The Pacific [Band of Brothers II]

[Amerikaner]

Real battles aren't exactly one big action movie. Have you ever heard the saying "hours of boredom followed by seconds of terror," I think that's what they are trying to portray. Granted it's a little boring for an audience, and I agree that they could have done a better job, but I like how they didn't follow the typical Hollywood crap where they amp up this big battle and they guarantee it to happen.

I like how they are showing how the Marines support is slowly getting cut off and they are foreshadowing a big struggle to survive.

yeah i get that, i read the book. the battle was exactly what was shown in the episode (ie shooting across the creek into the jungle and mg'ing the japanese trying to cross all night).

i just didnt like the way they made the episode all disjointed. like they were cramming way too many things in with the home scenes and all so when the main thing the audience was waiting for (the battle), especially after the marching scenes with tension building up, it didnt seem like a proper climax or something. i feel like there should have been a scene to show how they felt after their first bout of combat. it was more like scared kids, scared kids bull****ting, scared kids on the island, COMBAT!...fade to black, now lets toy with a jap cause we're heartless killing machines after one night. i wouldve liked the first episode to be half home scenes, half training. then ep two the transport ship bull****ing, invasion of guadalcanal, tension of the march, battle #1, bull****ting after battle #1. instead it just felt rushed I think.

i may seem way too harsh and it was a great hour of film either way. its just after the ultimate perfection BoB was to me I expected more.

edit: also, who else felt like they were rewatching thin red line? i know its the same battle and all but the scene progression was pretty much identical: transport ship, higgins boats to no enemy, march through jungle, find mutilated bodies, combat

 

[Bluehawk]

You'll get your big crazy battle if and when they portray the attack on Edson's Ridge (Bloody Ridge).

I also felt a parallel to the Thin Red Line, ha ha, especially if you let the novel into the equation because it was even the same kind of mutilation (genatalia cut off and shoved in the mouth).

 

[SiC-Disaster]

I thought a bit differently about that 'toying' with the last Japanese soldier.
I didnt really view it as the Americans getting turned into evil killing machines after one fight, but more so taking revenge for Pearl Harbor and the mutilated men in the jungle.
Still unacceptable though, i wouldve liked to kick the shooters over when watching that.

 

[Nimsky]

I thought a bit differently about that 'toying' with the last Japanese soldier.
I didnt really view it as the Americans getting turned into evil killing machines after one fight, but more so taking revenge for Pearl Harbor and the mutilated men in the jungle.

Yeah, that's it.

The Japanese did some pretty horrific things (some of which you've seen in the episode) on those islands. I think as a soldier, if you see the enemy mutilating your dead buddies and "suicide bombing" the Corpsmen, you soon will be devoid of any compassion you might have had left for them. Because of that, some of the men might "toy" with the enemy like that.

TBH I didn't really feel sorry for the Jap in the river but I know it wasn't the right thing either. If I was the commander of that Marine squad I probably would have killed him on the spot or maybe order my men to do it. Can't take your chances in a situation like that.

BTW, this thread really needs a spoiler warning in the title.

 

[BlackLabel]

Stuffs getting better....good episode.

 

[{Core}Craig]

Which episode is current? . . . I have ep1 . . is there 2 or 3 or 4 or what??

 

[REZ]

I think they just played episode 2.

 

[Lt_Kettch]

Did the Japanese really fight like this?

Spoiler Alert! But you can look up the date the new episodes are aired.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374463/episodes

 

[Amerikaner]

Did the Japanese really fight like this?

Yes.

Much better episode although I still need more character development.

 

[Agenda_Suicide]

The second episode was awesome. I can't even began to imagine being in an artillery barrage.

 

[EvilAmericanMan]

Makes you realize just how crazy those Japanese were - they had a huge advantage and wasted it with those ancient-style Banzai charges. I also was kind of pumped up by the guy going nuts with the MG and the guy with the Colt .45. Made me want to jump into my nearest shooter and spray people to death

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

i agree, the second episode was much better. more battle scenes and more intense moments. saw a little more character development and the "funny" moments were more funny. like the whole nickname thing with "peaches"

i'm really starting to get encouraged that this series will be as good if not better than the BOB series. the first episode was ok, the second episode was better, so i expect the third to even be better than the last.

 

[PNV]

I think there'll be a good degree of character progression in the third episode, though many will probably not like it because of the love interests and the lack of combat.

My hypothesis is that whereas Band of Brothers changed to a slower pace when Easy Company entered Germany in the last couple of episodes, I think that The Pacific will increase in intensity with the landings at Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

 

[Amerikaner]

Chambers, the old RO vet, told me that apparently each episode is better than the last. And yeah the little character development that was in this 2nd episode was great. I especially loved the raiding of the Army supplies.

 

[Psycho_Sam]

Are they being aired in the UK at all yet? I don't have freeview or cable. Guess no way to watch them online yet either.

 

[Lt_Kettch]

You can watch it here (Only have to register):
http://www.hbo.com/the-pacific/inde...W7sS0JR+7O-ulNVHt663mtrmaDz3Q8xpzeYXyF8FLpLk=

and it's 'out' on the web

@Psycho Sam

 

[Speirs]

Yeah this episode was much more intense. I did feel like the characters were more developed in this episode too.

Overall, really good. I got high hopes for the rest of the episodes.

 

[-[SiN]-bswearer]

"Hey, you're new nickname is Old Faithful"

"Shut up Peaches!"

 

[Jamer]

completely disagree. the show is all about showing a realistic portrayal of the pacific war and as such should hold attention to detail in high regard. this means having all the right weaponry, uniforms, etc. having a powerful scene like the toying with the jap one and then pointing a deagle at him would have ruined all the scene's power for anyone even remotely familiar with the time period.

This isnt just a war series, its the pacific theater of ww2, hence The Pacific, not the Emotion of War. It's also based off of veterans own personal accounts so ignoring what was true to life for them is very wrong. So yes, historical accuracy is key.

While I do agree with some of your points which I think I mentioned in my original post. I have to respectfully stay true to my original thought.

Of course historical accuracy is important, lets just call it human error. I just feel very strongly about the story. I don't understand how one could not connect to the emotions of a scene and gain a little insight to the thoughts and feelings of both the man being shot and the one shooting because it wasn't the right weapon of the era.

Similarily, the scene where he got the nickname peaches, What if someone said well, it was actually banana's. Does that mean the scene doesn't get the point across now and we can't understand how they connected with each other?

with respect

 

[Ralfst3r]

I saw one of the guys carrying a Riesing. Poor bugger.