"The Pacific" on HBO

[stew71]

I know some of you guys way out in the sticks are without cable or satellite, but for those who aren't......

What's your opinion of "The Pacific" on HBO? So far, I think it's a first-rate series. I went in comparing it to "Band of Brothers" and think they've done a 1st rate job on showing how it really was for those Marines in the Pacific. We watched the 2nd episode last night...depicting the defense of Henderson Field on the 'Canal just before they were relieved by the Army. I saw several NCO's carrying Riesling sub-machine guns, the Thompsons were equipped with the drum mags, and every rifleman was packing a 1903 Springfield. In some of the close-ups, you could actually see that every 5th round was a red-tipped tracer in the machine guns belts. The actor portraying Chesty Puller is spot-on. Chesty was one baddassnail-chewing sumbitch. His troops loved him and that shows in the series. The scene where he reads the translated Japanese press release about the Marine defense to his troops is priceless.

It's the attention to detail like this that makes this one by Hanks and Spielberg first-rate. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should.

If it doesn't make your chest swell with pride, then something's wrong, Bucko.

[El Chivo]

I heard about it and am chafing to watch it, but I will have to wait for the DVD.

I'm too cheap to spring for HBO, and in fact don't even have a TV. But I'll get to see it someday...

I just ordered "Band of Brothers" which I've been meaning to do for some time.

[k8vf]

I watched the 2nd one, too.
I didnt realize it was Puller making the translation, but I got a charge out of it.

Sorry I missed the first one.

I have always liked Hank's work. He is a good one.

But I think he will alienate some with his recent remarks about the U.S. in WWII. Bad judgement.(IMHO)

[Mike D.]

I missed it at 2100 on Sunday, but set it up to record tonight at 2300. I'll catch it tomorrow AM.

[lthardman]

I am enjoying the series very much. One note: during Part 2, there is a scene where the Army arrives after the Marines have secured the area in a hrd fought battle. During a Japanese air raid, the Army takes cover but the Marines know that their area is not the target. They therefore take the opportunity to do some five-fingered shopping from the Army's supplies. One Marine opens up a crate of what turns out to be rifles. What does he find? M1 Garands. His comment: I guess the US Army gets the good stuff. I suspect that the boys were going through a transition from the 1903 to the M1 Garand at that time of the war (August - October 1942).

[2ndovc]

Second episode was even better.
Characters are starting to develop and connect to the story.
I was also grinning ear to ear when "Chesty Puller" was reading the Japanese letter about the
blood thirsty Marines!
Great Scene.

We had turned off the movie chanels as we weren't really watching them but as soon as I heard of the
new series I had HBO turned back on.
I've lost track of how many times I've watched "Band of Brothers". But I've been a WWII
Fanatic since I saw Bogie in "Sahara" when I was a kid.

I hate that it's only an hour at a time but on the other hand it adds to the anticipation for the next one.

jb

[Sixgun]

This is what I get for not paying attention. I have HBO but hate watching TV, except.....when something neat like this comes on.

I just gotta get with the program--------Sixgun

[Griff]

It's EXCELLENT! But, Hanks, like other Hollywood types, he oughta keep his trap shut!

[Ysabel Kid]

After Tom Hanks recent remarks, I won't watch anything of his. Time to ratchet up the battle for this country. My hard-earned money is not going to support anyone who is supporting the destruction of our country...

[HEAD0001]

I had an uncle who was on Guadalcanal. I wish he was still alive so I could discuss this movie with him. He had a few souvenirs he brought back-and I got one of them when he passed away. I now understand why he would never talk about his experiences in the Pacific campaign. He would tell you that he was there, but whenever anyone tried to discuss the war(any war), he would quietly walk away.

My uncle and I hunted together for over 30 years. One day we were sitting on a log while squirrel hunting, and he talked to me about the war for about 10 minutes, but I was old enough(smart enough) to just keep my mouth shut and listen. I always thought it was funny that my uncle deer hunted all his life in WV(which is full of deer). But he never shot a single deer. I thought he was the worlds worst hunter. But then right before he died he told me that he just could not pull the trigger on a deer. But yet he still went out into the woods with us-almost every day during deer season. But he would always go off on his own. Rest in peace Uncle Lawrence. Tom.

