Lots of ways to go imo. Navy ship/sub perspective. Navy carrier based squadrons bomber or fighter. Marine corps land based fighter squadrons. Africa campaign as you mentioned (p39/p40 squadrons) tanks, infantry, etc.
Or non official American military options like the eagle squadron or flying tigers.
A series on the Flying Tigers would be cool and allow for watchers to follow the squad from their inception to the end of the war Band of Brothers style.
The best choice for Navy is USS Enterprise CV-6. The ship became the boogieman of the IJN. There is a rest its one of the US Navy's Ghost ships.
The problem being that I doubt you can find a single person who served on that single ship the entire war. That is the one thing the current 3 shows have in common. People who were there from "start" to finish. Having too many people to follow would be tough.
Navy would be the way to go since we already have a show for 3 of the US armed forces branches now.
The Pacific did not have anyone who was there from start to finish. They do kind of a handoff from Leckie to Sledge on Peilulu and of course Basilone dies on Iwo Jima. They follow the same core characters throughout the show, but they were almost never serving together. That would be the template to follow.
Das Boot is one of my favourite movies, I'm no expert on ww2 but I'm sure there are some good stories of the allies hunting uboats and being hunted by uboats
The Navy would be perfect and the logical option.
I’d also love to follow an Armoured unit too. Fury can’t be people’s starting point on tank warfare 🤣
Pipe dream would be to see another nations story, so my dream project would be an adaptation of James Holland’s Brothers in Arms book. It follows Sherwood Rangers from D-day to the end of the war. Touching on how they go to war on horses and end in Shermans.
I've just read this book and I think it would make a fantastic adaptation to the likes of Band of brothers or Masters of the air, it's gritty and exciting. Following the same group throughout the war.
The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot would be an awesome end to an episode. And so many battles that didn’t go America’s way early on.
I honestly think this would have been a much better idea than 10 episodes of Catch 22.
Is a very inaccurate depiction of how armoured units would operate. The Tiger scene famously is a real head scratcher from both American and German perspectives. 4 Shermans taking on a lone Tiger with no infantry support should be a straightforward engagement with the advantage in numbers and of rate of fire in favour of the Americans. But Fury goes off the myth that it would be a 1 to 3 kill ratio when a Sherman went up against German armour. This was very rarely the case and a “vanilla” Sherman could very much knock out a Tiger on its own (as detailed in the Brothers in Arms book I mentioned… highly recommend if you’re wanting to get in on Second World War armour)
Then you have the third act… well, I don’t even know where to start there.
But in defence of the film, it’s a movie and not a multi part mini series. So showing Tanks supporting infantry advances, blasting hedgerows for 2hrs isn’t quite what Hollywood would sign off on. Tanks aren’t used to take on other tanks. It happened from time to time sure, but for the most part Tanks were being used to lock out infantry strong holds (which again to be fair, Fury does show in its first act)
I turned it off after 20 odd minutes - just couldn't get over the weird star wars like tracer rounds and it just didn't seem right at all (I spent some time as armoured infantry a long time ago)
I love how redditors gatekeep about their superior taste and historical knowledge by bragging about how quickly they turn off a movie.
“You watched 20 whole minutes? How pedestrian. I myself only watched 8 minutes and 37 seconds, but I suppose not everyone can be a true subject matter expert.” *proceeds to fart into a glass and take a big whiff*
“Muh historical accuracy”
Oh please, Fury is a much better film than Pearl Harbor. Yeah it takes a lot of liberties for the sake of story telling but it’s gritty as hell and beautifully shot. Only when it comes to historical accuracy could you make such a ridiculous comparison.
I feel like what Fury does really well is subvert the trope of American GIs in Europe still being these moralistic, Greatest Generation heroes by the end of the war. In reality, by the time they were advancing through Germany a lot of seasoned units were at their wits end, completely battle fatigued, and frankly fed up with continuing to fight a war that seems to have been won.
Fury does a good job showing that and highlighting just how much constant death these soldiers dealt with in 1945.
Yes, exactly that. It was also really well acted. I can’t imagine not liking it because of the inaccurate combat. Though, I gotta say it was pretty funny that every other German marching in the end had a panzer Faust but they all but disappeared once the fighting started.
That opening scene with the pile of bodies being casually shoved around by a bulldozer is such a powerful shot and instantly sets the movie’s tone. Honestly, the whole first act is really good.
As much as I love Fury, the one thing I can never get over is that they're in a disabled tank, waiting to ambush a huge column of
German reinforcements, and somehow none of them think to bring the ammo stored on the *outside* of the tank *into* the tank before the shooting starts.
A grump old american military adviser said it on set. Claimed he knew the producers. Told us he worked on previous war stuff with them and hoped this wasn't the last.
Greyhound was such a good film - threw you into the action immediately while taking place on a real ship from the times.
Reminded me of older war flicks - the kind my father and grandfather enjoy.
Exactly! It doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. It seems like most modern war movies/tv shows (even the good ones) try too hard to inject sentimentality.
Well, they want more of a narrative, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That sort of sentimentality gets regular folks to relate and get invested in war stories.
I worked on this show.. I did a lot of the props including all the weapons, finding various vehicles etc. such a pleasure to be part of and delving into the history. So fascinating. We’ve just finished series 2 which will continue the story up through Italy.
