[LEFT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWVvpzfREkU
From most of the same crew that did Band Of Brothers
looks like it will be coming to hbo later this year.
If bob is any indication it should be quite good.
[/LEFT]
Will be watching this for sure…BoB was really good.
Whoaaaa AWESOMEEEEE. I will now watch BoB again to warm up for this.
Makes me wonder. Part of the attraction of BoB was following them through the months. And, Skip Muck was from Tonawanda… which is how Spielberg got the inspiration for Saving Private Ryan (The Nilands were from there too.)
Also, I read Ambrose first - this looks like it’s based off another author’s book.
But in the end, at least it’s still Hanks/Spielberg.
Oh, anyone watch “Life” on TV? It’s odd seeing Damian Lewis on there in LA.
I thought Saving Provate Ryan came out first?
Skip Muck was from Tonawanda
Did not know this…
That looks great, HBO never ceases to impress.
Can’t wait! BoB was the best series possibly ever.
It did, but the story came out when Ambrose was doing the interviews for his book (the book came out in 1992, I think). The Niland story had been reported upon before, but Spielberg (a WW II buff - remember Empire of the Sun and Schindler’s List?) decided to look into it more after contacting others from the 101st after reading Ambrose’s book.
Oh, and I don’t know if anyone noticed in BoB where Muck said he swam the Niagara River - well, it’s true.
Letter posted from Muck’s niece here
The story that Skip tells about swimming the Niagara River is true. He swam it at NIGHT too. When Mom found out from his friends at school, she really gave him “what for” (in her words). Skip tried to calm her by saying that his friends had put a rowboat in the River in case he got into trouble (In the rowboat? Fritz Niland of the 501!). My little powerhouse of a Mom replied “I don’t care if the entire $%^&&#@ Coast Guard flotilla was in the river. Don’t ever do that again!” The story has become a legend in our family … my Mom still gets a bit riled when she tells it. My Dad grins and says, “Skip wasn’t crazy. He knew he could do it and he did it. Period.” Many thanks to Richard for passing it on, and for the writers for including it in the script. It was a thrill to hear it told.
^^that’s partially wrong . Skip was/is my great uncle (for real). His sister Ruth (my Grandma) was his closest sibling.
Just to add to a little of the story…
Richard Speight, the actor who portrayed my G. Uncle, called my grandma and asked her a zillion questions about what he was like growing up and whatnot. She was the one who told Richard about Skip swimming the Niagara River, and Richard said “i’m going to tell the writers!”. Then they included it in the script.
You can say that again!
I only caught a few episodes of the original but I loved what I saw! I will be watching this for sure!
Ah - the post I saw said the letter came from Eileen O’Hara. I just quoted it here.
That’s my Aunt. She had to abbreviate the story a little bit.
Just watched episode one and, so far, it looks great.
BTW: search function is still a PITA
I thought the first episode was great, but I’m worried the story line can’t live up to band of brothers.
I think it will because, like band of brothers, it’s all based on true stories. I haven’t watched the first episode yet but I have a good amount of faith that it’s going to be another hbo epic.
We will see. I don’t know if we will have such a core of characters as was in BoB. No Lt Winters this time.
I have some confidence in the producers, though.
BTW: torrent link for HBO challenged - http://eztv.it/ep/19201/the-pacific-pt-i-720p-hdtv-x264-dimension/
I forgot to add, the sound design was amazing, possibly the best ever for a TV series.
OT: I love HBO. It is high quality TV with great production value and not the offensively poor “advertisement bait” that’s played on other networks.