Slitherine

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I think the home stories are inevitable given the current climate and the fact that I think servicemen in the PTO were rotated back more often than in Europe. Contact with the enemy in Europe was for more constant as well, what with a continuous land frontline as opposed to island hopping. Though BoB is immensely better than The Pacific, I do believe that the difference in theatres of war is highlighted, eg necessary rest periods in Pauvu and the large distances between islands. In BoB the only 'rest' period we see is when Market Garden is announced.

Episode 8 was predictable but a lot of detail was left out, eg Basilone's Navy Cross (posthumous) and the scale of his actions on Day 1 on Iwo. I read in another forum that the DvD release would have more scenes that have been cut from the TV release, hopefully the combat scenes

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Partly because it set the standard but also because the strategic dialogue Hanks gives and the map at the begining of each episode are rather distracting.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

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ORIGINAL: John Lansford

Remember, The Pacific is following the events of the war as seen through just three men's eyes; Leckie, Sledge and Basilone.  Leckie is currently recuperating from his injuries on Pelieliu and (I think) doesn't return to his unit until Okinawa, which is why he wasn't in the last two episodes at all.  Most of the Pelieliu events were seen through Sledge's eyes, although ISTM that they also borrowed some from Burgin's new book on his Marine career (he is Sledge's platoon leader and has been seen in nearly all the episodes).  IOW, the focus is much tighter and disjointed, since we're looking at three men who served in the same division but not in the same unit.  I doubt Leckie ever met Sledge, and certainly Sledge never saw Basilone, so the series has to jump between the men's experiences.

I've not been disappointed at all, even in the episodes where nothing really took place.  The last one showing Basilone's internal struggle with his duty and what everyone wanted him to do, as well as his halting courtship, and final scenes on Iwo Jima, was IMO very well done.

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ORIGINAL: Swayin

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Partly because it set the standard but also because the strategic dialogue Hanks gives and the map at the begining of each episode are rather distracting.

Personally, I really like that feature.

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

I felt the final combat scenes with Basilone were presented as a climax, not an afterthought. Maybe they'll mention the Navy Cross later? Dunno.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Swayin

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Partly because it set the standard but also because the strategic dialogue Hanks gives and the map at the begining of each episode are rather distracting.

Personally, I really like that feature.

Me too. I snicker whenever they go back to Pu'vu'vu. A. Funny name and B. Land crabs, sand lice and mud never looked so good after coming back from the living hell of Peleliu.

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ORIGINAL: bspeer

One thing REALLY bugs me about the series. I enjoy hearing the Vets speak in the beginning but it begs for a subtitle telling who they were and their units.

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ORIGINAL: Swayin

Few things can stand up to the standard of BoB - truly a hallmark production in every way. About the only thing that compares to it IMO - in terms of just raw storytelling, production values, acting, and entertainment value, although obviously much different subject matter - was the original Lonesome Dove miniseries with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. In my opinion, those are still the two best miniseries ever made for TV.

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: bspeer

One thing REALLY bugs me about the series. I enjoy hearing the Vets speak in the beginning but it begs for a subtitle telling who they were and their units.

I'm assuming that they will follow from BoB and at the end of the last episode they have the vets sitting silently before the credits roll and then we are told who they are. I reckon the guy with the glasses has to be Sledge.

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Lonesome Dove is also my favorite. One of the most powerful moments on television was when Jake Spoon got hanged. I've watched the entire series 5 or 6 times.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

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ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: bspeer

One thing REALLY bugs me about the series. I enjoy hearing the Vets speak in the beginning but it begs for a subtitle telling who they were and their units.

I'm assuming that they will follow from BoB and at the end of the last episode they have the vets sitting silently before the credits roll and then we are told who they are. I reckon the guy with the glasses has to be Sledge.

If you watch Ken Burns' "The War" miniseries/documentary, you'll see Sledge as he appears today (well, four years or so ago.) He became a doctor. His sister is the main voice in "The War" for events in Mobile, Alabama during the war.

"The War" takes a very different POV than most WWII documentaries. It examines in more micro-detail the events as they impacted four US communities and the men and women they sent to war: Sacramento, CA, Watertown, CT, Mobile, Alabama, and Luverne, MN. It's available on DVD and well worth watching.

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: bspeer

One thing REALLY bugs me about the series. I enjoy hearing the Vets speak in the beginning but it begs for a subtitle telling who they were and their units.

