Favorite War Mini-Series

[George]

I enjoyed the Band of Brothers, followed by The Pacific and A Piece of Cake.  I wish there were more series on PBS like A Piece of Cake. Good news: The Mighty Eighth will be released sometime in the near future.

[Rick Griewski]

Foyle’s War!

[J.C.]

This probably does not count, as it is a documentary miniseries, but Ken Burns' "The Civil War" based on the historian Shelby Foote's monumental work of the same name.  Additionally, Blackadder's "Blackadder Goes Forth" is probably the most poignant depiction of life (and death) in the trenches of WWI. I know, it doesn't count as a mini-series, either, but it is perfect!!   Oh! And I cannot bear the anticipation of Tom Hanks' and Steven Spielberg's next instalment, I think it will be called "The Mighty Eighth" if I am not mistaken. 

Edited January 13, 2021 by J.C.

[scvrobeson]

1 hour ago, J.C. said:

 but Ken Burns' "The Civil War" based on the historian Shelby Foote's monumental work of the same name.

 

I'd really like to see someone take another crack at the Civil War, even Burns, without using Foote's Lost Cause sympathies.  Ken Burns is only 67, he could do a second version of his docu-series.

 

 

Matt 

[George]

2 hours ago, J.C. said:

This probably does not count, as it is a documentary miniseries, but Ken Burns' "The Civil War" based on the historian Shelby Foote's monumental work of the same name.  Additionally, Blackadder's "Blackadder Goes Forth" is probably the most poignant depiction of life (and death) in the trenches of WWI. I know, it doesn't count as a mini-series, either, but it is perfect!!   Oh! And I cannot bear the anticipation of Tom Hanks' and Steven Spielberg's next instalment, I think it will be called "The Mighty Eighth" if I am not mistaken. 

My bad.  It will Masters of the Air.

[Leaning_Dog]

3 hours ago, Rick Griewski said:

Foyle’s War!

I'll second that - the writing is excellent, and Michael Kitchen is brilliant in that series. 

 

Cheers!

John

[J.C.]

2 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

 

I'd really like to see someone take another crack at the Civil War, even Burns, without using Foote's Lost Cause sympathies.  Ken Burns is only 67, he could do a second version of his docu-series.

 

 

Matt 

Don't forget, Matt, Foote was a Virginian, after all!! 

[AlbertD]

I'm not familiar with a couple that you guys mention but I would have to say Band of Brothers for me.

[Pup7309]

I’m not that huge on American stuff/WW2 but Band of Brothers was going eat IMO

 

Documentary: The old ‘World at War’

 

Also didn’t mind the old BBC series ‘Wings’ about early WW1 RFC pilots flying Be2cs.  Sort of British thespians hamming it up - but jolly good all the same old chaps!

[dennismcc]

My favourite must be Band of Brothers as I have watched it a few times, the mix of action and veterans was particularly effective.

 

heers

 

Dennis

[crobinsonh]

Band of Brothers and Generation War.

[LSP_Mike]

The Pacific is much more gritty than Band of Brothers.  I'd appreciate a similar series on Korea.

  Tour of Duty was good as well.

[John1]

Generation Kill was a solid series. Band of Brothers was tops for me.  
 

The Pacific was excellent as well but for some reason it didn’t grab me like BoB. Maybe cause the main character died.  It just seemed grimmer than BoB but then again - that’s war.  

[ivanmoe]

I’m a little surprised that no one has mentioned the different Das Boot series.

 

True, both the original and newer versions are subtitled, but I thoroughly enjoyed the whole lot.

 

Band of Brothers is marvelous.

 

 

[scvrobeson]

1 hour ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Having met and interacted with him at a symposium at Virginia Tech, I will just say that he doesn't represent the views of the majority of Virginians.  Some of the stuff he said made his writing and what he said in the Burns documentary seem very tame.  Frankly, I was disgusted by him.  And I have relatives on both sides of my family who served in the CSA.

 

Yup.  He's definitely about 6 glasses deep in the Lost Cause Kool-Aid.  I am glad that the history community is moving on from his works, especially with such better historians out there.

 

 

Matt