Television Band of Brothers

cafecillos said:
I watched this a long time ago and really thought it was very good, but I can't help thinking it's been getting a bit overrated in recent years. Maybe if I rewatched it now (I haven't yet) I wouldn't think that?
Click to expand...
Definitely not overrated.
If it was a movie, it would be the best war movie ever made.
No glorifying war here.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
After Shaving Ryan’s Privates of course.

I went on a war movie binge after BoB, trying to find anything that even remotely lived up to it, absolutely did not succeed, not close.
Click to expand...

Saving Private Ryan is hugely overrated and has built a reputation on the opening scene alone. The plot doesn't make any sense, and most of the characters are stupid stereotypes.
 
It’s a shame The Pacific never reached the same heights as Band of Brothers. It’s still a good show but considering how great BoB’s was it was certainly a bit of a let down. It’s a show I’ve watched once and never went back to again whereas I must have watched BoB’s about 5 or 6 times now and could easily stick it on now and still be impressed by it.
 
ShinjiNinja26 said:
It’s a shame The Pacific never reached the same heights as Band of Brothers. It’s still a good show but considering how great BoB’s was it was certainly a bit of a let down. It’s a show I’ve watched once and never went back to again whereas I must have watched BoB’s about 5 or 6 times now and could easily stick it on now and still be impressed by it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don’t think I rewatched the Pacific, maybe expectations were too high after Band of Brothers but it was underwhelming in comparison. Hopefully the next instalment will make amends if it is eventually released later this year.
 
ShinjiNinja26 said:
It’s a shame The Pacific never reached the same heights as Band of Brothers. It’s still a good show but considering how great BoB’s was it was certainly a bit of a let down. It’s a show I’ve watched once and never went back to again whereas I must have watched BoB’s about 5 or 6 times now and could easily stick it on now and still be impressed by it.
Click to expand...

Generation Kill is more Band of Brothers than The Pacific is IMO.
 
Saving Private Ryan is overrated now? G’way outta that. Band of Brothers wouldn’t even exist without it!
 
I think The Pacific gets an unfair bad rap. It had to live up to unreal expectations following Band of Brothers, but it's really two very different shows. Band of Brothers followed a larger group and focused on the camaraderie of the company. It was able to balance the hardships with a lot of great moments of levity, humour and heart. The Pacific focused much more on individuals and how they are shaped and impacted by the horror of the war. It's a lot more depressing, but in terms of tecnically showing how WW2 was fought, it's on par with BoB. The storytelling is not quite as good, though, that's clear.
 
Mike Smalling said:
I think The Pacific gets an unfair bad rap. It had to live up to unreal expectations following Band of Brothers, but it's really two very different shows. Band of Brothers followed a larger group and focused on the camaraderie of the company. It was able to balance the hardships with a lot of great moments of levity, humour and heart. The Pacific focused much more on individuals and how they are shaped and impacted by the horror of the war. It's a lot more depressing, but in terms of tecnically showing how WW2 was fought, it's on par with BoB. The storytelling is not quite as good, though, that's clear.
Click to expand...

Personally I enjoyed The Pacific more exactly because the stories for each of the 3 protagonists have the personal touch that did not exist in Band of Brothers. All protagonists were shaped in very different ways by what they saw in battle. Eugene Sledge's own story was particularly difficult to watch as he went through everything from the disappointment of not being able to enlist straight away (because of his heart condition), to facing a harsh baptism of fire at Peleliu, to nearly losing his sanity in Okinawa and, finally, to seeing those Okinawan civilians suffering and to have whatever idealism he had at the beginning shattered forever.

Speaking of depicting WW2 battles, I also feel there is an extra edge of ferocity above Band of Brothers although both series are excellent at depicting the war. Perhaps it is because of the nature of the battlefield and the ferocity of the enemy. That being said, I will keep my eyes on the upcoming Masters of the Air.
 
ShinjiNinja26 said:
It’s a shame The Pacific never reached the same heights as Band of Brothers. It’s still a good show but considering how great BoB’s was it was certainly a bit of a let down. It’s a show I’ve watched once and never went back to again whereas I must have watched BoB’s about 5 or 6 times now and could easily stick it on now and still be impressed by it.
Click to expand...
I tend to prefer the Pacific but that's solely because of the Pacific war theatre with the islands and jungles which I find fascinating.
 
Re-watched the Finale yesterday after seeing this thread :drool:
 
GueRed said:
Platoon is awesome.
IMO one of the best anti-war war movies out there .
Click to expand...

It's a trope at this point, but there are no anti-war movies. Maybe Come and See? All American anti-war movies basically drive up recruitment to the armed forces.

I'd say the best is Full Metal Jacket, but Platoon is great too. I also really like Jarhead, for a more modern take.
 
RedDevilQuebecois said:
Personally I enjoyed The Pacific more exactly because the stories for each of the 3 protagonists have the personal touch that did not exist in Band of Brothers. All protagonists were shaped in very different ways by what they saw in battle. Eugene Sledge's own story was particularly difficult to watch as he went through everything from the disappointment of not being able to enlist straight away (because of his heart condition), to facing a harsh baptism of fire at Peleliu, to nearly losing his sanity in Okinawa and, finally, to seeing those Okinawan civilians suffering and to have whatever idealism he had at the beginning shattered forever.

