The Pacific

I enjoyed this series very much and can see why there has been so many comparisons with Band Of Brothers. My observation is that in The Pacific many of the characters lack depth and development. The result was that I cared less when ill befell them than I did in Band of Brothers. I think that the first episode could have contained a lot more time letting us get to know the characters better before throwing them into battle.

The battle scenes were done very well and played very realistically. All in all HBO has done it again. Without the HBO and Showtime I think that US grown TV drama would be pretty thin on the ground. The Pacific is well worth the time.

The Pacific... every time I come across this series I always want to watch it again. The show really shows you what the soldiers that fought in WW2 felt and went through. It's series like this that keep the memory of those brave soldiers who fought for their country alive. And also, the opening theme is... Just hear it for yourself.

I'm Australian and it's ANZAC day today where the whole country honours all those who have served our country and others in all theatres of war. I judge The Pacific as a dramatic representation of the war in the Pacific, not a 100% historically accurate documentary.

I'm so glad The Pacific is on, because it highlights part of the war that was so vital to my country. I might not be Australian today if our allied forces hadn't won the battles. Maybe because I grew up with a significant focus on the impacts of the war with the Japanese, I get a lot from the show and when I watch it I feel how awful it was for the marines and all who were there, and how Australia was the closest safe haven for those men and women. Just seeing a brief mention of the starvation, tropical ulcers, how important it was to stop the Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal, the Japanese mentality, is enough for me to get a lot out of the show. I already know how long it went on for, and that the battles were many and varied.

Think the Burma railway, Changi, Kokoda, and I realise the enormity of what these people went through, they were skeletons in rags if they manged to survive and come out of there. The Japanese bombed Darwin, there were submarines in Sydney Harbour, and just last year, we finally discovered the wreck of a hospital ship that he Japanese torpedoed and sank, just off Brisbane. The college I attended was turned into a US army hospital base in WWII and has miles of underground tunnels. MacArthur's base in Brisbane is still named after him, it's now a shopping centre, MacArthur Central. The anniversary of the battle of the Coral Sea a few years ago in Townsville was huge.

The Pacific is a great show for me. I like it, I appreciate what they're representing in the short time they have to do it in a TV show. Just a quick look at someone who says goodbye to family in a snowy climate and then lands on a tropical island speaks volumes about what they faced to me. If it brings even a small amount of appreciation to others who are not as familiar with this part of WWII, The Pacific has done a great job. I give it a thumbs up.

For another interesting story set around this time, check out the movie Paradise Road.

Please, for the love of God, please do not overlook this miniseries. I have seen way too many people who don't bother to see The Pacific because it wasn't like Band of Brothers. This was in no way, shape, or form meant to be like BoB. If you have studied WW2 at all, you would know that the war in the Pacific was a totally different war than the European theater.

I loved Band of Brothers, it was a great and realistic series of the harsh realities of warfare and the scars it can leave. The Pacific was much harder to watch than BoB ever was. BoB was all about the bonds formed in combat and how this can tear people apart. This grim series displayed how completely unprepared the US military was mentally for how truly horrific this war would be. Not only were you fighting the unpredictable and relentless Japanese soldiers, but you were also fighting the terrain. The dense woods, the heavy rain, the thick mud. Not to mention all the diseases that came with these harsh conditions. Water was a luxury in a lot of situations. The filmmakers brilliantly showed how this affected the fighting men, who became virtually hollow shells, their sanity teetering on the edge of their knives.

The Japanese killed everyone without remorse. One particular scene that gave me chills to witness was in the latter half of the series when a group of civilians was slaughtered by a Japanese machine gun nest while running to the American forces. One person, a child, started to crawl slowly to the lines, a couple bullet wounds on his body. One of the combat rookies wanted to run in to help the poor boy, but was kept back so they would not be shoot too. All the Marines could do was watch, as the helpless child was brutally killed after a bullet from that machine gun emplacement hit him in the back of the head and his body went limp instantaneously.

This is on par with Saving Private Ryan, another collaboration between Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, as one of the most horrific, gruesome, and realistic war dramas ever put to film. I highly recommend giving it a watch, but be warned: this series is not for the faint of heart.

The Pacific miniseries will leave many of you in a state of awe. What a cinematic achievement. The best of the best of what American entertainment has to offer. The scenes and emotions portrayed are so vivid and lifelike that you'll think you've been transported back in time to the pacific theater of war. History has told us how horrid the war against the Japanese was. A war of attrition. This series will take you there and slap you on the wrists and then the face and remind you of the truth. War is utter diabolical hell. And the guys that fought in the pacific during WW2 were tough as nails. Tougher. It's ugly and beautiful at the same time. Enjoy and take a history lesson. You'll thank your lucky stars you did.