The Pacific (HBO)

[Jesse James]

Thanks Greg(g).

[Dave]

Overall I thought the first episode was decent, but not great.  Probably on par with an average Band of Brothers episode.  

It'll be interesting to see how they string this series together.

Band of Brothers was great because you got to stay with the same characters and watch them grow/interact throughout the war.  

I can't imagine they'll be able to do that with The Pacific as very few ground units fought in more than a couple of battles.  I can already see that they're trying to flashback/tie neighborhoods and friends together to create some ties from episode to episode, but I still think it will be mostly isolated stories.  I'll also be interested to see if they tell anything from the Navy's point of view due to how important a role they played in the Pacific war.

I got to see a free preview on DirecTV, but don't have HBO, so I'm going to have to wait until this comes out on DVD to finish the series.

[Paul]

A reminder, now that this topic has it's own thread, Keep the Conversation relevant to the Program or Historical background.  If there needs to be topic in the other section to debate right and wrong, do it there.

Nick I think I am glad you brought up that you had an uncle in the ARMY in the Pacific.  They were on many of the islands that the Marines were on, but not in the numbers so they ddin't get the recognition.

The 1st Marines fought at Gudalcanal, Pelielu and Okinawa, so a majority of the "BIG" battles.  The Canal took 6 months.

[Jim]

Just a heads up that if you dont have HBO they are offering the episodes free if you have On Demand with your cable service.
 

[Nicklab]

Nick I think I am glad you brought up that you had an uncle in the ARMY in the Pacific.  They were on many of the islands that the Marines were on, but not in the numbers so they ddin't get the recognition.

I was glad to see some mention of the Army landing on Guadalcanal in last night's episode.  But it only highlighted how woefully undersupplied the Marines were, and how difficult the conditions were for them to deal with.  I haven't been able to watch the full episode yet, but the situation looked pretty grim at times.

[Mikey D]

Sunday's episode was nuts.  The intense 15 minute gun battle with wave after wave of Japanese soldiers was the highlight, but the entire episode was great.

[Jesse James]

Indeed, it was intense.  There were even doubts about a soldiers ability to pick up a fixed MG like that and fire it from the hip, to show just the sheer super-human-nature of that feat.  It's insane to even think about.

It's interesting how this contrasts to BoB so much in that you really grew to know the soldiers in BoB before combat started.  There was a whole episode of training, whereas this series really is a different direction. 

I think it'll be interesting to see changes in Japanese tactics as the war progresses, as they became a little more conservative as time went on, then swung back the other way.

[Paul]

Plus the next battle is the Battle of Peleliu.   This particular episode should show the roles reversed as the Marines (and later the Army) have to do the attacking against Japanese defenders.  No more human wave tactics (for now).

The Marines should start getting M1 Garands for combat too.

I wish this Series had an episode like the first episode of Band of Brothers.  I can't tell one character from another.  And since they are from different Marine Divisions it is going to get more mixed up.

[Nicklab]

All of the Marines in the series appear to be from the 1st Marine Division, albeit from different regiments.  But it's clear that the notable Marines in the series like Leckie, Phillips & Basilone were all involved in the Guadalcanal campaign.

There's a huge contrast between the Marines of The Pacific and the men of Easy Company in Band of Brothers.  Easy Company and the 506th PIR were constituted in the Spring of 1942.  That unit trained together and shipped to England as a unit until they were dropped into Normandy in June 1944.   The Marines on the other hand were either from existing units or men who enlisted immediately following the Pearl Harbor attacks.  The Marines landed on Guadalcanal 9 months after Pearl Harbor.  So to compare the units in terms of their time together may not be an appropriate comparison.  But I suspect that over the course of the HBO series the characters will be developed so that the viewers will be able to identify with them more.

[Paul]

I mistyped..Regiment instead of Division.

Basilone ends up in the 5th Marine Division sometime after his stint training troops and CMOH tour, I think I had division on the brain.

Maybe the episode in Australia on leave will give us a chance to "Meet" the troops a little better.

A bit of the suspense in this one is gone too since we know who lives since it is based on several post war memoirs.  I does not take away from the intensity, just the drama of knowing who will make it.

[Nicklab]

R Lee Ermey actually did a piece on his show Lock 'N Load about John Basilone and the M1917 machine gun.  And in that demonstration they showed that it was possible (albeit difficult) for a Marine to fire that weapon from the hip.  Video Here

[Jesse James]

Maybe the episode in Australia on leave will give us a chance to "Meet" the troops a little better.

This is something I was thinking, that the intent is to get you to know them better as the series progresses rather than giving that "You trained with them" feeling that BoB I think wanted you to have...  Thus the series name.  I think the intent was for you to "be with them" through it all with that series, and the Pacific's not intended to be the same.

A lot of people are inherently drawing comparisons of the two series...  I think the Pacific's going to have a more intense feeling to it.  I think it already has to some degree, and mostly due to the nature of the combat in the PTO itself.

Japanese defense tactics were very different to their European allies tactics.  It'll be another interesting contrast.

I'd love to see something similar tackled on a British or Canadian perspective, or even a Russian perspective, or an axis perspective perhaps.  I liked Letters from Iwo Jima a lot, and that's an interesting thought for a mini-series like this.

[IncomT65]

Can't wait for this series to air here in Holland as well, which will be by the end of this month. I watch BoB every year, it's such an awesome series. I'm sure the same will apply to The Pacific.

Imagine the producers of these series tackling the Clone Wars or the Galactic Civil War?!

[Jesse James]

Incom,

HBO.com, I believe, has the show streaming from their website.  I'm not positive but I think I read that, if you're interested in checking it out now.

[IncomT65]

Thanks for the headsup Jesse, but I don't think I can view HBO.com content, since I live in the Netherlands. But no worres, there's always my trusty torrent client  Nah, I'll wait till 04/07, so I can watch it in HD. We already know the outcome, so nothing to spoil, right?