New York Firearms Forum banner

The Pacific

Tags
pacific
3K views 37 replies 11 participants last post by  Temporaryscars 
#1 ·
Anyone catch part one? I thought it was great. Feels like it's moving quite fast though. Band of Brothers had a more drawn out beginning. I can't wait to see the next episode.
 
#8 ·
If you don't have HBO, how did you watch it. Isn't it only on HBO?
 
#6 ·
Yeah, I could see that, but that might be a necessary evil in order to set up the characters. Like I said, BOB took the time to develop the characters in the beginning with their training. This show just jumps right into battle, so they're shot on time to get the viewers to care about the characters we're watching so to make up for it, they have to be a little more heavy on the drama. That might change as time goes on though.
 
#9 ·
Are you referring to "grey" download methods or does HBO actually provide a ligit source? Given the number of HBO shows that I've liked (Sopranos, The Wire, Rome, Band of Brothers) I'd be willing to pay to stream them. I'm not willing to pay $70+/mo to Time Warner to get it though. Usually I wind up waiting for them to hit Netflix.
 
#19 ·
i caught it flipping through the channels in my hotel in fl. i thought it was a movie i hadnt yet seen. i was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a series. i will be catching the rest.
 
#20 ·
OK..I watched E1 and I was underwhelmed. Strange amount of time seemingly wasted on character's back story, yet so little actually revealed. The single battle scene was interesting, but not absorbing. The scene where they pick away at the Japanese soldier in the water seemed gratuitous and strangely out of place.

If it doesn't get a lot better I won't continue to watch it.

One man's opinion.
 
#21 ·
Really? I thought the contrast between the two different men and their relationships with their fathers was pretty touching. I agree that much wasn't revealed, and as I said it felt rushed, but I didn't feel like it went on too long, but then again, maybe I'm used to it. Shows with a big cast like this tend to take a little longer with back story than shows that have one or two main characters.
Anyway, like I always tell people, you can't judge a show based on the pilot episode. I've sat through shows that I've hated just to give it the benefit of doubt. If a show hasn't gain its momentum by the third episode, that's when I call it quits.
And yes, the pecking away at the Japanese soldier was unnecessary. You didn't really see anything like that in BOB.
 
#22 ·
The father thing was weird...the Italian family scene was overdone IMO...I understand the desire to make it larger than life, but...and the only thing we saw with his father was father and son holding hands and giving each other a look.....I actually felt that the scene with the other guy at the bus/train station was more interesting. I think they were trying to get you to think that father/son didn't have a good relationship, but I felt like the father was using the car trouble as a way to avoid showing his true feelings for his son...a diversion...the handshake was heartfelt although the son obviously thought it to be less than what he expected at a time like this. Of all the relationships they disclosed, this one is the only one I'm really curious to see them develop.

I'm not writing it off after one episode, but it really has a long way to go to become engaging.
 
#23 ·
Oh I totally agree. The car scene was great and more effective than the Italian family (and damn did the show want to push they were Italian. I was expecting to see Chef Boyardee come busting through the door at any second), but I think it was good to have the two contrasting each other.
I'm trying to be easy on the show because I was critical of BOB when it first came out. I thought the beginning dragged on too much and I gave up on it two soon. A couple of years after it aired, I decided to give it another shot and it's one of the best series I've ever seen and I rewatch the entire thing about once a year.
 
#24 ·
I watched it with the mindset of it will be different from BOB, the first episode seemed a bit slow we will see how it goes from here?
About the Jap in the water, understand this; the Japanese set the rules of engagement during the pacific campaign "no quarter will be given" we obliged them. This part is historically accurate in the series.
A standard back then was kill them all, if you came upon a fresh looking Jap soldier lying on the ground you put two in his head, they were called "security rounds", just to make sure he was in fact dead. If we did this today against Haji, you would be pulled from your unit, in need of a lawyer and probably your military career is over. It has happened to more than one Marine in the sandbox.
Today's battle is similar in that Haji and the Jap both have a fanatical drive, the Jap however was in uniform on a little spit of sand smaller than the parking lot at Disney World, Haji is in a general population not wearing a uniform.
 
#27 ·

About the Jap in the water, understand this; the Japanese set the rules of engagement during the pacific campaign "no quarter will be given" we obliged them. This part is historically accurate in the series.
.
Ya...I'm aware of how truly monstrous the Japanese were...it was how that scene just suddenly pops up that struck me....almost like it was edited in after the fact for the shock value...weird...
 
#29 ·
The Marines learned a lot about the Japanese ways of war on Guadalcanal. They hint at it on "The Pacific " when the corpsmen assist a wounded Japanese soldier after the action at Alligator creek, and the soldier blows them all up with a grenade.

