The BBC is remaining tight-lipped about the criticism. No surprises there, then. Band Of Brothers looks like the kind of TV project that comes along once in a generation. It was that film more than any other that set new standards for war films, and which set the seal on the American pre-eminence in the field. The forthcoming Pearl Harbor, starring Ben Affleck, will show the war once again from an American angle.
American films are still principally for American audiences, and they tell American stories.
It wouldn't go down well in the cineplexes. Spielberg is interested in telling stories that matter to him - Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Band Of Brothers. That's an American job. Ironically, it's a British actor who landed the plum role of platoon leader Richard Winters. Band Of Brothers may not be doing much for the popular perception of Britain's contribution to the second world war, but it's doing a hell of a lot for our film industry.