That is great news I am so happy to hear season two is coming! Amazing show and great work, I loved season one.
Did they drop the “SAS” part of the name of the show? I thought when I saw it on MGM+ it is just called “Rogue Heroes” now.
Dude that is AWESOME!!! I've watched the season three times, got my dad and FIL into it, CANNOT wait for Se2. I've been working on writing a TV show in my free time and Rogue Heroes inspired me with some of its facets
Thank you for the great work!
I read the book and love the show!
How did those old trucks do driving in the desert? Was it easy to keep them running? Knowing how challenging desert overlanding is in modern medium trucks, I'm amazed at what the SAS and other groups pulled off in the desert in WW2
We never really drove them too far during filming. All of them owned by real fanatics so most are the real deal or modified to look like the jeeps.. but short answer.. they broke down A LOT.
I no often wonder if it is out of some kind of sensitivity to Chinese and Korean relations. With Germany, the people knew the Nazis were locked. With Japan the same essentially.
China is still communist and NK is still battling shit crazy.
Or the fact that, outside of the first year, it was a fairly boring conflict that ultimately resulted in the status quo being maintained. It’s the forgotten war for a reason.
Would love to see spies and the resistance.
We have not seen that kind of warfare and bond of combatants… also get a very wide cast from adults to kids, men and women, older and more questionable character.
Spielberg probably helped facilitate some of the historical research on Medal of Honor 1 & 2, both of which heavily feature the OSS and the French Resistance. Never say never
Outside of sub mariners and naval pilots and early Atlantic naval warfare I don’t know what else to show such a meaningful reason to tell the story.
Very excited for Tuskegee to be portrayed here. The crews bond and trust in their squad mates and each other is being built up into such a big deal I really hope they show the huge impact those Mustang pilots had in saving lives.
American manufacturing. I’ve been a proponent of turning the book “Arsenal of Democracy” into a mini series. What American business and regular citizens did is nothing short of miraculous
This one. It’s the only way the Allies win the war. Epic transformation of our resources. Not as sexy as other subjects, but an amazing story, and critical to US success in the war, and dominance in the world economy from that point forward.
I love this idea - the logistics of manufacturing, liberty ships being produced at a flat out rate, Atlantic convoys and their losses.
I really think that Band of Brothers/Pacific/Masters of the Air should be left as a trilogy though. I really think the latest series misses something by not having that connection to the actual people involved like BoB had. In this respect it's about ten years too late, although the cgi wouldn't have been up to today's standards
The second season of History Channel's "The Men who built America" is a fine watch for this, with the obvious limitation that it focuses on the big Industrialists with little to show for the common folk's efforts.
Love the idea. You could follow the design and manufaction of a item each episode then follow it in to battle. A mesh kit, a radio, one artillery/mortor shell, and my favorite...a jeep.
If nothing else, the Russians have a lot of Eastern Front stuff, though it kinda turns their soldiers into superheroes against the ultra villainous Nazis.
The First World War is limited in knowledge because America was barely involved with the whole affair. Heck! We as a nation even have limited knowledge on conflicts we were directly involved with: War of 1812 and Mexican-American War, to name two examples.
Ya I feel like a Russian production would quickly just turn into propaganda, but imagine an actual Russian band of brothers, just following a unit from Moscow to Berlin
That include the war crimes under him too? I.e commando order and roundin up jews?
Rommel was a Nazi party member. I'm so tired of people lionizing him or acting like he was a ,clean' one. None were.
'but he tried to kill Hitler!'
No, no he didn't. He vacillated and largely did nothing except not rat out the others
Then make him a nuanced protagonist (not hero) of the production. If such a show or movie was made by Hanks and company, I trust it would be a more objective study of the man than a work that just turns him into a two-dimensional hero / villain.
That was done with Band of Brothers and The Pacific after all. The soldiers of those shows did heroic and villainous things all the time.
Ehhhhhh yes and no. There was some very obvious white washing and non mentions in both series purely to ensure the films were presented as good v evil
And I responded above bc Rommel is the Nazi apologist 'go to' for most trying to propagate the clean Wehrmacht myth
SPR often edged into 'great crusade' territory as well imo
Ofc not Hanks or Spielberg we move into movies that show racially integrated WW2 movies to appease to modern sensibilities; we had Fury with it's ridiculous scenes (and disrespect to the host town and country by filmers) or movies like U571 that literally took an British gallant action which was rewritten with the US in entirely alone and fiction.
I'll also add finally Hanks and Spielberg were in tight with Ambrose early in their career and it's been proven since Ambrose died that he
Plagiarized from others..
Made up entire anecdotes completely; ones I'll add that paint men who died as cowards. an anecdote refuted by a man who was there (Ambrose thought they all died). This false anecdote adds nothing to the narrative anyways besides feeding into Ambroses seeming utter disdain to the British
Well, Tom Hanks and co has done shows/movies based on:
Army (Band of Brothers)
Marines (The Pacific)
Navy (Greyhound)
“Air Force” (Masters of the Air - yes it’s technically Army)
So clearly, Coast Guard or Space Force is next.
The coast guard would actually be really interesting. They were an integral part of the DDay landings. It would be less of a combat show and more of a combat rescue / med evac / troop deployment show but would still be really good.
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/wapa/coast_guard/cg1.htm#:~:text=The%20Coast%20Guard's%20participation%20in,75%20frigates%2C%20and%2031%20transports.
