Another Band of Brothers?

[Jim1954]

Hanks to revisit WWII for HBO miniseries


HOLLYWOOD – Tom Hanks and his producing partner, Gary Goetzman – whose Band of Brothers followed the World War II European campaign through the eyes of a company of soldiers – will re-team with director Steven Spielberg to create a 10-part miniseries about U.S. battles against the Japanese in the Pacific during that period, the Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety reported.
Untitled World War II Pacific Theater Project, as it is called, will be the fourth HBO miniseries for the duo, who also produced 1998's From the Earth to the Moon.

Los Angeles Times

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Very cool, now if I can just manage to enjoy that series faster than BoB heheh. I am oooooonly this week finally getting to watch past episode 4 (eeeeerrrrrrr).

Fortunately a buddy works at a major video retail operation, and I will be viewing it free heheh.

[Belisarius]

cooooool.

's been a while since we last saw a high quality production on the Pacific campaign.

[Ross Moorhouse]

About time this very ignored part of WWII was covered in this way.

[KG Erwin]

Everyone should know by now that I am a big fan of the USMC in WWII, so let's put that godawful "Windtalkers" to rest and give these guys their due. A realistic portrayal of the Marine experience in WWII has yet to be done by Hollywood, for whatever combination of reasons. I hope Hanks & Spielberg will study the history and try to do it right this time.

[Fallschirmjager]

I thought the thin red line was very good....but I seem to be in the minority when I mention it

[Marc von Martial]

Originally posted by Fallschirmjager
I thought the thin red line was very good....but I seem to be in the minority when I mention it

I liked it also, you´re not alone


Great news on the new production there!

[U2]

Originally posted by Fallschirmjager
I thought the thin red line was very good....but I seem to be in the minority when I mention it

I will never forget this movie due to the massive pain it gave my butt sitting still for three hours....oh falling asleep was a big problem too:D

[ShermanM4]

I liked it also, you´re not alone

Ahh, Lieber Freunde, gut zum ihnen treffen!


I would like to see a much better and a much more in depth portrayal, film, of the USMC and the Japanese on Guadal Canal. The only thing I didnt really like about Band of Brothers was the fact that if you had not read the book, or if you knew nothing of World War II, then you'd be totally cluless where and why exactly the campaign headed in the direction it went.

A few months ago, before American troops rolled across the border of Iraq I attended a "Support the Troops" rally on my College's Campus here in Colorado. One of our professors, key note speaker Dr. Rozak, was a major in the 1st Polish Armoured Division (err I think thats the right one) during WWII. Well one of the gentlemen presenting him was also there because he hoped to run for governor of the state in the future. He began refrencing BoB as if Dr. Rozak formerly Maj. Rozak had acutally fought alongside the 101 AB div. I must have missed something because I think the closest the 101 ever got to a polish division was during operation Market Garden. In any case all I'm really saying is, is it that tough to put some kind of detailed map or have some sort of in depth dialogue that explains the over all situation. I simply do not remember that being in BoB hence people like that gentleman who are ignorant about the campaigns in WWII start making dumb references.

[Randy]

I think it would be great if they did the next movie about the Marines. I'm sure that by covering the amphibious landings they will be pretty brutal.

[Nyrkki]

I was hoping for a "Band of Brothers" from the German perspective. But this is great too. It will be another "must have" when it's available on DVD.

Any word on when the miniseries will be ready?

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

At the risk of sounding like some Nazi type, frankly I would like to see a film done with a Waffen SS unit as the focus.

And yes, I would like it to be historically accurate regardless of whether accuracy meant portraying people in a darker light.

We all know there were Nazis that could make the worst KKK member look good. But you know and I know, there were Nazis that only ended up that way thanks to adequate brain washing too. And there were Nazis that were merely misguided professional soldiers, as well as men in the SS that merely ended up there from poor choices or the circumstances merely came up that way.

I have no desire to glorify any Waffen SS unit merely for the sake of glorifying the Nazi ideals. But I do not have any problem with looking history square in the face either.

