Band of Brothers: Crossroads (2001)

Tom Hanks directed the fifth installment of Band of Brothers, and "Crossroads" delves further than before into the character of Dick Winters (Damian Lewis), his courage, his tactical expertise, and the personal toll the war is taking on him. It's the most moving of the episodes so far, focusing on a character the audience has already come to know, and giving a glimpse of his personal view of combat. This is the first segment in the series that has attempted to "get inside the head" of one of the soldiers. It opens with a scene of Winters running up a hill, coming upon a surprised German, and shooting him. The sequence is shot from Winters' point of view, and it turns out to be a flashback. Later, in a scene reminiscent of the opening scene of Brian DePalma's Casualties of War, Winters is shown on leave in Paris, riding a train, where the smiling face of a French teenager brings on another flashback of the young German he shot. Winters' trauma does not stop him from doing his job, although his displeasure with a promotion that puts him behind a desk is palpable. It's clear that he wants to be the one to lead his men into battle. This episode also contains a couple of lighter moments, as one would hope for from Hanks. In one instance, former Harvard English major David Webster (Eion Bailey), suffers a minor wound during a skirmish. He falls to the ground and cries out, "They got me!" Later, while his injury is being tended to, he embarrassedly recalls his reaction, " 'They got me'...Can you believe I said that?" The miniseries is at its best when the individual personalities of these men shine through the grime and grit of the realistic combat. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide