Band of Brothersremains the greatest war drama of modern times, not just because of its stunning visual effects and unparalleled realism. More than anything else, the series excels in capturing the emotions of its combatants, offering up some of the most moving moments ever rendered on camera. Whether it’s the deaths of characters we’ve come to know and empathize with, equally harrowing tragedies befalling the living, or other aspects of the show that tug on our heartstrings,Band of Brothersis full of powerful scenes. It’sdifficult to narrow down the most moving momentsin the series.
Still, there are specific scenes where crying is simply an inevitability, no matter how many times we’ve seen them before. The extensivecast ofBand of Brothersmeans that various different characters suffer their own tear-inducing ordeals, with virtuallyevery one of the show’s 10 episodes bringing a lump to our throatsat one point or another.
10Sobel Loses The Easy Company
“Currahee” – Episode 1
David Schwimmer’sBand of Brotherscharacter Herbert Sobelwas initially the commanding officer of the Easy Company, the airborne infantry unit on which the series focuses. However,Sobel’s downright awful leadershipof the company during combat training in the show’s first episode, as well as his court martialing of Lieutenant Dick Winter, leads him to be removed from the position.
Although not as devastating as the actual casualties of war depicted later in the series, the moment when Sobel is told he’s being demoted from leading the Easy Company, and effectively retired from frontline duty altogether, is still gut-wrenching to watch. Whatever Sobel may have done to Winters,David Schwimmer’s puppy-dog eyes somehow overwhelm us with pityfor his character.
9The German General’s Speech
“Points” – Episode 10
Another relatively low-stakes moment inBand of Brothersthat still manages to move us is the speech a German general gives to his regiment following Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces. In a single short scene, the show’s last episodemanages to make us sympathize with the entire German armyvia a clever piece of staging.
As one of the Easy Company translates the speech into English for Lieutenant Winters and his fellow senior officers, our emotions are dictated by the expressions on the American soldiers’ faces.They realize the similarities they share with their enemies, as the general finishes by saying, “You deserve long and happy lives in peace.”
We can see that his words have touched the Easy Company’s leaders, who relate to them on a profound level. What’s more, the realization that a German general has touched American hearts moves us, in turn, to understand thatfrontline combatants involved in war on all sides end up making more or less the same sacrifices.
8Bull & The Dutch Family
“Replacements” – Episode 4
The fourth episode ofBand of Brothersis Staff Sergeant Denver “Bull” Randleman’s time to shine, as he’s left behind by the company outside the Dutch town of Nuenen, following an ambush by German forces. Bull hides out in a barn, where he’s discovered by a Dutch farmer and his daughter.
We can see in Bull’s eyes that he’s shocked by what’s just happened, and it feels as though he’s aware that his humanity has been taken from him.
After initially threatening the farmer’s life, Bull allows the man to remove shrapnel from his back, ina highly emotive moment that highlights the fundamental humanity of all those in the scene. Later, we see Bull bayoneting a German soldier to death to prevent the farmer’s daughter from coming to any harm.
The look Bull gives the girl, just after he killed the enemy soldier, with blood smeared across his face, is as tear-inducing as their initial encounter. Just asthe farmer tending to his wound humanized Bull, his deadly assault on the German soldier has dehumanized him, in the eyes of the farmer’s daughter as well as ours.
We can see in Bull’s eyes that he’s shocked by what’s just happened, and it feels as though he’s aware that his humanity has been taken from him. According to comments byBand of Brothersactor Michael Cudlitz, it’s likely that this traumatic incident really happened to the actual Bull Randleman, although it’s unclear whether a farmer’s daughter witnessed it.
7Mike Ranney’s Letter To Winters
Perhaps the mostperfect scene inBand of Brotherscomes at the very end of the series, as we see its main characters together one last time before hearing what happened to each of them after the war. Finally,we’re introduced to the real people represented in the show, who’ve been prefacing each episode anonymously with short interview clips.
Fittingly, Easy Company commander Lieutenant Dick Winters has the last word, as he reminds series producers of a letter he showed them from Sgt. Mike Ranney. In the letter, Ranney had told Winters about his grandchild asking him if he was a hero.
“No,” Ranney told them in response, according to Winters’ account, “but I served in a company of heroes.” If this story doesn’t at least make your bottom lip tremble, then you’re a tougher cookie than I am.
6Buck’s PTSD
“Breaking Point” – Episode 7
Theseventh episode ofBand of Brothersis probably the most shocking. It shows two Easy Company soldiers we’ve been with since the start of the series being critically injured, and two others suffering from shell shock.
Buck is so traumatized by seeing two of his comrades have their legs blown off in front of him that he can no longer even stomach uplifting words from home.