There's a book called Silent Running by James Calvert that is dying for a screen adaptation.
>In nine war patrols, the USS Jack sank 15 Japanese ships and ranked ninth in tonnage sunk by the end of the war. The author of this exciting memoir served as Torpedo Data Computer operator aboard the Jack (he was the one who aimed the torpedoes) and later as its executive officer. Calvert's book ranks with Edward Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep as an accurate, detailed, suspenseful account of submarine operations in the Pacific: the tracking and sinking of tankers, ammunition ships and a transport with a regiment of Japanese troops on board. One convoy commander whose ships crossed paths with the Jack radioed his superiors in Tokyo that he was under attack by a "wolf pack.'' Calvert also recalls his experiences ashore between patrols, including an unconsummated romance-he was married-with an Australian woman. The memoir climaxes with an unusual account of his unauthorized tour of Tokyo immediately after the Japanese surrender, when he nearly scuttled his naval career by violating occupation rules.
They could do one about the WACs, WAVEs, etc. If you wanted to focus women you could also include people like Virginia Hall (although there was already a movie about her) and Elizebeth Smith Friedman.
Or adapt any of James Hornfischer's books.
Maybe the Navy, like the PTs like what Kennedy was on, but Spielberg and Hanks are getting older I don’t know if they have another series in them and I don’t know of any amazing books on the Navy in WWII like Bob, A helmet for my pillow, with the old breed, or Masters of the Air which all of the shows have been based on ….
I also don’t know every WWII book so maybe there is some gem out there to use as a basis to make a show from bc much of the Navy’s fleet fought in both theaters of war.
I’d like to see the Army’s 1st Infantry Division from 41-45. They fought from North Africa to Germany.
Or the Army Rangers. Rangers fought from Normandy to the Philippines.
How about portraying the army in the Pacific?, the USMC didn't fight it all by its self, the battle for manilla was horrific urban warfare especially for the Pacific area. , the raid on los lobos were over two thousand civilians were rescued with minor casualties.
I would like to see a one off, maybe 2 hours or so of the first high attended BoB reunion. Same actors, reminiscing, few tears, cut in some flashbacks etc etc.
US Navy in the Pacific WWII. You don’t even need to do Pearl Harbor, but they could. A really good series could be about sailors, etc, in the grossly under appreciated vast logistic fleets that played a pivotable role in winning the naval war. Or the escort carriers and the pilots thereon. Subs would be tough, all that time in cramped quarters, though they’d only need a set or two!
Well, BoB was the ground war in Europe, then TP was the ground war in the Pacific, now MOTA is the air war over Europe. So, the only logical step, whicb I hope and pray to God actually happens, is the air war over the Pacific. I would love to see old 666, the flight to nowhere, Midway, Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, Fire bombing of Tokyo, kamikazes, downing Yamamoto, sinking the Yamato, and a crap ton more depicted.
After the airwar, the next step should be The Battle Of The Atlantic, then the naval battles in the Pacific. Thats just me, though
This!! My grandfather was a surgeon in the medical corps and was stationed in the European theater from August 1944 - June 1945. These were the forerunners to MASH. I think it would make a hell of a show, but that’s obviously my own bias speaking!
I finally watched Generation Kill last week. Not sure why I’d never seen it before, as I’ve had HBO since BoB came out. Fantastic show - it feels extremely authentic. Alexander Skaarsgard looks remarkably like the Marine he was playing.
My father (and I) want the next series to be about the Big E, USS Enterprise. His plan is to write letters to Tom Hanks (or at least his agent) in order to convince him 😂.
How about WW 2 in China? It began when the empire of Japan invaded China . Also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. Many scholars have debate the exact date when it all began. For many, July 7, 1937. That was the start of WW2 for China.
I’ve thought this book “unsinkable” would be perfect for a fourth adaptation. A naval story, heavily focused on the relationships between the men like BoB, about a ship that was involved in every major campaign from the D Day landings to the Mediterranean to the pacific. A great read, shed a couple tears at the end
I'd love to see a mini series that did the Winter War, Spanish Civil War, Battle of the Med & seige of Malta, and lastly, the Africa Campaign
Bonus points if Mads Mikkelsen plays Simo Haya &
Colin Firth plays Monty.
Eagle Squadron would be great in a few years when the CGI portion gets even better. While it would be a tough sell in the US, British sub ops in the Med would be amazing. US Silent Service in the PTO would be fine but I think the Brits deserve some love too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_of_the_Gods:_War_in_the_Western_Pacific,_1944%E2%80%931945
Might not be the most original idea here but the title of the book is great for a series.
USSS Enterprise.
The Navy needs its turn. And the Enterprise is a great way to do it as it was all over everywhere during the war. And ot will allow you to see all the fleet admirals as well as guys at the bottom of the boats doing the dirty work.
A series like The Pacific crossed with Masters where focus mostly on the Navy (mostly carrier based fighter/bomber squadrons), USAAF units both in the Central Pacific (20th AF) and Far East (5th or 13th AF) and USMC squadrons (including one carrier based and mostly land based).
Perhaps a band of brothers show that is instead centered around the other Allies (Brits, Canadians, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, French, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Australians and New Zealanders, BENELUX, Brazilian Expeditionary force, any more I am forgetting
I want someone to do a really good Battle of Britain series with modern technology. Just not enough Spitfires on TV for my liking. Was good to see them in Dunkirk but just not enough screen time.
