View Full Version : the pacific v. band of brothers
preferences? one better than the other?
tlongII
05-03-2010, 02:13 PM
The Pacific is kicking ass right now.
The John Basilone story is pretty incredible and last night's episode was imo the best of the series so far.
The Pacific still has a couple of episodes left but its special effects and cinematography are undoubtedly better. Easily the best take on this theater of WW2 and makes the movies of this genre look like shit. You can also tell that $100 million went into The Pacific.
That said, Band of Brothers imo still has a better cast and acting. Also much easier to care for the characters since they basically stay together throughout whereas in The Pacific they jump from different story arcs and characters in way where it takes longer to care about whats going on.
The Pacific started out much more slowly but looks like it'll end out with a much bigger bang than BoB.
i think they aptly named both series. band of brothers is a story about just that, easy company, and it therefore had a much stronger character aspect to it. the pacific is more about the subject matter (the pacific theater) and as it seen through the eyes of 3 characters. clearly there is not much of a buddy feel to it but there has been far more depth to the immorality of the war and the psychological impact it has on its participants. so whereas band was the stronger story when it came to a more traditional narrative, pacific has been far more philosophical.
and of course, the enemies were very different in character as well as was the style of warfare.
pacific has been very compelling.
SpursNextRomanEmpire
05-03-2010, 05:13 PM
The John Basilone story is pretty incredible and last night's episode was imo the best of the series so far.
The Pacific still has a couple of episodes left but its special effects and cinematography are undoubtedly better. Easily the best take on this theater of WW2 and makes the movies of this genre look like shit. You can also tell that $100 million went into The Pacific.
That said, Band of Brothers imo still has a better cast and acting. Also much easier to care for the characters since they basically stay together throughout whereas in The Pacific they jump from different story arcs and characters in way where it takes longer to care about whats going on.
The Pacific started out much more slowly but looks like it'll end out with a much bigger bang than BoB.
agree with all of that
Big P
05-03-2010, 05:21 PM
Two completely different films...a lot of the hate for The Pacific has been from the "Its not better than Band of Brothers" crowd...watch & enjoy them individually for what they are.
Bukefal
05-03-2010, 05:34 PM
Both are great, but I do prefer Band of Brothers.
Destro
05-03-2010, 05:42 PM
When Band of Brothers was one i looked forward to each new episode. The Pacific, i watched the first three but found it uninteresting when they'd focus on areas outside of the fighting. I don't care about a visit to Australia or some asshole selling war bonds. The action scenes are fantastic.
I watched the first four pacific episodes and I haven't seen one since... I hope it's improved but I gave up on it.
That didn't happen when BoB was airing.
MaNuMaNiAc
05-03-2010, 07:11 PM
The Pacific doesn't even deserve to be metioned in the same breath as Band of Brothers. Other than perhaps scope of production. Its big, and that's about it.
The acting is damn near atrocious, with very few exceptions. The scenes between the men that are supposed to make you feel for them instead feel forced and unnatural. Though that could be atributed to the awful dialogue.
The dude playing Leckie is so god damn awful, I was actually relieved he got hit. The kid playing Sledge isn't much better either. Can't get over his crap attempt at a southern accent.
The truth of the matter is, none of the characters are likeable enough to care about them being killed, which is something BoB accomplished exceptionally well. You actually felt sad to see most of them get hit.
The action sequences are well done, except for most of the ones on episode 7 where the shaky camera movement practically prevented you from understanding what the fuck was going on. I understand wanting the audience to feel what they are seeing, but give me a break.
Band of Brothers is practically superior in almost every aspect worth mentioning really. Acting quality, character develpment, dialogue, combat scenes, etc. I guess The Pacific has got BoB beat on the sex scene angle... that's something.
I am seriously pissed about it too (like you couldn't tell), since I was really looking forward to it. Serious dissapointment IMO.
CubanSucks
05-03-2010, 08:47 PM
How much more can Hanks and Spielberg milk out of Saving Private Ryan, seriously?
