No doubt about it, but after watching the trailer, I can't shake the feeling that I've seen this film many times before. One of the things I liked about the John Adams series was that you can't easily think of 10 movies about John Adams or even the time period in which he lived.
I can think of 10 movies about the Pacific that I wish hadn't been made. The PTO was an odd theater as far as historical and media coverage is concerned. The invasion of Okinawa was a larger amphibious operation than the Normandy invasion, and yet, D-Day gets the majority of the coverage. The highest rate of direct fire, American deaths per hour during the war probably occurred on Tarawa, and yet Omaha beach is seen as the most "horrific" landing. Oddly enough, Ernie Pyle, who was a melancholy guy after N. Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France made special note about how much more brutal and bleak the front lines were in the Pacific. Flags of Our Fathers was probably the first serious treatment the Pacific War has received (I don't count the Thin Red Line), and it was more focussed on telling the story of the flag raisers than the battle.
It may not be as popular as Band of Brothers because it is the second type-series, but I feel like its even more important. Americans as a whole know a lot more, relatively speaking, about the ETO than they do the PTO, and I think that's ironic, considering the war began and ended in PTO for the U.S.
Regardless, I'm very excited to see this, having read both books on which it is based, and with the expectation of a polished production that Spielberg and Hanks bring to it.