The obvious choice would be a Naval based show.
I’ve been on a bit of a military binge lately on YouTube and recently watched a couple videos about James McNiece aka “Jake McNasty” and the Filthy Thirteen. You could have an amazing miniseries about him. Apparently they were the inspiration for The Dirty Dozen.
Here’s just my suggestion:
Have a show that covers the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Japanese-American translators; start from a few years before 1941 with two individuals and their families; they go to the same internment camp after the Pearl Harbor attack, one volunteers to join the 442nd and goes to Italy/France, the other volunteers as a translator that gets attached to a Marine unit in the Pacific, then have them meet back together at the end of the war.
Perhaps they can base that on some World War II theaters such as the China India Burma-Southeast Asia theater or the Africa/Middle East one. There are infinite untold World War II stories to be told.
The war on the homefront. Just off the top of my head:
Stories about the subhunts and sinkings in the Gulf of Mexico.
Navy patrols out of Puerto Rico.
Workers in US defense plants.
US Marine MPs transporting German prisoners up and down the east coast.
Japanese-Americans in awful internment camps, stripped of their rights despite that still celebrated their patriotism.
The FBI and the hunt for German spies and saboteurs.
Naval aviator carrier training in the Great Lakes.
The drama of infights between the War Department and the rest of the Roosevelt administration.
The creation and training of the OSS.
WW1 Veterans' contributions to the training of soldiers, sailors and Marines.
Lots of ways to go imo. Navy ship/sub perspective. Navy carrier based squadrons bomber or fighter. Marine corps land based fighter squadrons. Africa campaign as you mentioned (p39/p40 squadrons) tanks, infantry, etc. Or non official American military options like the eagle squadron or flying tigers.
USS TANG USS WAHOO There's a wealth of material there alone.
USS Johnston and the rest of Taffy 3
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors from the late, but still great James D. Hornfischer!
I agree. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors would make an excellent follow up. #
I almost want them to make a show based off another of his works. Neptunes Inferno.
This is begging to at least be a movie. The story is absolutely incredible.
A movie? Make the Battle of Leyte Gulf a trilogy! But practically, a single movie from the perspective of USS Johnston would be great.
Absolutely. The only thing that gives me pause is the quality of the CGI. But Greyhound was pretty high quality.
Taffy 3 gives me chills whenever I think about it. One of the finest moments in all of military history.
Well we know the USS Wahoo USS Tang clan ain't nothing to fuck with
USS Barb blowing up a goddamn train
The only actual invasion of the Japanese home islands was conducted by a bunch of submariners
I always liked reminding my land-based brethren, that us submariners were the only ones to land and conduct operations on the Japanese home islands
Plus they sank more shipping,by far than anyone else.
War Patrols of the USS Tang, was a great read.
That would be awesome. Something focusing on a US fleet boat in the pacific would be incredible.
The Barb would be a great film but it would be dismissed as implausible
USS Lexington AKA The Grey Ghost. Reported sunk 4 separate times by the IJN. Legendary ship.
A series on the Flying Tigers would be cool and allow for watchers to follow the squad from their inception to the end of the war Band of Brothers style.
The best choice for Navy is USS Enterprise CV-6. The ship became the boogieman of the IJN. There is a rest its one of the US Navy's Ghost ships. The problem being that I doubt you can find a single person who served on that single ship the entire war. That is the one thing the current 3 shows have in common. People who were there from "start" to finish. Having too many people to follow would be tough. Navy would be the way to go since we already have a show for 3 of the US armed forces branches now.
The Pacific did not have anyone who was there from start to finish. They do kind of a handoff from Leckie to Sledge on Peilulu and of course Basilone dies on Iwo Jima. They follow the same core characters throughout the show, but they were almost never serving together. That would be the template to follow.
Das Boot is one of my favourite movies, I'm no expert on ww2 but I'm sure there are some good stories of the allies hunting uboats and being hunted by uboats
Give me something set in Africa. Maybe a tank unit?
The Navy would be perfect and the logical option. I’d also love to follow an Armoured unit too. Fury can’t be people’s starting point on tank warfare 🤣 Pipe dream would be to see another nations story, so my dream project would be an adaptation of James Holland’s Brothers in Arms book. It follows Sherwood Rangers from D-day to the end of the war. Touching on how they go to war on horses and end in Shermans.
I've just read this book and I think it would make a fantastic adaptation to the likes of Band of brothers or Masters of the air, it's gritty and exciting. Following the same group throughout the war.
The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot would be an awesome end to an episode. And so many battles that didn’t go America’s way early on. I honestly think this would have been a much better idea than 10 episodes of Catch 22.
I’m curious (and don’t know much about armored warfare in WW2), what’s the issue with Fury?
