The Pacific

BoB had a handful of truly central characters: Winters, Nixon, Lipton, Compton, Guarnere -- and dozens who came and went in the space of an episode or two. That reflects the nature of war in the Euro theater too: people come, people go, people die, etc etc. Some guys stay around long enough you really get to know them, others arrive one day and two days later they're gone.

I think "The Pacific" really short-shrifted the impact of Pearl Harbor. The entire nation went from a very strong isolationist lean to full-throttle-ahead for world war in the space of four days.

The only thing we could compare it to in our era would be if one particular nation had been clearly responsible for 9/11 -- and said so publicly.

 

Starman, if you look at it that way, it makes sense. I just think what makes a movie like Glory work so well is that you're viewing one unique experience through the lens of four totally disparate characters. I guess if you have eight to 10 hours to play with, the infusion of more characters is smoother.

HBO has a way of boiling down seminal moments to the basest degree.

 

I think this is a good point. My wife, who is basically a genius when it comes to science and math, but not as much of a history buff as me, had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that these guys <i>wanted</i> to go fight. She thought the kid with the heart murmur should have felt lucky he couldn't go.

Even when I try to put the outrage of Pearl Harbor into context she doesn't really get it.

 

After Pearl Harbor there was great outcry for immediate retaliation. The Japanese stayed on the offensive and pretty much kicked our ass for much of 1942 including the rout of troops on Bataan.

The debate in Washington was what to do first - retaliate against Japan or start fighting the Germans. Pushed by Great Britain decision was made to fight the Germans in North Africa -not until almost a year after Pearl Harbor. In the Pacific we were really in more of defensive mode.

Really we did not get our "sea leagues" in The Pacific until 1944/ 1945 .

 

Oscar Gamble

Do you have a link to epsisode three? :-*

 

It's amazing that for the United States WWII was essentially 3 1/2 years fighting 2 wars, The Army and Army Air Corps in Europe and the Navy and Marines in the Pacific. 9 years in Afgan and 7 years in Iraq and almost nothing to show for it, but 1 dead dictator, who turned out to be a great poker player

 

Have to disagree. The fact that we were able to put troops on Guadalcanal in August, 1942 and keep them there forced Japan to adopt a defensive posture. It was something of a stalemate for the next year, the island equivalent of trench warfare, but by the end of 1943, there was no question that the tide had turned in the Pacific.

I'm one of those history buffs who find WWII in the Pacific utterly fascinating, because there is nothing else like it in the previous history of armed conflict. You had completely amphibious attacks, the absolute necessity of combined forces (sea, land and air), combat in jungle conditions, and all of it taking place in this exotic, often-paradisical backdrop.

 

Whoever casted that part did an outstanding job. Whoever played that role looks, speaks and acts exactly like Guarnere did in the interviews I've seen on him.

 

Another good book is Tarawa: The Story of a Battle, by Robert Sherrod. I mentioned this on another thread but my sixth grade teacher, Mike Selavka, is referenced in this book because he earned a silver star as a Marine for fighting this four-day battle. If you don't know anything about Tarawa, do a google search. The U.S. Marines suffered some terrible losses for this very small island.

A few weeks ago I visited Mr. Selavka, as he lives about a mile from my parents. It was the first time I've seen him since I graduated from elementary school in 1990. He must be in his late 80s and is in pretty tough shape; he lives alone as his wife died a few years ago. He told me that he doesn't usually accept visitors anymore because he wants people to remember him for what he was, and not for what he is now. And that was so terribly sad. A man like him, who fought in such an important battle, should not go out alone like this. In sixth grade, he brought in a rising sun Japanese flag, a hari-kari knife and a ninja sword - all things he took while a Marine in WWII.

I haven't had a chance to see any of The Pacific yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

 

I'm another one who for some reason hadn't seen BoB until The Pacific started, despite being a loyal HBO subscriber. So I watched the whole thing on-demand in about four days between the second and third episodes of The Pacific. It was obviously every bit as good as everyone said. And after seeing it, I'm still not getting why The Pacific is getting some criticism.

So far I think it has been very good and in a similar tone and pace as BoB. Also, we are dealing with two completely different fronts over much different time frames. You can't really compare the two. It will probably be one of those things where The Pacific could never live up to the hype no matter how good it is because it came after BoB, which is widely considered a masterpiece. Had The Pacific come first, who knows, maybe the opinions would be reversed.

All that said, The Pacific also fascinates me because my grandfather was a Marine and fought there. He passed when I was a freshman in high school and I never got the chance to really talk to him about it. The few occasions when I tried he wasn't really open about it anyway, which is understandable. I do remember being amazed at all the Japanese souvenirs he had.

 

The actor, Frank John Hughes, also had a bit role as Tony's driver on the final season of "The Sopranos."

 

The vast majority of memorable American fiction about WW2, and most of the best nonfiction, too, comes from the Pacific Theater, starting with From Here to Eternity and going on to Hiroshima by John Hersey. Maybe it's because the war was so episodic, due to the enormous distances involved. Gave its participants time to think about the experience.