[JB]

After Tom Hanks recent remarks, I won't watch anything of his. Time to ratchet up the battle for this country. My hard-earned money is not going to support anyone who is supporting the destruction of our country...

I've also lost my desire to watch it.

[RSY]

One Marine opens up a crate of what turns out to be rifles. What does he find? M1 Garands. His comment: I guess the US Army gets the good stuff. I suspect that the boys were going through a transition from the 1903 to the M1 Garand at that time of the war (August - October 1942).

Something like that likely went through the heads of a few Marines at that time. But, it's important to realize that the Marine Corps leadership at the time were extremely loathe to adopt the Garand. The culture of marksmanship being what it is in the Marine Corps, they were not convinced that the Garand would measure up to their beloved M1903 in the accuracy (and battle-hardiness) department. Keep in mind that the Army had fielded the Garand years before the war started. We jarheads like what works...heck, they're still flying UH-1s!

Scott

[1894cfan]

I don't know what Hanks said and I don' get HBO, but then I don't really need to or care, just picked up all three books that the series is based on at Costco for 10 bucks each. I'd rather sit down with a good book than waste my time watching the boob tube!!

[vancelw]

If it's half as good as Band of Brothers I'll buy it and watch it over and over. I only get broadcast TV so I'm out of luck on HBO (finally took out my C-band receiver last fall-how's that for a dinosaur?)

[JReed]

I am enjoying the series very much. One note: during Part 2, there is a scene where the Army arrives after the Marines have secured the area in a hrd fought battle. During a Japanese air raid, the Army takes cover but the Marines know that their area is not the target. They therefore take the opportunity to do some five-fingered shopping from the Army's supplies. One Marine opens up a crate of what turns out to be rifles. What does he find? M1 Garands. His comment: I guess the US Army gets the good stuff. I suspect that the boys were going through a transition from the 1903 to the M1 Garand at that time of the war (August - October 1942).

The Marine Corps was in no great hurry to go with the M1. Many of the Old Breed Marines at the time thought a semi auto was just an excuse to burn threw ammo and forget the fundamentals of marksmanship that made Marines through the ages the marksman that we are known for around the world. Also many were unwilling to be open minded to the fact that a soulless auto loader could be as accurate as the 03A3.

Boy times do change.

Oops RSY beat me to it.

Looking forward to it coming out on blue ray.

[gak]

Don't forget that the "Johnson" made its way into the Pacific Theatre early on as well; I gather not in great numbers. Also .30-06, effectively a competitor to the Garand and--I "heard"--many Marines preferred it, but lost out to the Garand due to prevailing military industrial politics or perhaps some technical (de)merit as well. Also not lightweight, but a little shorter (?), it operated using an internal "rotary" magazine, I think of one or two more capacity. Pretty thick in the waist as I recall, with quite a swell in the middle, I guess due to that rotary. I shot a mag-full of my uncle's in a desert wash once. What a brute.

[olyinaz]

Don't forget that the "Johnson" made its way into the Pacific Theatre early on as well; I gather not in great numbers. Also .30-06, effectively a competitor to the Garand and--I "heard"--many Marines preferred it, but lost out to the Garand due to prevailing military industrial politics or perhaps some technical (de)merit as well. Also not lightweight, but a little shorter (?), it operated using an internal "rotary" magazine, I think of one or two more capacity. Pretty thick in the waist as I recall, with quite a swell in the middle, I guess due to that rotary. I shot a mag-full of my uncle's in a desert wash once. What a brute.

I was always amazed that the Marines liked the Johnson because I've also read that it suffers from vertical shot stringing as the barrel heats up and that doesn't seem to stand up to the Marine's marksmanship standards.

I can't recall what the other technical demerits where of the rifle but I'm glad the Garand won out! I'm assuming that eventually the Marines learned to love the mighty M1?

Oly

[gak]

I was always amazed that the Marines liked the Johnson because I've also read that it suffers from vertical shot stringing as the barrel heats up and that doesn't seem to stand up to the Marine's marksmanship standards.

