European Theater was already a done deal by the time the A-Bombs were cleared for field-use. Truman didn't learn about the bombs until April, and by that time, as you say, the war in the European Theater was a foregone conclusion, with russia closing the noose around Hitler's throat and Patton pushing that way too. Anyways, I personally feel that the European Theater was important, but things cannot exist in a vacuum, and all aspects of that War contributed to the other, so you may be right as well.
Germany had a chance until they decided to throw all their best forces into a suicide march against Russia in Winter, and sending remnants of senile old men and green teenagers to fight in the West.
Band of Brothers was certainly better but The Pacific was actually very good. If The Pacific had preceded BOB, the "I couldn't get past Episode Two" comments wouldn't be here; it suffered too much in comparison to BoB, and so many viewers were like, "BoB was better, what's on Showtime?" Plus, unfortunately, the European Theater of WWII was always more interesting than the island-hopping of the Marines in the Pacific. I think, too, I was spoiled by the Pacific's extras on BluRay. One way or another, we owe a lot to the young men who served back then, who gave everything (and willingly: these weren't regular-Joe Army dudes, these were Airborne and Marines) in order to keep the Japanese and the Germans from devouring everything in their path. I hope the new series will be great. Probably got awhile before it sees the light of day.
Agree with the bolded. Disagree with the "what if Pacific had preceded BoB." If that had happened, BoB may never have been green-lit. BoB grabbed you from the onset with story and characters, not letting go. Pacific failed to do that from the get-go.
This again, reflects the actions of Hitler. Hitler was very rash in his decision making and often made very poor calls. Even D-day was a complete inept disaster for the Germans. If it wasn't for Rommel, the Allies would have waltz right into France w/out any real opposition. On the surface, it appears the world was not ready for WWII. Nobody wanted a repeat of WWI. In the 20-25 years between WWI and WWII, weapons systems were greatly enhanced. Starting in the 30's fighting was already going on in Asia and there was still a lot of volatility in Europe. WWII marked the boiling point and nations fully understood that issues had to be resolved across the globe to end the global fighting. I would say WWII was more political than actual fighting. It is believed the Allies we're far more ahead of the game than given credit. For example, Hitler could have been assassinated very early in the war, but they would rather Hitler in power than some of the other commanders. Concentration camps and the mass exterminations was known long before they were liberated. They knew the Soviet Union was no friend and Stalin was more brutal than Hitler. They were far more concerned with post WWII relations with the Soviet Union than the fighting at hand. That said, they also fully understood what would happen if the Soviet Union took Japan. The Soviet Union would control the pacific and be a huge threat to the West Coast. The Japanese would rather surrender in full to the US than the Soviet Union. We didn't need to use nukes on Japan if we weren't after an immediate surrender. We could have blockaded them for years and continued to bomb them into submission. We did not want the Soviet Union to gain a foothold in the Pacific.
1. True. Normandy fortifications were pathetic until Rommel was able to reinforce what he could. 2. No guarantee that the assassination would have worked. We can look at all the other numerous failed attempts that he miraculously lived through. 3. No arguments there.
First Teaser Trailer <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/sBy_FIlcOJs?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/sBy_FIlcOJs?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Apparently this trailer is for a different movie with the same title, not the series this thread is about.
Not that it won't be a good series... But there are other war stories from different wars out there that would benefit from BOB treatment. I'd love to see a mini series of that quality from HBO on Vietnam for example.
Yeh I wonder why just WW2 for them? There's plenty of good stories from WW1 and Vietnam. Even in more recent times.
as long as it's set in the europe campaign. yeah yeah the pacific was just as important, we know, but there is some mystique about fighting natzis on beautiful historic scenery. also, it would be pretty cool if they did it from the enemy's point of view or do one on spanish republicans fighting of franco and natzis. so many possibilities! just say not to pacific theater!
Band of Brothers was amazing. The Pacific was not far behind. The acting was great. It really showed how people changed throughout the war. I do not get the hate at all. It did take a few episodes to get going if you were just looking for action but once it did, it was horrifyingly awesome. The taking of the airstrip was one of the most intense scenes of a show that I have ever seen. To think that people had to go through that is just insane.
I think the issue with the Pacific is that the series was following the separate stories of several different main characters who only occasionally crossed paths where as Band of Brothers told the story of the same unit. As a result, the audience get to watch the characters in Band of Brothers get developed and fleshed out on screen gradually whereas with the Pacific the audience would spend time watching the story of one character and then have to jump into the storyline of a different character doing something else at another location.
I thought The Pacific was a little more cerebral than BoB and that's why it was perceived to not be as good. Not that BoB wasn't cerebral. The Pacific focused more on the 3 main characters throughout the entire series and how the war affected each of them. I think that's why some people think it was slower than BoB. The character development of Sledge from the beginning to the end of the series was heart-breaking. And his relationship with "Snafu" was very interesting to watch and probably my favorite part of The Pacific. Both were absolutely PHENOMENAL, IMO. Each for different reasons. Can't wait for this new one. Maybe a mini-series version of Memphis Belle?