HBO's The Pacific

[Venomfan]

I wasn't talking about those who fought there

thats what i took "including those involved" to mean

 

[CantThinkOfAName]

thats what i took "including those involved" to mean

Oh, I meant the people of those countries involved

 

[Bunker]

Finally watched the first episode. Overall, it was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as the Band of Brothers opening episode. I tried to look at it objectively, but it pretty much is a companion piece to Band of Brothers, so the comparison is inevitable. I think the most baffling aspect of the episode was the disjointed editing. We got like 2 scenes with Leckie, then boom, right into the beach landing. They really didn't establish any of the supporting characters either. In the BoB opening, we were introduced to every squad member and already had a grasp of their unique personalities. I think I remember only two of Leckie's squad-mates names. Not a good sign.

There was a lot about the episode I did like, though. Namely the fantastic night battle sequence. I loved how chaotic and realistic it was. I expected nothing less from the BoB crew. The episode took a turn for the better after that. The scene of the Japanese soldier standing in front of the Americans getting pelted, but still screaming and hollering was amazing. Great stuff.

Overall, the episode was a good start, but the crappy editing and lack of character scenes kinda let me down. It can only get better from here, right?

 

[Bunker]

****ing ****

 

[Solidus]

If you look around online you'll learn that the producers reworked the first two episodes after early critic feedback. This could explain why there seems to be a randomness linking some of the scenes together. I guess the original cut went to the other extreme and had too much exposition which was deleted from the version aired on HBO.

After the first two episodes, the series is supposed to have a vast improvement.

Yea with the Blu-Ray coming out in June I hope they maybe have extended versions of the first two episodes.

Even though this was different, and the characters were not fully developed to a point yet I still really loved this. Being a fan of BoB I was hoping they would go in a different direction and they did. I had grandfathers in both theaters and definatley the one that fought in the Pacific said it was very different, and the Japanese Empire was a different kind of enemy compared to the Nazi/German army.

Though the low of it was yea there was not a lot of getting to know the characters but I'm sure in the next 9 hours we will see more. And for the positive, I loved some of the tense sequences in it.

I give it an 8.5/10 I really do hope they do extended editions later of the first two episodes though.

 

[RetroNaz]

I was a bit bummed they didn't keep the awesome intro music from the previous series. But the episode was good. It certainly didn't waste anytime jumping straight into the action.

 

[Paroxysm]

I thought it was pretty sweet. It was funny seeing "Tim" from Jurassic Park again.

 

[Superfreak]

I was a bit bummed they didn't keep the awesome intro music from the previous series. But the episode was good. It certainly didn't waste anytime jumping straight into the action.

or skipping the narrative.

 

[Prison Mike]

The first episode was very good IMO. I haven't seen any of the other WW2 miniseries including Band of Brothers so I have nothing to compare it to. But as someone who doesn't know anything about this subject, I thought it was done well (though I agree about the editing issues and lack of character name establishment).

 

[RetroNaz]

Hey Prison Mike, you should really hire out (or buy) the first series.

It'll blow your mind, seriously.

 

[Prison Mike]

yeah, after reading all of the reviews of the series I think I will give it a try.

 

[RetroNaz]

I keep going back to it and the emotion doesn't get any less with repeat viewings.

For me, anyway.

 

[Superfreak]

I keep going back to it and the emotion doesn't get any less with repeat viewings.

For me, anyway.

there is truth in this.

Mike, you should really check out the first series,,, every one of the episodes was infinitely better than this first...

I think they should have posted a disclaimer at the beginning: do research before hand, otherwise if you have no background knowlegde, it makes very little sense

 

[Aesop Rocks]

Is there a thread on this? I can't seem it find it if there is.

Oh well, I finally watched the show is a truly amazing show! I just watched Part One and I completely fell in love with the show in the first few minutes. Ex. Producers Spielberg and Hanks give us such a raw and real look at the "other war", the war against Japan throw the eyes of a few different Marines. This show is crazy awesome, the acting, story and action are just so awesome. Watching it in HD and surround sound literally made you feel like you were in the battles. While the action and gun fights are cool, I really like the realism of it. How no one is actually as gun ho as the movies or previous films make it seem, even showing the last person you'd expect, in the group of people completely losing his ****.

