The Reel Rejects - BAND OF BROTHERS 1x03 & 1x04 REVIEW - THE BRUTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL OF CARENTAN

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Starting point is 00:00:50 Let's get into this. Episodes three and four. If you want to skip around, we'll have chapters and stuff in the description. And I think that's all you need to know. Roll the bump. Oh, boy. goodness gracious gang if you made it to this point in the video thank you for being here with us today if you could leave a like and be very much appreciated it helps us out very much here at the channel also

Starting point is 00:01:15 if you want to be notified when one of these uh when the next batch of band of brothers reactions comes your way don't forget to subscribe hit the notification bell that's the best way to keep track of these things uh big thanks to uh our editing team for chopping this stuff together it's uh It's an intense one this, and it, you know, comes with the heavy amount of, yeah, toll and circumstance, you know, historically speaking. So obviously we appreciate their efforts in making these what they are. And if you want to get the full experience, see every moment of our experience of this that doesn't make these reaction highlights. You can bring your own copy, your own HBO Max, your own box set, Blu-ray, whatever you got. Come on over, sync up at Patreon.com slash the real rejects.

Starting point is 00:02:04 Over there, you get a look at our shooting schedule each day as well. You get to ask us the questions that will help guide part of this post-show review. And we also got a great community of folks over there, and you can save yourself a little discount on some teas like these over at rejectnation shop.com. I think that's all the housekeeping. Boy, howdy. Continuing to be super striking, super immersive, thoughtful, intense. How you feel?

Starting point is 00:02:35 This show is really heavy. It really highlights just the horrors that we've mentioned before of war. But also, I love that it really has a theme each episode, too, like the first, or episode three, rather, was all about fear and how we react as soldiers can react to that fear. You know, the episode really focused a lot on Albert Blythe. And as each episode does, I've got. I really like how they first we get the perspective of the actual soldiers who were there. So we get that, get into their mindsets before we get to see the cast try to execute on what those guys had to do.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And, you know, seeing Albert being fleshed out throughout the episode while still getting to watch the ensemble was really fascinating to me. And I thought it was really well done and executed. And there were times where it threw me off in terms of, wait, this is this guy really blind or is he actually like going through the fears and horrors that us as human beings. And I know they mentioned at the beginning. So I thought that's at first with it. But he was actually convincing me with his performance too. Like, because it could have been like a flashbang or something.

Starting point is 00:03:49 I mean, who knows? And the millions of different things that are happening out there in the war zone. So, but that is a real thing too because I know I've said it a few times. I would literally not be able to function mentally out in the war zone. So how these guys are able to do it and still have the mental fortitude to just go on. And like one of the lines that struck me in the episode, I forgot which character it was, but he was talking to Blythe and said, once you realize you're already dead, it's going to make you able to function.

Starting point is 00:04:21 Like it was very grim, but it also made sense and ominous, but it also made sense to like that is the proper way to function. That's the only way you're going to be able to just pull through. I know like another thing too. is to hopefully hold on to hope, and that's going to be able to make you, you know, get through. Well, that's the conversation,

Starting point is 00:04:42 because he's like, that's your problems. Yeah, you're holding on to hope, but... Which is an interesting contrast. Yeah, it's like you have to make peace with death and the very real likelihood that you will die. Yeah. But at the same time, I think you do need to mine... I don't know.

Starting point is 00:05:00 I mean, there's every which way to get through something like this, I suppose, but it seems like you have to do that and also find some source of hope that can harmonize with that. Yeah, no, everyone's different and how they would react to a situation like that. But also, I like that we get the different shifts

Starting point is 00:05:16 of perspective of how each commanding officer was speaking to Blythe too. You know, you got that guy who's being extremely direct, and it's not that Winters wasn't being direct with him, but he understood the moment in what Blythe was dealing with, and he was handling him with a bit more easy, and let him have that moment to himself rather. And I just said, hey, if you go back, it's all good.

Starting point is 00:05:43 And like, dude, you know, no one, I think there's a little bit of subtext to. No one's going to ostracize you or judge you or anything. But, like, he understood them. I think he understood, like, that, what was going on there, too. So that's why I respect and love Winter so much is he's just, he's a really good leader. He understands team morale. And that's like someone, even though I would never want to be in a war zone, he's someone I would be like honored to to have at my command and fight besides and be behind, you know, in terms of like giving the lead like that. so especially in times of desperation times of of horror like that winters is like a guy i'd be like

Starting point is 00:06:27 all right what what do i do right now sir you know type of thing so but that episode i really but also it was just it was so heartbreaking too at the end like to see him finally get out of that ditch uh you know mentally and physically and then to see what what ultimately happens i mean no one is obviously safe in in a war situation so i just i felt happy before the character and then saddened at the same point. But two great batches. I'll get more into the replacement. I want to hear your thoughts, though.