Mark in Austin
05-03-2010, 08:54 PM
I was more emotionally involved in Band of Brothers, but I think The Pacific has been excellent. The cast / storyline debates have spanned at least two threads here so I'll mention something else:
For a lot of Americans, WWII in Europe is part of our collective memory. The Pacific is just plain foreign for a lot of us. Hell, The D-Day Normandy landings are the most famous landings in US history, but there were TWO landings in the Pacific theater that were bigger. It's just such a massive subject to try to tackle from scratch. BOB had an advantage in that it was layering in a deeply personal journey on top of a subject matter many of us are already familiar with. The Pacific is just new to a lot of people. (One thing that I think has been overlooked is that it just follows the Marines - there were huge Army and Navy stories too. Hell, the Pacific Naval campaign would be amazing to tell too if it ever becomes cheap enough to do the crazy effects that would be needed.)
I've been watching it with a friend who is a Marine and really knows the history of the Corps, and the additional stories he's told me about some of the characters - like what an amazing Marine Chesty Puller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller) was - has really enriched it for me.
I think the final thing I can say about The Pacific is that even though it is such a huge subject to try to tackle, in a way it is much less epic in scope than Band of Brothers. It simply opens a window onto the lives of three Marines and we experience some of what they went through - from intense battles to the psychological battle to control their own sanity at times to being on R&R in Australia as the only young men in a country of horny lonely young women. It's a much more intimate story and I think it reflects the source material the filmmakers decided to base it on - With the Old Breed & Helmet for My Pillow mostly.
How many of us had heard of the Battle of the Bulge before Band of Brothers? I bet it was more than knew anything about Peleliu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Peleliu). The premiere ratings for the two series point to this too - Band had 10 milliion veiwers, Pacific had 4 million.
I'm just tremendously grateful to see the experience of the Marines in the Pacific campaign get told, and I hope this isn't the last series about the Pacific theater to be made - there's so much more that I don't know and would love to see.
Bukefal
05-04-2010, 04:26 AM
I was more emotionally involved in Band of Brothers, but I think The Pacific has been excellent. The cast / storyline debates have spanned at least two threads here so I'll mention something else:
Good point! That's true, this is probably why I like Band of Brothers more. It's more close to me, being from Europe, to my history etc...
coyotes_geek
05-04-2010, 02:53 PM
I watched the first four pacific episodes and I haven't seen one since... I hope it's improved but I gave up on it.
That didn't happen when BoB was airing.
I wasn't that impressed with the early episodes either but I stuck with it and am now glad that I did.
But you are right that BOB was able to hook people from the first episode and keep them hooked the entire way through, something Pacific has not been able to do.
i figured that BOB would get more love. personally, i do like it more but only for the fact that my father was a 17 year old kid who fought in the battle of the bulge. he always wondered about what it was like in the pacific though as he had heard some pretty horrible stories about it.
i still think that pacific was intentionally about the war more than anything else. and these last couple of episodes seem to be geared towards some very psychological themes.
DesignatedT
05-04-2010, 10:19 PM
BoB gets my vote even though the past few episodes of The Pacific have been a lot better than the start.
Biernutz
05-05-2010, 05:55 PM
Band of Brothers- the story is just so much better along with the acting.
scampers
05-05-2010, 07:55 PM
The Pacific didn't start off very well. I watched the first three episodes and then just sort of lost interest.. I decided to start getting caught up last night and went through them all up to episode 8 in a couple sittings.. it definitely has picked up.
Band of Brothers is the more enjoyable to watch, I think. The acting, the characters, the way it was filmed and how it followed a single unit.. The Pacific is just a different. I don't like it as much, but it doesn't mean it isn't as good as Band of Brothers. It's certainly the best thing ever made on the Pacific theater by far.
If I had to pick one though bad about the show.. honestly, as much as I enjoy seeing a naked pair of boobs, the show could do without the softcore porn. BoB had I think one sex scene throughout the entire thing.. this has had what like 4 or 5 already? Don't get me wrong, I like a good sex scene but they aren't really why I'm watching this show.
Whisky Dog
05-05-2010, 11:56 PM
I watched the first two episodes and now have 3 to 8 on DVR. Now is the time where I will start watching them through in 2 episode increments until the last one occurs which I will watch live.
last night's episode was the most sobering war story that i have seen in many years. it was exceptionally written and brought home the absolute essence of war, which is pure evil.
it sobered up my being pissed about the spurs loss immediately.
best episode of all the episodes of pacific and BOB put together.
tlongII
05-10-2010, 09:39 AM
Tremendous episode last night!