Failing the above notion being possible. An Italian unit would be interesting as well. The Italians had some good units that fought long and bravely (in spite of wrectehed leadership at the top sometimes).

Naturally, I think a Candian unit would appeal to me. Or a British unit.

Canada had a para unit, and there were the commando forces additionally.

The best unit ever (my opinion here perhaps, but history partially backs me up) has already received a feature movie (otherwise I would mention them). I refer to the 1st Special Service Force of course(best unit to have fought in the war my opinion.

The Band of Brother approach though, is special for one major reason (that I have seen that I have seen thus far). The series was done with incredible attention to credibility. I have not seen any Hollywoodism in the material I have seen to this point.

Band of Brothers is proof positive, that a director can either make a great film series, or he can cop out and just film some garbage and make a quick buck off the unknowing public (that appears to be willing to allow it as evidenced by films like Pearl Harbour and Windtalkers would suggest).

[Belisarius]

Les,

not ALL german units were made up of Waffen-SS. 'German perspective' does not necessarily equal a Waffen-SS perspective, you know... there were regular army as well.

Your point being valid though. It must be a very difficult challenge to write a 'BoB-esque' miniseries about a German unit without glorifying their actions too much. Besides, who want to write a script where you get to know the characters quite close like in BoB, when they're still doomed to die/lose in the end? :rolleyes:

[KG Erwin]

What could be better than giving the Marines of WWII a closer view? Listen, I finally found a copy of Eugene B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed..." and he confirms my belief that the land war in the Pacific equalled if not surpassed the worst of the Eastern Front in terms of unbridled savagery and mutual hatred between the opposing forces. Gene Sledge served with the 3/5 Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa, and this book is regarded as one of the best first-hand accounts ever written about war as experienced by the men who did the fighting. He pulls no punches and makes no attempts to bow to modern political correctness. I can only hope that the producers of this new series will do the same. Anything less would be an insult to the memories of the thousands of Marines, Army troops, airmen and sailors who "sacrificed their lives upon the altar of freedom" in the Pacific War.

[riverbravo]

From what I read it mite be a variation on accurate events for story telling purposes?Its all on the spielburg/HBO sites.

Whynot focus on the Naval Battlegroups as well as the marines who took the beaches?Its not like Spielburg/Hanks/HBO cant budget it.

Whynot a series on a German unit?There were plenty of great Reg Army units as well as Waffen SS.You could show fanatism as well as disgust at the end.Some did survive you know;)

I really dont care what theatre as long as it is well made and gives credit to the people who fought and did there duty no matter what side it is portayed from.

Its time for some pacific action.

The best part of Thin Red Line is when Woody Harrelson blows his own butt off.

[rbrunsman]

Originally posted by KG Erwin
Listen, I finally found a copy of Eugene B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed..." and he confirms my belief that the land war in the Pacific equalled if not surpassed the worst of the Eastern Front in terms of unbridled savagery and mutual hatred between the opposing forces. Gene Sledge served with the 3/5 Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa, and this book is regarded as one of the best first-hand accounts ever written about war as experienced by the men who did the fighting. He pulls no punches and makes no attempts to bow to modern political correctness.

That was the best WWII book I've ever read. PTO or ETO. Not that I've read tons of them, but all the others I've read since haven't been nearly as good or as viscerally engaging.

[The MSG]

Originally posted by KG Erwin
What could be better than giving the Marines of WWII a closer view? Listen, I finally found a copy of Eugene B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed..." and he confirms my belief that the land war in the Pacific equalled if not surpassed the worst of the Eastern Front in terms of unbridled savagery and mutual hatred between the opposing forces. Gene Sledge served with the 3/5 Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa, and this book is regarded as one of the best first-hand accounts ever written about war as experienced by the men who did the fighting. He pulls no punches and makes no attempts to bow to modern political correctness. I can only hope that the producers of this new series will do the same. Anything less would be an insult to the memories of the thousands of Marines, Army troops, airmen and sailors who "sacrificed their lives upon the altar of freedom" in the Pacific War.

