If you're looking to watch something patriotic this Memorial Day, you can do no better than "Band of Brothers" -- because "Apocalypse Now" is just way too depressing for an American holiday.

The Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced HBO miniseries follows Easy Company, one of the best known WWII companies in the Army, from their jump training at camp to their participation in some of the Western Front's biggest battles -- and it also features some of the best-known actors working today in Hollywood alongside Damian Lewis and Ron Livington, its two de facto leads. Check 'em out below, and be sure to pack plenty of tissues if you decide to take on "Band of Brothers":

Michael Fassbender

Yup, that's right -- Magneto himself played a background role, Technical Sergeant Burton Paul Christenson, in seven episodes of "BoB." He looks like a wee babe.

James McAvoy

Can't have Magneto without Professor X, now can we? Tragically, McAvoy's character Private James W. Miller died early on at Operation Market Garden -- unlike Fassbender's, who died in 1998 -- so McAvoy is only in one episode.

Michael Cudlitz

Cudlitz, who you probably know as Abraham Ford on "The Walking Dead" and is nearly unrecognizable without facial hair, starred in nine episodes as Sgt. Denver "Bull" Randleman. There's an entire, wonderful episode called "Replacements" that focuses on his escape from a German-occupied village.

David Schwimmer

Schwimmer has a pretty thankless role in "Brothers" -- he plays Herbert Sobel, who helped form Easy Company in training but was later removed from command.

Colin Hanks

When your dad makes the show, you get to be in it. Such was the case for Colin Hanks -- who of course, is actually talented -- who shows up in two episodes as First Lieutenant Henry Jones.

Tom Hardy

A baby-faced Mad Max plays Private John Janovec in two episodes.

Simon Pegg

Right alongside Schwimmer's Sobel was Simon Pegg's First Sergeant William S. Evans -- at the beginning of the series, anyway.

Dominic Cooper

If you can spot Mr. Cooper in his single episode, you win. He's credited, but you're far more likely to find a photo of his Howard Stark in '40s garb, since -- like many "BoB" characters -- he played a background role; and the faces and colors sometimes blend together during intense battle scenes. But hey, he's there!

Jimmy Fallon

Remember when Fallon was an actor, and not just the guy who gives actors mysterious things in boxes? See "Fever Pitch" for a great example -- or "Band of Brothers," where he played Lieutenant George C. Rice -- and even had a few lines -- during the "Crossroads" episode.