"The Pacific" on HBO

[Glorybound]

If you have HBO then you might want to tune in Sunday for the first installment of a ten-part series on 'The Pacific'. It's produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and is sort of the 'Band of Brothers' of the Pacific theater in WWII.





http://www.hbo.com/the-pacific?cmpid=s4#/index.html

[Me-109 Jagdfleiger]

Wish I had HBO, Band of Brothers was amazing got the DVD the moment it came out on DVD, and from the looks of it "The Pacific" is going to be just as good, Ill just have to wait till it hits DVD
Jonathan

[prroh]

I understand John Basilone is one of the characters in this series. This veteran Marine was a Asian boxing champ in pre-war times. He was awarded the MOH for his actions at Guadelcanal. He has been described as "the perfect Marine." Sent home on a war bond tour, he became a celebrity and lionized by the Hollywood crowd. Still, John felt that his place was with his fellow Marines, not movie stars and starlets. His request was granted and a few months later was killed within minutes of stepping ashore at Iwo Jima. Some say that with within a few hours, every Marine on Iwo knew of Basilone's death. With death all around them and their own deaths maybe minutes away, thousands of Marines from Generals to PFCs wept at the news.

God rest his noble soul. Let's hope Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg did him justice.

[PINCKNEYUSMCRET]

As you drive north on highway five toward the Camp San Onefre Gate of Camp Pendleton, you see Basilone Road, named in honor of "Manila John Basilone" takes you to the entrance to the base in San Clememte.

Pinckney

[Ellsworth avenger]

Purchased HBO specifically for the event .

[prroh]

In Basilone's hometown of Newark and several other places in NJ there are streets, parks,buildings, etc. named in his honor.

There was a TV show marking the 60th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima. One of the vets interviewed was a man who was 18 years old at the time and from newark. He said Basilone was his idol and he had enlisted by his inspiration. The vet said that he was unassigned to a unit on the beach as he was a reinforcement so was on detail, wrapping and tagging the dead. He said the second body he handled was Basilone's. With that, sixty years later, the 78 year old man burst into tears. He sobbed that he hoped to meet Basilone. Very emotional scene.

[Copper, 83rd PA INF]

Makes me wish I had HBO. Might just wait for the DVD release as well. I loved "Band of Brothers" too so I'm sure this will also be worth getting.

[Nathanb1]

Two weeks ago we were watching Flags of Our Fathers in Senior English. We then watched some footage from World at War about Iwo Jima. There was John Basilone's haversack, with his name stenciled on it, sitting on the beach with waves lapping at it....the kids gasped, then went absolutely silent. If anything brought the meaning of the war home to them, that did.

[prroh]

Two weeks ago we were watching Flags of Our Fathers in Senior English. We then watched some footage from World at War about Iwo Jima. There was John Basilone's haversack, with his name stenciled on it, sitting on the beach with waves lapping at it....the kids gasped, then went absolutely silent. If anything brought the meaning of the war home to them, that did.

Tonight on the News with pre-show hype, they said his hometown was Raritan, NJ Nearby Newark also claims him. Either way, he is not forgotten.

[Gandycreek]

Purchased HBO specifically for the event .

I got it just for this mini-series too.

[Ellsworth avenger]

I just signed dad up ,being a depression kid God bless him, he still finds it hard to part with a buck for non essentials.. Dad served with 3rd Division Marines.
Personally, I haven't looked more foward to a show like this since Ken Burns Civil War.

[prroh]

Well, the 45 minute part I is over and looks promising. When I saw the Marines carrying '03 Springfields at the start, then I knew if the switch to M-1s in the episode, as actually happened, then we have a lot of authenic stuff ahead of us.

[prroh]

No reviews. Excellent combat scenes. The panic stricken Japanese soldier being wounded by marines playing with him and the gung-ho Company commander who funks out with the first shots and the way the Gunny just breezes over his disgrace and leads the company, were excellent scenes.

The hundreds of dead Japanese floating in the water was masterful. One half of the show introducing characters, the other half the 'Canal. Strange no boot camp scenes.

