Reviews: Boston Globe/New York Times/Washington Post

Chinstrap · **Joined:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:39 pm **Posts:** 928

The Boston Globe loved it and gave us not only a sequence from Cape Gloucester but confirmation of tossing stones in the open skull from WTOB:
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/20 ... i_history/

The New York Times thinks it’s better than BOB:
http://tv.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/arts/t ... cific.html

Washington Post didn’t seem as impressed, but still liked it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04598.html

San Diego Union Tribune was not impressed with Seda:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... in-gritty/

Matt314159 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:25 am

Dang man, nice work. We really need to get that review sticky thread going, it's starting to become a mess keeping eveyrthing together.

I so want to stay up and read all four of those right now, but I'm gonna hit the sack.

SimpleSimon · **Posted:** Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:10 am

Hell, there's no way I'm sleeping when there are new reviews to absorb 8-)

Some great comments and insights. And since most make a camparison with BOB, how are the reviews stacking up? BOB got some early flak? Did the critics later relent or did some still remain negative by series end? When The Pacific is done and dusted it will be interesting to see what Jo/Joe Public makes of it all.

EVOLVIST · **Joined:** Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:54 pm **Posts:** 214

New York Times:

Quote:

Those battlegrounds became famous, but they have since faded from the collective memory in a way that the Normandy invasion or the London blitz have not. This is an overdue but fittingly painstaking and lavish tribute to men who were never supposed to have been forgotten.

Amen!

Celtic1888 · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:03 pm **Posts:** 1444

Well, according to the Washington Post, Sledge fought on Iwo Jima! Ya learn something new every day... :roll:

Scaeva808 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:07 pm **Posts:** 108

Quote:

In one of many haunting “Pacific’’ scenes, an exhausted Marine comes across a gasping Japanese soldier on New Britain island. Rather than shoot the man and move on, he kneels and strangles him to death — then smiles.

Jesus Christ! :shock:

SimpleSimon · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2010 4:27 pm

Scaeva808 wrote:

Quote:

In one of many haunting “Pacific’’ scenes, an exhausted Marine comes across a gasping Japanese soldier on New Britain island. Rather than shoot the man and move on, he kneels and strangles him to death — then smiles.

Jesus Christ! :shock:

Snafu?

Warmaster506 · **Joined:** Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:30 pm **Posts:** 175

Scaeva808 wrote:

Quote:

In one of many haunting “Pacific’’ scenes, an exhausted Marine comes across a gasping Japanese soldier on New Britain island. Rather than shoot the man and move on, he kneels and strangles him to death — then smiles.

Jesus Christ! :shock:

Holy fucking Shit :shock:

Crackshot · **Joined:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:39 am **Posts:** 191

SimpleSimon wrote:

Scaeva808 wrote:

Quote:

In one of many haunting “Pacific’’ scenes, an exhausted Marine comes across a gasping Japanese soldier on New Britain island. Rather than shoot the man and move on, he kneels and strangles him to death — then smiles.

Jesus Christ! :shock:

Snafu?

Nah, i think Snafu is the Marine who tosses the pebbles into the machine gunners skull

Scaeva808 · **Joined:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:07 pm **Posts:** 108

Quote:

Nah, i think Snafu is the Marine who tosses the pebbles into the machine gunners skull

The Marine that tosses the pebbles into the skull of the dead Japanese soldier is not mentioned by name in the book, so I'd bet on it not being Snafu.

Matt314159 · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2010 8:58 pm

Scaeva808 wrote:

The Marine that tosses the pebbles into the skull of the dead Japanese soldier is not mentioned by name in the book, so I'd bet on it not being Snafu.

No, but I thought I read a review that said it was him. They combined a lot of characters. For instance, the guy who talked sledge out of taking gold teeth out of a dead japanese soldier was actually a navy corpsman, I think he said his name was "doc casswell" or something like that, not sure of the spelling. But they attributed it to SNAFU in the series, and I don't really have any problem with that kind of thing.

Crackshot · **Joined:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:39 am **Posts:** 191

Scaeva808 wrote:

Quote:

Nah, i think Snafu is the Marine who tosses the pebbles into the machine gunners skull

The Marine that tosses the pebbles into the skull of the dead Japanese soldier is not mentioned by name in the book, so I'd bet on it not being Snafu.

http://www.historynet.com/hbos-the-pacific-about-as-real-as-hell-on-screen-can-get.htm

This reviewer mentions Snafu as the stone thrower and the one who discourages Sledge from taking the gold teeth

Caerie · **Joined:** Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:08 pm **Posts:** 22

Crackshot wrote:

http://www.historynet.com/hbos-the-pacific-about-as-real-as-hell-on-screen-can-get.htm

This reviewer mentions Snafu as the stone thrower and the one who discourages Sledge from taking the gold teeth

Huh. I guess it makes sense if they were going to combine characters and it gives a more sympathetic side to Snafu. I'd worried they might simply pile on every negative thing Sledge saw a "buddy" do onto Snafu's shoulders.

