''The Pacific'' is a 2010 American
war drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
produced by
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
,
Playtone
Playtone (stylized on-screen as PLAY•TONE; a.k.a. The Playtone Company) is an American film and television production company established in 1998 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman.
It was named after the fictional record compan ...
, and
DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
that premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010.
The series is a
companion piece
''Companion Piece'' is an original novella written by Robert Perry and Mike Tucker and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Seventh Doctor and Catherine
Katherine, also sp ...
to the 2001 miniseries ''
Band of Brothers'' and focuses on the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
's actions in the
Pacific Theater of Operations within the wider
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
. Whereas ''Band of Brothers'' followed the men of
Easy Company
E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles", is a company in the United States Army. The company was referred to as "Easy" after the radio call for "E" in the p ...
of the
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment through the
European Theater
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...
, ''The Pacific'' centers on the experiences of three Marines (
Robert Leckie,
Eugene Sledge, and
John Basilone
John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumou ...
) who were in different regiments (
1st,
5th, and
7th
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...
, respectively) of the
1st Marine Division.
''The Pacific'' was spearheaded by
Bruce C. McKenna
Bruce C. McKenna (born March 14, 1962) is an American writer for television and film. He was the co-executive producer, creator, principal writer and researcher on the 2010 HBO 10 part mini-series, '' The Pacific'', which was co-produced by Steve ...
(
co-executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
), one of the main writers on ''Band of Brothers.''
Hugh Ambrose
Hugh Alexander Ambrose (August 12, 1966 – May 23, 2015) was an American historian and the author of a best-selling popular history of the Pacific Theater in World War II. Ambrose rose to prominence as a researcher for and collaborator with hi ...
, the son of ''
Band of Brothers'' author
Stephen Ambrose
Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, most noted for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a longtime professor of history at the University of New O ...
, served as a project consultant.
''The Pacific'' miniseries features the
1st Marine Division's battles in the Pacific, such as
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
,
Cape Gloucester,
Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
H ...
, and
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, as well as Basilone's involvement in the
Battle of Iwo Jima. It is based primarily on the
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...
s of two
US Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
: ''
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' by Eugene Sledge and ''
Helmet for My Pillow
''Helmet for My Pillow'' is the personal narrative written by World War II United States Marine Corps veteran, author, and military historian Robert Leckie. First published in 1957, the story begins with Leckie's enlisting in the United States Ma ...
'' by Robert Leckie.
It also draws on Sledge's memoir ''
China Marine
The term China Marines, originally referred to the United States Marines of the 4th Marine Regiment, who were stationed in Shanghai, China from 1927 to 1941 to protect American citizens and their property in the Shanghai International Settlemen ...
'' and ''Red Blood, Black Sand,'' the memoir of
Chuck Tatum
Charles William Tatum (23 July 1926 – 22 June 2014)
from th
, a Marine who fought alongside Basilone at Iwo Jima.
Cast
The following actors played starring roles in multiple episodes and are split by the principal character they appear in relation to. Characters from the different plot strands do occasionally interact, while Sidney Phillips both serves with Leckie and is the best friend of Sledge.
*
James Badge Dale
James Badge Dale (born May 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chase Edmunds in '' 24'', Robert Leckie in '' The Pacific'', State Trooper Barrigan in Martin Scorsese's ''The Departed'', Luke Lewenden in '' The Grey'', Eric Sa ...
as
Pfc. Robert Leckie (1920–2001)
*
Ashton Holmes
Ashton Holmes (born February 17, 1978) is an American actor, best known for the role of Jack Stall in ''A History of Violence'', Private Sidney Phillips in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'', Thom on the CW action-thriller series ''Nikita'', a ...
as Cpl.
Sidney Phillips
Sidney Clarke Phillips, Jr. (September 2, 1924 – September 26, 2015) was a United States Marine, family practice physician, and author from Mobile, Alabama. He provided source material and interviews for the making of Ken Burns' PBS docu ...
