The Pacific HBO mini series

ryanjoachim

Yes, the first "disc" on BoB was all about training, learning each character's quirks, etc. It increased your immersion into the story line by a LOT, and it's sad to see that (so far) it isn't the same for The Pacific.

hearingimpared

polkatese wrote: »

I think for most of us who has watched BoB, there is a missing character build-up in The Pacific that we were sort of expecting, to cling to the BoB's emotional strength. I found myself tried to make those connections and has yet to connect. To be fair, this is only Part One, and I am keeping an open mind and trying hard to disconnect from BoB and treating The Pacific on its own merit. Time will tell, I guess.

I watched it today. I was a little disappointed but it was still good. I'm hoping the "character build-up" occurs throughout the series as opposed to BoB where they started that in the first episode.

I think when the character (whose name escapes me right now) shot and killed the **** soldier with his 45 while the others were toying with him, just shooting him to pieces with wounding shots, is a way of showing a sort of "character build up."

polkatese

Agreed Joe. Btw, I was watching it on DD 5.1, blasted the sound, and it was as good as it was. When the Navy was bombing the beach during the landing, explosions came from the surround back speakers. It was intense...can't wait for Part Two: Carentan...oops, that was BoB.

danger boy

I thought part one of the Pacific was good.. and it will only get better in the upcoming episodes. I plan on watching part 1 again tonight.

i know people don't like spoilers here.. but a few touching moments did catch my attention. You'll know what those two parts are if you saw part one. I might start another thread that contains spoilers so we can have a good ongoing discussion as the series progresses.

1. turkey shoot
2. happy birthday song

hearingimpared

danger boy wrote: »

I thought part one of the Pacific was good.. and it will only get better in the upcoming episodes. I plan on watching part 1 again tonight.

i know people don't like spoilers here.. but a few touching moments did catch my attention. You'll know what those two parts are if you saw part one. I might start another thread that contains spoilers so we can have a good ongoing discussion as the series progresses.

1. turkey shoot
2. happy birthday song

Good call Al, I agree.:)

kevhed72

I caught a replay of the first episode on DirecTV channel 101, which will frequently replay HBO shows and is great for us too cheap to pay for HBO.
It was good, not great, but it did want me to tune into the entire series and I set my DVR for the series.

On a side note, alough my AVR dsiplayed it was in 5.1 Dolby Digital, I heard nothing from my surrounds most of the show. Did anyone else notice this?

polkatese

kevhed72 wrote: »

I caught a replay of the first episode on DirecTV channel 101, which will frequently replay HBO shows and is great for us too cheap to pay for HBO.
It was good, not great, but it did want me to tune into the entire series and I set my DVR for the series.

On a side note, alough my AVR dsiplayed it was in 5.1 Dolby Digital, I heard nothing from my surrounds most of the show. Did anyone else notice this?

I watched it on HBO 501 and got a full DD 5.1

Slinger182

Saw the first episode and this should be a good series. I doubt anything can compare to BoB so I'm trying not to.

Kevhed I didn't see it on the 101 network but I have watched some stuff on that channel before and the audio is usually messed up. Sometimes no center channel, sometimes no surrounds. It's very weird.

kevhed72

Glad it wasn't just me. The fronts and center and sub seemed fine, but I stood right next to the surrounds at a couple different points and heard nothing, which is weird. Channel 101 is duplicated somewhere in the 400's I believe, which I'll try next time. Guess you can't complain about something that is free...

Slinger182

This is out on dvd/blu ray on 6/15/10. I don't think it's going to be on the 101 anymore, definitely have to check later. I'm pretty sure it was just a tease to try and get people to get HBO. It just might work on me...

rtart

I watched the first episode, and found it to fall short of BoB. That's not really a critique of it in absolute terms...BoB set the bar very high. I'm hopeful, however, that it finds its own voice and can be a memorable series as well.

Interesting to hear Tom Hanks on the TV lately drawing comparisons between WWII and the current war on Muslim Extremism as equivalently "racist" endeavors. Not what I would consider to be "good PR" for "The Pacific".

Makes me wish they would all "Shut Up and Sing!" I mean, really, I don't care about his politics and would like to just enjoy the @#$^% movie!

hearingimpared

rtart wrote: »

I watched the first episode, and found it to fall short of BoB. That's not really a critique of it in absolute terms...BoB set the bar very high. I'm hopeful, however, that it finds its own voice and can be a memorable series as well.

Interesting to hear Tom Hanks on the TV lately drawing comparisons between WWII and the current war on Muslim Extremism as equivalently "racist" endeavors. Not what I would consider to be "good PR" for "The Pacific".

Makes me wish they would all "Shut Up and Sing!" I mean, really, I don't care about his politics and would like to just enjoy the @#$^% movie!

I saw one of those interviews. How do these, so full of themselves "stars," get things so backasswards? I remember thinking, "any country or group that attacks us or declares war on us, we somehow become the racists for fighting back." I spoke loudly to the TV saying, "STFU Tom you moron!"

For God's sakes the Japanese thought back then that all other peoples were sub-human, as did the ****'s, as does Al-Qaeda and they did/do it with such fanaticism that they are suicidal in their attemts to prove it. GTFOOH with that nonsense.

hockeyboy

I agree completely with the last two posts. In all I was disappointed and hope it get's better. They should leave the politics out of it. I cannot even go to the Arizona memorial when I go to Hawaii. Most of the tourists are naturally Japanese since it is a short flight, and it always stirs my emotions as I see them snapping pictures.

