, I'm afraid, but there will be light at the end of this tunnel. If you've ever studied the battle at Bastogne, aka The Battle of the Bulge, it was pretty harrowing and one of the more interesting battles that shows the kinds of hardship a human can endure and also the resilience of the human spirit. I always try to remember somewhere inside that these boys were just that - boys, 18-20, making life or death decisions that would inform the rest of their lives. They came back more mature than any one had a right to be at that age.
Maria Hammon
2020-06-23 03:11:42 +0000 UTCLol’d at Sonny’s stank face when Fallon appeared! I’m not sure if Tom Hanks wanted to direct this ep because of the typewriter, or if this episode focuses on a typewriter BECAUSE Hanks directed it. I love the combat scenes in this episode because they lack the typical swelling orchestral score, just pounding foot beats. You can almost hear them thinking “ohfuckohfuckohfuck” as they go.
Doug Weldin
2020-06-22 23:47:06 +0000 UTCYeah episode 6 is one of the toughest episodes if you were ever in the military. The Battle of the Bulge was one of the worst moments in the western front.
Dyvrik
2020-06-22 23:32:25 +0000 UTC"Battle of the Bulge" coming up. One of the single most brutal battles of WWII. Prepare yourselves for the next two eps...they won't be kind. Heck, I served for over twenty years and did multiple combat tours, and these are tough to watch for ME. Anyway, always nice to see you two watching and coming to grips with another great series. See you soon!
William
2020-06-22 23:31:16 +0000 UTCBe prepared, the next 2 episodes are brutal. They're about to head into the Battle of the Bulge.
Nicholas Rothert
2020-06-22 22:16:21 +0000 UTC