And if you don't have HBO on your TV, you can watch it on HBO.com for free!

LOVE THIS SHOW.

 

[Wolfwood]

The thing with the Japanese guy at the end, the one caught in the shooting gallery, was quite depressing. It's off to a great start thus far.

 

[Aesop Rocks]

I completely agree, that oddly enough was my favorite part of the episode. How angry the Japanese guy got and ran back and fourth on the bank. It was really sad.

 

[Superfreak]

Is there a thread on this? I can't seem it find it if there is.

Oh well, I finally watched the show is a truly amazing show! I just watched Part One and I completely fell in love with the show in the first few minutes. Ex. Producers Spielberg and Hanks give us such a raw and real look at the "other war", the war against Japan throw the eyes of a few different Marines. This show is crazy awesome, the acting, story and action are just so awesome. Watching it in HD and surround sound literally made you feel like you were in the battles. While the action and gun fights are cool, I really like the realism of it. How no one is actually as gun ho as the movies or previous films make it seem, even showing the last person you'd expect, in the group of people completely losing his ****.

And if you don't have HBO on your TV, you can watch it on HBO.com for free!

LOVE THIS SHOW.

I thought it was crap... high quality, well acted... but crap. It was murdered in the editing phase, and this episode should never have made it to public viewing....

Go Find The Other Thread... because you didn't look very hard seeing that it is almost at the top of the 2nd page.

 

[Angeloz]

Yeah, I know how China, Japan, and Southeast Asia usually gloss over that part of history.

that's kind of like saying that the Russian's weren't the ones who really won WWII in europe

LOL.

I'll admit the twentieth century barely existed for humanities subjects. However it has been mentioned elsewhere (i.e. books, films and television). Note I'm in Australia so being bombed is memorable as well as the POW situation.

Angeloz

 

[Superfreak]

tonight was much much better. Clearly, this should have been a two parter that aired back to back. I'm happy that this episode elaborated on last weeks episode and made things that were really unclear in the premier, much easier to understand. I just have to say: poor form on the television strategy. Should have been a 2 hour, one evening episode. Not split up over a week. It's just not the way one should start a television series.

Otherwise, this is more what I was expecting in quality. Was really happy with tonight's episode. I hope they keep up with this one.

 

[Bunker]

I didn't enjoy tonight's episode at all. It felt exactly the same as the first; no character development and more battle scenes in which you can't see anything that's going on. Also, when you don't care for or know any of the characters, it's hard to become involved in the battles. Has the BoB team forgotten this? I pray it gets better fast. Next week's looks pretty promising in terms of getting to know the characters. We'll see.

 

[Superfreak]

I didn't enjoy tonight's episode at all. It felt exactly the same as the first; no character development and more battle scenes in which you can't see anything that's going on. Also, when you don't care for or know any of the characters, it's hard to become involved in the battles. Has the BoB team forgotten this? I pray it gets better fast. Next week's looks pretty promising in terms of getting to know the characters. We'll see.

really? I thought that lastnight's episode should have been combined with the first... there was WAY more development than in the first (which was utterly devoid of any kind of character development)... but do I care about any of these characters? Not so much.

The quality level is picking up a little, but as for these first two epis, really all they're good for is some sick battle scenes.

 

[Anubis]

I liked last nights ep. It was great.

 

[PWN3R]

The only character I care about, much less know their name, is Leckie. The soldier who writes a girl he only met once.

I hope they focus on him eventually. I agree with all who said the 2nd episode is much better, however, BoB set the bar high.

 

[Superfreak]

did me some wiki, and as good as the battle was, boy did they skip a lot... like it was 48 hours straight fighting, and that Basilone was one of 3 men left alive in his unit. And it was a little unclear that the whole line had collapsed... I mean they made it clear that the line had been penetrated... but when Basilone went to get that ammo, he had to fight through a japanese line to get to the depot etc.

They really watered it down.

again, much better episode than the first, but so far, one of the major flaws of the show, especially this segment, is that they are utterly failing to represent the passage of time accurately.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Episode 2 was awesome. Bastilone was badass with his machine gun