Band of Brothers was Awesome, The Pacific was Meh.

[gregcomic]

Anyone watched both Band of Brothers and the follow up series, The Pacific? I thought the first series was incredible in both story telling, action, and character development. The Pacific was entertaining, but I thought it really paled compared to the first series. Perhaps my expectations were a little to high for The Pacific, but I just thought it was lacking something. I think it was because they split the story between three characters, rather than focus on one core group of men, so the character development took a hit. I don't know, but that's what I think. Anyone think the opposite?, that The Pacific was better?

[Thundermonkey]

I liked the wake up scene after the Marines got to Austrailia.

[marshal99]

Yeah , Band of Brothers were better. Loved the first episode where David Schwimmer played the incompetent captain. I realise later that the guy was actually a real soldier , can't imagine how his descendents feel about his portrayal like that.

[edhopper]

I thought they were very different. But both excellent. As the combat theaters they portrayed.
Band of Brothers showed the more well known fight against Nazi Germany. It is a more uplifting story.
The Pacific showed the horrors of the fight against Japan. It wasn't as feel-good, with empty victories and an enemy that was much more alien to us.

The Pacific was not meant to be a Band of Brothers:Japan.

[marshal99]

It served as a counterpart though , since the war was fought on 2 fronts.

[gregcomic]

I thought they were very different. But both excellent. As the combat theaters they portrayed.
Band of Brothers showed the more well known fight against Nazi Germany. It is a more uplifting story.
The Pacific showed the horrors of the fight against Japan. It wasn't as feel-good, with empty victories and an enemy that was much more alien to us.

The Pacific was not meant to be a Band of Brothers:Japan.

Yea true, I guess I never looked at it from that aspect. Although both series had a somber tone to it, The Pacific definitely felt more grim. But to me, the characters themselves on The Pacific were less likeable. I just didn't feel for them the way I felt on Band of Brothers.

[edhopper]

Yea true, I guess I never looked at it from that aspect. Although both series had a somber tone to it, The Pacific definitely felt more grim. But to me, the characters themselves on The Pacific were less likeable. I just didn't feel for them the way I felt on Band of Brothers.

Well, I think the impact on the soldiers was much greater on the Marines in the Pacific. There were more lighthearted moments in BoB. The Pacific was grim, but the fighting and casualties was much worse.
It was like D Day after D Day against an enemy who did not surrender.
I did like John Seda and James Badge Dale.

[Sean Walsh]

Yeah , Band of Brothers were better. Loved the first episode where David Schwimmer played the incompetent captain. I realise later that the guy was actually a real soldier , can't imagine how his descendents feel about his portrayal like that.

Marcus Brotherton's 2009 book Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers talks about how his son Michael reacted - he wasn't angry, and initially didn't know a lot about his dad's wartime service, but he's spoken out since about just the kind of man & father he was.

The remaining veterans of Easy Company came to respect Herbert Sobel more in recent years as a result of his son's words. Though I understand Dick Winters (the head of Easy Co.) didn't credit Sobel for making Easy what it was.

I've actually found - on a tribute site for Bill Guarnere, who was another member of Easy Co. and a featured character in BoB - a forum of discussion amongst folks who've attended Easy reunions and met/befriended these veterans over the years. Amazing reading. Here's a thread about Sobel, his son and Easy's views on them.

[supergirls_pal]

Perhaps my expectations were a little to high for The Pacific, but I just thought it was lacking something.

I felt that The Pacific lacked heart. With Band of Brothers I got the impression that we should be proud of them, with The Pacific the impression I got was that we should feel sorry for them.

I also got the sense from Band of Brothers that everything the paratroopers did to fight the Germans was justified and worth it, whereas The Pacific conveyed to me the feeling that perhaps we were a little too rough against the Japanese, and that the cause wasn't as just.

Some of the characters in The Pacific really annoyed me like that Cajun Marine that fought alongside Eugene Sledge in Peleliu and Okinawa. How he took that poncho from the replacement was asinine. I doubt he felt the least bit responsible for that other Marine's death when they had to get replacement mortar shells in the rain. Back on Peleliu I couldn't help but think what a bunch of jerks those Marines were when they just stood around when a Japanese chased one of their comrades around after he relieved himself in a cave. How many times did that guy yell for help before somebody lifted a finger?

I thought the storyline around Basilone and his bride Dora was tragic yet poignant. But I think they overdid it with Leckie's liberty romance with Stella in Australia. Granted, a lot of relationships end that way in war and peace, but I think they should have focused more on the relationship between the Marine and the Australian girl he later married and lived in Texas with after the war.

I understand that war is hell, and can be utterly devoid of meaning to those in the midst of it, but I think The Pacific could of done a better job of showing why that war had to be fought against Japan, like Band of Brothers did against Germany.

[Alex]

I can't remeber a single character from The Pacific.
Even the famous guy, i remeber a lot of guys from BoB, that was the shows problem.

[gregcomic]

I understand that war is hell, and can be utterly devoid of meaning to those in the midst of it, but I think The Pacific could of done a better job of showing why that war had to be fought against Japan, like Band of Brothers did against Germany.

Ah, good perspective. I think they did a better job of painting the Germans as the villains whereas you found yourself sympathizing a teeny bit with the Japanese at times (ex: when they used that lone Japanese soldier as target practice or the other one that got choked to death.) The Japanese did commit a number of atrocities to the countries that they invaded and colonized and were just as bad as the Germans if you ask the survivors of the colonized countries at the time. My parents are Chinese and there are still lingering bitterness and hatred toward the Japanese from them and many of their age group. I've been on a tour of Seoul, Korea and the tour guide said there still remains the same bitterness and hatred towards the Japanese that is felt by my parents. I don't know how true that rings, but the tour guide also mentioned that Koreans rarely buy Japanese automobiles for that fact. And I did notice a lack of Japanese cars over there. Again, I can't confirm that, it might be because they'd rather support their own vehicle manufacturing companies (kia, hyundai).

But then there are two sides of the story, and I guess that's what they were trying to achieve with The Pacific. Well, I myself have nothing against the Japanese, just to clarify. I'm not going to hold the actions of a past generation against one that is totally uninvolved. Just wanted to explain things from yet another perspective.