By now most have seen the Band of Brothers 10-part television series. For those who haven’t it’s a World War II drama which chronicles the story of the men of the US Easy Company through training all the way to the end of the war on the European front. While the show has been on DVD for a while it has just come to Blu-ray so it’s time to take another look at Band of Brothers to ask if it is better on Blu-ray?

Concerning the picture quality, the original DVD release was superb with a highly detailed source and plenty of little details like snow on the soldiers helmets visible even during a far shot. The Blu-ray version doesn’t have a huge advantage over the original DVD release, apart from it being in high-definition. The audio is English DTS Master Audio.

Band of Brothers does not fall short on its extras. There are plenty included in this release adding to those features included on the original DVD. The originals included are an 80 minute talking heads documentary covering the real events, a making-of the show in the form of 1 hour of video diaries and a 30 minute featurette, a who’s who and video of the premiere in Normandy. In addition to these original DVD features, the new Blu-ray features also include a picture-in-picture video commentary for all 10 episodes by the real men of Easy Company and then there’s an interactive field guide with a historical timeline and map features.

If you’re an owner of the original DVD release and you’re asking yourself if the Blu-ray edition is worth a double dip, it depends. If you have an HD system then by all means it’s certainly worth getting as it is a great action show. If you’re a fan of the action and want some more behind the scenes information on the show, in addition to the SD releases extras, then there isn’t anything extra here for you. If you’re a school teacher or interested in the historical details then it’s an essential purchase or upgrade as nothing compares to the level of detail in the included information.