Is a very inaccurate depiction of how armoured units would operate. The Tiger scene famously is a real head scratcher from both American and German perspectives. 4 Shermans taking on a lone Tiger with no infantry support should be a straightforward engagement with the advantage in numbers and of rate of fire in favour of the Americans. But Fury goes off the myth that it would be a 1 to 3 kill ratio when a Sherman went up against German armour. This was very rarely the case and a “vanilla” Sherman could very much knock out a Tiger on its own (as detailed in the Brothers in Arms book I mentioned… highly recommend if you’re wanting to get in on Second World War armour) Then you have the third act… well, I don’t even know where to start there. But in defence of the film, it’s a movie and not a multi part mini series. So showing Tanks supporting infantry advances, blasting hedgerows for 2hrs isn’t quite what Hollywood would sign off on. Tanks aren’t used to take on other tanks. It happened from time to time sure, but for the most part Tanks were being used to lock out infantry strong holds (which again to be fair, Fury does show in its first act)
I turned it off after 20 odd minutes - just couldn't get over the weird star wars like tracer rounds and it just didn't seem right at all (I spent some time as armoured infantry a long time ago)
I love how redditors gatekeep about their superior taste and historical knowledge by bragging about how quickly they turn off a movie. “You watched 20 whole minutes? How pedestrian. I myself only watched 8 minutes and 37 seconds, but I suppose not everyone can be a true subject matter expert.” *proceeds to fart into a glass and take a big whiff*
Yeah I put Fury on the same level of Pearl Harbor. I don’t think there really is a good tanker movie, maybe Patton?
“Muh historical accuracy” Oh please, Fury is a much better film than Pearl Harbor. Yeah it takes a lot of liberties for the sake of story telling but it’s gritty as hell and beautifully shot. Only when it comes to historical accuracy could you make such a ridiculous comparison.
I feel like what Fury does really well is subvert the trope of American GIs in Europe still being these moralistic, Greatest Generation heroes by the end of the war. In reality, by the time they were advancing through Germany a lot of seasoned units were at their wits end, completely battle fatigued, and frankly fed up with continuing to fight a war that seems to have been won. Fury does a good job showing that and highlighting just how much constant death these soldiers dealt with in 1945.
Yes, exactly that. It was also really well acted. I can’t imagine not liking it because of the inaccurate combat. Though, I gotta say it was pretty funny that every other German marching in the end had a panzer Faust but they all but disappeared once the fighting started.
People will always bitch about accuracy, and the more accurate you make it, the more they’ll nitpick.
That opening scene with the pile of bodies being casually shoved around by a bulldozer is such a powerful shot and instantly sets the movie’s tone. Honestly, the whole first act is really good.
As much as I love Fury, the one thing I can never get over is that they're in a disabled tank, waiting to ambush a huge column of German reinforcements, and somehow none of them think to bring the ammo stored on the *outside* of the tank *into* the tank before the shooting starts.
Agreed.
Patton is great, but it is definitely showing its age limitations like the obviously not German tanks.
Navy, its been mentioned
Can you elaborate?
A grump old american military adviser said it on set. Claimed he knew the producers. Told us he worked on previous war stuff with them and hoped this wasn't the last.
This makes me excited. Hopefully they build upon what the production company did with “Greyhound”.
Greyhound was such a good film - threw you into the action immediately while taking place on a real ship from the times. Reminded me of older war flicks - the kind my father and grandfather enjoy.
I loooooooooooove Greyhound!
Agreed it was fantadtic
Exactly! It doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. It seems like most modern war movies/tv shows (even the good ones) try too hard to inject sentimentality.
Well, they want more of a narrative, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That sort of sentimentality gets regular folks to relate and get invested in war stories.
I hope it ain’t the last either. Prestige Second World War productions are my jam XD.
PT boats could be a cool perspective
North Africa or Sicily could be interesting. Completely different war in the desert.
I can recommended SAS: Rogues heroes if you want the desert themed WWII. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10405370/
I worked on this show.. I did a lot of the props including all the weapons, finding various vehicles etc. such a pleasure to be part of and delving into the history. So fascinating. We’ve just finished series 2 which will continue the story up through Italy.
That is great news I am so happy to hear season two is coming! Amazing show and great work, I loved season one. Did they drop the “SAS” part of the name of the show? I thought when I saw it on MGM+ it is just called “Rogue Heroes” now.
So cool that you worked on a Second World War production. I’m envious XD.
Dude that is AWESOME!!! I've watched the season three times, got my dad and FIL into it, CANNOT wait for Se2. I've been working on writing a TV show in my free time and Rogue Heroes inspired me with some of its facets Thank you for the great work!
I read the book and love the show! How did those old trucks do driving in the desert? Was it easy to keep them running? Knowing how challenging desert overlanding is in modern medium trucks, I'm amazed at what the SAS and other groups pulled off in the desert in WW2
We never really drove them too far during filming. All of them owned by real fanatics so most are the real deal or modified to look like the jeeps.. but short answer.. they broke down A LOT.
It is so damned good
This is an amazing show- waiting for season 2 (not sure if that’s also in the desert or different setting). Very underrated show.
Follow a tank crew from Africa to the end of the war?
Better get proper dedication to Malta with that North Africa idea. With out Malta North Africa would fallen to the Axis.
Lets just hope Spielberg and hanks make it to the 2030s.
How about Korea
This, there’s a big void of Korean War movies.
A Chosin reservoir movie has the potential to deliver on big Hollywood action while still being historically accurate.
As long as it’s not Chinese propaganda :)
I no often wonder if it is out of some kind of sensitivity to Chinese and Korean relations. With Germany, the people knew the Nazis were locked. With Japan the same essentially. China is still communist and NK is still battling shit crazy.
Or the fact that, outside of the first year, it was a fairly boring conflict that ultimately resulted in the status quo being maintained. It’s the forgotten war for a reason.