However, this gives me strange and amusing mental images of them using Snafu as a stand-in for every single person Sledge interacts with.

Chinstrap · **Joined:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:39 pm **Posts:** 928

Matt314159 wrote:

They combined a lot of characters. For instance, the guy who talked sledge out of taking gold teeth out of a dead japanese soldier was actually a navy corpsman, I think he said his name was "doc casswell" or something like that, not sure of the spelling. But they attributed it to SNAFU in the series, and I don't really have any problem with that kind of thing.

I actually do have a problem with that, not in principle, but with Doc Caswell specifically...He wasn't just some corpsman. In every interview Sledge did he makes it a point to single out Kent Caswell by name. The man had a huge impact on Sledge, that conversation was a major turning point in his wartime experience. While it’s important effect on the Sledge character has been retained, I do think it’s a shame Kent Caswell has been excised from the story. He was mentioned many times in WTOB, and his wounding was a real blow to Sledge. (Sledge said “…he remains one of my most faithful friends from our days in K/3/5." I wonder what he would have thought about his character's absence.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll give it the final verdict once I actually watch it, I just always had an affinity for the Doc, so color me pre-disappointed.

Celtic1888 · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:03 pm **Posts:** 1444

Chinstrap wrote:

Matt314159 wrote:

They combined a lot of characters. For instance, the guy who talked sledge out of taking gold teeth out of a dead japanese soldier was actually a navy corpsman, I think he said his name was "doc casswell" or something like that, not sure of the spelling. But they attributed it to SNAFU in the series, and I don't really have any problem with that kind of thing.

I actually do have a problem with that, not in principle, but with Doc Caswell specifically...He wasn't just some corpsman. In every interview Sledge did he makes it a point to single out Kent Caswell by name. The man had a huge impact on Sledge, that conversation was a major turning point in his wartime experience. While it’s important effect on the Sledge character has been retained, I do think it’s a shame Kent Caswell has been excised from the story. He was mentioned many times in WTOB, and his wounding was a real blow to Sledge. (Sledge said “…he remains one of my most faithful friends from our days in K/3/5." I wonder what he would have thought about his character's absence.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll give it the final verdict once I actually watch it, I just always had an affinity for the Doc, so color me pre-disappointed.

Gotta agree with Chinny on this one...

ww2cents · **Posted:** Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:01 pm

Caerie wrote:

Crackshot wrote:

http://www.historynet.com/hbos-the-pacific-about-as-real-as-hell-on-screen-can-get.htm

This reviewer mentions Snafu as the stone thrower and the one who discourages Sledge from taking the gold teeth

Huh. I guess it makes sense if they were going to combine characters and it gives a more sympathetic side to Snafu. I'd worried they might simply pile on every negative thing Sledge saw a "buddy" do onto Snafu's shoulders.

However, this gives me strange and amusing mental images of them using Snafu as a stand-in for every single person Sledge interacts with.

I remember with BOB hearing that some of the characters portrayed were "composite characters"

Guess they are doing the same thing here with Snafu. I'm actually re-reading WTOB now.

NIN_Hunter · **Joined:** Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:53 pm **Posts:** 661

Well Snafu will probably represent one way a guy can handle a situation. He pretty much becomes this brutal Marine with a twisted ideology but if we see that he's still an average guy, that he could be someones dad or grandpa, well to me that would affect the audience more than if he was just this psycho.

Chinstrap · **Joined:** Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:39 pm **Posts:** 928

ww2cents wrote:

I'm actually re-reading WTOB now.

I purposely avoided that for the past few years so I wouldn’t be too “that’s not what really happened” while I watched the mini. I’m distracted by enough issues as it is!

Celtic1888 · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:03 pm **Posts:** 1444

Chinstrap wrote:

ww2cents wrote:

I'm actually re-reading WTOB now.

I purposely avoided that for the past few years so I wouldn’t be too “that’s not what really happened” while I watched the mini. I’m distracted by enough issues as it is!

Wish I'd done that! Just re-read Helmet for the gazillionth time! But I'm not gonna let the liberties taken ruin my enjoyment of the show. I know the filmmakers hearts were in the right place...

NIN_Hunter · **Joined:** Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:53 pm **Posts:** 661

I'm re-reading Helmet (bought the newest version as my old book was falling apart) just because I cannot remember alot of details from the book. I want to reacquaint myself with Leckie again.

Celtic1888 · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:03 pm **Posts:** 1444

NIN_Hunter wrote:

I'm re-reading Helmet (bought the newest version as my old book was falling apart) just because I cannot remember alot of details from the book. I want to reacquaint myself with Leckie again.

I had the exact same problem! My old copy was pretty much a pile of dog eared paper! And the new version has photos of the lads, which was a plus in my book!

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