Any german soldier BoB style films?

Are there any WW2 films or series based on German soldiers with a similar style to Band of Brothers? Preferably in German, and while I am at it I was wondering if there would be one for Russian soldiers too?

 

I doubt it, it would not be very patriotic of Hollywood to do a movie about a Wehrmacht unit killing Americans for a living.

 

LOL, that's politically incorrect.

Although all real WW2 buffs would want to see a 1939-1945 "band of brothers" type story about Panzergrenadiers or something.

 

The nearest one I can think of in that style while not exactly Band of Bros is "Cross of Iron" apart from the central character Steiner it's also about how the platoon survive and goes some way to give each of them a personality and portray cameraderie. Made at a time when political correctness didn't exist it's probably the nearest you'll get to a Hollywood offering on the german side.

 

The closest I can think of is All Quiet on the Western Front. But that is ww1 not ww2.

 

On youtube there is a montage of scenes from "Stalingrad" set to the music of "Band of Brothers." I stumbled across it accidentally awhile back and not sure if it's still there or not. To answer your question, my suggestion would be the movie "Stalingrad." I rented it several years ago and enjoyed it very much. Might have to get again now....

 

True enough, although it's lower in the list than one featuring Brits for me...

 

Was the "Band of Brothers" well received in Britain? Just wondering.

 

Oh absolutely, it saw a massive revival of interest in history, wargaming, reenacting, etc of the period.

Worth remembering how, aside from the cash, much of the production was British, most of the actors, the locations, props, uniforms, extras, etc were, even PM Blair's son Euan was involved, which was prob a sweetener as our MoD lent a couple of thousand troops to it. Very similar to SPR in many of those respects.

Also it was shown on the BBC, which being what it is meant no commercial breaks, which works very well for drama, and as you know BoB is very dramatic.

Our only real whinge is how small the mention of the Brits is, but you'll not hear that much typically because it was such a good series but also we don't want to appear bad mannered, esp. as we're hoping one day Mr Spielberg might come back and make one about the Brits.

 

Well that's good to hear. I have read about the production items that you mentioned on imdb. The resurgence of interest that it generated was a surprise for me too. And yes, I'd like to see some productions on British units as well, but with the extensive military history of the Empire comes the big question, what era, what war and what unit? Personally, I am not into the swords and arrows and castles as much as recent history, such as WW2. Still, even if the decision was made to be a BoB type series made a unit in WW2, much work is still ahead for the unit selection process. Thanks for the info!

 

Well, come to think of it, making a movie about 2nd panzer, 21st Panzer, GroBdeuschland regiment/division/korps, 1st SS, etc. would be very bloody- these panzer divisions that fought for six years often had their combat elements wiped out 5x over during the war.

 

It certainly was well received....suppose I'll have to go dig the dvd's out again now.

Only one thing...the scene where British tank guy not moving forwards when requested in Holland....

Was that an intentional dig or just having a laugh.....

Really this time for tea and tiffin lark has got to stop...We dont have a particular time for tea every day...if the bullets are flying...yes we could very well be brewing up....Nato standard milk 2 sugars please, but we dont stop for tea, we duck for bullets like anyone else.

 

But as to the thread....try the bridge....group of young German recruits...doesnt follow them thru whole war, but as a platoon action has some common factors
Although the bridge was made a long time before.

 

Amazon.com: The Bridge (Die Brucke): Bridge: Video

 

I remember seeing "Die Brucke" way back in the 60s. But as I recall, it dealt with several local boys (under 17) who were mustered into the Volkstrum units to defend their village. While the kids knew each other all their lives, the duration or type of the "action" is not exactly "BoB" genre. Its really a sad story of kids being thrust into a situation in which they didn't understand and see no way out except to obey their "elders".

 

Wasn't that scene from the movie "A Bridge Too Far?" Robert Redford's character was trying to get the British tanks to roll on towards Arnhem to relieve the 1st Airborne. The tankers response was that they had to wait for their infantry that was still fighting in Nijmegan. If it was in BoB, I must have missed it. Darn, I'm going to have to dig the dvds up myself for clarification.

 

I don't know about you guys, but I'd be really interested in a BOB-like story about the brits.

They were so honorable, and were in it longer than my guys (americans).