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Band of Brothers is 10 years old..

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Ok, I have one gripe about the 3rd episode that always bugs me:

When the 501st were holding in those woods, with the German infantry and armored coming down the hill, you finally see the Allied armored division come through and take the germans out. There's a guy on one of the tanks, mounted on a turret, that has no expression on his face. He's so nonchalant about firing a turret in the middle of a battle, with nothing protecting him. I couldn't get over how bad an actor that guy was.

Edit: Here's a pic

vlcsnap12440.png
 
The Big Rig said:
Ok, I have one gripe about the 3rd episode that always bugs me:

When the 501st were holding in those woods, with the German infantry and armored coming down the hill, you finally see the Allied armored division come through and take the germans out. There's a guy on one of the tanks, mounted on a turret, that has no expression on his face. He's so nonchalant about firing a turret in the middle of a battle, with nothing protecting him. I couldn't get over how bad an actor that guy was.
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I know exactly who you are talking about. Love that guy, lol.
 
10 years? That's crazy. I would have guessed it was released much more recent than that, but I only saw it for the first time probably 4 or 5 years ago. It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. I've never been a big fan of history or of war related stuff, but after my first viewing I ended up reading the Winters memoir, the original Ambrose book, and the Bill Guarnere memoir within like two weeks. Great stuff.
 
Damn this makes me feel old. I remember an HBO exec coming into one of our classes at university and one of the things he mentioned during his presentation was this Tom Hanks project they were working on called Band of Brothers, due to be released in a year or so.
 
Only "box set" sort of thing I've ever owned. Was absolutely blown away the first time I watched this through and it has only gotten better each time I've watched it.

Need to catch the Pacific sooner or later, but I might have to run through these again soon.
 
FStop7 said:
Donnie Wahlberg also proved in BoB that he is far more talented than his brother.
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This is truth.

Band of Brothers managed to take all the best things about Saving Private Ryan and mix it in with a better, more historically accurate story.

When I recommend it to others I usually tell them to imagine Saving Private Ryan, but in a series and without the hokey plot line.

Also liked the Pacific but its not on the same level as BoB.
 
This seems like a continuity error. What looks to be late evening/sunset to the guys in England, but Nixon mentions it's 5 pm in New York ("happy hour")

Think it would be pitched dark in England if that were the case? 5 hours difference, puts it at 10 pm local time.

BoB downgrade!
 
Now read the book, you lazy sods. Stephen Ambrose is the unsung hero who tracked all these guys down and masterfully told their story.
 
ToxicAdam said:
Now read the book, you lazy sods. Stephen Ambrose is the unsung hero who tracked all these guys down and masterfully told their story.
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Did as well. Also have a book by David Kenyon Webster (the soldier who was injured in holland and came back after Bastogne, and "felt like a replacement, even though he was at Toccoa). Called Parachute Infantry

Need to pick up Winter's book
 
I have it on DVD but whenever I see it on The History Channel, I'll stop whatever I was doing and spend the rest of the day watching it.
 
Still think my favorite part in the series, is the first half or so of episode 2. When everyone is scattered, and they slowly run into each other.
 
Watched it for the first time at the start of the year and thought it was great, but I was expecting it to be fucking mind blowing the way people talk about and came off it somewhat disappointed.
 
maquiladora said:
Whenever I read these " X is Y years old" I always have a mini panic attack about how little time that actually feels like and at how old I'll be when that same period of time is flipped into the future.

:(
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Yea next thing you know you 50 and don't have a clue of wtf hit you (LIFE)
 
The Pacific was good, but not great. I knew that the series was in major trouble when it was halfway over and I couldn't tell the characters apart. Unmemorable, boring characters that really don't show any progression.
 
speculawyer said:
I have The Pacific on Blu-Ray but I can't get around to watching it. Posts here are not helping.
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You should. Its a good series that focuses more on the horrors of a much more brutal combat. The characters are just much weaker. But there are some very good moments within.
 
Scullibundo said:
You should. Its a good series that focuses more on the horrors of a much more brutal combat. The characters are just much weaker. But there are some very good moments within.
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The show had the deck stacked against it from the start. The European efforts in WWII have been romanticized via media and history for decades now whereas the Pacific efforts have been glossed over for the most part. France, Germany, etc. are just cooler locales that the jungles of the Pacific. The characters are also stronger in BoB so The Pacific looks even weaker by comparison.
 
I've never seen it.
I'm not into war stuff, I'm assuming this is more character driven than "glory porn" so I should really do it.
 
The real problem with comparing it to BoB, was the BoB was one linear narrative that came from one incredible source in Ambrose. The Pacific was cobbled together from three different pieces of source material and as such you'd start out with one character in episode one, only to find that you can't remember who he is when he reappears five episodes later.
 
speculawyer said:
I have The Pacific on Blu-Ray but I can't get around to watching it. Posts here are not helping.
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I'll try to paint what I can recall between the 2 series.

Band of Brothers was compelling in its comradery, storytelling and ability to make you like the soldiers or even feel part of easy company. The pacing of the series is smooth as butter and the action is ripe with enjoyment.

The Pacific is really just flat.. in everything it does. There is maybe 2 action scenes that stick out and the rest of the series is dull, dead, boring and drab. There is no squad to follow, random soldiers, TONS off off shore, on leave footage of their personal lives outside of the war and the overall feel was much more depressing in nature.

I watched The Pacific all the way through, then sold it to a coworker and will never watch it again. On the contrary, BoB is the best TV series I've ever watched... it blows my mind and brings me to tears everytime I watch it through.
 
On recent rewatches I actually find myself feeling teary-eyed when Nixon is complaining about his wife divorcing him and taking his dog.

When he says Its not even her dog! ITS MY DOG! You can't help but feel the frustration of not being able to do anything whilst the life you long to return to is being pulled out from under you.
 
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