(1924–2015)
*
Josh Helman
Joshua Helman (born 22 February 1986) is an Australian television and film actor. Helman played William Stryker in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', and its sequel, '' X-Men: Apocalypse''. He has also appeared in the 2015 installment of the ''Ma ...
as Pfc. Lew "Chuckler" Juergens (1918–1982)
*
Keith Nobbs
Keith Nobbs (born April 9, 1979) is an American stage, television, and film actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Joey "Ice Cream" in the TV series ''The Black Donnellys''.
Life and career
A graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High Scho ...
as Pfc. Wilbur "Runner" Conley (1921–1997)
*
Jacob Pitts
Jacob Rives Pitts (born November 20, 1979) is an American television, film and stage actor. His most notable performances were as Cooper Harris in the film '' EuroTrip'' (2004), as Bill "Hoosier" Smith in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'' (2010 ...
as Pfc. Bill "Hoosier" Smith (1922–1985)
*
Toby Leonard Moore
Toby Leonard Moore (born 28 April 1981) is an Australian actor, best known for his roles as Victor in ''John Wick'' (2014), as James Wesley in the Netflix series '' Daredevil'' (2015), and Bryan Connerty in the Showtime series '' Billions'' (2 ...
as
2nd Lt.
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
Stone
*
Henry Nixon
Henry Nixon is an Australian actor.
Nixon was born at St Margaret's Hospital in the inner-Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. As a child he lived in Elanora Heights, Paddington and Wollstonecraft in Sydney with his father, Gerald Nixon, a Recordin ...
as
1st Lt. Hugh Corrigan (1920–2005)
*
Tom Budge
Thomas Budge (born 15 March 1982) is an Australian actor. Budge was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Early in his acting career, Budge appeared in a number of Australian television shows, including '' Neighbours'', ''Round the Twist'', and ''Shock J ...
as Pfc. Ronnie Gibson
*
Caroline Dhavernas
Caroline Dhavernas (; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known in the United States for her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series '' Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in the NBC ps ...
as Vera Keller
*
Joseph Mazzello
Joseph Francis Mazzello III (born September 21, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tim Murphy in '' Jurassic Park'', Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries '' The Pacific'', Dustin Moskovitz in ''The Social Network'', ...
as Cpl.
Eugene Sledge (1923–2001)
*
Rami Malek as Cpl.
Merriell "Snafu" Shelton (1922–1993)
*
Martin McCann as Sgt.
R.V. Burgin (1922–2019)
*
Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher (born December 15, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He first gained recognition as a child actor, winning a Leo Award and being nominated for a Gemini Award his acting debut in the made-for-television film ''Little Criminals''. He ...
as Pfc. Bill Leyden (1926–2008)
*
Linda Cropper
Linda Cropper (born 1 January 1958) is an Australian actress, primarily known for her role as Geraldine Proudman in the TV series ''Offspring'' and as Dame Nellie Melba in the television series '' Melba''. An shortened edited version of the te ...
as Mary Frank Sledge (1893–1989)
* Conor O'Farrell as Dr. Sledge (1887–1954)
* Dylan Young as Pfc. Jay De L'Eau (1923–1997)
*
Leon Ford
Leon Ford is an Australian actor who has appeared in many television and theatre productions. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''The Cooks'', ''Changi'' and the telemovie ''Stepfather of the Bride''.
Biography
Ford portray ...
as 1st Lt. Edward "Hillbilly" Jones (1917–1944)
* Scott Gibson as
Capt.
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Andrew Haldane
Andrew Allison Haldane (August 22, 1917 – October 12, 1944) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theatre during World War II. He was killed in action during the Battle of Peleliu.
Haldane is portrayed by actor Scot ...
(1917–1944)
*
Gary Sweet
Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...
as MGySgt.
Elmo "Gunny" Haney (1898–1979)
*
Jon Seda as
GySgt. John Basilone
John Basilone (November 4, 1916 – February 19, 1945) was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle for Henderson Field in the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Navy Cross posthumou ...
