HBO's The Pacific

[QRTRHRS]

I just watched the final episode number ten. Anyone else catch this latest Spielburg/Hanks endeavor?

Initially, I was comparing this series to "Band of Brothers" and "Saving Private Ryan". It seemed to go kind of slow. But, as the series proceeded, it gained momentum until the final episode delivered somewhat of a somber punchline.

Think about it, these men had a boat and a train ride to "chill" on the way home. How about shipping out of the bush in Nam and being on the street say 24 hrs later?

Pretty well done overall. A good reminder as we approach "Memorial Day".

 

[smfcpacfp]

My father fought in the Pacific in an engineer batallion in the army, mostly in Borneo and New Guinea, building bridges for advancing troops. People were often shooting at him. He had to sleep in 2 man pup tents in the mud most nights. It was miserable. He admired guys in the navy, because they always had a bed to sleep in. Anyway he is gone now and like most WWII vets, didn't talk about it unless you brought it up, and even then didn't say much.

I watched the first episode and plan to watch the others.

 

[Thomas]

I watch all 10,sure does make one think.

I won't get to ramblingbut some of these selfish people of today could use dose of what men/women face..might smarten them up.

 

[MossRoad]

We don't get HBO, so I will have to wait.

My dad was in WWII in the Army Corps of Engineers. Went from Australia, to New Guinea to the Philippines. He was a welding inspector in Australia where they were welding up landing craft to invade New Guinea. He was also a demolitions officer and had to blow up lots of stuff and clear areas for runways, beach landings, etc... AND he was also his company photographer, so he got to take pictures of everything along the way.

One thing he always stressed to me and my siblings was this...

While going through the dead bodies of the enemies after battles were winding down, looking for booby traps, unexploded ordinance, and intelligence items, you would come across pictures of these men with their families. Wives, children, parents, etc... got him to thinking... why are there so many fundamental differences between people that are so similar on the basic levels? That bothered him for 50 years.

 

[mjarrels]

My uncle who just turned 90 was a B-24 crewman flying missions out of the Philippines over flying Japan taking photos. He was the first one to fly over Japan after atomic bombs were dropped to take photos. 100's of flight hours and he clams he was never shot at.

mark

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the reviews. I don't get HBO either and have found that waiting for shows to come out of DVD and getting them from Netflix works alot better for me. I'm watching The Tudors right now this way, and really enjoying it.

I'll add The Pacific to my list of movies.

Eddie

 

[Uncle Doug]

Have not watched HBO since Deadwood went over.

Was flipping chanels the other night and caught about 30 minutes of one of the last Pacific shows. Of course not knowing any of the players I was lost. Not sure if it will measure up to Band of Brothers but I will watch for the reruns to catch it from the start.

 

[RavensRoost]

Thanks for the reviews. I don't get HBO either and have found that waiting for shows to come out of DVD and getting them from Netflix works alot better for me. I'm watching The Tudors right now this way, and really enjoying it.

I'll add The Pacific to my list of movies.

Eddie

Eddie, are you a reader? I also do not get HBO so my wife bought the book "The Pacific" for me. I liked it so well I bought "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge (Sledgehammer), one of the central characters in "The Pacific". Both books are fantastic reads.

Marines fighting on the Pacific islands in WWII went through a lot (I guess I cannot use the two most desctriptive words here to describe). After reading these two books, my admiration for them went up a couple of notches...and it was high to begin with.

 

[BruceWard]

I watched all 10 episodes and was exicted to see each one after the kids went to bed. I really enjoyed how Band of Brothers was the story of one group of men from the beginnning to the end. I think they tried to do the same with The Pacific but I prefer Band of Brothers. Not sure if they needed Ambrose's writing or if it was that I have been to most of the locations in Europe.

My Dad's Father fought in the army in Europe. My Mom's Father was a gunner on a landing craft in the pacific.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I watched all 10 episodes and was exicted to see each one after the kids went to bed. I really enjoyed how Band of Brothers was the story of one group of men from the beginnning to the end. I think they tried to do the same with The Pacific but I prefer Band of Brothers. Not sure if they needed Ambrose's writing or if it was that I have been to most of the locations in Europe.

My Dad's Father fought in the army in Europe. My Mom's Father was a gunner on a landing craft in the pacific.

At first, I felt the same way, that the series was not up "BoB". While war is war, the Pacific was indeed different from Europe. I think that point was made.

I think that the last episode pretty much ties it altogether especially with the bio at the end.

One of my grandfather's was in WWI, my father was on a light destroyer that helped some of the wounded on the Bunker Hill. My uncle's twin brother was killed in Korea during the Chosen Resivoir "retreat". My brother and I lucked out. He was drafted in 68' and served in Hawii. I got drafted in 70' and served in Germany.

My father was pretty much an sob but the day that he dropped me off for the bus to the draft processing facility, he had tears in his eyes. Other than that, he never, ever spoke of his service experiance.