SpursNextRomanEmpire
05-10-2010, 10:57 AM
Last nights episode was the best by far, such a good story.
Mark in Austin
05-10-2010, 12:38 PM
I don't care how cold it was in the Ardennes Forest - if I had a choice of theaters to serve in I'd take the hell that was the Battle of the Bulge over the hell that was Okinawa every time.
RuffnReadyOzStyle
05-10-2010, 09:49 PM
I don't care how cold it was in the Ardennes Forest - if I had a choice of theaters to serve in I'd take the hell that was the Battle of the Bulge over the hell that was Okinawa every time.
Exactly what I said to my friend after that episode.
BTW, I lived in Okinawa for 2 years and have a deep feeling for the place and its people. I liked the fact that the producers in some way pointed out that the Okinawans weren't like the Japanese and were actually used as cannon fodder and brutalised by the Japanese - the vast majority were not Japanese collaborators, they were peasants caught in a conflict they couldn't escape. In fact, the Japanese killed tens of thousands of Okinawans by herding them into caves and lobbing grenades in after them, and by pushing them off cliffs. The Peace Park is built on one cliff where thousands of Okinawans were pushed to their deaths. If you ever visit Okinawa make sure to visit.
Exactly what I said to my friend after that episode.
BTW, I lived in Okinawa for 2 years and have a deep feeling for the place and its people. I liked the fact that the producers in some way pointed out that the Okinawans weren't like the Japanese and were actually used as cannon fodder and brutalised by the Japanese - the vast majority were not Japanese collaborators, they were peasants caught in a conflict they couldn't escape. In fact, the Japanese killed tens of thousands of Okinawans by herding them into caves and lobbing grenades in after them, and by pushing them off cliffs. The Peace Park is built on one cliff where thousands of Okinawans were pushed to their deaths. If you ever visit Okinawa make sure to visit.
i also thought that it was great that the writers pointed out that the americans as soldiers fought with the inner struggle to preserve the innocent lives of the okinawans and tried to show compassion despite the circumstances. but it also made sure to point out that the US decided to drop an atomic bomb on an hiroshima, killing more innocent civilians than the japanese ever did on okinawa.
that was as absolute affirmation of how horrible and utilitarian war can be.
in the end it was a very solid series. it was neither better nor worse than BOB in my eyes, just different.
DesignatedT
05-18-2010, 03:17 PM
The Pacific turned out to be a great series after a disappointing start IMO. I really enjoyed the last 5-6 episodes. BoB was probably still better but The Pacific was solid.
TDMVPDPOY
05-19-2010, 12:26 AM
i watch the first 3 eps and stop...
SpursNextRomanEmpire
05-19-2010, 08:14 AM
The Pacific turned out to be a great series after a disappointing start IMO. I really enjoyed the last 5-6 episodes. BoB was probably still better but The Pacific was solid.
Definitely agree
Yea The Pacific did start out slow but has some truly great episodes after that, particularly part 9.
Still enjoyed BOB more for its flow and acting. Hopefully Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will continue their efforts in this genre.
Yea The Pacific did start out slow but has some truly great episodes after that, particularly part 9.
Still enjoyed BOB more for its flow and acting. Hopefully Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will continue their efforts in this genre.
episode 9 was a classic !
what would be nice to see would be a short series focusing on some naval battles. or tracing the navy from pearl harbor through the battle at the coral sea and midway...
The Gemini Method
05-19-2010, 03:45 PM
While I slightly give Band of Bros. the edge, the Pacific started to deliver. I do think both will be in my collection (BoB already is...), but now I'm wondering if they make another WWII series or do they move on to the Korean/Vietnam flick as been rumored.
While I slightly give Band of Bros. the edge, the Pacific started to deliver. I do think both will be in my collection (BoB already is...), but now I'm wondering if they make another WWII series or do they move on to the Korean/Vietnam flick as been rumored.
it would be interesting to see how the dynamic of korea/vietnam was accepted by viewers, since the outcome of these "wars" were far less spectacular.
TDMVPDPOY
05-20-2010, 12:11 AM
it would be interesting to see how the dynamic of korea/vietnam was accepted by viewers, since the outcome of these "wars" were far less spectacular.
watch pacific last night dunno which eps, lol emo guy causing a ruckus on the edge while his friend gets killed tryin to pull him out of enemy view...fkn dumbshit emos...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.