(1916–1945)
* Joshua Bitton as Sgt. J.P. Morgan (1919–1980)
*
William Sadler as
Lt. Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller (1898–1971)
*
Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor.
Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...
as Sgt. Manuel "Manny" Rodriguez (1922−1942)
*
Annie Parisse as Sgt. Lena Basilone (1913–1999)
Production
''The Pacific'' was produced by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
,
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
, and
Gary Goetzman
Gary Michael Goetzman (born November 6, 1952) is an American film and television producer and actor, and co-founder of the production company Playtone with actor Tom Hanks.
Life and career
Born in Los Angeles, Goetzman began his career as a chi ...
in association with
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
Miniseries,
Playtone
Playtone (stylized on-screen as PLAY•TONE; a.k.a. The Playtone Company) is an American film and television production company established in 1998 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman.
It was named after the fictional record compan ...
,
DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to:
* DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin
** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio
** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...
,
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
and
Sky Movies
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...
. Seven and
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
both invested in the project for the right to broadcast it in Australia and the United Kingdom respectively.
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
has previously broadcast the HBO productions of ''
Band of Brothers''. Nine had a broadcast deal with HBO's parent
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, but then HBO started to distribute its own productions separately.
In April 2007, the producers set up a production office in Melbourne and began casting.
Originally the project was estimated at $100 million to produce,
but ended up costing over $200 million, making ''The Pacific'' the most expensive television miniseries ever created by any network. According to the ''
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' an estimated A$134 million was spent in Australia. The Australian newspaper ''
Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'' estimates that it brought 4,000 jobs and generated A$180 million for the Australian economy.
Filming of the miniseries in Australia started on August 10, 2007, and finished in late May 2008. From August until November 2007 filming took place at locations in and around
Port Douglas
Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
including
Mossman, Queensland
Mossman is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Douglas Shire Council In the , the locality of Mossman had a population of 1,937 people.
Geography
Mossman in Far N ...
;
Drumsara Plantation,
Mowbray National Park
Mowbray is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1441 km northwest of Brisbane. The park forms part of the Wooroonooran Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports populations of a range of bi ...
and beaches at Rocky Point, Queensland.
Production then moved to rural
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, in the
You Yangs
The You Yangs are a series of granite ridges that rise up to above the flat and low-lying Werribee Plain in southern Victoria, Australia, approximately due west of the rural town of Little River, southwest of Melbourne CBD and north of Ge ...
near
Lara
Lara may refer to:
Places
* Lara (state), a state in Venezuela
*Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia
* Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey
* Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia
* Lara de los In ...
(from November–December 2007), then at a sand quarry on Sandy Creek Road near
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
until February 2008.
Melbourne city locations were used in late 2007 and through 2008 including
Central City Studios at
Melbourne Docklands
Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...
(March 2008);
Flinders Street (between
Swanston and
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
streets, February 1–4, 2008);
the intersection of Swanston and Flinders streets (February 2008);
Flinders Street station
Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...
(February 2–3, 2008). Other suburban locations included Mornington Railway,
Bundoora, specifically the Ernest Jones Hall at the
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...
campus, Bundoora (late May 2008);
the Railway Hotel,
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...
(December 2007);
Scotch College, Melbourne
(For God, for Country, and for Learning)
, established =
, type = Independent, day and boarding
, gender = Boys
, denomination = Presbyterian
, slogan =
, ...
(December 2007);
Melbourne High School
Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 ...
(December 2007).
The series's score was written by
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
,
Geoff Zanelli
Geoffrey Zanelli is an American composer working primarily in the medium of film, television, and video game scores. His early career was notable for scoring additional music on roughly 30 film scores written by Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Harry ...
and
Blake Neely and was released on March 9, 2010.
