Calling all Band of Brothers fans. Band of Brothers. Calling alllllll Band of Brothers fans. Have I got news for you. On Sunday, March 15th, a 10-part Speilberg-produced World War II miniseries premiers on HBO. The Pacific will follow a group of U.S. Marines as they fight through Guadacanal, Cape Gloucester, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and other of the war's most violent battlegrounds.
Based on two memoirs, U.S. Marines: With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie, Pacific's scripts were penned, and its episodes directed, by some of Hollywood's most talented television talent. Most notably, Bruce McKenna, who wrote three BoB episiodes while serving as co-executive producer for the entire series, took the lead on this new series. In addition, famed TV-director Tim Van Patten ("The Wire," "The Sopranos") wrote three installments of The Pacific including the pilot.
With the miniseries premiering in only ten days, it's surprising that I only found out about this project today. When Band of Brothers came out, promotional ads were everywhere. If memory serves, Entertainment Weekly did everything they could to convice the general HBO-subscribing public that it would change their lives. So I ask, when did you first hear about The Pacific? Was it from this post? Have I just been blind to the advertising campagin that must exist? On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you to take another 10-hour journey through the hard-to-watch events of the second World War?
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4 comments:
I remember initially hearing a lot about it this past summer. I think that was when the trailer was released. Most of it was online. I don't check out too much print stuff, so I'm not sure about the promotion on that front. But, speaking of promotions in print, the other day I was looking at Sports Illustrated at the store and there was this huge ad for "The Pacific" in the center of the magazine. You fold it out and it's a poster (it was like a kid's pop-up book).
Looks good, but damned, they're still using that cliche'd John Williams style funeral brass "uplifting" classical scoring that was just barely not a cliche in Saving Ryan's Privates. And the whole thing with the charcoal line on the paper, I just hope Spielberg doesn't insist on some dumb tag line like "the line is life"
Heather -- That ad sounds great. I might have to try and track it down. It sounds like a WWII diorama. I love dioramas.
Erich - You're 100% right about that score. It's been used in every war movie/video game/commercial etc. since the late-90s. And if I see "the line is life" anywhere outside of this blog post, I'm refusing to watch The Pacific.
I personally can't wait till March 14th. I am a big fan of Band of Brothers and I really feel the people behind it can do no wrong.
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