Osprey
Registered User
- Feb 18, 2005
- 27,406
- 9,929
The Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced companion to Band of Brothers and The Pacific is finally coming out. I must've first heard about it 10 years ago.
Seen the first couple of episodes and I am not sure yet. Everything seems slightly of target so far. Visually it looks great. But it seemed to lack a "training camp episode" or something like that to properly introduce the myriad of different characters. Unfortunately casting didn't help this problem either. In BOB they casted very distinct looking actors to sort of set appart the characters from each other. Here everybody who wasn't a main guy just blended sort of together. Also the writing just doesn't have the same level of authenticity the first two Hank/Spielberg shows had. The dialogue still seems fine but definitely gives the impression being written by someone trying to emulate 1940's lingo instead of real soldiers talking to each other. Then there are also unnecessary and unhistoric romance plots added to the mix. And the usual greatest generation narrative is pushed extremely hard but it just doesn't work without the real veterans present.
It wasn't just the combat scenes though. Most of the characters just felt....bland, especially on the ground. Maybe they should have focussed on a smaller cast like in The Pacific. The only reason the large cast worked well in BOB was that so many of the veterans were still alive during production and willing to share their memories with the writers. Anyway i read in more than one review that the second half of the episodes is supposed to be better. I really hope thats true. I mean its not a bad series in general but the start just hasn't quite lived up to expectations.Think the downside of them wearing masks is it really makes it difficult to keep track of who is who for the scenes in the air.
I already hate the narrator/navigator
Seen the first couple of episodes and I am not sure yet. Everything seems slightly of target so far. Visually it looks great. But it seemed to lack a "training camp episode" or something like that to properly introduce the myriad of different characters. Unfortunately casting didn't help this problem either. In BOB they casted very distinct looking actors to sort of set appart the characters from each other. Here everybody who wasn't a main guy just blended sort of together. Also the writing just doesn't have the same level of authenticity the first two Hank/Spielberg shows had. The dialogue still seems fine but definitely gives the impression being written by someone trying to emulate 1940's lingo instead of real soldiers talking to each other. Then there are also unnecessary and unhistoric romance plots added to the mix. And the usual greatest generation narrative is pushed extremely hard but it just doesn't work without the real veterans present.
Its solid, nowhere as good as BoB tho. BoB one of the best miniseries of all time.
Seen the first couple of episodes and I am not sure yet. Everything seems slightly of target so far. Visually it looks great. But it seemed to lack a "training camp episode" or something like that to properly introduce the myriad of different characters. Unfortunately casting didn't help this problem either. In BOB they casted very distinct looking actors to sort of set appart the characters from each other. Here everybody who wasn't a main guy just blended sort of together. Also the writing just doesn't have the same level of authenticity the first two Hank/Spielberg shows had. The dialogue still seems fine but definitely gives the impression being written by someone trying to emulate 1940's lingo instead of real soldiers talking to each other. Then there are also unnecessary and unhistoric romance plots added to the mix. And the usual greatest generation narrative is pushed extremely hard but it just doesn't work without the real veterans present.
I don't mind the show really. It's mostly good. Definitely not on the level of BoB or the Pacific but not a piece of crap either. My main issue is the constant changes of pace. They're in action and then they spend much of the show just kind of hanging out at the base.
These other historical war fictions series have had a real hero's journey through the muck with mixed in respites from the war. This show is like mostly downtime feeling sad for the buddies they've lost. Doesn't exactly make for gripping television. There's really only so many CGI dogfights you can do. Feels like a bit of a failure conceptually at the basic level more than the direction or writing.
The show isn't terrible but I just don't like that the storyline is split between so many characters who rarely even interact and are often only relevant for a couple of episodes. Its the same issue "The Pacific" had but diallled up to eleven. Also, the only storyline I actually enjoyed so far was Rosenthals. In addition to that there are way to many "weekend pass" or "vacation" episodes. If the Budget isn't there to show the actual air combat they should have focused more on Crosby and the other officers work on the more strategic aspects of the operations. But it really makes you wonder why the showrunners have even tackled this setting at all instead of focusing on some other WW2 story that wouldn't need the same amount of CGI to recreate.
I would love to know how they blew a 250 million dollar budget.