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What was your review of "The Pacific"?


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Was not impressed at all. Very quick scenes with little context, it's like watching a movie that has been heavily edited. It's day. 3 minutes later it's night. 3 minutes later it's the next day. 3 minutes later it's night again. And so on. No character development, just throw some guys on screen with no idea who they are. Plus, the night battle scene was so chaotic that you couldn't tell what the heck was going on. Plus, you've got the standard Hollywood war movie characters and cliches. The racist guy who just wants to kill them all. The sensitive guy who is disturbed by having to kill. Finding the Japanese backpack with the picture of the wife and the doll to let everyone know that the Japanese soldiers were human too. Playing with the last Japanese soldier alive, who can apparently take multiple .30 hits and still keep standing. Medic gets killed by friendly fire (very short scene, everyone says "bummer" and moves on). And so on. BoB was so much better.

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Underwhelmed...

Followed the development of this series for many years, perusing several fansites from time to time that had tidbits and photos - very eager to see it unfold. This one was just plain hard to follow for me (character identification wise) and the battle at Alligator Creek (Tenaru River actually) lacked any sense of the Marines positions being tenuous, although the resulting sandbar reveal in daylight was well done. I understand the whole concept of 'artistic license' but factually the Ichiki Detachment was dropped off at night, and the scene with the IJN ships passing by Lunga Point was absurd. The nighttime blue-on-blue scene with the corpsman could have been portrayed much more effectively if they'd worked up the medic character more or even made a vague allusion to 'what's out there in the dark'. Perhaps Edsons Ridge next week will grab me more...initial rating 6/10 (very nice CG of Savo Island battle raised it a point for me).

This about sums up my feelings, and I will say that given Tom Hanks comments recently, I noticed what would be considered "racial slurs" more than I recall being made in BoB? again, I've read alot about what that imbecile Hanks feels about how WW2 and the current War on Terror are being waged, so maybe I'm a bit too critical??

Anyways..looking forward to see if episode #2 picks it up a little.

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AND don't forget Hank's "racist war" comments. That proves he is an illiterant about the war in the Pacific.

Since this was brought up...came across this from Foreign Policy Research Institute, which publishes Foreign Policy, Orbis, and other journals.

*******************

Friends of FPRI,

We share with you below an essay on HBO's The Pacific by Mackubin Owens,

Editor of Orbis, a Senior Fellow at FPRI, and a professor of national

security affairs at the Naval War College in Newport RI. He is a Marine

infantry veteran of Vietnam. The essay was originally posted on National

Review Online, March 17, 2010.

--Alan Luxenberg, Foreign Policy Research Institute

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

HBO's The Pacific: A Story Worth Telling by Mackubin Owens

It would be a pity if an inane comment from Tom Hanks in Time regarding The

Pacific caused people to dismiss the HBO miniseries as nothing but

Hollywood-style, "politically correct" revisionist history. In fact, if the

first episode is any indication, the series promises to be another Band of

Brothers, Hanks' earlier program for HBO. Hollywood makes people stupid on

occasion, but if they are fundamentally decent and patriotic - and Hanks is

- they can still make riveting, history-based drama.

Unlike Band of Brothers, which followed a single company of paratroopers

from Normandy to Austria, The Pacific is based on the memoirs of two Marines

and the well-known story of another. The first is Eugene Sledge, whose With

the Old Breed is a classic description of service in the First Marine

Division in World War II. The second is Robert Leckie, who wrote Helmet for

My Pillow.

When I was in the Marine Corps, these book were required reading. And when I

first entered the service, every Marine knew the story of the third

individual, the Leatherneck demigod "Manila John" Basilone, who had been in

the Army before the war, joined the Marines when the war broke out, was

awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal, and was later

killed on Iwo Jima.

But I knew of him even before I became a Marine. My dad, who also fought in

the Pacific - on Bougainville, Guadalcanal's neighbor in Solomon Islands

chain, and on Guam in the Marianas - knew John Basilone. In addition, as the

son of a Marine, I spent time at Camp Pendleton in California, the main road

of which leading from the main base area to the regimental camps to the

north is Basilone Road.

All too often, people today seem to believe that the outcomes of historical

events are somehow preordained.

But that is not true. By the summer of 1942, the U.S.

Navy had turned back a Japanese task force during the battle of the Coral

Sea and had inflicted a major defeat on the Japanese at Midway, but even

with such successes, the outcome of the war was in doubt and would remain so

for some time. And things would become particularly desperate on

Guadalcanal. The Pacific provides a glimpse of that desperation.

On August 7, 1942, the Marine landings on Guadalcanal surprised the

Japanese, who abandoned the unfinished airfield and faded into the jungle.

The airfield, soon made operational by the Sea Bees and named Henderson

Field, would become the focal point of the many battles on the island for

the next several months. But two days after the landings, disaster struck.

In the early morning hours of 9 August, a task force of the Japanese

Imperial Navy surprised the Americans and inflicted the most humiliating

defeat on the United States Navy in its proud history.

The battle of Savo Island cost the Americans three heavy cruisers and the

Australians one. Only a fateful decision by the Japanese commander, Rear

Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, spared the defenseless transports, still discharging

cargo in support of the Marines ashore. So many ships from both sides were

sunk in the area between Guadalcanal and Florida Island over the next few

months that it became known as "Ironbottom Sound."