But I think what really set the tone of no quarter, was the Goettge patrol. Ltc Frank Goettge led a patrol up the coast of Guadalcanal to pick up a group of Japanese soldiers who wanted to surrender. I believe a Japanese soldier or a Korean laborer came into the Marine lines with that information. To make a long story short, the Marines waded ashore up the coast and were ambushed by the Japanese. Several Marines attempted to wade into the surf and go for help. One made it....he said the last thing he saw was the flashing of Japanese bayonets and swords as they hacked up the Marines trapped on the beach. The Marines came back in force but never recovered Goettge or his mens bodies.

After that incident all bets were off when it came to Marines taking Japanese prisoners on Guadalcanal and the rest of the island battles for the rest of the war. Also the Marines learned another important lesson....young American men could hold their own when it came to fighting the Japanese...
Regards,

Tom D
 
#37 ·
The Marines learned a lot about the Japanese ways of war on Guadalcanal. They hint at it on "The Pacific " when the corpsmen assist a wounded Japanese soldier after the action at Alligator creek, and the soldier blows them all up with a grenade.

But I think what really set the tone of no quarter, was the Goettge patrol.
When did news of their treatment of Allied POWs make it back to the US? Did we find out about it when we liberated our POWs or had news already leaked back prior to that happening?

The bit with the Japanese guy in the water was disturbing. I get the 'no quarter' part given Japanese perfidy but tormenting the poor bastard seemed excessive. It was an act of mercy when he was finally put out of his misery. No doubt such incidents actually happened though. It didn't strike me as something that was put in for shock value.

I wonder if HBO will put the other episodes online or if they just gave away the first one as a teaser?
 
#31 ·
Watched the first episode last night. I liked it. There was a lot of back story but that's to be expected in the first episode of a mini-series.

I think my favorite moment was seeing the Battle of Savo Island from the "boots on the ground" perspective. They are cheering as ships blow up -- thinking they must be Japanese -- turns out we got creamed in the first few surface engagements and the ships that were blowing up were ours.
 
G
#32 ·
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch this new series yet but I intend to.

I wonder if this series will acknowledge that there were Army units involved in the Island hopping campaigns along with the USMC.

You see my dad was in the Army, stationed at Schofield Barracks Hawaii, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. His Army unit, along with the Marines fought on Guadalcanal. Later my Dad’s Army unit, along with the Marines, took New Georgia Island. A month later my Dad’s Army unit, along with the Marines, took Vella Lavella Island. After spending some time recovering from wounds in New Zealand my Dad rejoined his Army unit and took part in the liberation of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. My Dad’s Army unit was preparing to invade the home islands of Japan when the Japs threw in the towel.

All told my Dad racked up 17 combat amphibious landings as an Army Soldier. He never really understood why it always seemed in the public eye that the Marines did it all themselves.

FYI:
There were 22 U.S. Army divisions deployed to the Pacific theater during WWII.
There were 6 U.S.M.C. divisions deployed to the Pacific theater during WWII.
 
#33 ·
I wonder if this series will acknowledge that there were Army units involved in the Island hopping campaigns along with the USMC.
Was the Army involved at Guadalcanal? Not sure if the mini-series is going to exclusively focus on that battle or follow the characters across the whole campaign.

I was wondering if they were going to give any screen time to the actions of the Cactus Air Force and Henderson Field. Denying the Japanese that airbase was the whole point of the Guadalcanal campaign. Getting the airbase up and running as quickly as we did and keeping it running in the face of repeated land, air and naval attacks was key to our eventual victory there.
 
#36 ·
Yep I agree. The newbie sarcasim is not really appreciated. And to make an excuse of being poor is totally wrong - sorry, but I don't understand that comment at all. Anyway (Gunner57) I liked your response. Jokes and being funny is ok........but really, people should leave out any sarcastic remarks. Guns are a serioius business. Let's keep it safe out there. I feel if someone wants to be sarcastic then there are probably a lot of other forums to keep them busy.
 
#38 ·
Part four aired on Sunday. Four episodes in, I have to say I'm kind of disappointed. This series is a huge departure from BOB. From what I've seen so far, I can only surmise that the Pacific theater was nothing more then waiting around in mud with the occasional firefight. It just seemed like there was more action in BOB, this just kind of plods along. My guess is that it's due to the nature of fighting, which is mostly just two sides shooting at each other from the bush, and if it had as much action as BOB, it would just get tedious. BOB had more opportunity for battle variety.
That's not to say that it's not a great show to watch. I do enjoy it, but it doesn't come near what BOB was.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top