Good start authentic looking sets and costumes. Appropriate use of swear words, something Band of Brothers took a pass on

[Nathanb1]

The whole thing looks beautifully done. Very often the first episode is just to introduce you to the characters, and I think that's a big part of this. Prroh is absolutely right. I, too, thought the scene with the dead Japanese bodies was powerful, and the night scene with the friendly fire was, too. The freaking-out Japanese soldier scene caught my attention, as did the last scene. It reminded me of some of Ernie Pyle's writing about the nature of the American soldier--the humor which often shocked German and Japanese military men and gave them the impression we were "weak," but which Ernie pointed out, just overlaid a determination and confidence in the ability to win. I appreciated the introduction by veterans. We just lost two of the Greatest Generation this week in our community, and it was especially poignant to watch this show.

[Ellsworth avenger]

Most Impressive

" G.. D.mn it, You'll never get the purple heart hiding in a Foxhole! Follow Me!
Captain Henry P Jim Crowe , The canal 1943

[Glorybound]

I thought it was pretty decent. I'm hearing impaired and don't have cc on the tube, and I may have missed it, but can anybody tell me if Basilone was in this first segment? I was curious as to if the scene with the shooting of the Japanese soldier who was 'freaking out', for lack of a better term, actually happened. These war pictures produced by Hanks/Spielberg have many occurrences that actually took place that they've learned about through stories from veterans they've interviewed.

A good thing about HBO is that the episode will be repeated several times this week, as are all of their new episodes, so if you missed something the first time, you can see it again.


Lee

[prroh]

and I may have missed it, but can anybody tell me if Basilone was in this first segment? Lee

Yes, He was in several scenes. At the NCO briefing, at home with his family and he brings two friends to dinner and lastly he is shown with the column moving up being led by COL Chesty Puller that passes the group of main characters who are filthy and worn out. basilone is the one carrying the water cooled .30 and exchanges some words with Puller as well as his tripod carrier.

[Glorybound]

Yes, He was in several scenes. At the NCO briefing, at home with his family and he brings two friends to dinner and lastly he is shown with the column moving up being led by COL Chesty Puller that passes the group of main characters who are filthy and worn out. basilone is the one carrying the water cooled .30 and exchanges some words with Puller as well as his tripod carrier.

That's Basilone! Ok, copy that, thanks Pat. That helps.

Lee

[Ellsworth avenger]

The On Demand site has a short biography on each of the main characters in the series.
The preview clip,the "making of show",and episode one are available for viewing

[walkingtall]

Just incase you do not know it. If you go to the HBO site you can watch the episode 1. Not sure if they will do the rest on there or not. i am one that does not have the HBO. The streaming is a little to deisre but if you wait a couple of minutes and give it time to load it will start and run. Just my two cents

[Me-109 Jagdfleiger]

Thanks for the info walking tall, ill have to check out their site and catch up.
Jonathan

[samgrant]

I don't have HBO, so I'll have to wait for the DVD or the History Channel. Still I can comment about what i have learned about it.

It is my understanding that it's focus is on some U.S. Marines and the 'land war' in the Pacific (somewhat of an oxymoron, but not entirely).

I would think that for a WWII series titled "The Pacific" that the U.S. Navy might have have been at least an equal representation.

Without the navy those marines would not have been at those places to tell their story about.

And what about the Submarine Service? The Submarine Service represented only 1.6% of all Navy personnel during the war but they accounted for over 55% of all Japanese ships sunk, including one-third of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Submariners paid a high price for this accomplishment, however, with the highest percentage causality rate of any of all US. armed forces, almost 23%, six times greater than in the surface Navy. Fifty-two U.S. submarines were lost during WW II with over 3,500 men. It should always be remembered that these men were all volunteers.

I realize that it is simpler to focus on a few individuals in some island battles than it would be to do with sailors or submariners.

I do sort of wonder if Hanks may have subconsciously left the navy to have a minor role in the miniseries. In an interview, Hanks said "Growing up I always knew Dad was in the Pacific somewhere fixing things. He had nothing nice to say about the Navy. He hated the Navy. He hated everybody in the Navy. He had no glory stories about it."

So perhaps Hanks could not imagine any glory (or story line) about the U.S. Navy.

--

[PINCKNEYUSMCRET]

Sam, Victory at Sea. All about the Navy a little about the Marines

Pinckney

[prroh]

The series focuses on a few guys kind of Band Of Brothers personal stories

[Glorybound]

The On Demand site has a short biography on each of the main characters in the series.
The preview clip,the "making of show",and episode one are available for viewing

Checked that out. It's a big help, thanks for the heads-up.


Lee