Speaking of depicting WW2 battles, I also feel there is an extra edge of ferocity above Band of Brothers although both series are excellent at depicting the war. Perhaps it is because of the nature of the battlefield and the ferocity of the enemy. That being said, I will keep my eyes on the upcoming Masters of the Air.
Click to expand...
Same. After watching The Pacific I ordered Sledge's book With The Old Breed. It's basically the notes he wrote on the bible rephrased into a book.
 
nimic said:
Generation Kill is more Band of Brothers than The Pacific is IMO.
Click to expand...

Generation Kill is a brilliant show. For war films, totally different style but Restrepo is another great one.


Nothing tops the scene where the artillery starts falling in Bastogne though.
 
The Pacific was good, but I never felt emotionally invested in the characters like I did with Band of Brothers.
 
nimic said:
It's a trope at this point, but there are no anti-war movies. Maybe Come and See? All American anti-war movies basically drive up recruitment to the armed forces.

I'd say the best is Full Metal Jacket, but Platoon is great too. I also really like Jarhead, for a more modern take.
Click to expand...
The Desmond Doss film Hacksaw Ridge is brilliant.

I’m really liking Band of Brothers so far, 5 episodes in.
 
Phil Jones Face said:
The Pacific was good, but I never felt emotionally invested in the characters like I did with Band of Brothers.
Click to expand...

I still remember many of the names, but I can't remember even the main characters from The Pacific. Might just be because I've watched the latter twice and the former many times, but then that's sort if the point too.
 
I thought The Pacific did a great job at highlighting just how horrific that theater was. How ruthless the Japanese were, how awful the conditions were for the soldiers. And some of the battles were stunning. But it definitely lacked the memorable characters and comradely of BoB. We got to follow the same group of people for the entire thing and their journey.

it also didn’t help that most of the people in The Pacific were dead when it was filmed. The interviews at the start of BoB helped a lot.
 
Massive Spanner said:
I thought The Pacific did a great job at highlighting just how horrific that theater was. How ruthless the Japanese were, how awful the conditions were for the soldiers. And some of the battles were stunning. But it definitely lacked the memorable characters and comradely of BoB. We got to follow the same group of people for the entire thing and their journey.

it also didn’t help that most of the people in The Pacific were dead when it was filmed. The interviews at the start of BoB helped a lot.
Click to expand...
Interviews were what really pushed it over the top into legendary territory.
 
Mike Smalling said:
I think The Pacific gets an unfair bad rap. It had to live up to unreal expectations following Band of Brothers, but it's really two very different shows. Band of Brothers followed a larger group and focused on the camaraderie of the company. It was able to balance the hardships with a lot of great moments of levity, humour and heart. The Pacific focused much more on individuals and how they are shaped and impacted by the horror of the war. It's a lot more depressing, but in terms of tecnically showing how WW2 was fought, it's on par with BoB. The storytelling is not quite as good, though, that's clear.
Click to expand...

And the biggest flaw is that many of the characters look so similar (or maybe it is just the storytelling) that you end up confusing them and/or they merge a bit. Still very good of course.
 
Last edited:
Massive Spanner said:
I thought The Pacific did a great job at highlighting just how horrific that theater was. How ruthless the Japanese were, how awful the conditions were for the soldiers. And some of the battles were stunning. But it definitely lacked the memorable characters and comradely of BoB. We got to follow the same group of people for the entire thing and their journey.

it also didn’t help that most of the people in The Pacific were dead when it was filmed. The interviews at the start of BoB helped a lot.
Click to expand...

This is spot on. In the US, the best known Pacific Theater battles are basically Iwo Jima and probably Guadalcanal, but it's not widely understood how horrific the island hopping campaign was. The assaults on Tarawa and other islands were like the D-Day landings but worse since the landscape was all coral with tunnels everywhere, there was nowhere nearby to retreat to, and the Japanese soldiers were thoroughly brainwashed.

One thing that really gave me some perspective on how some of the battles happened was playing the original Call of Duty and Battlefield 1942 games. Wake Island was really just a tiny horseshoe shaped island in the middle of nowhere that stood against the Japanese navy with minimal preparation.

I think the Australians pay more attention to the New Guinea campaign, but so much of the Pacific Theater is glossed over except for maybe Iwo Jima and certainly Hiroshima/Nagasaki. D-Day probably has the most cultural cache of any WW2 battle for Americans and Canadians, while it's probably second after the Battle of Britain/Blitz for the Brits.
 
Wibble said:
And the biggest flaw is that many of the characters look so similar (or maybe it is just the storytelling) that you end up confusing them and/or they merge a bit. Still very good of course.
Click to expand...

This is true. It really takes multiple viewing to get a grasp of the entire group of characters, outside of the most distinguishable ones. It's largely a result of them all wearing the same clothing and often a helmet as well.
 
The Pacific isn't a patch on BoB.

There are some good moments but it's all feels disconnected because it focuses on soldiers in different places.

Also that Australia episode is downright awful.
 
I didnt watch Pacific till the end, just didnt like it. It was a bit chaotic.

BoB is great, need to have a rewatch cause I last watched it on my 14 inch monitor from CD back in the day.
 
Just on the episode where they discover the concentration camp. Harrowing episode.

Such a great TV series
 
Finished it. Loved it. Might even re-watch the first few episodes now I know the characters.

Been doing some post-watch research and a lot of the people portrayed lived to a ripe old age.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.