A 10-part mini-series from the creators of "Band of Brothers" telling the intertwined stories of three Marines during America's battle with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II.
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Reviews
Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Powerful
Excellent adaptation.
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
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 will now speak the simplest variant of English, only to make my point clear and precise - this 10-episode serial is very bad. The first reason, is that although it cost more than $200 ml to make, it is not clear as to where this money went. It seems to be a very poor choice to waste money on this flick. The plot is so terribly predictable and yes, we have seen all of this many times. Do we need a poor rendition of equally poor Band Of Brothers? Do we need a terribly inferior variant of Private Ryan? The casting is of a dubious merit. We do not feel any empathy for all these seemingly vapid and shallow characters. The battles are loud and they grow tiresome so quickly that one can skip them all as fast as possible. The message is clear but again, do we need to see that again? Tom Hanks made a huge misstep here and he did not deserve any praise for this third-rate formulaic flick
This series gave me an intimate glimpse into the trials, the struggles, and the greatness of my grandparents' generation. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg must be some sort of match made in Heaven, because everything about this series is magnificent: the cinematography, the musical scores, the script, the characters, and the acting. I believed every minute of it.