Just watched it on line at hbo.com. You have to register and then sign in to view, it was a great first show in my opinion.
http://www.hbo.com/index.html#/the-pacific
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HBO series "The Pacific" preview
- Thread starter Cron
- Start date
Just watched it on line at hbo.com. You have to register and then sign in to view, it was a great first show in my opinion.
http://www.hbo.com/index.html#/the-pacific
The first ep was very good, and I'll definitely tune in for the rest. But the story just didn't quite grab me like Band of Brothers did. By the end of "Currahee" (first ep of BoB), I really wanted to know what was going to happen to all the characters. By the end of this ep, I was still trying to figure out who the main characters were. Felt kinda rushed and disjointed, but then, there's a lot of material to get through, even for a miniseries. Short of inventing history (putting all the characters in one company or something) for the sake of plotting unity, I can't really think of another way to do it.
It'd be nice if HBO/Tom Hanks/Spielberg made it a trilogy with The Wild Blue (another Stephen Ambrose WWII book, following the 8th AF bomber guys). Or, if the plagiarism controversy might stifle getting that particular book adapted, it'd still be nice to see the air war over Europe get the same big-budget miniseries treatment.
It'd be nice if HBO/Tom Hanks/Spielberg made it a trilogy with The Wild Blue (another Stephen Ambrose WWII book, following the 8th AF bomber guys). Or, if the plagiarism controversy might stifle getting that particular book adapted, it'd still be nice to see the air war over Europe get the same big-budget miniseries treatment.
I still geek out from time to time and wonder how cool Memphis Belle (1990) would have been with the technology we have today. Although, I'm sure it would be ruined with a cast that would no doubt include someone like Channing Tatum.
That being said, looking forward to tonight's episode.
Except that the events of the real Memphis Belle really had nothing to do w/ how the movie portrayed it. According to a News Reel piece I saw a long time ago, her 25th mission was actually pretty anit-climatic and they came back fine. I don't know how much of that was propaganda of the time, but what they showed was pretty straightforward.
Cron
Yankee Uniform Tango
Don't wanna get too off-topic, but...The Hollywood 'Memphis Belle' movie was initially supposed to be about a fictional B-17 crew, which explains why the fliers seem to go through every possible disaster in the course of one mission. Somewhere along the way, the studios decided to make it about the MB to guarantee familiarity, audience attendance, and in turn, profit.
BTW, the actual 25th mission of the MB was documented fully (in color) and can be viewed here: http://www.archive.org/details/MemphisBelle
I didn't want to start a new thread, but here are some great pictures based on the battles taken place over the pacific. Starting with Pearl, making its way on down the line .... thought yall might want to take a look.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/capture...aptured+Photo+Blog)&utm_content=Google+Reader
http://blogs.denverpost.com/capture...aptured+Photo+Blog)&utm_content=Google+Reader
FWIW, the William Wyler Memphis Belle (the WWII documentary) wasn't exactly true to life either. The Belle wasn't even really the first B-17 to complete 25 missions.
Part of the reason the 1990 movie was about the "Memphis Belle" and not any other fictional aircraft was because it was directed by Wyler's daughter, Catherine.
Cron
Yankee Uniform Tango
Rog, it was "Hell's Angels." I guess "Memphis Belle" was just a more homefront-friendly, and marketable name.
Back to The Pacific:
Second episode was much better. John Basilone's actions were extremely time-compressed and somewhat glossed over, but that's the nature of the beast. This line gave me a chuckle:
[A whole Jap regiment has just been decimated]
"Contact on the left!"
"No shit"
Having seen 1st 2 episodes, I (squid w/ lotsa time around Marines) offer the following comments:
(a) Somehow the director has missed depicting the spirit of the Marine Corps (haircuts not an issue w/ me); and,
(b) The scenes of Marines stealing Army officers' & mens' gear/food/smokes were pointless & degrading to the Corps, even if they happened.
Note: Marines had been on Guadalcanal for 3-4 months w/ little or no support from Navy or anyone else before 1st Army troops arrived.