Starting point is 00:06:58 Would you think of the two episodes? Yeah, no, I would totally agree. I mean, part of what's really fascinating about this and part of why I really appreciate this format as you can kind of do, I mean, you know, a war movie, especially a more modern war movie, would have this blend anyway of,

Starting point is 00:07:20 battlefield intensity with then the sort of intermittent moments of either peace or emotional anguish or you know respite or you know the weird in between liminal space of you know the existential crisis that all of this presents uh i think that this does like really nicely though to kind of zoom even further into that um and you know like making making war anything is like tricky because obviously you're depicting acts of heroism, but also you're depicting like something horrific at the same time. And there are a lot of conversations about, you know, war movies and their purpose and what they, you know, speak to or not. But I think that this, yeah, does like a really lovely job of being very human and also then transporting you to the intensity of the, you know, spontaneous nature of battle, especially in some of these moments here. And yeah, the way that it's just so immersed in its textures and, you know, you really feel each location. You feel the countryside. You feel, you know, this damp old barn.

Starting point is 00:08:33 You feel, you know, this spirit of this little town that then gets rendered by the end. And to be in this place where you're in like a celebration, but there's also like a mass, you know, retribution taking place with all these women who are having their heads shaved. were being shamed for fornicating with the, quote, enemy, certainly the enemy of, certainly the enemy of this situation, you know, and to see, you know, these weird, there are a lot of, like, little things that make you curious. Because you're like, yeah, these are apparently women who have, she was just kissing one of our boys.

Starting point is 00:09:10 And then apparently she was also laying with a German officer at some point. And just like all the strange intersections of life are fascinating. of them are more focal, some of them were more, you know, in the immediate, you know, the storytelling of the characters in the ensemble, but then you'll get stuff like that with, yeah, like incidental characters or people whose towns were passing through. And just, yeah, it all strikes very, uh, very interesting chords with me anyway, because yeah, this has all the grim trappings of the intensity of a battle and the sort of shocking, unique violence. That, that one shot of,

Starting point is 00:09:52 the guy gets like shot or he gets like a tank blast at the leg or something like his leg like explodes and it was really harsh. And you know, that's obviously part of what the language of this type of cinema is. But yeah, like the ensemble continues to be fantastic

Starting point is 00:10:08 and I really do like the lyrical approach they take to the human parts, the characterizations. And yeah, having these two episodes that dive into, you know, know, fear and how to cope with fear and what the, you know, management of fear is like for each different, you know, set of characters and this sort of ecosystem of that. You're sort of tempering of this constant. You're in one of the most threatening scenarios a person can be in. You're constantly

Starting point is 00:10:36 scanning and threat assessing and all that stuff, you know, which is a productive form of fear. But then there are other, yeah, things that are more inexplicable that are more intangible, this sort of just being pushed past your limit. And this is also a time I feel. like in history when we're learning about post-traumatic stress. You know, you have shell shock, I believe, is sort of what, you know, Blythe is going through. And obviously from learning about that through wars like this, we've then discovered, you know, post-traumatic stress disorders and all sorts of other, you know, things that you can sustain and have to deal with mentally after the fact. And so, yeah, the Blythe stuff was really striking. And you really feel, yeah,

Starting point is 00:11:19 just the ocean that you're lost in. And you can see this guy. He clearly wants to do a good job. His spirit is there. But he's also, yeah, having a really human response to all of this. You know, there's like he's not desensitized yet. It's not casual in any way to him. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:11:38 Which is weird because on the one hand, you're like as a human, that's good, I suppose. But on the other hand, given where you are and what's going on, yeah, it just puts you in a uniquely hard. position as compared to the guys who are like, yeah, you just accept that you're dead and you go for the carnage or the guys who are kind of using the gallows humor to cope with this. But yeah, I just love the way it uses ensemble and lets different people

Starting point is 00:12:04 rise to you know, as we've gone along, just the different leadership dynamics have changed and you know, continue to be interesting. It's cool to see the Dexter Fletcher character get to be kind of a more prominent, you know, taking more prominent,

Starting point is 00:12:19 point in this episode, or in these episodes, I should say. Yeah. And, yeah, the tank warfare that they've added in here. And, yeah, seeing some examples of, you know, victories in one way or another, and then some examples of losses in one way or another. Again, it just, this remains a toward divorce. And I think, yeah, like the looks in on leadership and how different people, yeah, manage somebody who's experiencing this kind of stress.