I can't recall what the other technical demerits where of the rifle but I'm glad the Garand won out! I'm assuming that eventually the Marines learned to love the mighty M1?

Oly

--------
From this long (bear with it) but apparently thorough/definitive account, looks like the Marines ultimately didn't have much choice in the matter.
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Marine-Mode ... atic-Rifle

For those who don't have the time/inclination to wade through this link, the Marines ultimately had to bow to joint use with--and manufacturing efficiency of--the Army and its field tested Garand. The Johnson did acquit itself well on Guadacanal helping to effectively repel enemy attempts to retake Henderson Field, and appeared in some other battles, but generally was distributed in very small numbers and saw limited use overall.

[RSY]

I have always liked Hank's work. He is a good one.

But I think he will alienate some with his recent remarks about the U.S. in WWII. Bad judgement.(IMHO)

What's this all about, exactly??? I don't keep up with these people much, so I'm kinda out of the loop.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I have always liked Hank's work. He is a good one.

But I think he will alienate some with his recent remarks about the U.S. in WWII. Bad judgement.(IMHO)

What's this all about, exactly??? I don't keep up with these people much, so I'm kinda out of the loop.

Me too. Can someone point a link to an article so I can catch up on how Hanks put his foot in his mouth?

[Ben_Rumson]

I had to search to find out what the hub bub was about too..
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8 ... c%22&type=

[olyinaz]

Sadly, Hanks was trying to put in a nutshell a vast issue by only mentioning one part of the puzzle - U.S. propaganda during the war. Way too simplistic and exactly the sort of dumb garbage I expect to hear out of Hollywood types. Hanks may, in fact, have a deeper understanding of U.S./Japanese history than what came out in the quotes but we have no way of knowing if that is the case or if he was quoted correctly. If so, it's pretty disappointing.

This article on the Constitution Club's site is good I thought:

http://constitutionclub.org/2010/03/12/ ... e-pacific/

And let me add that I was dismayed at the nudity and sex in the most recent episode. I want to watch these with my sons and while I don't have a problem with authentic war scenes I do have a problem with exposing my kids to pornography. It was totally unnecessary and not needed to tell the story.

Oly

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I like this term ... "limousine liberalism". Seems to apply to the majority in Hollywood.

[Sixgun]

And let me add that I was dismayed at the nudity and sex in the most recent episode. I want to watch these with my sons and while I don't have a problem with authentic war scenes I do have a problem with exposing my kids to pornography. It was totally unnecessary and not needed to tell the story.

I'm in total agreement. The third episode sucked to the point that I lost interest. It was worthless and absolutely no need for the standard hollywood trash. If the next episode does not measure up to what the "Band of Brothers" was about, I'm done------------------Sixgun

[Rimfire McNutjob]

And let me add that I was dismayed at the nudity and sex in the most recent episode. I want to watch these with my sons and while I don't have a problem with authentic war scenes I do have a problem with exposing my kids to pornography. It was totally unnecessary and not needed to tell the story.

I'm in total agreement. The third episode sucked to the point that I lost interest. It was worthless and absolutely no need for the standard hollywood trash. If the next episode does not measure up to what the "Band of Brothers" was about, I'm done------------------Sixgun

I just watched Part III that I had recorded on the DVR. I see what you mean ... I can't see how that was necessary.

[RSY]

Yes, if one is going to talk about racism and disdain in the Pacific in WWII, the Japanese treatment of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, etc. civilians simply cannot be ignored. Not to mention the Japanese treatment of its POWs. Sounds like Mr. Hanks may need to pick up and read a copy of "Prisoners of the Japanese" and "The Rape of Nanking."

To lay the main burden of immorality in that war on US shoulders is patently ridiculous.

[Ray Newman]

"Sounds like Mr. Hanks may need to pick up and read a copy of 'Prisoners of the Japanese' and 'The Rape of Nanking.' "
--RSY

And if he did, he would probably dismiss it simply as "rehashed" anti-Japanese war time propaganda. I know a few folks who feel that way....