(a) Somehow the director has missed depicting the spirit of the Marine Corps (haircuts not an issue w/ me); and,
(b) The scenes of Marines stealing Army officers' & mens' gear/food/smokes were pointless & degrading to the Corps, even if they happened.
Note: Marines had been on Guadalcanal for 3-4 months w/ little or no support from Navy or anyone else before 1st Army troops arrived.
a great depiction of the tenacity of the japanese in WWII and the rugged nature of the marine's on the island.
i don't think the scene where the marines took army gear was degrading, i think it showed the marine's lack of proper supplies and the saying "gear adrift is gear a gift"
also a good depiction of combat, the shelling last night made me want to hunker down on the couch and got my pulse up, not a pleasant looking experience and thankfully i have never been under arty fire and have no desire to experience it. those who have been in that situtation deserve a retirement home in the caymen islands all expenses paid.
i don't think the scene where the marines took army gear was degrading, i think it showed the marine's lack of proper supplies and the saying "gear adrift is gear a gift"
also a good depiction of combat, the shelling last night made me want to hunker down on the couch and got my pulse up, not a pleasant looking experience and thankfully i have never been under arty fire and have no desire to experience it. those who have been in that situtation deserve a retirement home in the caymen islands all expenses paid.
I think the Marine Corps term for stealing in that time and place was scrounging. It bothered me a bit as well to see personal items "scrounged". That said I was disappointed that they didn't show some of those sweet Garands and extra 30 cal ball ammo being appropriated.
The Marines hit the beach carrying Springfields. A lot of them were carrying Garands by the end of the fight. My guess is that very few, if any, of those weapons were issued thru the "proper channels".
Band of Brothers was hands down way better. At this point I'd rather watch a documentary. The stealing didn't bother me all that much (except when he got into the footlocker) since they had lived on the island for a long time like animals (I mean...Maggots in the chow...Really?). What did bother me was that despite John Basilone being a main character, they still didn't really capture his valour. It just doesn't capture the emotion of warfare for me and if you're not going to capture the emotion of the battle, then it better be detailed, and it's not that either.
Perhaps it'll get better when Sledge gets into the action.
Perhaps it'll get better when Sledge gets into the action.
I'm looking forward to the next episode...maybe we'll get to learn about the men a little more. The teaser showed them returning to civilization and interacting away from the foxhole. I've enjoyed it thus far...but it's been about 40 minutes of fighting with intermittent dialogue and 20 minutes of letting you learn about the characters.
Band of Brothers was such a special animal in that E Co/506th was involved in so many things, you could follow just that group and have a fantastic story.
The Pacific is good, but I'll echo the sentiments that they're moving a bit fast over some big stuff. It feels very disjointed, and I'm still not 100% sure who I'm following aside from "Lucky" and obviously Chesty Puller. Basilone I caught, but the battle scene was really hard to follow. I hope they get a chance to get deeper into the characters.
Maybe they'll throw the Navy a bone besides being corpsmen, cooks, and boat drivers?
The Pacific is good, but I'll echo the sentiments that they're moving a bit fast over some big stuff. It feels very disjointed, and I'm still not 100% sure who I'm following aside from "Lucky" and obviously Chesty Puller. Basilone I caught, but the battle scene was really hard to follow. I hope they get a chance to get deeper into the characters.
Maybe they'll throw the Navy a bone besides being corpsmen, cooks, and boat drivers?
Band of Brothers was such a special animal in that E Co/506th was involved in so many things, you could follow just that group and have a fantastic story.
The Pacific is good, but I'll echo the sentiments that they're moving a bit fast over some big stuff. It feels very disjointed, and I'm still not 100% sure who I'm following aside from "Lucky" and obviously Chesty Puller. Basilone I caught, but the battle scene was really hard to follow. I hope they get a chance to get deeper into the characters.
Maybe they'll throw the Navy a bone besides being corpsmen, cooks, and boat drivers?
Yeah, I cannot believe the Cactus Air Force didn't make a cameo in the Guadalcanal conflict. They made it as if the Marines were just stuck on that island alone...Cactus did everything they could to combat Japanese air raids and harass the Japanese Navy. Hell even a low-flying Wildcat,Dauntless, or Avenger over the beach would have been nice.