Starting point is 00:12:46 You know, like Winters has a very bird's eye kind of. of like, you know, I've been there before and I'm not going to like, you know, play too much into, you know, wallowing, but I'm also not going to be harsh on you. I'm just going to kind of try and keep you present and keep you focused on the, you know, moment at hand, the task at hand. And, you know, that little bit of compassion in the med barracks is like, yeah, there's just so many striking little things. For sure. I like that you were pointing out, too, about when it comes to Blight that he did want to be a good soldier. And he, I feel like he felt a sense.

Starting point is 00:13:19 of guilt and that's why he kind of spilled himself to that one soldier who you know gave him that piece of advice about you know once you accept the fact that you're dead this is going to help you out a lot more is that he said i was in a ditch and i just stayed in there so he i agree with you he does want to be a good soldier and he felt like a coward in that moment which i i can understand that and i get it so um i think it adds layers and depth to his character like and gives him nuance like to to be able to admit to something like that when he didn't know him was like pinning him up to the table wait where were you in during this bat he he admitted that himself you know so uh yeah that was really really deep stuff and when it comes to the the fourth episode uh replacements

Starting point is 00:14:03 or replace yeah replacements it's fascinating i was a lot of the uh portions of the episode with the new recruits i was kind of looking at it from no no one's talking no no one is no one's talking to you sir i don't even know i fix this now um i was kind of looking at at it from like a baseball perspective because like when I got to when I got to varsity everyone was looking at me like who's this new

Starting point is 00:14:27 rookie that's on the team and like you know kind of the he's got to earn his respect and earn his thing so like I that actually really granted we were not in any danger and like this other than the baseballs that were being fired at our head or anything you know it's there's no contrast

Starting point is 00:14:43 but I that that stuff really resonated deeply with me you know in terms of you you really do have to earn your respect when you get onto a spot that others who have been there before don't feel you why you are there or that you have earned it. So I'm glad that they highlighted that. And once again, we got into that perspective at the very beginning with the incredibly brave and courageous guys who have been there before and say, you know, I didn't like these guys at first. And also, there's another point, too. It's like, it's not just the fact that these are new recruits.

Starting point is 00:15:17 you're putting your lives in your teammates' hands. So you've got to be able to trust them. And when they're brand new and just rookies, they do have to prove themselves in a sense. So I understand where they were coming from at that. So I think that was really well executed and highlighted again in that episode. Yeah, absolutely. And too, yeah, that acknowledgement of it's weird.

Starting point is 00:15:45 It's like you're all here for the same purpose, but there is like a very understandable like I could understand why you would have the motivation to like just make things as smooth as possible for the guys coming in but then again it's like yeah if you've been through a whole bunch of stuff and you're hardened by this and you have

Starting point is 00:16:00 you know a shared you know communication and a shared second hand and a shared kind of instinct with each other to then get these new and like they said in the prolog these green you know privates in to fill in the gaps it's like yeah you want to welcome

Starting point is 00:16:16 them but you also understand you've been them but you're also past that point so you need to like focus on yeah helping them get to your point but you also don't want to yeah get too attached because what if something terrible happens and it's it's that whole maccavoy thing it's interesting because that maccavoy

Starting point is 00:16:32 has become much more prominent since this time and uh and that is like the casting there works in in even more because he shows up and you're like oh yeah he's got this sort of quintessential, you know, all-American soldier boy look. And then, and, and, and, and, yeah, like, we know him so well now. And yet he, you know, is prominent enough that you

Starting point is 00:16:59 note him and his little journey there. But it's also, yeah, it's, he is the illustration that this can all, no matter who you are, you know, this can all be cut short so quickly. And, uh, and, uh, and yeah, I had, these episodes especially have had me kind of like trying to see if I can decode, like, maybe if somebody in the prolog is, you know, directly one of these guys here, I know that they're, you know, they don't reveal the names that there's some level of mystery and that people have decoded this since. But like, it's cool to watch without digging through all the internet stuff, you know, to just kind of ping off of, ooh, the casting and ooh, what did this guy look like and that guy? What was their demeanor like? Because you know that these actors, if available, must have at least spent some time with or, or, you know, modeled their work after. these guys so uh yeah i'm trying to find the guy also goes to show you too that all plans like you can plan as much as you want plans can go to shit really quickly in a war situation and you have to very quickly improvise and have people with uh that know how to have precision and uh be able to calculate uh under duress and uh so that's been another thing that's been really

