The Pacific (2010)

Not band of brothers, but still great. The three main characters are all phenomenal. Hits you in the gut on multiple occasions.

THE PACIFIC encapsulates WWII's brutal combat onslaught that the USMC had to face; beach landing operations and then their gory chore in routing out the Japanese military island strongholds. The story pivots on three excellent first person publications from those who were there and survived to write in emotional transparency.The full-spectrum subplots are seamlessly entwined to make viewing all 10 segments worthwhile-fulfilling and inspiring, bringing 'life goes on' closure in the epilogue. THE PACIFIC includes backdrop homage to all military services involved in this epic WWII story-it brings us closer to the core reality of the courageous sacrifice by the USMC Leathernecks.The signature opening theme has been re-composed (BoB) in its timeless recurrently sustained French horn ambiance overture.After reading two of the three books mentioned in the credits I could see the elements portrayed, in part, boiled down to one line dialogue plot points. Brilliant! Good to watch again to discover these subtle nuances.Ergo, this meets the highest standard of giving credit to the authors vastly detailed accounts. Clever and intelligent script continuity.The Marines fought to the death against an enemy that refused to surrender and had the marines surrounded (snipers and tunnels) for the most part resulting in close quarter thick jungle skirmishes. We follow notable true to life Marine characters lifted from the published memoirs: Chesty Puller, Manila Joe, Gunny-Henny, Ack Ack Haldane, Hillbilly, Runner, Moosier, Mani, Chuckler, SNAFU etc. And tragically we lose a few. I grieved.But paramount are 'Lucky' (Robert Leakey-Helmet For My Pillow) and 'Sledgehammer' (Dr. Eugene Sledge-With The Old Breed) who survived one of the the most hellish beach landings-Peleliu. Theirs are two of the three books drawn upon to tell this immortal story.(Tarawa, (not depicted) was the most disastrous Marine beach landing. Many veterans of previous operations confessed that Pelelui was the most frightening.)The Iwo Jima Marine assault is covered in this mini series account with Manila Joes (Basilone) death. The diverse controversial accounts surrounding his death and his wife's coping are managed with humane sensitivity.Leakey, a prolific writer of several factual book publications of the Pacific Theater (recommended readings for more in depth perception of what the mini series accomplished) conflict suffered internal injuries caused by a concussed bomb explosion when in the death-pitch of a bloody assault charge on a Jap held position (crossing the unbearable furnace-like coral deck at 115 degree heat) Pelelui airstrip; along with Sledge (assigned to a mortar unit) who miraculously came out of his several year Asian tour without even a debilitating illness. (Sledge suffered nightmares for the rest of his life. Sledge's wife was warned never to wake him but instead just whisper 'Skedgehammer' in his ear so as not to be physically attacked.)Some say Peleliu wasn't necessary. But I disagree. The unflinching heroic demonstration of the Marines conviction of death to the last man grit brought fear into the Japs hearts and minds whom later had to face them on subsequent island campaigns. It was alleged by Jap pronouncement that the Marines were ''psychopaths and murders' taken from prisons.Marines were facing certain death, contracting festering skin sores,dysentery, endless tropical monsoon downpours filling foxholes, nauseating dehydration, land crabs, blood sucking insects, diarrhea, bone cracking feverish malaria and overall inhospitable reptilian conditions, not to mention constant "shalacking" shelling barrages and Jap bonsai charges... how these 'raggity ass' marines survived to win staggers the mind. Sledgehammer never cowered in the heat of battle. He commented once;"They taught me how to kill Japs... and I got pretty damn good at it!"Only realistic cinematic recreation can push emotional triggers to the point of unquestioning believable. THE PACIFIC accomplishes this.When Sledges home town (Mobile, Alabama) boyhood friend Sydney Fields (a Marine who served on Guadalcanal and Gloucester-and wrote his own war memoir) said in response to Sledges question, "What's it like?" "That is something you could never imagine," in a southern gentleman's drawl. Spielberg and Company's exhaustive research & painstaking re-enactment details brings that incomprehensible ''imagine' reality to be relived and respectfully given the hundred of thousands of casualties recognition; a sincere tribute and much overwhelmingly deserved acknowledgment for beating Imperial Japan is achieved.While watching THE PACIFIC I became tear eyed many many times-in fact choked up moments aplenty; gratefully humbled by the unimaginable price our Americans were willing to pay with their lives in the Pacific Theater, overall. We were on the right side of the wars cause. REF: Ack Ack Haldane. In their own right; BAND OF BROTHERS and THE PACIFIC gives us a brief true to life experience in what the WWII human condition felt like-thrust into "on the line" choices forced on everyone to make. Sobering.A gift for generations to have an enriching historical accounting as to how horrific war can be... Semper Fidelis!

I was horrified with the incorrect pronunciation of bivouac. The protagonist pronounced it 'bivwakk'. This is an abomination.It should be pronounced "buvakk".Please arrange or I will retain my 1/10 vote. I was deeply hurt with the mistake. It would be terrible if the young generation grow up to pronounce it as 'bivwakk' rather than 'buvakk'. We should teach them well while they are young.I truly hope that my comment will be taken into consideration, and the film be remade with the correct adjustments. It is time that this nation truly learns how to pronounce bivouac. This is why ISIS hates us. May 'bivwakk' rest in peace, and 'buvakk' bloom for the beautiful word that it is.Cheers to happy buvakking

I would like to rate this an 8 or and 9, because the battle scenes on Okinawa, Iwo Jima and Pelaliu Airfield were brilliant. However, there were a few things about the series that bothered me so much I had to reduce the rating. 1. the depiction of the American marines. I know we are several generations out from 1945, but back then, people generally behaved in an honourable way. For example, the veterans did not for the most part swear at that time. They also for the most part did not fall apart psychologically or question the war, they believed they were engaged in a just war. (yes, of course there was PTSD). The marines here are depicted as sadistic and without a moral compass. Why the emphasis on cutting out the gold teeth of dead Japanese soldiers? That was just weird. 2. the depiction of the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese were depicted as if they were a weak and pathetic foe here. They just ran straight into machine gun fire. They were butchered in the thousands here for only a handful of American casualties. That is straight out wrong. The casualty ratio was around 5:1 . The Japanese were a fierce, intelligent and formidable foe. On the other hand, there was a complete whitewashing of Japanese atrocities here. The Japanese tortured those they took prisoner. They were brutal. They disembowelled prisoners. They had forced death marches. Yet here they are portrayed as the moral side somehow.3. sex and romance. You have a 10 part series, and the whole of episodes 3 and 8 were dedicated to slow-moving romance stories, with a lot of graphic sex. Why on earth were we shown the sex of Basilone's wedding night? I didn't want to be there. 4. no depiction of naval battles. It was weird going through the pacific war without Midway, Leyte Gulf, the Battle of the Coral Sea etc etc. It wasn't a clear picture of what the pacific war was. 5. Hard to warm to the characters. Basically all the main characters were depicted as scoundrels of one form or another. So it was difficult to care about what happened to them. As I said, the battle scenes were raw and brilliant at times, powerful.