The Pacific

[Treize69]

In terms of watchability and getting 'into' the story, I think The Pacific isn't even in the same league as BoB. I'm about halfway through it and I couldn't tell you one character from another at this point, and it barely manages to hold my interest. BoB I watched in one marathon sitting without issue, while The Pacific I get bored after two episodes. I'm glad I borrowed it instead of buying it- it would be another DVD set that was watched once and then gathered dust until I either gave it away or sold it off for a few bucks on E-bay.

[Hoffman]

Is available in full on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d8iim6LfpQ&feature=related  Thats the first episode.

On a side not, how reasonably accurate or not accurate to history is it?  

Some of the characters and actions aren't the same as the books the series is based on.  But these are very little things along the lines of : "I don't remember that happening that way in the book..."  But they make the story work in the series.

But over-all... I'd say the series is spot on.  About as close as you can get to having fought in the Pacific without having fought in the Pacific.

I had a couple great uncles who went through that hell, after watching the series and reading the books I don't know how they made the transition back to civilian life with any amount of sanity.

[jimson]

In terms of watchability and getting 'into' the story, I think The Pacific isn't even in the same league as BoB. I'm about halfway through it and I couldn't tell you one character from another at this point, and it barely manages to hold my interest. BoB I watched in one marathon sitting without issue, while The Pacific I get bored after two episodes. I'm glad I borrowed it instead of buying it- it would be another DVD set that was watched once and then gathered dust until I either gave it away or sold it off for a few bucks on E-bay.

I agree with this to some extent, but I am a little more than halfway through it for the second time and I've gotten alot more out of it this time.

For whatever reason I am just more interested in the Pacific theater.

Combat is combat but the hell that these Marines went through is incredible.

Some of the characters and actions aren't the same as the books the series is based on.  But these are very little things along the lines of : "I don't remember that happening that way in the book..."  But they make the story work in the series.

They combined the characters in some places. When Snafu stopped Sledge from taking gold teeth, in the book I believe it was a corpsman friend of Sledge's who did that.

And Sledge never described a scene where tough old salt gunny Haney broke down but did mention that he had himself pulled from the front because he couldn't take it anymore.

[Selino631]

i actually really enjoyed The Pacific.

Band of Brothers was designed to show you the brotherhood of being in a deployed unit during WW2.

The Pacific was designed to show people how war effects people individually

[Patches1]

To compare "Band of Brothers" with "The Pacific" in like terms is not possible, in my opinion, since "Band of Brothers" is a story about a single unit, it's formation, training, and deployments of this unit and the interpersonal relationships formed within the unit throughout the War versus "The Pacific" which broadens the scope of the war in the Pacific between different individuals, their training within their units, their unit deployments, and their interpersonal relationship with the war, rather than with the individuals within their unit. These are two very different stories from two very different Theaters of Operations, fighting two very different fanatical enemies.

I have viewed each of the two series (I own them both) several times and I think "The Pacific" is underrated because it did not follow the same storyline as "Band of Brothers". Where "Band of Brothers" shows the unique bonding and warmth formed between men who train and fight together through adversity, "The Pacific" shows the callousness an individual adopts for individual survival through repeated exposure to an enemy who will not surrender, who fights to the death, and who has little regard for life as we westerners knew it. "The Pacific" also introduces the mindset of young men post Pearl Harbor, who feel a need to enlist to do their share of fighting and not be left to explain why they did not, or could not, fight.

Just some thoughts....

[sntslilhlpr6601]

Yeah, when I first watched The Pacific I was a little disappointed when comparing it to Band of Brothers.

But that's just the thing. You can't compare them.

I do prefer the continuity and brotherhood of Band of Brothers more, but The Pacific is still very well done for what it is. I can't even fathom what those guys went through. That terrain, and that type of enemy...just unimaginable.

[Hoffman]

It's also pretty difficult to do a unit based series like BoB for the units in the Pacific.  The nightmare of Peleliu and Okinawa would see you constantly being introduced to new characters being killed and wounded.  They lost most of their Platoon leaders, their Company commander...  The only way to show what happened with any kind of continuity is to stick with one character who made it through and focus on the events around him.  Which is what the series does.

On Peleliu the 1st Marines reported 6,526 Casualties.  Their Infantry units numbered ~ 9,000 men at the start of the battle.  It was worse on Okinawa with a reported 7,665 casualties.  Many of the rifle companies suffered more than 150% casualties due to replacements.
After both battles the 1st Marines were considered shattered as a combat unit and withdrawn to Pavuvu in order to reconstitute the division.

Company K, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines went into Peleliu with approximately 235 men, the normal size of a World WAr II Marine rifle company. It left with only 85 unhurt. It suffered 64 percent casualties. Of its original seven Officers, two remained for the return to Pavuvu.

Of the 85 who got through Peleliu, 65 landed on Okinawa. 26 of those men made it off the Island.

[ap1102]

The pacific was a meat grinder. The enemy was totally unlike any enemy in europe in their fanaticism and willingness to die for the emporer. It was merely a fight for survival from day to day. This is much like the radical jihadists we face as a nation today. My stepdad went through Okinawa and Iwo Jima with USMC. He was assigned to 75mm Artillery on a sherman chassis (the priest) I think they called it. Hes only talked about it once in the 35 years Ive known him. It must have been pure hell.. Hats off to all our service member past, present and future

[B4Buster]

I liked The Pacific better than Band of Brothers.   Much better than BoB.   

I didn't think it was much better, but I also enjoyed it more.