I liked Curahee a lot better. It did a great job introducing the characters, much better than last night's Pacific episode. Plus, the key to the success of Easy Company was the extreme training they did at Curahee. It would've been bad for the story if we didn't get to see it. We didn't get any of that with Pacific.

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Plus Curahee had David Schwimmer as the buffoon drill seargant. I finally watched the final episode of band of brothers on Sunday, and got to the premeire of the Pacific last night. I liked the brothers premeire better. Schwimmer was such a dick as that character, and it was great when all the men made him look bad.

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As much of a dick as Schwimmer's character was, after the war all the men of Easy company credited him and his ridiculous/strict training with getting them ready for the war.

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Plus they tried to include him in the reunions and such. The guy was from Chicago and he wound up killing himself.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

The scene in "Curahee" where he cuts the fence because he thinks the Colonel is ordering him (but it's one of the men) is hilarious.

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This may come off as pretty stupid, because I realize they were fighting in jungles, but it's only been two episodes and I'm tired of the battle scenes. It's machine guns firing into charging Japanese soldiers. Could have filmed it once from 50 angles and been done. I'm worried that the series will be more of the same with non-battle civilian situations added in (what next week looks like).

I thought one of the best parts of 'Band of Brothers' was the interaction as they moved from town to forest to town to fields, etc. I probably need to stop comparing the 2, but it's hard when they are basically companions to each other.

I thought this episode was amazing.


And yes, this is pretty much what you should expect from episode to episode. This is what the Pacific was. It was going from island to island, fighting through the jungles, eliminating all the enemies, and then rinse and repeat on the next island. You can't compare it to the European theatre because Europe had a much more coherent natural storyline to it. It had a single front line that moved along Europe as if you were watching two football teams battle for field position. The locations were all identifiable and distinctly memorable. It has a satisfying climax with the good guys reaching Berlin and defeating the Nazis. The Pacific had none of that.

That's why you see a lot more WWII movies focussed on the ETO than on the Pacific.


But, this epsiode was great, they did a fabulous job expressing what it would be like to go through the hectic barrage of a jungle battle vs a much bigger enemy.

Next week looks like it could be really boring though.

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Another good episode. I knew that the battles were brutal but last nights
battle scenes were insane. It was like a civil war battle with automatic
weapons. People just getting mowed down. How scary would it have been
sitting in those foxholes while bombs were raining down on you? I could feel
myself tense up when they were getting shelled and it wouldn't stop. Not
looking forward much to next episode but hopefully it lays the groundwork
to learn a bit more about the soldiers personally before they head back to
the jungle.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

there were some nice things about last night's episode, but it thought that it was more standard issue war scenes. nothing about the battles were intense because it was so dark i could hardly see what was going on.

i do like the characters, and i'm starting to recognize them more and more. the scene where they steal from the army was great. i think the next episode looks like it's going to strengthen what the actual point of this show is, because right now it doesn't seem to be about a lot.

gotta have more patience with this one; "band of brothers" was easy.

they looked great in HD and the digital surround of the mortar shells was ridiculous. my house was shaking.

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@audioidkid

i don't have surround sound but i couldn't really see anything. i guess i'm particularly talking about the "mowing down the japanese" scene.

yeah...me too. it was bright enough at my place.

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@audioidkid

I guess your moniker also relates to your knowledge of the Pacific Theater.

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President of Blake Shetlon fan club

Same here, no issues. My house was also shaking had the volume at full blast and was enjoying every bit of the battle scenes.

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

I understand what the Pacific was. My point was that it doesn't make for as great of television as the European side.

I'm not making the same emotional connection as I did with "Band".
I didn't feel the confusion, the heat, or the near starvation of Guadalcanal like I felt the confusion of Normandy and the cold of Bastogne.
Not sure why, maybe it was the lack of character development?

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

If you have Directv they show the episode from the previous Sunday during the week. Forgot the day it's on. It's on just before "Bands of Brothers" reruns. It's on channel 101. Sorry I forgot the day.
Saw the tale end of the first show of "The Pacific" and what I saw don't think it will come close to Band. I have Band at home and watched it about 10 times already. Uncle landed on Normandy. I think most of our Dad's who served in WW 2 fought in Europe. And most of the movies are made about the Europe theater. I still think Band is the best war movie made. Taking Chance was very very good also.

"band of brothers" is one of the best war stories ever. i don't know that i've seen anything outside of the european theatre brand of WWII movies. they are the most compelling.

i know that there are other stories to be told, and i'm still optimistic that this will get going; i just think it needs some more time. the next episode looks like it's going to flesh out the characters a bit more.

so far the only character that i've grown attached to is the poet guy (whose name i still don't know); most of the characters seem to be thinly drawn "war guys" and stereotypes.

"this is hell", "we're fucked", "are you writing a broad?", "i want to go home". but again, we're only 2 episodes in. i really liked the first one, didn't really care for the second; i'm hoping it gets better.

I'm with you on "the poet" as the most interesting character so far, and the slightly homoerotic undertones of the "southern boys" plot has some potential as well.

Part of my disconnect comes from just having watched the WWII in HD series on History channel, where the real footage was so graphic and the 12 voices so vivid that it makes any dramatization of the events pale in comparison.
http://www.history.com/shows/wwii-in-hd


I would give "WWII in HD" out of

Sorry for the copyright infringement.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

you'll be hearing from my attorneys.

i never saw that. i'll have to check it out. sounds very...comprehensive.

Last night we got a fleshing out of our two main characters. Nothing earth
shattering, but I think it was effective enough for us to care a little more
about these guys. This series has been totally different than Band of Brothers
and really shouldn't even be mentioned in comparison. Considering we are only
30% through it there will still be plenty of time for more action. I am still enjoying
the program but my hopes were set so high that I must admit that so far it has
been a bit of a let down.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I enjoyed the Melbourne episode. That's a place I would have like to have been to, in the 40s. Now, probably not so much. Who needs another big city?!?

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

That chick who dumped that guy was a total bitch.

Nice morale boost...

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eh...sort of a boring episode.

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@audioidkid

But you watched it on a 400 inch screen!

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

no surprise, I think everyone knew that episode was gonna suck.


When I rewatch this whole series down the road this is the episode I'm gonna skip and pretend never happened.

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I feel just like that after I read one of your posts.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I didn't...I don't watch the previews.

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@audioidkid

that must've sucked then. At least the rest of us had a week's notice to properly lower our expectations.

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easily the best episode so far. i'd tell anyone who is looking for "band of brothers 2" to give up watching now. it's not the same thing at all. in a way, this is better character development wise. leckie's subplot with the girl/family i found incredibly captivating.

i didn't see previews for the next episode so i'm not sure which direction it'll head but i'd take an episode like this over episode 2 any day. much more compelling.