In one especially upsetting scene, Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey visits the shell-shocked First Lieutenant Buck Compton with a letter from his family. Midway through the letter, Buck puts his hand on the letter page to stop Malarkey reading, and givesa chilling, vacant stare beyond the camera, into oblivion.
Buck is so traumatized by seeing two of his comrades have their legs blown off in front of him that he can no longer even stomach uplifting words from home. It’sa deeply moving illustration of the toll war takes on those who livethrough it, as well as those who die in it.
5Winters Remembers The Young Soldier He Killed
“Crossroads” – Episode 5
Shell shock isn’t the only form war trauma takes inBand of Brothers, as the fifth episode shows Lieutenant Winters experiencing a harrowing flashback while riding on the Paris metro.Easy Company Commander Winters lived to tell the story ofBand of Brothers, as did most of his subordinates, but one young German soldier wasn’t so lucky.
As the lights of the metro carriage where Winters is sitting flicker on and off, a young French boy’s face flashes behind him,reminding him of a German soldier he once shoton the battlefield. The horrifying flashback Winters experiences to the moment he killed a defenceless enemy soldier is just as upsetting as Buck’s shellshocked stare two episodes later.
4Jackson’s Death
“The Last Patrol” – Episode 8
One of the things that sets Band of Brothers apart as one of thebest historical action showsever made is its unflinching commitment to the graphic horrors of war. Violent suffering is never gratuitous in the show, and is always there to serve a faithful rendering of what really happened to the Easy Company.
Nowhere is this approach better exemplified than in the blood-curdling depiction of Private Eugene E. Jackson’s death in the eighth episode of the series. Jackson is mortally wounded by a grenade that he lobs into a house that fails to detonate immediately, butremains alive in agony with a perforated eyeballwhile panic and terror ensue all around him.
In the final seconds before his death,a half-blind, bloodied, helpless Jackson screams, “I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!” As his consciousness fades, it’s impossible not to feel the tears coming on.
3Doc Finds Renée’s Headdress
“Bastogne” – Episode 6
If there’soneBand of Brothersepisode to make you crymore than any other, it’s surely “Bastogne,” the sixth instalment of the series which follows Easy Company medic Doc Roe’s experience of theBattle of the Bulge. Doc develops a touching friendship with a French nurse by the name of Renée, as they bond over treating the war-wounded together.
When Doc freezes in the middle of a battle scene as bombs go off all around him, we know something is very wrong.
In a rare moment of respite during the episode, Renée even offers Doc a piece of chocolate, as they share some of their deepest feelings about what they’re doing. When, minutes later, Doc freezes in the middle of a battle scene as bombs go off all around him, we know something is very wrong.
He’s spotted Renée’s nurse headdress amidst the rubble of a bombed-out building. He picks it up and holds it close to him, paralyzed by sudden grief, despite being in mortal danger himself.The devastating realization that Renée is deadhits us like a hail of gunfire, and makes us want to cry on Doc’s behalf.
2Arriving At Dachau Concentration Camp
“Why We Fight” – Episode 9
The single-most horrifying scene inBand of Brotherscomes in the show’s best episodeoverall, in which the Easy Company arrives at the Kaufering complex of Dachau concentration camp. What they find there is beyond belief, as hundreds of haggard, skeletal figures stagger towards them, surrounded by rotting corpses.
Steven Spielberg and his fellowBand of Brothersproducers reportedly hired cancer patients to makethe depiction of Holocaust victims in the sceneas real as possible (viaWatchMojo), and it certainly hits home. This moment in the series won’t just make you cry — it’ll likely keep you up for many, many nights too.
1Malarkey Collects His Laundry
“Carentan” – Episode 3
The end ofBand of Brothers’ third episode is the ultimate tearjerker, as we see Technical Sergeant Malarkey, one of the Easy Company’s soldiers then engaged in active combat,suddenly realize how many of his comrades have lost their lives. Malarkey goes to the laundry service used by the US military in Normandy to collect his clean uniform.
While he’s there, the British manager of the service asks him if he’d also take the uniform ofBand of BrothersCommander Thomas Meehanwhile he’s at it. Meehan was reported missing in action during the Normandy landings, and Malarkey correctly takes his uncollected uniform as a sign that he’s dead.
This scene inBand of Brothersimplies that Private Albert Blithe died from his injury earlier in the episode, when, in fact, he recovered from his injury, went on to serve in the Korean War, and died in 1967.
The laundry manager then reads out a list of other soldiers who haven’t come to collect their uniforms, and we see how many lives were lost in just one company of the US infantry engaged in D-Day.Band of Brothersmight have more shocking or upsetting moments, but nothing is quite as sad as when those names are read out.
Band of Brothers
Cast
Band of Brothers is a 2001 HBO miniseries chronicling Easy Company’s experiences from paratrooper training to World War II’s end. It portrays their participation in pivotal battles such as D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s book and first-hand accounts from surviving members.
