Band of Brothers & The Pacific

The Muffin Man

The Muffin Man

Winger
Watched them when the were first released then had Sky installed last week and have binge watched the BOB Boxset.....My word I had forgotten just how unreal these two series were and given it was about a decade since I last watched them it was like watching them for the first time again........For any young uns out there who have missed them first time round they are a must watch, utterly brilliant TV.
 


Bishop Mackem said:
Band of brothers best thing av ever watched

Pacific is excellent also but bit a patch on BoB

Shout-out to the film Hacksaw Ridge aswell btw or anyone who's into these sort of films, my favourite film
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BOB and Pacific very different, pacific more of a headfuck due to the nature of the enemy I think......The chucking stones into the bloody skull bit honestly made me want to puke.

 
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Both wonderful. Band of Brothers marginally has the edge, largely because there are less US (and indeed Australia) set scenes/episodes. I know the whole John Basilone story is both romantic and tragic but it just seems a touch out of place having large parts of an episode taken up with a love story.

The bloke who played Sledgehammer played John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody. What happened to the lad who played his mate Snafu?
 
Arkle said:
Both wonderful. Band of Brothers marginally has the edge, largely because there are less US (and indeed Australia) set scenes/episodes. I know the whole John Basilone story is both romantic and tragic but it just seems a touch out of place having large parts of an episode taken up with a love story.

The bloke who played Sledgehammer played John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody. What happened to the lad who played his mate Snafu?
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Love anything of this genre and for me up there with Platoon and Schindlers list as some of the greatest war dramas of all time.....Utterly compelling viewing and a real headfuck to know that my own grandad went through this shit.
 
Arkle said:
Both wonderful. Band of Brothers marginally has the edge, largely because there are less US (and indeed Australia) set scenes/episodes. I know the whole John Basilone story is both romantic and tragic but it just seems a touch out of place having large parts of an episode taken up with a love story.

The bloke who played Sledgehammer played John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody. What happened to the lad who played his mate Snafu?
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:lol:
 
The Muffin Man said:
Love anything of this genre and for me up there with Platoon and Schindlers list as some of the greatest war dramas of all time.....Utterly compelling viewing and a real headfuck to know that my own grandad went through this shit.
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Likewise. One grandad was, I think, at Dunkirk, the other was in India/Burma. The former, away from the Dunkirk thing, was due to be transported on a ship which was sunk with most/all men lost but his unit's plans were changed, inadvertently saving his life and, indirectly, mine but, obviously sending other men to their deaths. I got the impression, from what he said about the war, that he was a bit of a Private Walker type character (but infantry not home guard).
 
Arkle said:
Likewise. One grandad was, I think, at Dunkirk, the other was in India/Burma. The former, away from the Dunkirk thing, was due to be transported on a ship which was sunk with most/all men lost but his unit's plans were changed, inadvertently saving his life and, indirectly, mine but, obviously sending other men to their deaths. I got the impression, from what he said about the war, that he was a bit of a Private Walker type character (but infantry not home guard).
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Grandad taken prisoner at Dunkirk, he was a medic.....Was force marched to Poland where he built railways for the Nazis.....He was made order of the Polish empire later in his life although had to wear surgical boots all his life too due to the damage done by that march.......He eventually died, in a pretty horrible way as dementia set in, he began rambling in polish but believed we were all "the enemy"....It was horrible but he was a truly wonderful man and had more bravery in his little finger than I could muster in an entire lifetime.......When he returned he was so fucked up physically that he walked up to my grandmother on the station platform and she didnt even know who he was, this 14 stone bloke was less than half his normal body weight when he returned.
 
Reptilia said:
Band of Brothers is arguably the best show ever made imo. I couldn’t get into The Pacific.
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It took me a second watch last year to really appreciate it. The first couple of episodes, in particular, involve a lot of night time combat and a certain amount of scenes from home (because one of the three main characters isn't initially allowed to join up). I also think it suffers a bit from focusing on three characters rather than the ensemble feel that Band of Brothers has.

The Muffin Man said:
Grandad taken prisoner at Dunkirk, he was a medic.....Was force marched to Poland where he built railways for the Nazis.....He was made order of the Polish empire later in his life although had to wear surgical boots all his life too due to the damage done by that march.......He eventually died, in a pretty horrible way as dementia set in, he began rambling in polish but believed we were all "the enemy"....It was horrible but he was a truly wonderful man and had more bravery in his little finger than I could muster in an entire lifetime.......When he returned he was so fucked up physically that he walked up to my grandmother on the station platform and she didnt even know who he was, this 14 stone bloke was less than half his normal body weight when he returned.
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My two got off lightly (TBH, I know very little about what the grandad who fought in Burma went through beyond seeing the medals he earned). Your grandad's story could be made into a film. Not sure a like is appropriate for your post but it's about the only option available.
 
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The warthog said:
Would love to see a British version but don’t think our channels have the budget for it
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I know the BBC & HBO did a joint venture with ROME. I’d imagine it would have to be a similar deal, unless Sky made it? I can’t imagine many UK broadcasters would have the finance to produce such a show. It would be great to see though.
 
Arkle said:
It took me a second watch last year to really appreciate it. The first couple of episodes, in particular, involve a lot of night time combat and a certain amount of scenes from home (because one of the three main characters isn't initially allowed to join up). I also think it suffers a bit from focusing on three characters rather than the ensemble feel that Band of Brothers has.



My two got off lightly (TBH, I know very little about what the grandad who fought in Burma went through beyond seeing the medals he earned). Your grandad's story could be made into a film. Not sure a like is appropriate for your post but it's about the only option available.
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Its mad when I look back......One of the most amazing things that ever happened to him was when he showed another Dunkirk Vet who had been in Poland a pic of when he was building railways (taken by the nazis).......The bloke just went white and then said, OMG, that is me, they had been working side by side and met up all those years later. He had a tough life, my mam and her brother had a tough life cause my Grandad was seriously f***ing damaged when he came home and took things out on my uncle big time...What he saw as normal discipline in reality was brutal but his concept of normal was so skewed........Remember as young uns he would get the air rifles out and he would have us shooting match boxes using match sticks in the air rifles, he said all boys needed to learn to shoot, "just incase"
 
The Muffin Man said:
Its mad when I look back......One of the most amazing things that ever happened to him was when he showed another Dunkirk Vet who had been in Poland a pic of when he was building railways (taken by the nazis).......The bloke just went white and then said, OMG, that is me, they had been working side by side and met up all those years later. He had a tough life, my mam and her brother had a tough life cause my Grandad was seriously f***ing damaged when he came home and took things out on my uncle big time...What he saw as normal discipline in reality was brutal but his concept of normal was so skewed........Remember as young uns he would get the air rifles out and he would have us shooting match boxes using match sticks in the air rifles, he said all boys needed to learn to shoot, "just incase"
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I think one of the things that tends to get undervalued and understressed is how war changes people emotionally. Obviously, PTSD is now recognised but it's only recently that this has happened.
 
Arkle said:
I think one of the things that tends to get undervalued and understressed is how war changes people emotionally. Obviously, PTSD is now recognised but it's only recently that this has happened.
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Agreed and when I look now he was clearly suffering from PTSD all the time I knew him.....He had night terrors all his life, my Gran must have had the patience of a saint. Two truly wonderful people.
 

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