quote:

Originally posted by leonidas211:...

Characters killed off quick, similar names, etc… a let down.

Sort of like what happened in real life.

We should soon see a major shift in the storyline.

Yeah, I'm almost done with this one. Each episode is mostly a clone of the last. Weak casting, weak dialogue, planes take off, a bunch of flak, fighters, a bunch of guys die, a few planes come back. Come back next week for another mission where exactly the same thing happens.

While what these young men did is something to be honored and remembered, this series just isn't doing it. They'd have been better off releasing all of the episodes together. Binge-ing it might have tolerable. This isn't.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gustofer,

Watched the first 3 episodes, but haven’t had the motivation or desire to catch up.

I didn't think much of the first two episodes, I thought 3 & 4 were better.

At least new unheard of actors get an episode each.

All they got to memorize is AAAAAGGGGGGGG, I'M HIT, I'M HIT!!! gurgle gurgle.......



NEXT!

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
Watched the third episode yesterday.
First i wondered how they managed not to shoot each other when surrounded by Kraut fighters. There must have been quite a lot of blue on blue

It was my understanding that is what they prevent by the way the formation sets up. The guns are pointed in between the aircraft, which is where the Germans had to pass through. When in formation it was pretty tight. They get lose, out of formation, they can start shooting each other.

That is how I remember it from the book.

I was stationed and lived about 20 miles from the Valentin U boot bunker in Bremen that they were trying to bomb. Its still there.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
I was stationed and lived about 20 miles from the Valentin U boot bunker in Bremen that they were trying to bomb. Its still there.

Lucius D. Clay Kaserne?

As I have yet to watch any episodes of this series, I haven't watched this video. But I've watched videos Reel History produced reviewing Band of Brothers.

At any rate, for those that have watched the series, this gentleman does a pretty good job of comparing fact to Hollywood. You can search Reel History for other episodes he has reviewed. Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInAR:

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
I was stationed and lived about 20 miles from the Valentin U boot bunker in Bremen that they were trying to bomb. Its still there.

Lucius D. Clay Kaserne?

Yep, for 2 years and then 2 years at Carl Schurz and then stayed as a civilian.

Watch the coverage by the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast.

These guys are professional WWII historians, and knew personally or through friends many of the persons in the series thus far.

They took particular umbrage with the death of Bubbles. The actual man, Captain Joseph ‘Bubbles’ Payne, wasn't on the Muenster raid (thus did not die). He died over Normandy about six months later. Why the flying Hell they did this to the memory of real person eludes me.

I've known several 8th, 15th, and 21st Bomber Command pilots and crews, including a man who flew Polesti I (his story was incredible) and a waist gunner whose personal memorabilia included a chunk of shrapnel the size of a golf ball that hit him in the middle of the chest plate of his flak suit the first time he wore it.

This thread has fallen off the first page of The Lair. My wife and I are still watching and look forward to the new episodes. Curious, many of you bad-mouthed the series. Several said they were walking away from it, back around the third episode. If you walked away from it, that’s that. I wonder if some of you who were (I’ll use the word) “disappointed,” stuck around and decided it was pretty good after all?

I just think the story of the 8th Air Force is so important that I would watch anyway. At Cheyenne Frontier Days’ Rodeo there’s a media deck, just S of the announcer’s stand. It’s open to wheelchair bound rodeo fans and there’s an USAAF B-17 veteran that I’ve seen up there for the last 4 years or so. Every summer I look for him, and thus far he has shown up. I know one of these years he won’t. He was a waist gunner, and when I asked him if he flew 25 missions, he said, “30.”

I'd be among the less than impressed crowd but have continued watching, hoping for some improvement.
The last two have been a lot better than the earlier episodes. Since they have split up the characters into different areas, it's much easier to follow and a more compelling story.
Hopefully it continues the upward trend.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
This thread has fallen off the first page of The Lair. My wife and I are still watching and look forward to the new episodes. Curious, many of you bad-mouthed the series. Several said they were walking away from it, back around the third episode. If you walked away from it, that’s that. I wonder if some of you who were (I’ll use the word) “disappointed,” stuck around and decided it was pretty good after all?

I just think the story of the 8th Air Force is so important that I would watch anyway. At Cheyenne Frontier Days’ Rodeo there’s a media deck, just S of the announcer’s stand. It’s open to wheelchair bound rodeo fans and there’s an USAAF B-17 veteran that I’ve seen up there for the last 4 years or so. Every summer I look for him, and thus far he has shown up. I know one of these years he won’t. He was a waist gunner, and when I asked him if he flew 25 missions, he said, “30.”

I never wrote it off. I’ve kept an open mind since the first EP. I like the series. My maternal Grandfather was a P-51 mechanic in the USAAF during Iwo Jima. He served then went on, after the service, to work for Bell Textron until he retired. We’re talking thermos and metal lunchbox to work every day for 40+ years. Him and those helicopters were something else. I watch the series and am reminded of him when I see the Fort Mechanics. I have a photo of Grandad standing on the wing of the P-51. It’s a black and white photo and it’s invaluable. When I was a kid he would tell me stories of a rescued monkey him and his guys found. They cared for it, fed it, etc. It was my Grandfather’s chimp but the rest of his guys helped. He tried to bring it back with him and the USAAF said no. He would always talk about it but never spoke of anything else wartime because I know he lost some people over there. He was a very hard man but fair, and he was very nice to me. I’m enjoying the series.

I bailed out a few episodes ago. Might finish it eventually but it wasn't good enough for me to specifically block time to watch it

While I hadn’t bailed, I turned the last episode on while doing other tasks and can’t say I caught more than a few minutes of it. So far the whole series hasn’t managed to capture my slightest interest. I figured it was because I set such high expectations, so I kept pushing through to each episode. At this point, I pretty much consider the series a turd and will more than likely abandon it.

I don't think it's necessarily a "turd", though it definitely falls short of the high bar set by its predecessor series.

Its biggest failings are that it's much less cohesive of a story than Band of Brothers or The Pacific, and the majority of the characters just aren't all that compelling or even distinguishable from one another.

But it's still better than average for today's TV.

I like, not love, the series. Its entertaining but feels like they are trying to cover too much material too quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by fischtown7:
Yep, for 2 years and then 2 years at Carl Schurz and then stayed as a civilian.

Cool, I was with 1/41 there from 88-92. Helped close the base down.

In regards to the series, I agree it's no Band of Brothers. But like The Pacific, I don't think it's fair to compare them.

BoB follows a relatively small group of men through WW2. Focus is mainly on the original Toccoa men, and some of the replacements. Plenty of time to get to know the men, easy linear story to tell.

The Pacific kinda drops the linear part, as it's following three guys in different units, IIRC.

Masters of the Air is following one unit, but it's a BIG unit. And their turnover rate has to exceed Easy Company's by a good deal. E Co has something like 140-160 guys. The 100th BG loses 150 guys in ONE mission. Kinda hard to show enough background on each guy to make you care when they last a mission or two.

I get the criticisms, I myself was getting tired of trying to figure out who got killed on any given mission. And I dislike the 'creative license' taken with the deaths of individuals, like Biddick and Payne. But all-in-all, it's a good show, a story that should be told.

Now we need a series on the battle off Samar/Taffy 3.