Warbird Information Exchange

I bought the DVD set of this series at the Ramstein BX for $25 and watched it on the way to and from Afghanistan. I am glad I did not pay any more for it! I thought it was supposed to be the Pacific version of Band of Brothers. Man was I wrong! I do not believe I have ever been so disappointed in a show. I have read the books that inspired the show and they were good bit the show seemed to lack a lot of what made Band of Brothers so good.

I was really disappointed in the CGI airplanes. They were pretty bad! It looked to me like the only real plane in the movie was the DC-2 (-3?) in the scene with Basilone.

Anybody else have an opinion about this show?

Well, I thought the Pacific was good, but definitely not as good as Band of Brothers. And I really do agree with you that the CGI airplanes were really bad. The flights of single engine airplanes flying over the armada were non-descript airplanes... to me they looked more like Zeros than anything the US Marines or Navy had. I'd go as far to say that the CGI airplanes were only there to make the landscapes more interesting, like a painter adds a seagull into a beach-side painting.

The acting was good and the stories quite interesting. It made me understand the type of warfare those young men were involved in. But, that being said, I felt there was too much action and not enough story for my liking.

All in all I liked it, but I felt the story could have been told better.

Peace,

David M

Now, some people might say that the Band of Brothers story was just more compelling and a "better" story.
Some people might say The Pacific was an combination of different stories and therefore could never be as compelling or cohesive.
Watching The Pacific series on HBO made me go buy and read some books on the PTO I had not read before and re-read the ones I had read long ago. The upside was it reminded me about the history and made me appreciate it all over again.
On balance, I enjoyed the series for all those reasons.
I also believe the Band of Brothers series is motion picture story telling at its very best - one of the few instances where the book was well served in the translation.
The by-product of the Band of Brothers series is that it got people like my nephew, 3rd generation away from WWII veterans, interested in that history. In spite of dsylexia, he read the book after being intrigued by the series on HBO. The power of a very good story well told.

*edit* PS After talking with my nephew while the series was in first run on HBO, I bought him the book. I gave him the DVD set for Christmas. The next year he returned the favor and bought the DVD set for me.

Helmet for my Pillow is an outstanding book and a must read....

G'day folks,

I think it's a fundamental mistake to assume that The Pacific is 'Band of Brothers - Tropical Getaway'. The fact that the story doesn't focus on a single unit means that the emphasis is different and it isn't possible to have the deep interpersonal character development and depth that is possible with a single group of main characters.

Also, the great majority of Band of Brothers is spread over the eleven month period of June 1944 to May 1945. The Pacific has action from August 1942 to August 1945. So, trying to cram triple the time into the same amount of airtime means character development is going to give way for action. Bear in mind too that much character development takes place during the action of both shows.

So, given the constraints of how many episodes they could have, I believe that the producers of The Pacific did a top job. CGI issues are secondary to me, the stories come first. Having read the stories of all involved, I think they were pretty faithful to original sources. I've never experienced war, but growing up in a family where military history is very important means that I grew up talking with many ex-servicemen, and learning their stories. Had they had time, I'd have enjoyed the stories of "Mike" Micheel and "Shifty" Shofner to have made the cut.

My personal connection was growing up in Melbourne, and having an ex-First Marine veteran living up the street. He came here after the war, to marry the woman he met on leave. My grandparents told many stories of US servicemen in Melbourne, and it was a treat to see many childhood references and landmarks. Both shows were good, but The Pacific is my favourite.

I'm not ashamed to say that I cried at the end of the final episode.

Cheers,
Matt

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Matt Austin - playing with warbirds since the early 80s.

See my Lee-Enfield videos at - http://www.youtube.com/user/Jollygreenslugg

I liked the series. I also read the books by both Sledge and by Leckie.

Helmet For My Pillow
by Robert Leckie

With the Old Breed
by Eugene B. Sledge

Must reads for the WWII history enthusiast.

TM

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

My wife bought me the Blue-Ray set for Christmas. I still haven't finished watching the whole series. It's very good, but also very dark and depressing (much more so than BoB.) That's not a criticism by any means..I understand the war in the Pacific was very different from the fighting in the ETO. But I haven't been able to watch more than one or two episodes at a time without needing some emotional "decompression" afterwards.

SN

You'll need some after the airfield scene.

TM

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

I just finished reading Black Sand Red Blood by Chuck Tatum...The personal level at which he writes is simply amazing. The impact of his words was simply visceral.

If any of you are near Reading PA next weekend , You will have the opportunity of a lifetime to meet the real RV Burgin and Sid Phillips. FiFi being there s a cherry on the top.

I havent seen it on the screen yet but much of it was filmed near my home and I attended the sets prior to, during and after filming, I was approached prior to commencement for aircraft "props" for filming, as were a number of other people.

I cant comment of the CGI aircraft? and I had understood there were "some" real aircraft used for flying scenes filmed elsewhere, but at the Japanese airfield there are 4 aircraft presented on the set as damaged on the ground.

The airfield was very impressive, scratch built hangars/workshops, a massive concrete command centre, and nearby the beach front miles from the sea, and elsewhere the cliff faces built up over 20 or more shipping containers and sand coloured concrete, and relocated palm trees.

Someone in the US operates a film prop rental business and there were 40' containers full of marsden matting, steel helmets etc

There was a DC-3 on the Runway as a Japanese "Tabby" L-2D, then there were two radial engined fighters largely built from scrap metal with real radials and wing structures from GA aircraft, and finally an Avro Anson fuselage metal clad to represent a Japanese "Hickory".

The DC-3 was a former civil airliner that had ditched in Sydney and although complete had corrosion in place, it was destructed badly during filming and is now only yielding a wing and some minor fuselage frame parts for restoration of other examples in museums and collections.

The Avro Anson survived to live another day and is in my private collection.

It has since been used in a pilot for a new Mad Max type movie.

regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"