HBO's "The Pacfic"

aiabx

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What do you mean ?
If you strain your eyes, you can catch a glimpse of a boobie. This is very daring on North American television, in a show with brutality and mutilated bodies.
 

Martin Mayers

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Seriously ?
Jeez...all we have to do here is watch anything with Helen Mirren in...she's always popping them out (exception to rule...The Queen).
 

ChrisM

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I thought the sex was a bit much in episode III. I didn't think it added too much to the story and would have ben better off implied - but this is HBO, so they just had to indulge.

Episode IV was much better - got a much deeper look at the psychology of the soldiers and the toll the jungle took on them (as much as the enemy).
 

James Taylor

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Episode 4 was the best episode so far IMHO.

I think the fact that they stayed on Leckie and really showed us in depth what he experienced on New Britain, etc. was what made it work.

As I've indicated before, I think they really needed the series to have a lot more than 10 episodes. Just to much story to tell when you are trying to tell it at the depth level they want to, i.e. the "human experience" level. (I'm still irked by the amount of time that is wasted in the rolling of the opening and the credits. Hopefully they sell a version on DVD that doesn't require you to sit through all that every time.)

I agree that the sex in Episode 3 would have been better off left out. Normally I'm happy as a lark with a bit of skin, but implying would have bought the same thing. With so many other things not being addressed in depth I would have been more pleased by using that time for other things.

The good news is the series seems to be heading in the right direction with the character development going on. Hopefully from here on out things will be a step up.

JT
 

daveramsey

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Have to say....in terms of ticking the boxes you've mentioned there Dave, the two films from Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima especially, does a far better job than TP, thus far at least.
Sure - both good films.

Anyway, got to mention the quote from the night, right after the gunfight at the creek had died down:

"Contact on the left side!"
"No Sh*t!"

Brutal stuff...
 

Paul_RS

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<snip> I couldn't even SEE what the hell was happening never mind UNDERSTAND what was going on......

Which is probably a realistic representation....but not particularly interesting viewing
Methinks the penny droppeth....
 

Michael Dorosh

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If you strain your eyes, you can catch a glimpse of a boobie. This is very daring on North American television, in a show with brutality and mutilated bodies.
You should really watch episode three before the comment lest you make yourself look foolish. ;)

ChrisM said:
I thought the sex was a bit much in episode III. I didn't think it added too much to the story and would have ben better off implied - but this is HBO, so they just had to indulge.
The Marines on Guadalcanal had diarrhea so bad they often cut the seat out of their pants and went around pretty much shitting anywhere they could. It was true to life but it doesn't mean I want to watch it on TV. The same goes for other bodily functions, including intercourse. The sex in episode three was not "a boobie". I have no idea what show aiabx was watching. It was a complete intercourse session from start to finish. Granted, it was realistic. I don't really have anything for or against it, but I do think it was kind of jarring in that I agree with Chris - it had little to do with the war in the Pacific, but mostly, it limits the ability of North American parents to watch this show with their teenage sons and daughters. It's age inappropriate. Say what you will about European norms, sex being natural, etc. etc., I'll repeat - I don't really care to watch someone vomiting or taking a dump either.

Don't get me wrong; it was realistic; she didn't scream and holler like a porn star; there was even that awkward pause where you know he's figuring "hey, I guess I gotta put my schlong inside her now." And you see it all in excrutiating detail (though there was no frontal nudity - strangely, there was full male frontal nudity in episode 4 - gotta love HBO). And just as realistically, it was over in about three thrusts. What intrigues me about sex in that era is that while males today have all kinds of "visual aids" to drive their expectations (mostly in the wrong direction) about what it will be like, males then pretty much had no playbook other than the lies their buddies in boot camp told them, what their brothers might have told them (probably also lies), and any unfortunate discoveries they might have made about their parents (ick).

How accurate was it to the real Bob Leckie's sexual adventures? No idea, never read his book, though it would be interesting to know if he covered that aspect in any great detail. Some writers from that period did - Fred Cederberg, a Cape Breton Highlander, was no shrinking violet when it came to writing about sex, but it was still probably pretty reserved and I doubt that too many 1940s era writers - even if writing decades later - approached the "letters to Penthouse" treatment that HBO gave to that scene.

**MINOR SPOILER**

That being the case, not sure why the director went that way. Again, I wasn't particularly revolted by it, but I'm not sure what we're supposed to get from it. Traditional cinema generally uses sex to imply something dirty - Tony Soprano's liaisons with his mistresses were shown in great detail, for example, but 'lovemaking' with his wife was only hinted at. Given that the script called for Leckie to have actual feelings for this woman the prolonged intercourse seems like an uncharacteristic directorial choice. It's like when someone in Hollywood says "throw in the F word so we can have an R rating, otherwise, we'll get a G and no one will pay money to see us." Guess they needed it to be a true HBO show or somefink.
 

aiabx

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You should really watch episode three before the comment lest you make yourself look foolish. ;)
I saw it.. what i saw was some pretend sex, much like I could see on any typical TV show, and a good deal tamer than that episode of House where Thirteen was getting it on with some women she picked up in a bar. The only difference was brief glimpses of actual nudity in the Pacific. Now I'm not going to tell you you're wrong to shield your teenage kids from any depiction of sexuality, but I know my kids would be far more upset by the sight of a disembowelled Japanese corpse, or a very realistic bayonetting of the wounded, so we won't be watching the Pacific together in my house, assuming they even had the slightest interest in doing so.

And I have no fear whatsoever of looking foolish.
 

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Well, we're four episodes in now so I think it's appropriate to start building opinions of the show.

