The Pacific

spherojon · 01-05-2010, 02:04

If you enjoyed Band of Brothers (http://www.hbo.com/events/bob/index.html) here come's a new series from the same producers.

The Pacific
http://www.hbo.com/events/pacific/

spherojon · 03-14-2010, 22:03

So far so good.

Snaquebite · 03-15-2010, 09:13

Looks like it will be a good series...Thought it was interesting that the first casualty was friendly fire and that the "Skipper" lost it and was relieved.

Full episodes are available at HBO.com for those without HBO. REquires registration.
http://www.hbo.com/the-pacific/episo...l-episode.html

VA Pete · 03-15-2010, 10:31

Thanks for that; thought I was going to have to wait for the DVDs to come out.

rubberneck · 03-15-2010, 11:14

I found the Christmas dinner scene at the Basilone house to be very emotional. To those of you who haven't seen it yet stop reading as it might be considered a spoiler.

At the end of dinner Basilone's father grabs his hand and gives him a look that says I know you aren't coming back and it's eating me alive and Basilone shakes his head as if to say I know dad but it will be all right. I don't know if that really happened but it was a very powerful piece of cinema that lasted at best 10 seconds but it choked me up a bit. I guess it is because I knew that Gunnery Sgt never made it home.

akv · 03-15-2010, 17:00

I agree, it is moving, also the scene where they realize at dawn the US Navy has pulled out and left them there, and the Japanese Navy is reinforcing the island.

It always bothers me when folks, (often foreigners) say things like American soldiers win because of superior equipment and technology, I'm sure there are several instances to smack back in their faces, but I usually cite, the Lost Battalion, Guadalcanal, Bastogne, or Taffy 3 at Samar.

Cynic · 03-15-2010, 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snaquebite

Thought it was interesting that the first casualty was friendly fire and that the "Skipper" lost it and was relieved.

Caught that as well. As one of my favorite professors used to say, "Know your source!"

head · 03-15-2010, 17:18

I enjoyed it... I want all ten episodes now!

Streck-Fu · 03-16-2010, 09:15

I enjoyed Band of Brothers immensely and decided to do some advance research ahead of the first episode. I found a Tom Hanks interview with Time Magazine (LINK) that caused some concern:

Quote:

The Pacific, his new 10-hour epic about the Pacific theater in World War II, plays out against a very different backdrop, when the country is weary of war and American exceptionalism is a much tougher sell. World War II in the European theater was a case of massive armies arrayed against an unambiguous evil. The Pacific war was mainly fought by isolated groups of men and was overlaid by a sense that our foes were fundamentally different from us. In that sense, the war in the Pacific bears a closer relation to the complex war on terrorism the U.S. is waging now, making the new series a trickier prospect but one with potential for more depth and resonance. "Certainly, we wanted to honor U.S. bravery in The Pacific," Hanks says. "But we also wanted to have people say, 'We didn't know our troops did that to Japanese people.' " He wants Americans to understand the glories — and the iniquities — of American history.

I am hoping that he takes the honest and balanced approach that made BoB great. It was a literal screen adaptation of the book. Last week, I finished E.B. Sledge's book "With the Old Breed" and it seems that Hanks is taking some liberties already.

I have not read Robert Leckie's "Helmet for my Pillow" but want to to see how much is taken from the novel and any 'creative departures'.

So far I am a little disappointed with the scene in which the Marines taunt and wound the Japanese soldier before Leckie's character shoots him with the 1911 and then laments that he learned more about his fellow Marines than the enemy...I want to read his book to see if it is mentioned.

Sledge honestly depicted what happened during those battles to include how common it was for the Marines to remove gold teeth from the dead Japanese (including one incident involving a wounded Jap) but also told us that the Japanese were fond of cutting of the dead/captured Marines' testicle and shoving them in their mouths.

I know both to be true and hope Hanks is honest with the depiction.

Streck-Fu · 03-22-2010, 13:02

The second episode was really good, IMO. I'm still a little put out that they are altering the way Sledge enlisted to incorporate some morality lesson about the horrors of war from his father. It's a small enough part of hte script that it won't ruin the story....so far.

FMF DOC · 03-22-2010, 13:23

I think his father was a battle field surgeon during WW I so I imagine he would have some reserve about sending his youngest son off. So far so good, not quite up there with Band Of Brothers but still worth watching.

Streck-Fu · 03-22-2010, 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMF DOC

I think his father was a battle field surgeon during WW I so I imagine he would have some reserve about sending his youngest son off. So far so good, not quite up there with Band Of Brothers but still worth watching.

I only mention it because Sledge attended a military school before the Japanese attacked Pearl so his father couldn't have been too opposed to military service.
And Sledge's book made no mention of any such issue.