Originally Posted by
GlobalNav
Well, if that’s the intent, then it is completely out of tune with the book, and even with the Band of Brothers mini series. To appreciate the effort, the suffering and sacrifice, the uncertainties and disappointments, yet the courage and sometimes the exhilaration of success, but at great cost, is what I would hope for. Perhaps the series is much better than the trailer would lead us to believe. If not, it will be a black mark on Spielberg’s otherwise stellar portfolio.
War is not a football game. It is sometimes necessary, fraught with fog, errors, tedium, human faults, and yet the demonstration by many of duty, honor, country in both conspicuous and inconspicuous ways. You take casualties and still press on, even when outcome is uncertain, because the ultimate costs of defeat are unacceptable. It is possible for a work of fiction to help us see that, even better than a documentary newsreel.
Given a bet between a) a trailer being hyped up to attract the maximum audience possible and b) Spielberg + hanks doing anything other than treating the subject with the respect it deserves, I genuinely am amazed that anyone thinks b) is remotely likely given their track record.