The stars at night are big and bright...

The stars at night are big and bright...
The stars at night are big and bright...

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Pacific

"There are things that men can do to each other that are sobering to the soul."- Robert Leckie

The 10 part miniseries The Pacific debuted last night on HBO. It's from the same producers (Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks) that brought you Band of Brothers and takes an equally stark look at WWII. This is not a propaganda film like The Sands of Iwo Jima or Gung Ho. Neither is it a grossly inaccurate depiction like Pear Harbor. This is a historically accurate dramatization of the men and the battles they fought, just like Band of Brothers.

There are parts that will shock you, there are parts that will sicken you and there are parts that will make your heart swell with pride to be an American. I couldn't help but think of my Dad when the Marines were heading into battle aboard LCVP's (Higgins Boats). Dad was a coxswain in the Coast Guard and ferried many Marines ashore into battle during the war.

Altho there are many similarities, one major difference between The Pacific and Band of Brothers is the look at the toll taken on both the men and their families before, during and after the war. It is not focused solely on the battlefield.

Last night's episode went by much too quickly. It was just a taste of what's to come in the following weeks. I'd be interested to see what the subscription numbers look like for HBO before and after the miniseries debut. For those of you that don't have HBO and are DirecTv subscribers, you can catch Episode 1 tonight on The 101 Network.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The picture is a bit out of focus I think. It's difficult to read the rollmarkings on John Moses Browning's crowning achievement, the Colt 1911 .45 ACP.

I spent much of yesterday afternoon at the range with my sons, a friend of theirs, and my dad. They all fired my civilian production Series 80 1911 (in the midst of managing who was shooting what, I neglected to shoot it myself). For my younger son and his friend, it was their first time to shoot a ".45".

When we left, my older son lamented that we hadn't shot the P-90 (it had been in the car the whole time).

Another time.

RPM said...

I love my P-90! But the Colt 1911 is a classic.