TV Serieseseses
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[quote name='Tim']Episode 3 of The Pacific was shit.[/QUOTE]<br />
Why? The 1st Marine Division spent months in Australia. They couldn't gloss over that portion of the war. While I didn't like the fact that they deviated so much from Leckie's book versus the other three episode (making up the whole Stella character based on the actual Sheila), it was still a pretty good homogenization of events that occurred to Leckie and his friends in the Great Debauche.<br />
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Edit: Just looked it up. The 1st Marine Division left Guadalcanal December 9th 1942, and Operation Cartwheel (Cape Gloucester and invasion of New Britain) commenced on December 23rd 1943. So a year between operations. That is more time than the BoB series, which mostly took place from D-Day (June 6th 44 to VE Day May 8th 45). One episode devoted to that recuperation period in Melbourne is the least they could do. -
The whole "gee I'd kill for a beer, and I am shaken but silent, and man I could fuck anything that moves" thing could've been dealt with in 10mins, along with some more subtle moments in the rest of the series. Then they could've shown more about what was happening in the war. It was just dull, mediocre TV.
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Except this is not a History Channel special on the war in the Pacific. It is a focused look on the the war through the experiences of a few Marines. Leckie, Sledge, Basilone where only in certain places. Can't really mention Tarawa when the 1st Division didn't operate there. Likewise no mention of Midway, Coral Sea etc etc.
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Hey, if it makes for shitty TV then cut back those bits. I'm pretty sure decisions like that are made throughout the production. It's entertainment and that wasn't entertaining, or artistically impressive, in any way. <br />
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Lots of shows will leap forward in time, or use some kind of segue to give background as to what has happened between sequences. (That's right, you sometimes need a montage.) Just because a show is about WWII and the "greatest generation" doesn't mean that it has to produced as some kind of sacred and relentlessly faithful work. -
To each his own. I enjoyed it. But maybe because I read both Leckie and Sledge's books, so I knew it was coming and an integral part of the narrative. Have you seen episode 4 (Gloucester, Pavuvu, Banika)? Any objections to it?
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[quote name='Tim']Nah, haven't watched it yet. I enjoyed the first two episodes (especially the second, didn't think that the "human drama" stuff early in the first was very good), and am looking forward to ep 4.[/QUOTE]<br />
The problem I had with the first two episodes was they didn't convey enough to the average viewer with no history knowledge how fucked up and tenuous the situation in Guadalcanal really was. The Marines where hanging on to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, and by extension the Pacific and Australia by the skin of their teeth with no artillery, food, and even support from the Navy after the disaster at Savo Island. It really was touch and go there for a few weeks. -
you're right, they didn't, I thought they were shit and don't think I'll bother watching the rest of the series. That's incredible to me since its the only TV series I've been interested in watching in the last few years. I know very little about the Pacific campaign and don't feel like I know any more now, I have no empathy for any of the characters and I had no appreciation of what you've just described Rusty.
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For those watching Lost, do you guys spend any time on a forum with a Lost thread? Personally, I am too stupid to catch all the little details and call backs to the earlier seasons. Not to mention I need to have someone explain things like the Einstein Minkowski Space Time Diagram to me. Without reading a Lost thread, I would probably be a lot more lost than I currently am.
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[quote name='Dodge']you're right, they didn't, I thought they were shit and don't think I'll bother watching the rest of the series. That's incredible to me since its the only TV series I've been interested in watching in the last few years. I know very little about the Pacific campaign and don't feel like I know any more now, I have no empathy for any of the characters and I had no appreciation of what you've just described Rusty.[/QUOTE]<br />
They never even mentioned the Battle of Bloody Ridge on the show. The Kawaguchi Butai almost overran the Marine Raiders and ParaMarines under the command of Red Mike Edson at Lunga during the two day attack on Henderson. To give you an idea of the scope of the US victory (from wiki):<br />
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[quote]On September 15 General Hyakutake at Rabaul learned of Kawaguchi's defeat, the Imperial Japanese Army's first defeat involving a unit of this size in the war. The general forwarded the news to the Imperial General Headquarters in Japan. In an emergency session, the top Japanese army and navy command staffs concluded that, "Guadalcanal might develop into the decisive battle of the war." The results of the battle began to have a telling strategic impact on Japanese operations in other areas of the Pacific. Hyakutake realized that, in order to send sufficient troops and materiel to defeat the Allied forces on Guadalcanal, he could no longer support the major Japanese offensive on the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokoda_Track_campaign"]Kokoda Track[/URL] in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea"]New Guinea[/URL]. Hyakutake, with the concurrence of the General Headquarters, ordered his troops on New Guinea, who were within 30 miles (48 km) of their objective of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Moresby"]Port Moresby[/URL], to withdraw until the Guadalcanal matter was resolved. The Japanese were never able to restart their drive towards Port Moresby; the defeat at Edson's Ridge contributed not only to Japan's defeat in the Guadalcanal campaign, but also to Japan's ultimate defeat throughout the South Pacific[/quote]<br />
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Edson received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Bloody/Edson's Ridge. -
[quote name='rustycruiser']For those watching Lost, do you guys spend any time on a forum with a Lost thread? Personally, I am too stupid to catch all the little details and call backs to the earlier seasons. Not to mention I need to have someone explain things like the Einstein Minkowski Space Time Diagram to me. Without reading a Lost thread, I would probably be a lot more lost than I currently am.[/QUOTE]<br />
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I barely have time for rugby threads without going into a time sinkhole like that!<br />
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Fancy writing a summary of the theory of what's happening on lost? -
nah I have steered clear of Lost forums, no doubt would do my head in even more!! <br />
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There have been alot of theories (the hell one) around for along while.<br />
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Wonder if Michael & Walt will feature in the parallell world? -
yeah I always thought Walt was an integral part based on an episode where he had a comic book, with a Polar bear in it (similar to a Twilight Zone episode where a kid imagines stuff and it comes true) and how desperate 'the others' were to get him early on.
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[quote name='taniwharugby']yeah I always thought Walt was an integral part based on an episode where he had a comic book, with a Polar bear in it (similar to a Twilight Zone episode where a kid imagines stuff and it comes true) and how desperate 'the others' were to get him early on.[/QUOTE]<br />
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And he appeared back later to warn, I think, Sawyer. -
and Lock (I think) saw him when he got off the island.
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Watched the first 2 episodes of The Pacific last night. Good stuff! It had a lot to live up to, but its pretty good i thought. I like the character driven stuff mixed in with the carnage. Pretty good gun battles in the first 2 episodes anyway.
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I'm completely underwhelmed by the Pacific 5 episodes in yet it seems to be getting acclaimed liked crazy by the critics. I think this just residual love from BoB. I think the lack of a squad focus makes the story a bit disjointed. I sometimes feel they've (unfortunately) taken a leaf out of Terence Malicks book and gone arty farty nearly to the point of style over substance, but in others they've switched to melodrama (I wont say where for the people who are only just beginning watching).<br />
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In saying all that it is a highly watchable series (in a kind of History Channel way) but some way below the bar set by BoB. But then again than bar was set impossibly high.
