"Tom Hanks on the New Pacific mini-series production" Topic

He says its going to be darker than Band of Brothers- what's in store for us? BTW- Port Douglas is no hardship post= possibly the most luxurious resort town in Australia…. though the wildlife is pretty untamed! At least the night clubs I went to there were like that….

The epic $A230 million World War II TV mini-series, The Pacific, now being shot in Australia, was exceeding all expectations, executive producer Tom Hanks said yesterday.
Hanks and his co-executive producer, Steven Spielberg, have been blown away by the early footage of the mini-series, which will be the most expensive ever made.

Filming recently wrapped in Queensland, around Port Douglas, and has moved to Melbourne.

"What I have seen so far has really been quite magnificent," Hanks said.

The Pacific is one of the most ambitious projects in TV history.

The 10-episode mini-series follows three US marines fighting with the Allies against Japan in World War II.
The project is so extravagant, audiences will not see it until 2009.

"We're about halfway done," Hanks, who won back-to-back best acting Oscars in the 1990s with Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, said of the shooting schedule.
"It is a monster of a shoot.
"We have 10 episodes and each episode has about 27 days of principal photography."We have a huge cast.
"The logistics of it alone are monstrous." Hanks and Spielberg combined to produce another monumental WWII TV mini-series, Band of Brothers, in 2001, which dominated the Emmys and other awards ceremonies that year.
Hanks said The Pacific would have a darker edge.

"The story of World War II has been told again and again and again," he said. "It has always been a celebration of the greatest generation, etcetera. "We have had to go to a much deeper and darker place on this, otherwise we're wasting our time.

"So that's what we're attempting to do on this."
The cast and crew are largely Australian, with actors including Bill Hunter, Gary Sweet and Isabel Lucas.
"We've got a great cast, fabulous Australian crews and actors we're finding from there, wonderful spirit and great cooperation," Hanks said.

But he does have some issues with Australia. "What about all of the bugs and snakes that can kill you in Australia?" he joked. "We've had guys running around in the jungles up there around Port Douglas and swimming in the ocean.
"The locals will say, 'By the way, beware of the 12 most poisonous snakes and 16 most poisonous insects in the world'."

The 14-hour flight from Los Angeles is also a pain for the actor-director-producer, who is tipped to score his sixth best actor nomination for the new political drama, Charlie Wilson's War, which co-stars two other Oscar winners, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

"The only other problem I have with Australia, and it is a serious problem, is that it is so far away," Hanks said.
"If you could just move that island-continent nation to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I could get there a little more often. Australia is further away [than] New Zealand for crying out loud." AAP

Wow Tom figured out the distance thing all by himslf?

Hanks and Spielberg. I suspect a high saccharine content as well as lots of cloying and rather obvious moral statements. Funny to see Bill Hunter chewing his way through the scenery. I like Bill but he's prety much limited to doing Bill Hunter impressions.

I wonder if they'll include the Battle of Brisbane

Hi, Carlos!

Critisizing the series even before being released?

:lol

Battle of Brisbane?

Are you talking about the shoot out at the train station?

that's the one.

Done already, that film about the Leonski murders, 'Death of a Soldier' had a 'Battle of Brisbane' scene. Two mates of mine at the time were cast as extras and one had the temerity to argue with the director when instructed to lean his rigle against a truck tire. 'No trained soldier would do that' he explained.

That one also featured Bill Hunter, who under Equity rules is required to be cast in all Australian films in the absence of Jack Thompson.

rifle, not rigle. Same chap rose to the dizzying heights of senior RAAF officer……. Tasmania. I guess the prospect of a sneak attack via Burney still taxes the minds of the blue public service.

Well I'll certainly be looking forward to this. I was just talking to a budy about how I wished Hanks and Spielberg would do a USMC in WWII version of Band of Brothers. I guess my wish has been granted!

dammit, 'budy' should of course be 'buddy'. I usually spell gooder den dat.

…my budy had a rigle once, goodest rigle you ever saw…

peleset

---Battle of Brisbane?

Are you talking about the shoot out at the train station?---

"The incident took place at the corner of Creek and Adelaide Streets."

Which is block away from the Central Station. The above quote from:

link

The book "The Battle of Brisbane" by Peter Thompson is a good read

Cheers,

Pro…

I hadn't even heard of the series. Thanks for sharing. I'll definitely be on the lookout for this one.

I wonder if it's going to be HBO, like Band of Brothers?

Am I going to have to sign up for HBO, and actually pay for it this time?

I'm looking forward to Hanks' John Adams miniseries.

That's starring Paul Giamatti, isn't it, NYC?

I too am looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Dave

Oh, and as for the curious criticism of "high saccharine content as well as lots of cloying and rather obvious moral statements" from Carlos, I don't remember any such things in the Band of Brothers series. Just a pretty accurate transfer of the actual history, direct from the mouths of the participants. Since BoB Pacific is purportedly taken from another first-hand account (With the Old Breed, a great book) I believe we'll see yet another excellent depiction of WW II. Considering the nature of the fighting and the brutality shown by both sides during the island hopping campaign I'm sure it will be as dark as Hanks implied.

"Just a pretty accurate transfer of the actual history, direct from the mouths of the participants."
To be strictly accurate- direct from the pen of Stephen Ambrose, which isn't quite the same thing.

To be strictly accurate- direct from the pen of Stephen Ambrose, which isn't quite the same thing.

I seem to recall interviews with the surviving members of the 101st interspersed throughout the series where the actual participants were commenting on the specific events being portrayed in that episode. I recall it seeming awfully first person when Bill Garnier was describing the loss of his leg.

We're discussing the narrative- it was Ambrose's book that it was based on.

I am really looking forward to this series.

Go to warriorsinc.com and see reports coming from the filming sites. Usually updated every week.

Can't wait. Oooh Rah!

thanks Major Mike for the link- that's a great read- he's one motivated and switched on Marine- sounds like its going to be an outstanding series.