"Hanks's Preamble to The Pacific" Topic

Ok I'm having some trouble with the voice over at the beginning of The Pacific by Tom Hanks.

In episode one he stated that the Japanese held the biggest Empire the world had known. What? Is he including all the water too?

Episode 2 is Guadalcanal. He mentions the Marines and the odds they faced. Funny, I thought all the allied forces outnumbered the Japanese by almost 2 to 1.

He states that the Marines were subjected to almost continuous bombing and strafing by the Japanese Air Force from Rabaul. According to my reading, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Hanks forgets that the Navy shelled the island too and US planes were bombing and strafing the Japanese. Japanese aircraft losses were also almost twice that of the Allies.

He states that the Americans were isolated and were not being resupplied. Again, not exactly true. Even after the Battle of Savo Island, Turner's transports got through after the Japanese headed back to Rabaul. Hanks also forgets to mention that the Japanese were not being resupplied either. According to John Toland, by the time the Marines landed, the Japanese were already almost out of food.

Look, I'm not diminishing the efforts of either side who battled over the island, but I'd like a little more balance and a little less exaggeration from Mr. Hanks. He is doing this for dramatic effect. I assumed there is enough drama in these stories already.

Ralph

See John the OFM's first law of Gamers and Hollywood.

I noticed a lot of the same things. I can live with that. My problem with the series so far is that I'm finding it kind of boring. It's not hooking me the way that Band of Brothers did. It seems rushed. It feels like too much ended up on the editing room floor. Who are these guys, and why should I care about them? Hopefully it will pick up and start to jell in the next episode or two.

Well, to me there isn't the same sense of comaraderie
that 'Brothers' had, since the (first ep at least) story-
line really just follows two men (Leckie and <later>
Sledge).

To be fair, Hanks doesn't actually say too much. It's the veterans who do most of the talking and they are the ones talking about things like air attacks, lack of supply, etc.

It does seem a little fractured . The three main charactors were not part of the same unit so it like three seperate stories with some light strings to bind them . It is from three books where band of brothers was from one . I do like it , but it is different from Band of Brothers .

You can never have too much Hyperbole in a War Doc.

'The brave band of men spent the whole month eating tinned food and yakking' would make a bad TV show. That's all there is to it.

+1 to Sane Max.

I also find the night fighting to be harder to follow.

I also find the night fighting to be harder to follow.

I think the Marines did as well! Perhaps that was intentional?

"Perhaps that was intentional?"

Oh, I'm sure. Just meant it was hard as a viewer to follow the action; not that it wasn't realistic. A continuation of the realism vs. watch-ability debate.

Hi

Doesn't including the water make a better story? The expanse was just as much an issue in the fight as anything else.

Ya, all of us would have told a different story. My bias would be more focused on marine pilots at Cactus, but there you go.

R

"In episode one he stated that the Japanese held the biggest Empire the world had known. What? Is he including all the water too?"

Had they controlled all of China, he might be close to right.

To be fair, Hanks doesn't actually say too much

He is the only one talking in the voice-over preamble. That's what I'm talking about.

Doesn't including the water make a better story? The expanse was just as much an issue in the fight as anything else.

Ya, it is an issue. But Rocky, do you honestly agree with the statement that the Japanese controlled the biggest Empire in history?

Did they control all that water? Certainly with the exception of the Battle of Savo Island, anytime the American Navy met the Japaneses Navy it was the Japanese ships that went down in great numbers. Doesn't sound like controlling an Empire to me. Am I wrong here?

Had they controlled all of China, he might be close to right.

Sounds like you agree with me then. How would Genghis Khan measure up?

Ralph

Wal Mart has a larger Empire.
Usually you see rants about 'not enough action'. Now we're hearing 'not enough character development'. Have you all gone 'Terms of Endearment' on us – or is it that disjointed and poorly edited?

But Rocky, do you honestly agree with the statement that the Japanese controlled the biggest Empire in history?

I don't know about Rocky, but I agree with that statement. The Japanese empire covered more of the globe than any previous empire. It doesn't matter if the water between the land was open ocean. In effect all navy movement was akin to moving hordes through the "sea of grass". It's hyperbole but not untrue, from a particular point of view.

I would focus on submarines because they creep me out….

Hi

Ralph, actually, until Midway, the japanese navy had a wild string of wins. As "the canal" predates Midway, the statement of them controlling all that water was true.

Some of these events, the raid on Ceylon, the sinking of POW and KGV and so on were remarkable on their own.

Rocky

How would Genghis Khan measure up?

By himself its a close thing. By the time we get to Kublai, however, the Mongols "rule" an immense area, including Imperial China, big parts of the Siberian steppe, the Rus, and Persia. Japan never got close to that much reach in terms of occupied land, and it was just that: occupied. Calling the Imperial Japanese mainland and island holdings of the 1930s and 40s an "empire" is a bit insulting to the Persians, the Caesars of Rome, the Emperors of Constantinople, and the Mongol/Moghul Khans, not to mention a few others.

The canal pre-dates Midway?

I may be a geeky historical war gamer, but surely its the other way around?

Yup, by about two months.

Hi

The decision to go to the canal did, which is the point in the pre-amble. There was no way to predict midway when the decision was made, and the pre-amble is making that point.

i believe it is actually derived from the "Why we Fight" documentaries of the period.

R

The companion book explains it all…or you could read any general history of the Pacific War……

try an be a jap supply officer then you would call it a large empire.

Not saying it wasn't large, just not "the largest".

I think if you're counting water – well, the British Empire covered about a quarter of the land, the Royal Navy controlled most of the water, so I would think that even on that score Japan would lose out.

I think if you're counting water – well, the British Empire covered about a quarter of the land, the Royal Navy controlled most of the water, so I would think that even on that score Japan would lose out.

Exactly!

At their height they controlled 1/5 of the landmass on the planet. Now some want to count the water?

Still, I like the show very much and cannot wait to see episode three.

Three was meh. If they're having to skip detail in the interests of covering that much ground, I could do with fewer nookie scenes.

- Bob

This was not my favorite episode. The main character (Leckie) goes out with a nice Greek girl from an old world family. On their first date 1) Her family invites him to stay overnight and 2) She initiates a zesty session of hobble-da-gee. Now I ask you, oh my brothers, what are the odds?
Then, to make matters worse, she has a change of heart two dates later and tells him she doesn't want to go out with him any more because he might get killed off and that would break her mother's heart.

Who writes this stuff?

Could we please just get back to the Pacific?

"the Japanese held the biggest Empire the world had known"

If we still had one, we British would sue!

"Well, to me there isn't the same sense of camaraderie
that 'Brothers' had"

As its not focused on a single unit it was never going to hit that button. Shame really, the identification with the main players made BoB a bit special in that regard.