Reviews by GemLil

If you can for a moment forget the role of the allies in WWII then Band of Brothers will rip your heart out, put it through a blender, drink it, regurgitate it and hand it back to you.

The special effects are amazing, but such a small part of the overall effect. The casting is perfect and in some cases (Bill Guarnere especially) replicates the actual person to a T.

The documentary of the Easy Company vets adds a poignancy to each episode, dragging you back to the fact that it is a true story. The acting seems to be beyond proffesional,at no point did I doubt the closeness between the characters or their sincerity. There is also a good mix of British and US talent.

Although sometimes critised for being too long, I find myself encaptivated from start to finish. I also feel the length adds to the empathy the viewer feels with the charaters. It also gives a greater impression of the vastness of the journey from Normandy to VE Day..again adding weight to the loss of some long standing and developed characters.

Watch it.

I think there is a tendency to over-rate the Harry Potter films, as most of us have fallen in love with the story. The previous films had a rushed feel about them, but none more so than this. A great deal of the original plot has been completely rewritten and the whole film was so rushed I felt like I was being shunted down a underground escalator. The casting however is superb, Imelda Staunton and Natalia Tena particularly were perfect new additions. The crux of the story is however maintained and still encaptivating. However even this is undermined by the odd piece of wooden child acting that shakes me to the core. Adapting novels(especially lengthy ones)to film will always be filled with such pitfuls, and all considered it has been adapted here as best as it can. If nothing else the special effects will amaze you.

It is such a shame that so few people have heard of this film. I honestly believe it is better than Lock, Stock. In many ways it is pretty much the same as your usual (good) ganster film, rival gangs, amazing one liners and good old fashioned cockney violence. My favourite quote being "Mate, you're fat and I'll throw you in the river".

The rivalry between Sean Pertwee and Ray Winston's characters is endlessly entertaining, and both play there parts in an almost tongue in cheek manner..which I believe just adds to the light hearted nature of the film. The real shock comes at the end when this easy feel is turned on its head (won't give anything away). Although I do feel too much time is devoted to Jude Law and Jonny Lee Miller this is balanced out by some amazing karaoke snippits punctuated throughout the film..sung like proffesionals. I like that the third wall is broken a bit, as the characters are named after the actors. A credit to British Film.