12voltman59
May 17, 2010, 6:46 PM
It took a bit for that series to have the immediate sort of power and connection that I had with the previous one that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg did for HBO---"Band of Brothers"--but the show grew on me.
There was that other thread that someone posted where he seemed to be dissing this series since it didn't mention the efforts of non-Americans.
Before the series got started----I heard an interview with some of the people who made this program and they said with the scope and nature of the way the war was waged in the Pacific---it was really hard to get a handle on how best to tell a story that would be representative of that "arena of war."
They found the material that was available on the men in the story, many of whom had published their own stories about the war and with John Basilone---since he was a celebrity of sorts----there was all kinds of published stories available on him from that era and ones produced up to this day.
With a story as big as the war in the Pacific was----and with a story of this nature for production--you can only effectively tell a small part of it---in the case of this mini-series---they focused on the stories of those half dozen or so men and those around them.
I have to say----last night's finishing episode---dealing with the end of the war and how those who survived and not in the case of John Basilone and his widow Nina, dealt with the aftermath of the war.
In a quiet way---this episode showed how the different charcters dealt with coming back to "the real world."
It really drove home just how wrenching a thing it can be for someone who goes to fight a war--about how much it tears out a piece of your heart, mind and soul.
But it seemed the survivors of those battles all did go on and went on to live good lives, though.
I find it sad for Nina Basilone--they were only married a total of seven months--most of that time with Sgt Basilone going back to the lines where he died on Iwo Jima. Nina Basilone was 32 years of age when her husband died and in the epilogue, it said she never married again even though she lived until not all that long ago.
I can say---I am glad that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have gotten together to produce a collection of what are some modern war film classics and really among the best film stories on World War II that include this story, Band of Brothers and "Saving Private Ryan."
With the airing of this program having been endcapped with "Treme"--a story from another incredible group of film producers (who did The Wire on HBO and in the "90s--Homicide: Life on the Street on NBC) about post-Katrina New Orleans----those two hours have been some very powerful and wonderful hours of "television."
I am kinda sad that "The Pacific" is over--it is hard to believe that those ten weeks went so fast!
There was that other thread that someone posted where he seemed to be dissing this series since it didn't mention the efforts of non-Americans.
Before the series got started----I heard an interview with some of the people who made this program and they said with the scope and nature of the way the war was waged in the Pacific---it was really hard to get a handle on how best to tell a story that would be representative of that "arena of war."
They found the material that was available on the men in the story, many of whom had published their own stories about the war and with John Basilone---since he was a celebrity of sorts----there was all kinds of published stories available on him from that era and ones produced up to this day.
With a story as big as the war in the Pacific was----and with a story of this nature for production--you can only effectively tell a small part of it---in the case of this mini-series---they focused on the stories of those half dozen or so men and those around them.
I have to say----last night's finishing episode---dealing with the end of the war and how those who survived and not in the case of John Basilone and his widow Nina, dealt with the aftermath of the war.
In a quiet way---this episode showed how the different charcters dealt with coming back to "the real world."
It really drove home just how wrenching a thing it can be for someone who goes to fight a war--about how much it tears out a piece of your heart, mind and soul.
But it seemed the survivors of those battles all did go on and went on to live good lives, though.
I find it sad for Nina Basilone--they were only married a total of seven months--most of that time with Sgt Basilone going back to the lines where he died on Iwo Jima. Nina Basilone was 32 years of age when her husband died and in the epilogue, it said she never married again even though she lived until not all that long ago.
I can say---I am glad that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have gotten together to produce a collection of what are some modern war film classics and really among the best film stories on World War II that include this story, Band of Brothers and "Saving Private Ryan."
With the airing of this program having been endcapped with "Treme"--a story from another incredible group of film producers (who did The Wire on HBO and in the "90s--Homicide: Life on the Street on NBC) about post-Katrina New Orleans----those two hours have been some very powerful and wonderful hours of "television."
I am kinda sad that "The Pacific" is over--it is hard to believe that those ten weeks went so fast!