I'm assuming that they will follow from BoB and at the end of the last episode they have the vets sitting silently before the credits roll and then we are told who they are. I reckon the guy with the glasses has to be Sledge.

If you watch Ken Burns' "The War" miniseries/documentary, you'll see Sledge as he appears today (well, four years or so ago.) He became a doctor. His sister is the main voice in "The War" for events in Mobile, Alabama during the war.

"The War" takes a very different POV than most WWII documentaries. It examines in more micro-detail the events as they impacted four US communities and the men and women they sent to war: Sacramento, CA, Watertown, CT, Mobile, Alabama, and Luverne, MN. It's available on DVD and well worth watching.

Will keep an eye out for it, thanks for the heads up.

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ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

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ORIGINAL: cantona2

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ORIGINAL: bspeer

One thing REALLY bugs me about the series. I enjoy hearing the Vets speak in the beginning but it begs for a subtitle telling who they were and their units.

I'm assuming that they will follow from BoB and at the end of the last episode they have the vets sitting silently before the credits roll and then we are told who they are. I reckon the guy with the glasses has to be Sledge.

If you watch Ken Burns' "The War" miniseries/documentary, you'll see Sledge as he appears today (well, four years or so ago.) He became a doctor. His sister is the main voice in "The War" for events in Mobile, Alabama during the war.

"The War" takes a very different POV than most WWII documentaries. It examines in more micro-detail the events as they impacted four US communities and the men and women they sent to war: Sacramento, CA, Watertown, CT, Mobile, Alabama, and Luverne, MN. It's available on DVD and well worth watching.

Will keep an eye out for it, thanks for the heads up.

I see from your avatar box that you're in Gibraltar, so you may or may not know of Burns' work. He is most famous here, probably, for his masterpiece from 1990ish, "The Civil War." It's 12-hours, and has some of the best voice narration I've ever heard. Despite there being no moving pictures from the period he injects energy into the topic with music, photos, maps, and, again, superior narration. Shelby Foote is worth the price of admisison by himself.

Burns has been interviewed extensively, and his initial impulse as a documentarian was to make "big" documentaries about what he sees as the three seminal things/events that made the USA what it is today: the Civil War, baseball, and jazz. Through each documentary he weaves in social history, politics, racial developments, women's rights, economics, etc. in a tapestry that makes people who don't like history, well, like history. He has been criticized here by some who say that he turns everyth8ing into a discussion of racial discrimination, and that is a core topic in all of his work, but I'd disagree it's "core." He does believe that racism and slavery were the fundamental flaws in the founding of the nation, but he's hardly the first or only historian to observe that. "The War" does examine race--African-American, Japanese-American, and American Indian--but in what to me were new ways with voices I hadn't heard before. The story told by the now very old Indian who managed to pass all of the war tests required to become a chief of his tribe, while fighting Nazis, was amazing.

Of the three, "Baseball" is my persoanl favorite, and "Jazz", while deep and probing, left me colder. Since he finished his trilogy he's made "The War" as well as several smaller projects such as a series about the US National Park system and one about the western frontier. I had "The War" on my Tivo for over a year, in High Rez, eating up about 1/3 of my space, but I just couldn't erase it. I finally did, but I plan to buy the DVDs when finances are more stable. It really is a work any WWII grognard ought to see or own.

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IMHO it's every bit as good as BOB, there is a ton more action, and the action lasts much longer, is far more intense, and is a lot more chaotic.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

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ORIGINAL: Swayin

Few things can stand up to the standard of BoB - truly a hallmark production in every way. About the only thing that compares to it IMO - in terms of just raw storytelling, production values, acting, and entertainment value, although obviously much different subject matter - was the original Lonesome Dove miniseries with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. In my opinion, those are still the two best miniseries ever made for TV.

• The Medal of Honor is not the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is simply, the Medal of Honor. The award citation has the words "...in the name of Congress..." in the narrative.
  
• Medals are not won. There is no competition or contest. They are awarded for merit or heroism.
  

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ORIGINAL: AcePylut

In Hugh Ambrose's companion book "The Pacific", he states that Basilone died from being shot three times, and cites his source as Graves Registration.  I'll take that over Wiki.

I watched Winds of War and War and Rememberance.  Loved Winds of War, thought it was extremely well done... but War and Remembrance sucked horribly.  I thought it was extrememly disgusting how they changed the focus of the story from the Henry's to the Jastrows, and seemed more interesting in making sure that every viewer sees every aspect of Jewish Culture and Life.  Winds of War:  Awesome.  War and Remembrance: Waste of time and space.