The Pacific

If you've seen the Basilone episode, then you need to read this article:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-basilone-20100503,0,7623041,full.story

And Philospher, what are you waiting for? Watch Band of Brothers! Simply awesome.

 

Thanks for sharing that, Lantaur. I'd have missed it. Gave me chills.

 

And they just keep on getting better and better. Anyone else agree that tonight's episode was out of the park? The actor who plays Sledge is doing a kick ass job I think.

 

Stupendous. The best one yet.

 

Yeah, he's awesome. Can't remember if I pointed it out earlier in the thread, but Joe Mazzello also played the little boy in the original "Jurassic Park."

The guy who plays Snafu (Remi Malek) is pretty damn good as well.

One thing I didn't quite understand was at the end when the C.O. kind of made an off-hand reference to the Atomic Bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. Wouldn't they have been able to see the mushroom cloud from Okinawa? I know it's quite a ways (about 600 miles according to the googles), but over clear ocean you'd think they'd have been able to see it. Then again, maybe it would have looked like nothing but a bad thunderstorm.

 

I do remember seeing that Jurassic Park reference. It is pretty neat to see child actors like Mazello as young adults when you haven't seen them since that first time.

And yeah, I Snafu has been interesting to follow. You can clearly see he has grown to respect Sledge immensely ever since Sledge turned back to help him to his feet during the crossing of the airfield at Peleilu. Every time I see them interact I think back to the look o suprise on his face when Sledge came back for him.

 

Great episode. It is amazing what those guys went through to win the war.

Hanks & Co. deserve some kind of award for getting the setting so realistic.

I just started reading Sledgehammer's book. . . it is a good read so far. My brother who is watching with me keeps pointing out scenes that were in the book (the one where Sledge slips and slides into the dead body was portrayed much worse in the book).

The one criticism my brothers have of the series is too much love story. I think things have been a little choppy. . . could have followed Basilone around a little more and filled in some of the details.

This could have easily been 16 parts.

 

I think that might be the biggest issue is that they had too much material and tried to squeeze too much in. They could have easily done a couple of more episodes or at least should have done like they did in BoB and had a few that were 70 or 75 minutes. But I think they've done a pretty good job of keeping it together. I guess I don't really care one way or the other about the love stuff, but you know it happened, and happened a lot, and it is interesting to see them show some of what happened in that area and on the home front.

I've read that the scenes in the books aren't nearly as intense either. I guess they could have made them more so but throughout this series I think the war scenes, especially starting at the end fifth part, have been some of the most intense and hard to watch I've ever seen.

It could be argued that this series did start a little slow, but after how intense and I'd say amazing the second half has been, I want to go back and re-watch the beginning to see if at least for me that's not really the case and that it all fits together pretty darn well.

 

I just don't like Sledge. He comes across as whiny and bitchy.

 

Just make it a weekly show. We already have seven seasons of The Hills, for fuck's sake.

Then you don't have to give anything short shrift.

 

Not to denigrate the program, which is excellent, but it would be nice if there was someway to acknowledge the historical reality of the war in the Pacific which involved 95 percent of U.S. participants -- the massive, and for many really dull effort required to transport to and supply in the relatively small number of men in units such as the 1st Marine Division engaged in land combat.
It was a navy war, in essence. That story would not be as vibrant a television program, but it would not lack interest.

 

As a former Tin Can sailor, I'd love to see something on the destroyer men of the war. If they did a Navy show, it'd have to be on the carriers and destroyers. I'm not sure you could get much out of the troop transport guys.

I'm sure there is an interesting series on the people who stayed home, war effort, women in factories, etc., but I'm afraid I don't have the funds to bankroll it myself.