Ron-P

This is up on Amazon for pre-order, so I did, haven't seen a single episode though. But, I'd imagine it's near the quality of BoB.

Is there any info on an actual street date?

kuntasensei

It's worth seeing just to see Joseph Mazzello's performance.

jflail2

Keiko wrote: »

I'll say this was a decent mini series, but nowhere near as good/intriguing as Band of Brothers.

Agreed! While I knew it was going to be different, I thought there was too much emphasis on down time/ "bad Americans" in this rather short series. Every episode seemed to have a "look at how atrocious our troops acted" point to it. I accepted it as part of the bigger picture, but wondered if anyone else felt there was a little too much emphasis on this.

That and the downtime, which I understand is historically accurate, but not attention keeping...

kuntasensei

I didn't see it as "look at how atrocious our troops acted". It was just the reality of war. I thought they did a great job of showing the conflict it caused, and how people can be driven to such lengths.

Huck344

I think the Pacific Theater was a much different war than the European Theater. Thus, it brought out different characteristics in people. That being said, "The Pacific" seemed to have a much grittier, more savage feel to it than BoB. That may be a root cause as to why it was more difficult to relate to the characters in "The Pacific."

hearingimpared

Well, I could watch, BoB, the Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiam over and over again. The Pacific, I just didn't find it that good. I prefer to watch the numerous documentaries on the Pacific theater.

That's just me.

However, they did do a fantastic job showing the actual soldiers and their achievements at the end of the last episode.

As far as the, "look at how atrocious our troops acted," I didn't see that either especially when you consider the mindset of the Japanese at that time and the outrageous atrocities they committed against all, civilians and soldiers. What they did to the Chinese was as bad as what the ****'s did to the Jews as a matter of fact I believe they killed way more Chinese civilians than the ****'s killed Jews.

You also have to take into consideration that our Pacific theater soldiers knew what atrocities were committed by the Japanese while they were fighting. The European thearter soldiers didn't find out until near the end of the war.

bsoko2

The War with Japan was more intense then the war with Germany. Troops in Europe didn't get left on an island for 30 or more days with no resupply to fight an enemy that wouldn't surrender. Germans would surrender, Japense troops would fight to the death. Since the war, Okinawa became home to the 3rd Marine Division and is still to this day.

Fongolio

I let it stand on its' own merits from the beginning and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the series. The point, I believe, was to show how the war in the Pacific affected these few soldiers. In that light it was a total success. War messes people up bad. It also institutionalizes soldiers and makes returning to civilian life very difficult.

I watch a Frontline program on PBS last night about soldiers returning from duty in Iraq. The turnaround time and aftermath took and is still taking a huge toll on American soldiers. Suicide rates and murder rates are exponentially higher among soldiers who have served in active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The really crappy thing is the army's lack of real support for these men. Anyway, the point is, it reminded me of the last episode of the Pacific when they came home and were having a very difficult time adapting after seeing and participating in the atrocities of war.

For pure entertainment I have to give the win to BoB, but as a series on it's own I think The Pacific was a great way to spend the last ten of my Sunday evenings.

danger boy

kuntasensei wrote: »

It's worth seeing just to see Joseph Mazzello's performance.

I have to agree. Joe Mazzello really did a great acting job. I found out half way through this series who he was and his famous part as the little kid from Jurassic Park.

He's all grown up and does a wonderful job in the Pacific, as did all the other young actors.

Ron-P

The release date is 11-02, damn that's a long time off.

hockeyboy

In all I really enjoyed the series. There were two episodes in particular I really enjoyed. I doubt I will buy on BD but will keep on my TIVO and rewatch occasionaly.

fatchowmein

Overall enjoyed it. A bit slow on the start. Loved Sledge Hammer. Because of the speed/pace, they could have used another 5 episodes. Felt a bit disjointed at times jumping from character to character.

Here's hoping great success for Hanks and company because there's so much more WWIII stories to tell. We've seen the 101st Airbourne in action in Europe and now the Marines in the Pacific. Maybe go with the Big Red One next? Perhaps instead of infantry, they'll try their hand at the air war over Europe? Sea battles in the Pacific?

Ron-P

Just watched episodes 1 and 2, blu-ray. Fantastic so far, love it, equally as impressive as BoB in every way.

But, "a bit slow on the start". Hell no, takes all of 30 minutes or less and the battles begin. Unlike BoB where is was nearly 2 episodes in before the action began.

mrbigbluelight

I've watched BoB many, many times and rented Episode 1 several months ago from Blockbuster.
Have to say that while I wasn't disappointed, I definitely didn't have the same sense of awe I had with BoB.

The entire set is out now, and I have a long weekend coming up so it's time to buy the set and sit down for a full weekend of Pacific.

messiah

It's also being re-aired on Veterans Day in its entirety.

zingo

Received the Blu-ray for Christmas, and the sound mastering is excellent. I forgot how awesome it is to watch a good movie with full range Klipsch speakers; even in two channel. :biggrin:

Rivrrat

I got a dvd box set for Christmas also. This time around, the family wants to watch it with me.