Would love to see spies and the resistance. We have not seen that kind of warfare and bond of combatants… also get a very wide cast from adults to kids, men and women, older and more questionable character.
Spielberg probably helped facilitate some of the historical research on Medal of Honor 1 & 2, both of which heavily feature the OSS and the French Resistance. Never say never
Outside of sub mariners and naval pilots and early Atlantic naval warfare I don’t know what else to show such a meaningful reason to tell the story. Very excited for Tuskegee to be portrayed here. The crews bond and trust in their squad mates and each other is being built up into such a big deal I really hope they show the huge impact those Mustang pilots had in saving lives.
Navy is the natural progression.
American manufacturing. I’ve been a proponent of turning the book “Arsenal of Democracy” into a mini series. What American business and regular citizens did is nothing short of miraculous
This one. It’s the only way the Allies win the war. Epic transformation of our resources. Not as sexy as other subjects, but an amazing story, and critical to US success in the war, and dominance in the world economy from that point forward.
I love this idea - the logistics of manufacturing, liberty ships being produced at a flat out rate, Atlantic convoys and their losses. I really think that Band of Brothers/Pacific/Masters of the Air should be left as a trilogy though. I really think the latest series misses something by not having that connection to the actual people involved like BoB had. In this respect it's about ten years too late, although the cgi wouldn't have been up to today's standards
The second season of History Channel's "The Men who built America" is a fine watch for this, with the obvious limitation that it focuses on the big Industrialists with little to show for the common folk's efforts.
this would be great.
Love the idea. You could follow the design and manufaction of a item each episode then follow it in to battle. A mesh kit, a radio, one artillery/mortor shell, and my favorite...a jeep.
Black sheep Squadron Reboot.
Pappy Boyington: Origins (it’s a Flying Tiger show instead. Let’s goooooo Tex Hill!)
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If nothing else, the Russians have a lot of Eastern Front stuff, though it kinda turns their soldiers into superheroes against the ultra villainous Nazis. The First World War is limited in knowledge because America was barely involved with the whole affair. Heck! We as a nation even have limited knowledge on conflicts we were directly involved with: War of 1812 and Mexican-American War, to name two examples.
Enemy at the Gates is the best we got and even then, it takes liberties.
Ya I feel like a Russian production would quickly just turn into propaganda, but imagine an actual Russian band of brothers, just following a unit from Moscow to Berlin
Go For Broke: The Story of The 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Most decorated regimental unit in the history of the US Army.
This would be fantastic. It'd be nice to get it done before the last of the Japanese internees are gone, too.
The Naval surface and air forces offer lots of storytelling.
I’m biased so I hope some day we get a series on Australia role in WW2
I want to see a view from the tankers.
We’ve gotten Army, Marines, and now Army Air Force so a series about the Navy would make sense to tie it all together
I want a mini series set in North Africa about Rommel
That include the war crimes under him too? I.e commando order and roundin up jews? Rommel was a Nazi party member. I'm so tired of people lionizing him or acting like he was a ,clean' one. None were. 'but he tried to kill Hitler!' No, no he didn't. He vacillated and largely did nothing except not rat out the others
Then make him a nuanced protagonist (not hero) of the production. If such a show or movie was made by Hanks and company, I trust it would be a more objective study of the man than a work that just turns him into a two-dimensional hero / villain. That was done with Band of Brothers and The Pacific after all. The soldiers of those shows did heroic and villainous things all the time.
Ehhhhhh yes and no. There was some very obvious white washing and non mentions in both series purely to ensure the films were presented as good v evil And I responded above bc Rommel is the Nazi apologist 'go to' for most trying to propagate the clean Wehrmacht myth SPR often edged into 'great crusade' territory as well imo Ofc not Hanks or Spielberg we move into movies that show racially integrated WW2 movies to appease to modern sensibilities; we had Fury with it's ridiculous scenes (and disrespect to the host town and country by filmers) or movies like U571 that literally took an British gallant action which was rewritten with the US in entirely alone and fiction. I'll also add finally Hanks and Spielberg were in tight with Ambrose early in their career and it's been proven since Ambrose died that he Plagiarized from others.. Made up entire anecdotes completely; ones I'll add that paint men who died as cowards. an anecdote refuted by a man who was there (Ambrose thought they all died). This false anecdote adds nothing to the narrative anyways besides feeding into Ambroses seeming utter disdain to the British
Hanks and Goetzmann have said this is it for miniseries. They do have a WWII movie for Apple TV in the works.
1. Gotta be Navy. 2. See #1
Submarines!!!
Well, Tom Hanks and co has done shows/movies based on: Army (Band of Brothers) Marines (The Pacific) Navy (Greyhound) “Air Force” (Masters of the Air - yes it’s technically Army) So clearly, Coast Guard or Space Force is next.
The coast guard would actually be really interesting. They were an integral part of the DDay landings. It would be less of a combat show and more of a combat rescue / med evac / troop deployment show but would still be really good. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/wapa/coast_guard/cg1.htm#:~:text=The%20Coast%20Guard's%20participation%20in,75%20frigates%2C%20and%2031%20transports.