Not a lot of people fought both on the Eastern and Pacific fronts, so that would be rather hard to figure out... The terrain on the Pacific front made for some nasty close-in infantry combat(is there any other kind?) though, thats for sure...

The Sovs didnt have much problems with Japanese tenacity in Manchuria though...

Now, lets make a wish-list;
1; BoB
2; Pacific Thingy (seems sold already)
3; I'd like one from the Sov perspective, imagine that poor Lt's thoughts about what that NKVD guy asks all his mates... Also an episode about the penal batallion and the single survivor after some "mine.clearing"...
4; German Perspective. An inside of the SS would be interesting, if it was correctly shown, including political indoctrination and other stuff usually "smoothed over" for political correctness...
5; Japanese perspective.
6; Finnish winter or continuation war. Several good (and several pretty bad) movies around, but more stuff needed.

But first and foremost of course, the series about my Grandpa running around above the arctic circle -44-45 on "mapping expeditions"...

But the chance of a series without Americans as the central figures are rather low of course... and there is NO interest in producing anything like BoB over here...

¤%#¤%"¤"#¤!

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Let me first say this, the Marines fought through some battles in the Pacific that would make hell look like a vacation.

That said, I must still say I deplore americanocentric endeavours. Toooo many war movies/wargames/literature out there that give the US paticipation, and passing mention at best of the rest.

We got Band of Brothers which I think will be damnably hard to follow. But it was a US unit. Sorry you marines, but they picked an airborne outfit.

Now I would like the next effort to be a Canadian unit of course. But in the end, I would mostly prefer the next unit to be anything but US.

I am not going to hold my breath though. Speilberg and Hanks are Americans. And well, I suppose if someone wants to do a show/series honouring the Russians, Candians or whomever, I suppose it should fall to people of those nations to get off their lard butts and follow the example Speilberg and Hanks produced in BoB

I mentioned Waffen SS of course to give the most extreme of examples. A german Alpine unit would be cool. Or A unit from a german para unit for that matter. The HG sure did a lot of hard fighting.

Not sure how easy it would be to do a Russian unit. Lets face it, the Russians were never quite the same as the Western Allies. They "used" their men fairly casually.

I suppose I am mostly looking for something undone before, something original, something new.
And wishing for it to benefit from credible directing/producing.

Speilberg showed the world how it should be done.

Films like Pearl Harbour and Windtalkers merely show us how little most film producers care.

I have only recently viewed Bob (yeah I know likely the only grog here that hasn't seen it ). I can only say, the film looked more like a documentary than anything else. And that is a compliment.

But it shows, you can make something memorable, that honours our nations serving personnel, and doesn't look like yet another vulgar cash first, value second production.

After seeing Windtalkers, I had an overwhelming urge to punch the director straight out. His movie was an obcenity. And Pearl Harbour was a betrayal.

[KG Erwin]

One more comment on these: for wargame players, reading one of the classic acounts of the up-close & personal war of the infantryman is essential. This is especially true for tactical games like CC or SPWaW. Other than Sledge's book, which is so visceral and compelling that it should be in every military student's library, the only other account that compares to it in its impact on the reader is Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier". For better or worse, it allows me to look beyond the abstract nature of the games and get a glimpse, however far removed, of what we are playing is actually representing. I've touched upon the philosophical aspects of this hobby before, and for an outsider, its difficult to appreciate why we do this. That's better addressed in a different topic, but it must be said that the "serious" gamers are also avid students of history. This point must be emphasized to the newcomers, so these book recommendations are mainly for them.

[The MSG]

Originally posted by Les the Sarge 9-1
Not sure how easy it would be to do a Russian unit. Lets face it, the Russians were never quite the same as the Western Allies. They "used" their men fairly casually.

True, but actually one of the reasons it would be an interesting take.