Starting point is 00:18:11 interesting to watch too in these especially this episode i mean That was a pretty bad loss that they suffered through in this, the battle was Operation Market, whatever it was called. So I'm curious to what the, I know it's history. So like I have not touched on my World War II history. So it's almost like I'm relearning, re-going over these things again. But I'm curious to see what we see next. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:18:42 And it's interesting actually because This is, you know, a piece of historical fiction, obviously. And according to at least the Wikipedia page, the episode 3, Karen Tan, ends with the inaccurate statement that Blythe never recovered from his wounds and died in 1948. In reality, he recovered and continued to serve in the army until he died in Germany as an active duty servicemen in 1967. I'm glad he was still alive for another 19 years. Yeah. It's fascinating. I'm fascinated that they chose to do that.

Starting point is 00:19:18 Yeah. Weirdly. That's actually kind of, I wonder what the reasoning was. I'm not going to fully pass judgment on that, although it does seem like an odd thing. If it's not really. Yeah. Again, unless they changed it with some level of purpose or perhaps just for the sake of dramatic license. I want to pull at our heartstrings.

Starting point is 00:19:43 But, but yeah. It is interesting that after all that they, I don't know. I feel like oddly, I guess maybe it doesn't matter. But at the same time, like... It still would have hit me hard if they said, you know, he survived. He went back to serve and he passed away in 1967. I still would have felt that too. So I have no idea with why the change, but...

Starting point is 00:20:06 But yeah, like that was really striking. And I do like that each episode kind of oscillates between a different sort of lead focus, different members of the ensemble being more prominent. And then, yeah, these different themes, these different aspects of a war, from the training to the first drop, to, yeah, meditations on fear and courage, and then to, yeah, we're kind of now in this soup

Starting point is 00:20:32 of very experienced harding guys and fresh faces being pumped in because we're constantly losing people. It's just, yeah, it's really effective and really well-observed, really well-crafted. Yeah, the choreography too and the battles. I know we keep talking about it. Like, we're watching, it just really is amazing.

Starting point is 00:20:52 I don't know how long, I can't even imagine, because they're doing so many practical effects on set. There's very limited, at least what it looks like to me, CGI. It's so much TLC from the special effects team and from the crew. It looks so well choreographed. I cannot imagine how long it took to film some of these action sequences. and you can tell too when you watch the way they are filmed. It's really incredible.

Starting point is 00:21:17 It makes you, and I like a lot too, a lot of the cinematography when you can see like the camera rumbling rather. And it really gives you that view of like you are there, like you've got a POV view like you're there with the soldiers. So it's just really well done. It makes you feel like you're in on the action with them. Yeah. So it's some of the, I mean, try not to have, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:42 recent bias recency but uh it's it's some of the the most riveting type of action i've seen in any kind of war depicted yeah it's really well done yeah absolutely it is some of the yeah i do like that this format allows you yeah all all of the possibilities of the drama and the immediate you know physical experience um but we got a question we only got one today but we got a contribution from the patreon we'll jump into that real quick Care Bear, thank you for chiming in. Care Bear says Band of Brothers 2001 was famous for not only introducing Damien Lewis and Michael Fastbender to American audiences,

Starting point is 00:22:23 but for featuring several UK actors in small roles who would later go on to great success in Hollywood. Keep an eye out for James McAvoy, just caught him. Dominic Cooper, okay, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg, and Andrew Scott. Wait, they're all going to be on this show? I guess so. Oh, I wish I wouldn't know. It's all good.

Starting point is 00:22:42 I mean, we've met at least a couple of these guys. I had no idea of Tom. I know Simon Pegg we've met, right? And Andrew Scott. Do we see Stephen Graham already? I can't remember. I don't know, but I had no idea Tom Hardy was in this. But it's all good.

Starting point is 00:22:55 What's your favorite example in film or TV of an actor in a tiny role who later went on to make it big? For example, the TV or movie actor who had a tiny role and went, can we type that in on Google so I can get some example. That's what I'm looking at right now. I'm pulling some to mine. That's a very good one. The Back to the Future part, too. That was such a tiny role. And then I remember always noticing him without anyone having to tell me that one.