I'm disappointed. I expected with the care and interest Spiellberg and Hanks have for WWII, I thought it was certain they could take their success from 8 years ago on Band of Brothers and really take it to the next level. Instead, we've had 4 episodes of little, underwhelming combat footage (really, every Japanese attack was a banzai charge on all the islands?), excessive coverage of operational downtime / leave / hospitalization, and weak assumption that the audience will care a lot about these men with the rushed context and background development. After episode 4, 1943 will have passed and I barely feel these men have been to war. It seems all they did was party in Australia and get diarrhea afterwards.

I'll keep watching because I'm fascinated by WWII subject matter. I won't be recommending to others as a great TV show, though.
 

Martin Mayers

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Well, we're four episodes in now so I think it's appropriate to start building opinions of the show.

I'm disappointed. I expected with the care and interest Spiellberg and Hanks have for WWII, I thought it was certain they could take their success from 8 years ago on Band of Brothers and really take it to the next level. Instead, we've had 4 episodes of little, underwhelming combat footage (really, every Japanese attack was a banzai charge on all the islands?), excessive coverage of operational downtime / leave / hospitalization, and weak assumption that the audience will care a lot about these men with the rushed context and background development. After episode 4, 1943 will have passed and I barely feel these men have been to war. It seems all they did was party in Australia and get diarrhea afterwards.

I'll keep watching because I'm fascinated by WWII subject matter. I won't be recommending to others as a great TV show, though.
Better man than me mate.
I HAVE to be engaged by a programme...my spare time is too precious to piss away....
This programme didn't engage me...it bored me....so I'm folded after one hour and forty minutes.
 

fwheel73

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Well, we're four episodes in now so I think it's appropriate to start building opinions of the show.

I'm disappointed. I expected with the care and interest Spiellberg and Hanks have for WWII, I thought it was certain they could take their success from 8 years ago on Band of Brothers and really take it to the next level. Instead, we've had 4 episodes of little, underwhelming combat footage (really, every Japanese attack was a banzai charge on all the islands?), excessive coverage of operational downtime / leave / hospitalization, and weak assumption that the audience will care a lot about these men with the rushed context and background development. After episode 4, 1943 will have passed and I barely feel these men have been to war. It seems all they did was party in Australia and get diarrhea afterwards.

I'll keep watching because I'm fascinated by WWII subject matter. I won't be recommending to others as a great TV show, though.
Better man than me mate.
I HAVE to be engaged by a programme...my spare time is too precious to piss away....
This programme didn't engage me...it bored me....so I'm folded after one hour and forty minutes.
Gentlemen,
I think I have to agree with you. I have watched each episode and well.... in BOB one could identify with the soldiers but in The Pacific I am not connecting well--save maybe in the all too brief combat moments and the preparation. I will continue to watch but do other things so as not to waste too much time as Bookmartpa notes. If we are lucky other episodes will be better and when the DVD is published we can recommend skipping the unnecessary..... oh well.

Best regards,:salute:
John
 

jpellam

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I agree with you Jim. i really like this one better than BoB

The one thing that hit me after episode 4 is that BoB highlighted the officers more during the series while Pacifc highlights the lowly enlisted people. As a former enlisted guy i can relate with lechie pulling one over the bully officer. hehe He got his pistol back.

On the other end of things, the captain doctor was just a civilian doctor drafted for the war and because of his education as a doctor was given a senior rank. He was down to earth and i saw the same thing in the navy. i went golfing with some of the dentist officers and they were totally cool. But alas, my review is heavily biased.
 

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One thing that I find particularly dissapointing is the "soap-operaing" of Leckie's story.

If you read "Helmet for my Pillow" its apparent they have made a number of changes that add nothing to the story - obviously a rupture wasn't as photgenic as the replacement condition (can't remember what it was).

And don't get me started on the whole greek girl in Melbourne crap - only thing that followed the book was the girl's name.

Night combat stuff was good though.
 

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I saw Episode 5 last night and WOW! This was what I paid to see! Seaborne assault, Japanese tanks (probably a Type 95 HA-GO), pillboxes, and a bit of real action!

On the negative side, there is still no explanation of why the Marines are so savage. They seem like Kubrick's caricature of them in Full Metal Jacket, right down to the crazy gunnery sergeant. I suppose Episode 1 was meant to show the Japanese as animals, but really it was so soft-sold that the Japs came off as noble rather than insane.

Anyhow, Episode 5 was by far the best episode of the series yet.
 

Matt Book

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I saw Episode 5 last night and WOW! This was what I paid to see! Seaborne assault, Japanese tanks (probably a Type 95 HA-GO), pillboxes, and a bit of real action!

On the negative side, there is still no explanation of why the Marines are so savage. They seem like Kubrick's caricature of them in Full Metal Jacket, right down to the crazy gunnery sergeant. I suppose Episode 1 was meant to show the Japanese as animals, but really it was so soft-sold that the Japs came off as noble rather than insane.

Anyhow, Episode 5 was by far the best episode of the series yet.
Agree, was the best, but they had historical accuracy issues here just like like the first episode on Alligator Creek. In the assault on the beach, a sherman turns on it's gyro to blast the pillbox, where as in episode 5 it's a turreted alligator that nails it. Also, showing all the Japanese tanks counter attacking across the airfield would have been nice with the Marines using 50 cals, baz's, and shermans taking them apart, but that was probably a cost issue.
 

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In the assault on the beach, a sherman turns on it's gyro to blast the pillbox, where as in episode 5 it's a turreted alligator that nails it.
Not sure what you mean here. In Epsode 5, the only M4 I recall from the beach assault was hit. An LVT(A)4 took out the beach pillbox. Later on we see an M4 taking out a Type 95 Ha-Go and the MG nest on the roof of one of the airfield buildings.
 
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