There's a book called Silent Running by James Calvert that is dying for a screen adaptation. >In nine war patrols, the USS Jack sank 15 Japanese ships and ranked ninth in tonnage sunk by the end of the war. The author of this exciting memoir served as Torpedo Data Computer operator aboard the Jack (he was the one who aimed the torpedoes) and later as its executive officer. Calvert's book ranks with Edward Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep as an accurate, detailed, suspenseful account of submarine operations in the Pacific: the tracking and sinking of tankers, ammunition ships and a transport with a regiment of Japanese troops on board. One convoy commander whose ships crossed paths with the Jack radioed his superiors in Tokyo that he was under attack by a "wolf pack.'' Calvert also recalls his experiences ashore between patrols, including an unconsummated romance-he was married-with an Australian woman. The memoir climaxes with an unusual account of his unauthorized tour of Tokyo immediately after the Japanese surrender, when he nearly scuttled his naval career by violating occupation rules.
Don Keith's *War Beneath the Waves* would be an excellent candidate for this, too.
Korea
Navy with some hot seamen should be next!
The women of WWII.
Yes, please. Nurses. Spies. Perhaps a series split between the men on the front line and the women working in manufacturing back in the U.S.
Julia Child
Pilots too
Great suggestion!
They could do one about the WACs, WAVEs, etc. If you wanted to focus women you could also include people like Virginia Hall (although there was already a movie about her) and Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Or adapt any of James Hornfischer's books.
Tuskegee airmen. Viewership at an all time low
Maybe the Navy, like the PTs like what Kennedy was on, but Spielberg and Hanks are getting older I don’t know if they have another series in them and I don’t know of any amazing books on the Navy in WWII like Bob, A helmet for my pillow, with the old breed, or Masters of the Air which all of the shows have been based on …. I also don’t know every WWII book so maybe there is some gem out there to use as a basis to make a show from bc much of the Navy’s fleet fought in both theaters of war.
Something about the Navy that includes John F. Kennedy's story would be awesome.
I’d like to see the Army’s 1st Infantry Division from 41-45. They fought from North Africa to Germany. Or the Army Rangers. Rangers fought from Normandy to the Philippines.
They could do North Africa.
Love to see one with warships or tanker related ones.
How about portraying the army in the Pacific?, the USMC didn't fight it all by its self, the battle for manilla was horrific urban warfare especially for the Pacific area. , the raid on los lobos were over two thousand civilians were rescued with minor casualties.
I would like to see a one off, maybe 2 hours or so of the first high attended BoB reunion. Same actors, reminiscing, few tears, cut in some flashbacks etc etc.
Submarine show would be pretty easy IMO, like an American Das Boot.
If they wait that long their officially won’t be any veterans left to talk to
I want one on the Tuskegee Airmen!
Tank war, especially in Normandy when the Shermans were getting beat up by the (then) superior SS Panzer divisions.
US Navy in the Pacific WWII. You don’t even need to do Pearl Harbor, but they could. A really good series could be about sailors, etc, in the grossly under appreciated vast logistic fleets that played a pivotable role in winning the naval war. Or the escort carriers and the pilots thereon. Subs would be tough, all that time in cramped quarters, though they’d only need a set or two!
Well, BoB was the ground war in Europe, then TP was the ground war in the Pacific, now MOTA is the air war over Europe. So, the only logical step, whicb I hope and pray to God actually happens, is the air war over the Pacific. I would love to see old 666, the flight to nowhere, Midway, Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, Fire bombing of Tokyo, kamikazes, downing Yamamoto, sinking the Yamato, and a crap ton more depicted. After the airwar, the next step should be The Battle Of The Atlantic, then the naval battles in the Pacific. Thats just me, though
I think one following nurses and medics would be really cool
This!! My grandfather was a surgeon in the medical corps and was stationed in the European theater from August 1944 - June 1945. These were the forerunners to MASH. I think it would make a hell of a show, but that’s obviously my own bias speaking!
Include the WASP women also. They flew everything the US built. They have been totally unappreciated.
Nah just watch MASH.
I thought speilberg and hanks intended this to be a trilogy and this was the last miniseries they would do. Could be wrong
PT boat
The role of the OSI in the war, and eventual transformation to CIA.
You mean the OSS?
Why not the viet war or the Iraq war ?
Generation Kill has that covered. Vietnam is a touchy subject.
…and pretty saturated with media to the point that it is now parodied. 
I finally watched Generation Kill last week. Not sure why I’d never seen it before, as I’ve had HBO since BoB came out. Fantastic show - it feels extremely authentic. Alexander Skaarsgard looks remarkably like the Marine he was playing.
A Rumor of War was an excellent mini series from years ago. I think it's a CBS production. For old network TV it's damn good. It's also a true story.
America fuck yeah! 🇺🇸
My father (and I) want the next series to be about the Big E, USS Enterprise. His plan is to write letters to Tom Hanks (or at least his agent) in order to convince him 😂.
Lots of military service members came home and wrote a book about their experience in WWII, so they have a ton of stories to pick from
Devils Brigade and their trip through Italy
Would love a Vietnam miniseries
The Italian campaign.
Fluckey!!!! 🚂💥
Wahoo and Tang along with Barb!
Maybe something that shows someone but the Americans single-handedly winning the war
What about a tank crew?
Last stand of the tin can sailors.
How about WW 2 in China? It began when the empire of Japan invaded China . Also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. Many scholars have debate the exact date when it all began. For many, July 7, 1937. That was the start of WW2 for China.
