Hanks Unveils HBO War Epic for Vets

ByABC News
June 11, 2001, 8:34 PM

June 7 -- UTAH BEACH, France (Reuters) Tom Hanks, inspired by his role in the award-winning film Saving Private Ryan, unveiled a new World War II epic on Wednesday, the 57th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France.

Standing on the beach where U.S. soldiers first stormed ashore, the actor said he hopes the $120 million series Band of Brothers will bring the fight against fascism to life for youngsters who may have little knowledge of the conflict.

"As filmmakers, we hope to entertain those in search of a good story, educate those who are unaware of their own history," said Hanks, who was executive producer of the 10-episode drama alongside director Steven Spielberg.

Band of Brothers traces the true-life tale of Easy Company, a small unit of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, which took part in the D-Day invasion and then fought its way across Europe to capture Hitler's mountain retreat, Eagle's Nest.

Forty-seven of the surviving 51 veterans of Easy Company, some in wheelchairs, crossed the Atlantic for a screening of parts of some episodes in a massive tent erected for the occasion beside windswept Utah Beach.

"There is no more appropriate place to honor the heroism of the men of the 101st than by premiering their story at Utah Beach June 6th," said Jeff Bewkes, head of HBO, which financed the ambitious project.

The screening came on the same day that another World War II epic, the heavily hyped Pearl Harbor, opened in France. A love story set against the backdrop of the 1941 Japanese attack on a U.S. naval base, Pearl Harbor has dominated the box office since its release on May 25, underlining a burgeoning Stateside interest in World War II.

Naturally, the directors of Band of Brothers had to take some liberties to transpose factual episodes to the screen, but they were at pains to make the series as true to life as possible, Hanks said.

"We know we have often forgotten detail, modified history, altered geography we have made history fit on the screen," a dark-suited Hanks said during a memorial service held before the screening.