Following the defeat at Savo Island, the U.S. naval commanders decided to

withdraw the ships that were supporting the Marines. The "big picture"

problem the U.S. Navy faced was that it was operating on a shoestring far

from its bases while Rabaul, the Japanese naval base on the island of New

Britain, was much closer. But the decision to withdraw the naval task force

meant that the Marines were on their own.

The Japanese for their part meant to recover Guadalcanal.

The attack by the first contingent of Japanese troops on the Marines near

the Tenaru River is nicely depicted in the miniseries. During this fight,

the Marines killed nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers.

But the Japanese continued to land troops and to subject the Marines to a

nightly naval bombardment as the "Tokyo Express" sailed down "the Slot" from

Rabaul. At one point, Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, the commanding general

of the First Marine Division, made the decision that if necessary, the

Marines would break up into guerrilla bands and take to the jungle.

Fortunately, with successful battles on "Bloody Ridge," at Henderson Field,

and along the Matanikau, this never became necessary. In addition, the U.S.

Navy scored victories in several battles in the waters around Guadalcanal -

among them Cape Esperance, the Santa Cruz Islands, and Tassafaronga - to

redeem the defeat at Savo Island. By February 1943, Guadalcanal was

proclaimed to be "secured."

While there were many horrors still to come in the Pacific Theater - for the

First Marine Division, these would include Peleliu and Okinawa - Guadalcanal

would always have a lasting impact on the survivors. For example, I had

occasion to serve for a brief period in 1969 as aide de camp to the

Assistant Division Commander of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam, Brig.

Gen. Regan Fuller. He was a veteran of Guadalcanal where he had been a

company commander in 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, under the legendary Lt.

Col.

Lewis "Chesty" Puller. When he was finally evacuated, then-Captain Fuller -

who was about 6'4" tall - weighed less than 90 pounds thanks to malnutrition

and malaria.

And like many other veterans of Guadalcanal, he had the "10,000 meter

stare."

Thanks to Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg for telling the story of such men.

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This about sums up my feelings, and I will say that given Tom Hanks comments recently, I noticed what would be considered "racial slurs" more than I recall being made in BoB?

The war in the Pacific was fought with long standing prejudices between both sides. I know it's hard to accept in this toned down PC world we live in now but hatred of the enemy based on race dominated the PTO. And no, it wasn't the same in Europe.

I don't want to get into speculation about what our troops are enduring today but as far as WW II in the Pacific is concerned, Hanks is correct. It didn't start as a "race war" but it turned into one of sorts rather quickly.

Ken

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Sorry,

But LVTs were used at Guadalcanal. They did not have a prominent role and were used for their intended purpose, to ferry supplies. The LCVPs were faster and could carry more troops. The LCVPs shown at Guadalcanal were slightly different from the ones actually used.

One of the best accounts of the battle is Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank. Page 62 mentions that the troops had to climb over the sides of their landing crafts as most of these early models did not have the ramps. That day, an amphibian tractor was driven into the stream bed of a tributary of the Tenaru river and bridging material was laid across it to form a bridge so that troops could cross the river.

People criticize Tom Hanks, but his comments are often taken out of context. He has shown from his past actions and movies that he is proud of America, and proud of its soldiers. He does not say that racism drove the American soldiers to fight nor that all soldiers were racists, but he did say that racism played a part in shaping how the war was conducted, ON BOTH SIDES.

Best wishes,

Grant

Edited by gmat
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just finished watching the 1st and 2nd eps, watched them twice to be sure - i too am underwhelmed so far

i agree with most of the points here, biggest problem for me: you dont get the feeling the characters, or even the marines on the island are in any real danger - its very clean, neat and processed. over 7000 allied soldiers lost their lives in the battle, yet we see next to nothing of this; it all adds up to a real lack of suspense and danger; after which, back on the boat to the next island

its kinda like playing medal of honor pacific with godmode on; roll in, mow down japs, next level... :)

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Guadalcanal is such a large storyline that I am wishing now that they'd spent all ten hours on just it, to include some of what we've seen so far (Alligator Creek & Edsons Ridge) with a better telling of the landing (maybe Tulagi, maybe not), but definitely Savo Island, 1st & 2nd Naval Battles, plus Carlsons Long Patrol. Throw in some long range action from Pistol Pete and the constant air raids, to include the Cactus Airforce. Later with more action along the Mantanikau and Pt. Cruz towards the endgame of Mt. Austen/Galloping Horse/Sea Horse. But I'd have to win several powerballs to be able to do that myself, just saying how I'd have wished it to be so far. It's entirely possible that the Peleliu episodes upcoming may be the best of the series, I for one was a fan of BoB episodes 'Breaking Point' and 'Points' more so than others ('Bastonge').

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just finished watching the 1st and 2nd eps, watched them twice to be sure - i too am underwhelmed so far

i agree with most of the points here, biggest problem for me: you dont get the feeling the characters, or even the marines on the island are in any real danger - its very clean, neat and processed. over 7000 allied soldiers lost their lives in the battle, yet we see next to nothing of this; it all adds up to a real lack of suspense and danger; after which, back on the boat to the next island

its kinda like playing medal of honor pacific with godmode on; roll in, mow down japs, next level... :)

Ray, where did you get the second Ep?

I just watched the first eps last night... I agree with what everyone is saying, it needed a lend in with the characters to see who they are. But only than that I loved it! Can't wait for the next Ep!

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