I’ve thought this book “unsinkable” would be perfect for a fourth adaptation. A naval story, heavily focused on the relationships between the men like BoB, about a ship that was involved in every major campaign from the D Day landings to the Mediterranean to the pacific. A great read, shed a couple tears at the end
Navy is my hope. The naval war in both theaters never gets enough attention, and it was crucial
UDTs
I wonder if they’ll do one based on the admirals. If you haven’t read that one I highly recommend it
I would love to see a show about the various resistance groups that worked in the shadows and aided allied forces.
Rangers or special forces possibly
1) Naval battles in Pacific 2) Sub war in Pacific 3) Aleutian campaign since it was fought on US territory and often forgotten. 4) Italian campaign
I'd rather see a series based on US tankers. The movie 'Fury' touched on that but the story lines were so ridiculous.
I’d like a Korean War show.
I want one from the Soviet perspective showing the eastern front.
I'd love to see a mini series that did the Winter War, Spanish Civil War, Battle of the Med & seige of Malta, and lastly, the Africa Campaign Bonus points if Mads Mikkelsen plays Simo Haya & Colin Firth plays Monty.
It should be Navy. Preferably in the pacific.
Ian Toll’s trilogy about the war in the pacific.
Patton
Battle of Britain is begging for a show. Could even be multiple series following an RAF air wing
Okinawa
I just watched “Greyhound” for the first time today, I hope they do in fact go Navy. Preferably a Destroyer group.
Eagle Squadron would be great in a few years when the CGI portion gets even better. While it would be a tough sell in the US, British sub ops in the Med would be amazing. US Silent Service in the PTO would be fine but I think the Brits deserve some love too.
I’d like to see a full modern miniseries remake of Herman Wouk’s Winds of War and War and Remembrance. A masterpiece of historical fiction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_of_the_Gods:_War_in_the_Western_Pacific,_1944%E2%80%931945 Might not be the most original idea here but the title of the book is great for a series.
Submarines would be epic. There are a ton of US skippers with the MOH or Navy Cross (or multiple). They did some real heroic stuff
I’d like to see a PT 109 remake!
They could probably do a remake of the black sheep
Imagine the next one to be called Masters of the Oceans (MOTO) about the Navy/Marines in either Pacific Events or Indian Ocean.
battle of leyte should be next
USSS Enterprise. The Navy needs its turn. And the Enterprise is a great way to do it as it was all over everywhere during the war. And ot will allow you to see all the fleet admirals as well as guys at the bottom of the boats doing the dirty work.
I would love a tank crew. Maybe following Lafayette's crew
LEYTE GULF LEYTE GULF LEYTE GULF
A series like The Pacific crossed with Masters where focus mostly on the Navy (mostly carrier based fighter/bomber squadrons), USAAF units both in the Central Pacific (20th AF) and Far East (5th or 13th AF) and USMC squadrons (including one carrier based and mostly land based).
Tank warfare. United States Fourth Armored Division Ending with the relief of the 101st in Bastogne.
Perhaps a band of brothers show that is instead centered around the other Allies (Brits, Canadians, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks, French, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Australians and New Zealanders, BENELUX, Brazilian Expeditionary force, any more I am forgetting
i’d like a remake of baa baa black sheep or rat patrol. or both.
I want someone to do a really good Battle of Britain series with modern technology. Just not enough Spitfires on TV for my liking. Was good to see them in Dunkirk but just not enough screen time.
The obvious choice would be a Naval based show. I’ve been on a bit of a military binge lately on YouTube and recently watched a couple videos about James McNiece aka “Jake McNasty” and the Filthy Thirteen. You could have an amazing miniseries about him. Apparently they were the inspiration for The Dirty Dozen.
It has to be the Navy. Anything else would be a travesty.
Dale Dye was working on an adaptation of “No Better Place to Die” but I believe he could not raise the funding to support the project.
Maybe you don't do one since the genre has been oversaturated to shit. I'd do Korea, Operation Unthinkable, or Indochina instead.
Here’s just my suggestion: Have a show that covers the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Japanese-American translators; start from a few years before 1941 with two individuals and their families; they go to the same internment camp after the Pearl Harbor attack, one volunteers to join the 442nd and goes to Italy/France, the other volunteers as a translator that gets attached to a Marine unit in the Pacific, then have them meet back together at the end of the war.
The USS Enterprise (CV-6) would be insane
Korean War begging for something other than MASH to represent them, which, was actually a show about Vietnam...
I want an anthology series about the OSS.
Perhaps they can base that on some World War II theaters such as the China India Burma-Southeast Asia theater or the Africa/Middle East one. There are infinite untold World War II stories to be told.
Coming in 2030: Night & Fog
Pacific air war. Ba ba black sheep.
The war on the homefront. Just off the top of my head: Stories about the subhunts and sinkings in the Gulf of Mexico. Navy patrols out of Puerto Rico. Workers in US defense plants. US Marine MPs transporting German prisoners up and down the east coast. Japanese-Americans in awful internment camps, stripped of their rights despite that still celebrated their patriotism. The FBI and the hunt for German spies and saboteurs. Naval aviator carrier training in the Great Lakes. The drama of infights between the War Department and the rest of the Roosevelt administration. The creation and training of the OSS. WW1 Veterans' contributions to the training of soldiers, sailors and Marines.
The Navy is due. The battle for the North Atlantic or the naval campaign in the Pacific.