HBO has announced a re-release of their pair of critically acclaimed WWII miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The Band of Brothers/The Pacific: Special Edition Gift Set will combine both previous Blu-ray releases of the WWII dramas and feature an all new documentary, He Has Seen War. A release date of November 8th has been set.
Band of Brothers premiered on HBO back in 2001 and was a hit for executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The 10-part miniseries followed Easy Company through their training in Georgia to their deployment in war-torn Germany. It starred Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, David Schwimmer, Colin Hanks and James McAvoy.
The producing tandem of Spielberg and Hanks teamed up once again for the 2010 miniseries The Pacific. This series (also 10 episodes) centered on the 1st Marine Division and their experiences in Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It starred Joseph Mazzello, James Badge Dale and Jon Seda.
This Special Edition Gift Set will include the same discs released on the two miniseries' previous Blu-ray releases and an additional bonus disc featuring the all new documentary He Has Seen War. Also included in the set are high gloss photos from each production and collectible maps of the European and Pacific fronts. All of the special features from the previous releases have been carried over as well. For more information on the shows, check out our individual reviews of Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
HBO has priced the set, which includes over 20 hours of feature runtime, at $199.99.
K-man is so right. I paid less than £40 for the both of them together, which is about $65, and I have the steel book editions.
the box set looks nice, but I think I'll stick with what I have.
Let's see, I got BoB for $20 last Christmas, Pacific will probably be $20 this year or next, so wake me when this special edition is $40 and we'll talk.
I always thought the metal tins distinguished the packaging for this series. Unless there are tins inside that box, it seems more a step down to me. I still haven't watched all the extras on the current releases; though I've watched BoB, from beginning to end, at least four times. I'd consider the set only if there was improved a/v quality or longer cuts of the episodes - not that I feel there's a real need for either. As a previous poster pointed out, there "may" be some mild dnr in BoB, but it's hardly egregious. And we're never going to convince studios not to muck with their films for home video distribution, anyway - not when the majority of consumers actually prefer that they do, that all films should look like polished HD video, and most "professional" reviewers can't even tell the difference between compression and grain themselves.
I already have bolth, had BoB on dvd and got the BR for $45 when it was released, not tripple dipping. Also i wouldnt really call this a gift set all it is bolth series, throw in stuff like a compass, cloth map of europe and the pacific, a script of a episode, and some dog tags then you have yourslef a gift set
They are both great series but $200 is too much just for an extra documentry, buy it individually for cheaper like others have said. I paid a 100 for both and by now the price might be even lower.
There's no justifiable reason for this set except to extract more money from the public. I'll stick with my two metal tins. Even the packaging of this set is not very appealing or practical.
@repete: Much as I like BoB you have to realize that outside of The United States there are many who found 10 hours+ about one American division to be a bit too long. There were many divisions among all the allies who were just as brave and accomplished just as much. Heck to be completely frank there were probably units among the Axis/Japanese forces that also deserve to be honoured for fighting bravely and serving their country well regardless of the politics that muddied the waters.
Figures. A new item added, but the majority of people here prob already own Both Sets anyway. Unless the new Documentary is 2-3 (or more) hours long, than I'm good as I DO own both.
It's just too much for a double dip, unless of course, the documentary is 18 hours long (if you assume the new documentary is worth half of the cost of the item then you must assume it's gonna be as long). Also like mentioned above, the tins look better. Shame on HBO.
CIBartowski, and ac4155, it looks like it is going to be the same set, but cheaper, in a different package.
But nobody will know for sure, until detailed specs of both editions will surface. Probably, likely, after it is released.
And if they're the same, go for the UK one. HBO is distributed through Warner, also in Europe, and will be region free.
I think I'll wait for the reviews to see if it's worth the extra money for just one documentary.
I have both series in beautiful tin editions, and gonna keep them for sure.
@reidw: I understand what you're saying, but the Band of Brothers story is that it follows a small unit from formation to the end of the war. I don't believe there was any intent to make Easy Company out as some exceptional unit*. Rather, I think the purpose was to show them as the Everyman Soldier. Ambrose covered the large-scale assembly of the US battle units in Citizen Soldier, the D-Day build-up on a macro scale in D-Day and the aviator experience in The Wild Blue. As you well know, BoB is a boots-on-the-ground look at the WWII infantry war--and not just combat--as experienced by American soldiers.
One needn't be a WWII historian, a fan of war movies or even an American to appreciate the story being told. My consternation in the previous post wasn't genuine. However, considering what a great production BoB is and the low price points it's been at over the last few years, I would be surprised if many fans of WWII or war movies didn't have it already.
*Ambrose does mention that because Airborne was an elite unit made up of volunteers its members were aware that the guys next to them actually wanted to be there, as opposed to the higher level of shirkers among the non-elite conscripts.
While this looks to be an attractive package, I'm quite satisfied with my existing tins of each title. However, anyone who doesn't already own both of these should consider this dual-title package.
