DJariya

Synopsis:

LickTheABCs

Damn. This episode is nuts.

redrum

ya it was, great stuff

Osiris3657

loved this episode, pretty much 50 min of action. Series is really picking up

MrX

Great episode

Thrush

I was always curious, during an actual war does the enemy actually respect those red cross marked first aid vessels and not attack them?

outlander78

Those who signed the Geneva convention are supposed to. Not everyone signed, of course - see the Eastern Front, for example.

whoopdido

Something tells me the enemy we're fighting right now doesn't respect them.

cleaver

They think we're complete savage animal rapists.

arminius

The USSR did not sign the Geneva conventions. In the east front there were not many instances of this. In North Africa, Italy and Europe this happened often, the medics of both sides would go out and treat the wounded of both sides. There were times in the desert war that field hospitals changed hands a few times during big battles and the staffs just went on working regardless of who was in charge or what wounded were brought in.

Dr Mabuse

No, they are often targeted in fact.

The Japanese targeted them deliberately to be more specific. They were careful to identify the hospital ships we kept offshore during our invasions and target them too.

Dr Mabuse

Good episode, seems like they are getting shorter.

With the 'last time' intro, the 'next time' outro, there's maybe 40 minutes in the last two episodes.

Did HBO cut this up into 10 episodes just to try and get subscribers?

whoopdido

I didn't watch Band of Brothers when it first aired and only saw the dvds. I remember a while back I posted the running times of each Band of Brothers episode and most seem to be longer than The Pacific episodes. However, all I found was "dvd running time" for BOB. Does anybody know if the dvds for BOB have extra scenes? To anybody that watched BOB when it first aired, were the original episodes shorter than the dvds? Maybe some extra scenes will be added to The Pacific when it's released on dvd.

covenant

I dredged up these times from various places online, who knows if they're correct.

Band of Brothers run time by episode:
1 51 minutes
2 52
3 1:05
4 55
5 59
6 1:07
7 1:12
8 58
9 58
10 1:02

The Pacific run time by episode:
1 54
2 54
3 1:00
4 54
5 53
6 52

Gunde

This is including recap and credits so yeah they are short as shit.

outlander78

Did Japan sign the Geneva convention prior to WWII? Also, wasn't the nuking of Japan justified in part by their expected behaviour should conventional assaults take place?

Fandango

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bataan/.../e_geneva.html

In 1929 the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War was signed by 47 governments. Japan signed the 1929 convention but failed to ratify it. However, in 1942, Japan indicated it would follow the Geneva rules and would observe the Hague Convention of 1907 outlining the laws and customs of war.

Japanese Violations
That Japanese forces did not strictly follow the Geneva Conventions is hardly a matter of debate. According to Dr. William Skelton III, who produced a document entitled American Ex Prisoners of War for the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs, more POWs died at the hands of the Japanese in the Pacific theater and specifically in the Philippines than in any other conflict to date. In Germany in WWII, POWs died at a rate 1.2%. In the Pacific theater the rate was 37%. In the Philippines, POWs died at a rate of 40%. In total 11,107 American soldiers captured in the Philippines died. Some died in the Philippines. Others were transported and died in places like Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, or the Japanese home islands. Still others were killed in the "Hell Ships" en route to Japan, ships that were bombed by American planes or torpedoed by American ships whose crewmen did not realize their countrymen were in the transport holds.

Thrush

Yeah I remember a PBS special a few years back chronicling just how Brutally the Japanese treated POWs in WW2. In one case putting 150 US soldiers in an air raid shelter, dousing them with Gas and setting them on fire. Not to mention the Bataan death march.

wmansir

This series continues to not to impress me. Sure, there was plenty of action, but it just didn't engage me. I think a large part of it is how little the show itself tries to keep viewers in the loop. We learn more about the tactical situation, objectives, etc from the 2 minute docu-intro than from the 40 minutes of show. 6 episodes in and the semi-psycho guy befriending Sledge is the only character with some personality.

covenant

yeah but gollum creeps me out! What was up with him sitting up on the ledge watching everybody at the end?

greydt

I haven't read any of the books used for source material, but just from the last 2 episodes, I'm guessing Sledge's book was probably the better/descriptive one (in contrast, it seems like Leckie's book was probably a more internalized look at the war? especially since the people around him in the series seem so woefully nondescript). So far, even Sledge's grumpy sergeant has had more personality than the way they've depicted Basilone.

I know they had to smush together several sources together to get in Guadalcanal and other locations, but it's a shame they didn't just stick with Sledge's unit as the main focal point of the series rather than the mish-mash of vignettes around 3 disparate sources that they have now - a missed opportunity.

wmansir

From what I've read you are right, greydt. Lecke's book is said to be more introspective while Sledge's book is more detailed. It's probably in part because, as we saw in the last episode, Sledge broke the rules and took notes.

Part of me wants to cut the show some slack in regards to bland characters, since it is based on fact, but 1. They had no problem constructing the major character/storyline of ep3 (the greek aussie) completely out of whole cloth, and 2. I think it's more about poor scriptwriting/acting/directing than any shortcomings in the source material.

The last two eps were an improvement over the first four. I think these two at least will improve once the series is over if/when I watch them again. The previous one actually started to suck me in before it ended prematurely. I never really got into this one, but maybe back to back it will be more engaging.

whoopdido

I wonder if maybe the next one (if there is a next one--Korea, WWI, or whatever) might be better served by not necessarily sticking so close to source material. Obviously keep everything historically accurate, but rather than actually follow a group of real soliders and tell the story exactly like the book, just make a really good war series. Obviously Speilberg and Hanks know what they're doing. I don't think they necessarily have to rely on source material. Just go out and make a WWI movie. Then maybe they wouldn't have to piece together everything and try to turn the books into a watchable movie. Just a thought.

Not much has changed for me. Still really love this series, but it's hard not to compare it to Band of Brothers and Band of Brothers really blows this away. Of course Band of Brothers blows EVERYTHING away so that's definitely not a failure for The Pacific. As good as The Pacific is, it proves just how GREAT Band of Brothers is.

Thrush

Every time Gunny is on screen I think "why couldnt they have made this guy a central character?" Hes all kinds of awesome. I think part of Basilone's problem is the actor who portrayed him. John Seda is drab and boring in everything he does.

whoopdido

Plus Basilone has only been in what 3 episodes. I'm sorry, but I really don't care about him back in the states selling war bonds and banging celebrities. I know that's what really happened, but the dude was all kinds of awesome. Even if it wasn't exactly accurate I would have liked to see him continue fighting. Another reason why sticking EXACTLY to the source material might be hurting this series a little bit.