Starting point is 00:23:28 Because I saw Elijah's, I mean, obviously I watched Back to the Future growing up, but I had already known who Elijah Wood was. Jack Black in Mars attacks always comes to me, I would say. But see, I saw Jack Black first. There's a movie called, was it the air? Not the air up there. It's airborne. Do you ever see that movie?

Starting point is 00:23:48 Airborne? Ooh, you got to check that one. It's like a very... I'm sure some of you will know that movie, but it's a very unknown film. It's like about rollerblading. Okay. And Jack Black was in that.

Starting point is 00:23:59 I don't know if it's an little role, but he's in the movie. And I think that was like the first movie I ever saw him in, and then he blew... He's in Demolition Man, too. He's got a small role in that. He's one of the part of the resistance, I guess. Okay.

Starting point is 00:24:14 But I don't think he's got... very many speaking lines. So I saw him in that movie, too, before he blew up. So let's go with Jack Black in Emolition, man, I guess. You know what I also love is Alexander Scarsguard and Zoolander. It blew my mind to reconnect that dot, especially in, like, the true blood times, where I was like, no, no, no, wait, he's, I think his name is Mekis. And is the orange moco frappuccino that have, like, the gasoline fight.

Starting point is 00:24:37 I never would. I've seen the movie one time. I didn't even remember that. And he's, like, he's, like, skinny, and he's got, like, kind of a silly accent. Like, it's very, very fun to see him in that. What's the one down below? Jack Blackbop. Oh, no, no, no, the Patrick Dems.

Starting point is 00:24:52 I've got a good one for you, actually. What do we got? What do we got? frat party in the morgue. Yeah. It's so funny. And Kevin Costner's like one of the frat boys. And he's like having a fun little argument with Michael Keaton with you don't really hear

Starting point is 00:25:23 the dialogue or even see the subtitles on screen. But I was like, oh, there's Kevin Costner. Hey. Speaking with Michael Keaton. Oh, that's so. But yeah, that's another good one. I guess I would pull out. Also shouts out to Alfred Molina at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Art.

Starting point is 00:25:37 That's a good one. That's another one. That is a good one. Yeah. And that guy's like his face. I like that whole, Adios signor, like that whole thing as a kid, like really stuck out in my mind. And then, yeah, to come back to years later and be like, oh, shit, he's this huge actor now. Alford movie.

Starting point is 00:25:53 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We could dig through these. That was a good one I just saw. Henry Cavill in Monte Cristo. There you go.

Starting point is 00:26:00 That's right. I mean, he got to friggin' lead that movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I wouldn't say that was a tiny rule. Lawrence Fishburn and Dream Warriors. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. There you go.

Starting point is 00:26:10 Yeah. I think his name was Max, if I'm not mistaken. in that movie. It always blew my mind, too, that you had Kiranightly and Anna Pacquine. Natalie Portman. Natalie Portman. Yeah, I remember when I watched that movie, too,

Starting point is 00:26:22 I'm like, they always look so much alike. But, yeah, there are probably like a million Nick Cage ones. But, yeah, leave us your favorite, yeah, like small role-turned, big actor scenario. And, yeah, we'll keep an eye out for some more interesting faces as the show continues. Andrew Shigay. John Nizzo.

Starting point is 00:26:42 Looking forward to that Tom Hardy, wherever he is. Yeah, right. Except so. But no, I'm really enjoying the show. It's dramatic. It's got a lot of weight to it as well. It's very heavy, as Doc and Marty would say, right? But, yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:58 All the things. All the things. It's really incredible. I understand why my dad loved this show so much and would watch it often. So I'm really enjoying it. I'm glad I'm able to watch it with you. But so far, it's incredible. Yeah, like more. Very immersive. I echo all these sentiments. Tremendous filmmaking, very thoughtful, very visceral. And I'm excited to continue. I mean, we're four episodes in, so we're a little under halfway. And yeah, I'm glad that we've got a substantial amount more, even though it's heavy. It's, yeah, it inspires me to get more in tune with, you know, re-learning our history and, you know, the heavier nuances of life on planet Earth. But anyhow, gang, leave us your thoughts.

Starting point is 00:27:41 on Band of Brothers, episodes three and four, and we will catch you next week or soon for episodes four and five. All right, five and six. It's been a minute. It's been a day. Appreciate you all, and we'll catch you next time. Be well.

Starting point is 00:27:55 Hug someone you love. Aw, Andrew.

The Reel Rejects - BAND OF BROTHERS 1x03 & 1x04 REVIEW - THE BRUTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL OF CARENTAN

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