In February of 1976 Francis Ford Coppola and his American Zoetrope production team began filming Apocalypse Now. Approximately 3 years later and reportedly some $30 million over budget the film premiered at the Cannes festival to wide critical acclaim. Now, some 30 years down the line the Vietnam epic has been lovingly restored by Coppola’s own production company and is back on the big screen. It should go without saying that for a generation of cinephiles this presents an opportunity not to be missed.

Tracing the history of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, best known to many as the company of soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, this three part documentary series relives the do-or-die missions of the paratroop regiment that played a key role from World War II through to Vietnam. Featuring dramatic testimony from the men who were there and using rare footage from the Division’s own film archives, The Real Band of Brothers offers a captivating inside view of armed conflict – but the lack of a firm relation to the Steven Spielberg tele-drama may leave some viewers disappointed.