DaGaffer
Down With That Sorta Thing
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 18,482
I was interested to hear the opinion from your side of the pond. I've tried hard to be objective, and I agree Pacific is not as good as BoB, but since my wife's Dad served with the 2nd Marines I find it hard to critisize.
I think they are more concerned with realism than story, and I'm a little disappointed that Hanks and Spielberg couldn't pull off both. I would love to seee them do the same with the Battle of Britain. Hell they could follow the Eagle Squadron if they need an audience over here.
BTW, Dad made 3 landings during the War, Guadalcanal, Boughanville (part of the 1st wave) and Guam. He caught shrapnel from a motor round on Guam and missed Iwo Jima due to his injuries. That probably saved his life. He's still living and is a tough sonofabitch.
The difference with Pacific and BoB is that much as I dislike Stephen Ambrose, his original book got under the skin of the men in Easy Company, so you identified with them and cared about their fate. Pacific is really three character sketches with a common thread, but you don't really engage with any of them. The other problem is they've put a lot more emphasis on the behind-the-lines stories (Australia, hospital, training) which was pretty much wrapped up in BoB by the end of the first episode.
This week's Basilone story should have been one of the high points of the series but felt completely underwritten to me; I felt it short-changed the man horribly