New HBO "Pacific" Series

[jon_norstog]

I put this up at the other site but thought I would post it here too.


I read the reviews - I don't have TV, so I guess I'll just have to read about it, maybe get it on DVD. The 'views say it is pretty realistic and true to life from the marine's-eye view but also a little disjointed, you don't really get a sense for why these guys were being sent to fight over these rocks in the pacific.

When I was a kid we used to watch "Victory at Sea" on TV. I bought it on DVD a couple years ago to watch with my son. Well, it's not as good as I remember. In fact, it's kind of cheesy in that you see a lot of 16" guns go off, generic footage, U.S. airplanes shooting down Japanese airplanes, no context. But what Victory at Sea did pretty well was give you a big-picture narrative of the war in the Pacific. The Midway segment is pretty good. "Ring Around Rabaul" you can watch that and get a sense for why Rabaul mattered. Of course they left out a lot of things, like the battle off Samar. (Which rates its own movie IMHO).

Oh, yeah the series had a really great score by Richard Rogers.

I guess what I'm saying is yeah, watch this show, but go to your library and pick up the 5-DVD set of Victory at Sea for the big picture.

jn
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[campperrykid]

I talked with my sat TV provider last week and got a 3 month trial deal: Both HBO and Showtime for free.
Might not hurt to see what kind of deals are available.
I give the first program a B- . The biggest issue ( IMO , anyway ) was trying to cover too much in a single hour.
What they did cover was done very well.

[TDH]

I put this up at the other site but thought I would post it here too.


I read the reviews - I don't have TV, so I guess I'll just have to read about it, maybe get it on DVD. The 'views say it is pretty realistic and true to life from the marine's-eye view but also a little disjointed, you don't really get a sense for why these guys were being sent to fight over these rocks in the pacific.

When I was a kid we used to watch "Victory at Sea" on TV. I bought it on DVD a couple years ago to watch with my son. Well, it's not as good as I remember. In fact, it's kind of cheesy in that you see a lot of 16" guns go off, generic footage, U.S. airplanes shooting down Japanese airplanes, no context. But what Victory at Sea did pretty well was give you a big-picture narrative of the war in the Pacific. The Midway segment is pretty good. "Ring Around Rabaul" you can watch that and get a sense for why Rabaul mattered. Of course they left out a lot of things, like the battle off Samar. (Which rates its own movie IMHO).

Oh, yeah the series had a really great score by Richard Rogers.

I guess what I'm saying is yeah, watch this show, but go to your library and pick up the 5-DVD set of Victory at Sea for the big picture.

jn
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Hey Jon We know why they fought on those rocks. To kill Japs and to do it as quickly as possible. They learned a cruel lesson on the Canal. They meant to kill you so you better do it first. My humble Opinion and you know what daddy said about opinions.
We agree on Vistory at Sea. It is cheesy and historically incorrect. If you notice they showed the use of carbines on the Canal and they didn't have them. They didn't even have Garands until the Army showed up. What they did have was 03's, Thompsons, BAR's, and .30 cal and most of them water cooled. I had a foreman who was in the first wave on the Canal. He told me some stories but you had to get him drunk first.