HBO Miniseries – The Pacific
This actually makes me a little upset that I don't have HBO at the moment. The Pacific is a ten part miniseries by Dreamworks, and they spent a reported $200 million to make it. This miniseries does for the World War II Pacific theater, what Band of Brothers did for the war in Europe. I think Band of Brothers is a must watch, so I think this should be amazing seeing as Dreamworks is responsible for both.
The first episode is this Sunday, March 14th. I'll probably have to catch it once it hits Blu-ray, so if you catch it this week, let me know how it is.
Here's the press release on it:
HBO MINISERIES PRESENTS THE PACIFIC, AN EPIC TEN-PART EVENT, A PLAYTONE AND DREAMWORKS PRODUCTION, EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY TOM HANKS, STEVEN SPIELBERG AND GARY GOETZMAN, AND STARRING JAMES BADGE DALE, JOE MAZZELLO AND JON SEDA THE STORY OF U.S. MARINES IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF WORLD WAR II DEBUTS MARCH 14 ON HBO Directed By Carl Franklin, David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa, Tony To, Tim Van Patten And Graham Yost; Written By Laurence Andries, Michelle Ashford, Bruce C. McKenna, George Pelecanos, Robert Schenkkan And Graham Yost. "It is not a history, and it is not my story alone. I have attempted, rather, to be the spokesman for my comrades, who were swept with me into the abyss of war." Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed The epic ten-part miniseries event THE PACIFIC debuts with Part One on SUNDAY, MARCH 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other parts debuting on consecutive Sundays at the same time through May 16. The HBO Miniseries presentation of a Playtone and DreamWorks production is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the producing team behind the Emmy(R) Award-winning and Golden Globe-winning 2001 HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers." Hanks and Goetzman also executive produced the HBO miniseries "John Adams," which won a record-breaking 13 Emmys(R) in 2008. THE PACIFIC tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. The miniseries follows these men and their fellow Marines from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day. The miniseries is based in part on the books "Helmet for My Pillow," by Robert Leckie, and "With the Old Breed," by Eugene B. Sledge, with additional material from "Red Blood, Black Sand," by Chuck Tatum, and "China Marine," by Eugene B. Sledge, as well as original interviews conducted by the filmmakers.
Posted by Ghostshark under Television | Comments (3)
3/10/2010
Hello,
Because of the growing interest in HBO’s The Pacific, I thought you might be interest in the following.
Kenwood Productions’ award-winning documentary film, Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific, is being released in DVD (produced in 1991, it has been long unavailable). Against a backdrop of rare archival film footage and photographs, the story of the Battle of Peleliu is told as never before by E. B. Sledge (author of With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa and featured in Ken Burns’ film The War, seen on PBS, and the upcoming HBO mini-series The Pacific), Bill Leyden, R. V. Burgin, and Jay de l’Eau (who are also characterized in The Pacific.) HBO licensed portions of Kenwoods’ exclusive Eugene Sledge interview to support their production of the The Pacific.
Peleliu 1944: Horror in the Pacific tells the true story of the men of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and the ferocious Battle of Peleliu, “an island on fire.” In conditions that tested the sanity of each man, 9,000 Marines attacked 10,000 battle-hardened Japanese soldiers dug into hundreds of fortified and reinforced coral and limestone caves. Twenty-eight days of unrelenting battle with no quarter asked or given.
The Battle of Peleliu is as harrowing as any in the history of modern warfare. A battle of total annihilation fought in inhuman conditions.
To see film clips and get more information on this, and other Kenwood Productions’ films, go to http://www.americanherofilm.com.
After viewing the clips, we hope you’ll agree with the viewers who said the film “should be required viewing by every veteran or enthusiast” and “hearing the veterans speak and tell their stories was so powerful, it was all woven together with excellent narration and footage. Just hearing Eugene Sledge tell his stories is priceless.” Historian Paul Fussel wrote “One of the cassettes [of Peleliu 1944] I’m donating to the Imperial War Museum here so that the British will have some idea of the costs of the Pacific war. The other I’ll treasure forever, and with thanks always to you and to Gene Sledge.”
If you have questions or would like more information contact us at [email protected].
Thank you.
Jeff Hohman
Producer
Kenwood Productions, Inc.
Comment by Jeff Hohman — March 9, 2010 @ 10:42 pm
I have been watching the series religiously and last nite on part 5, saw PFC Bill Leyden, as one of the veterans being interviewed. I would very much like to contact Bill Leyden. My dad, Joe Brennan, Sr, and he were great friends growing up on Long Island. They were lifeguards on either Jones Beach or Montauk. They served in WWII at the same time, however, my dad, served in the 10th Mountain Division in Italy.
Any help to find “Uncle Bill” would be gratefully appreciated. My phone is 609-936-8385.
Thank you.
Comment by Joe Brennan — April 12, 2010 @ 8:26 pm
Bill Leyden was my neighbor for 25 years. He lives in West Hempstead last i heard. He is a true hero.
Comment by Jim — April 27, 2010 @ 11:15 am