HBO's "The Pacific"

formerjughead wrote:

I agree Generation Kill was great, my oldest son and his Marine buddies that served in OIF, loved it. They thought it was a very good depiction, they were most impressed with the film makers getting the small things right.


I thought Heartbreak Ridge sucked, and as a serving member in Uncle Sugar's Misguided Children during the period depicted and a participant in Operation Urgent Fury, I can say with some authority it wasn't very accurate.


That being said, I disagree about the Pacific. I think it's very good. So on that question I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't think I've ever seen an actor better portray the loss of innocence and heart hardening that accompanies combat, better than the actor playing Sledge. I think the actor portraying Haldane did an excellent job. I've had officers like that and I would have followed them to hell. I think the actor portraying Gunny Haney did an excellent job. He's what I imagined a crusty old Belleau Woods Marine would have been like when I read Sledge's book.
I loved Band of Brothers. I thought it, one of the best WWII movie/mini-series ever made. I think the Pacific is even better. I think the limited perspective used in this series better portrays what it's like to be a soldier/Marine in combat.
I don't want to sidetrack the discussion but what did you think of "Rules of Engagement"? I liked it. Except for the few scenes where they substituted CH-47's for 46's, I thought it was very well done.

 

formerjughead wrote:

I've got Captain Dye's back on this one.

 

Brad, take a deep breath....hold it....hold it....ok, let it out....

Better now?

It does suck because of the way it was produced. I like it for the shootin' parts and the small details like uniforms, weapons, equipment. etc. The soap opera theme does suck though.

What's next on their agenda?

 

So the battle that has 12,000 dead marines and 200,000 dead japanese is 1 episode long... and the soap opera part gets its three episodes. Tonight's show was good, but it can't deliver the scope of Okinawa in forty minutes.

 

The frustrating suckfest continues

 

How to sum up tonights episode?

No. That is all.

 

It seems to me that the problem really falls back on the fact that the miniseries has 10 episodes, each less than an hour long, and trying to cover three men over a period of 4 years. The three men dont even actually know each other and would disappear for several episodes at a time. Sledge comes off best in that his episodes are mostly grouped together. Leckie comes off as a bit spoiled (the Australia/Girl episode) who gets sent to the hospital alot...has a concusion and disappears until the last episode.
The miniseries doesnt seem to be very focused either as to what it is wanting to be about. The actual war? The characters?
Guadalcanal didnt seem to be very bad situation.
Iwo Jima was an attack on a pillbox.
Okinawa was a muddy ravine with some strong points at one end.
Who wrote this thing?????

 

They should have done exactly what they did with BoB, and stuck to one book, namely Sledge's. I appreciate all the filler and all, but I had been laboring under the impression that the vast majority of it was going to be coming from "With the Old Breed", and personally, I'm a little bit let-down that they simply didn't follow Mr. Sledges book verbatim. It would have made for a more memorable show.

 

saw 4 episodes, I wont even watch it anymore, some good action scenes yes! but that is'nt enough,boring! very drab..too much of nothing.....

 

In the episode when John Basilone gets killed, he referred to the Army as "Doggies". I never heard that term before. I've heard the terms "dog face" and "line dogs" before. Must be a Marine thing.

 

WWII Combat Cameraman: 'The Public Had To Know'


norman Hatch, Cameraman, tells the story..

WWII Combat Cameraman: 'The Public Had To Know' : NPR

Audio clip link..
NPR Media Player

 

Yes sir, you are correct. Basilone used that term, and it's usage was/is very common in the Marine Corps. I have read that the term does derive from "dog face". I don't know where that term originated. I do know that shelter half type shelters during the Civil War were sometimes referred to as "dog tents", I assume this evolved into the term "pup tent" that is more recognized today. Who knows?

 

Many spoilers in here....

 

Anyone think more time should have spent on the battle of Okinawa? That battle was such a meat grinder i was surprised to see it squeezed into one 50 minute episode, still a pretty damn good series in my opinion..

 

I guess 'they' figured that showing one beach landing (Peleliu) with LVTs was enough and they didnt need to bother with that for Iwo or Okinawa. I saw a little behind the scenes thing that showed a barge that the film makers mocked up the bow on so that they could have the LVT drive out and into the water. For the amount of screen time that got, I wonder if anyone thought that that was money well spent?

 

I have been watching the series with the thought in mind that it is unfair to compare to BoB and that that is why I think its not that great. But with each episode I keep coming to the same conclusion; "nope, they just screwed it up" in the approach they took. They either should have just stuck with one character for the 10 episodes. Or followed one unit (as in BoB) for a shorter period of time than they are doing or made each episode a stand alone item under the umbrella title 'The Pacific'. If they had done that, each episode could have followed someone and a specific incident. A navy nurse for example in one episode or a dive bomber crew at Midway. The big landings could have been covered by looking at a variety of characters from the Marines, the Navy, etc.

 

Thanks for the assist there. Sometimes it is hard to figure out where certain terms come from. Some are obvious and others are very obscure. Interesting though, to me anyway.

 

You're not alone, me too.

 

Well i've seen the three Peleliu episodes now and all I can say is - stunning! It is the most graphic depiction of war ever on TV. I'm perplexed as to why so many here are so disappointed. Sure it's not Band of Brothers - in some ways it's better!

 

I agree.