Historian Hugh Ambrose, son of ''
Band of Brothers'' author
Stephen E. Ambrose, wrote the official tie-in book to the miniseries,
''The Pacific: Hell was an Ocean Away (''2011)'','' which follows the stories of two of the featured men from the miniseries, Basilone and Sledge, as well as stories of Sledge's close friend
Sidney Phillips
Sidney Clarke Phillips, Jr. (September 2, 1924 – September 26, 2015) was a United States Marine, family practice physician, and author from Mobile, Alabama. He provided source material and interviews for the making of Ken Burns' PBS docu ...
and two men not featured in the series, marine officer
Austin Shofner
Brigadier General Austin Conner Shofner (March 3, 1916 – November 13, 1999) was a United States Marine Corps officer who was captured during the Battle of Corregidor and then part of the only successful escape from a Japanese prisoner of war c ...
and
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
pilot Vernon Micheel. The different cast provides a wider view of the Pacific theatre, allowing the book to include the
fall of the Philippines
Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
,
Midway,
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
and
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
and expand the narrative to include depictions of life as experienced by prisoners of war, senior officers and the development of naval aviation. It was published in the UK and the US in March 2010 and Ambrose gave a webcast interview about the book at the
Pritzker Military Library
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...
on April 15, 2010.
Broadcast
The series premiered in the US and Canada on March 14, 2010, on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
.
HBO Asia
HBO Asia is the Asian division of HBO, based out of Singapore. It was originally launched on 1 May 1992 as MovieVision, later rebranding on 1 June 1995 to its current name after being purchased by Home Box Office, Inc. The Singapore-based broad ...
premiered ''The Pacific'' at 9 pm on April 3, 2010, with the first two episodes being consecutively broadcast in the first week. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Indonesia had dual language available. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Philippines broadcasts were available in high-definition on the HBO Asia HD Channel. ''The Pacific'' began broadcast on April 5, 2010 on
Sky Movies
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...
in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Portugal, the series was broadcast on April 5, 2010 on
AXN
AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Funded th ...
and in HD on
AXN
AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Funded th ...
HD two days after the original broadcast in the US. The series broadcast commenced in Australia on Channel 7 on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at 8:30 pm.
[Devlyn, Darren (April 6, 2010)]
Channel 7 drama, The Pacific, creates 4000 Aussie jobs
''Herald Sun'', April 6, 2010. In Denmark, Norway, Finland, France and Sweden, the series began broadcasting on
Canal+
Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
; in Turkey,
CNBC-e
CNBC-e was a Turkish free-to-air television channel operated in Turkey by CNBC Europe and the NTV Group. The channel shares its name with a co-owned magazine about CNBC-e. The economy-related morning and afternoon programmes of CNBC-e are in ...
on April 18, 2010; in the Netherlands, on April 7, 2010 on
Veronica; and in Greece, on
Nova Cinema on April 10, 2010. In New Zealand, the series began broadcasting on April 12, 2010 on
TV One. In Italy, the miniseries began broadcast on May 9, 2010 on
Sky Cinema 1
Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema o ...
; in Germany, on July 15, 2010 on
Kabel eins. In Japan, the miniseries started July 18, 2010 on
WOWOW. In South Africa, the miniseries started broadcasting on May 5, 2010 on the Mnet channel. In the US, the rights to the series were picked up by Ovation and it started airing sometime in 2019.
Marketing
The first official US trailer for ''The Pacific'' aired on HBO prior to the season 2 premiere of ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The serie ...
'' on June 14, 2009. It showed footage of the three main characters, including a conversation between Leckie and Sledge, Basilone's marriage and numerous combat scenes. The trailer concluded with "2010" displayed on-screen -alluding to and confirming the series release date. A second trailer was released on the HBO website after which the date "March 2010" is displayed, giving a more specific series release date. On January 14, 2010, Comcast added on-demand content from the series, including a scene from ''The Pacific'', interviews with the producers and character profiles. Another trailer was shown in February 2010 during
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
, depicting several combat scenes. An extended trailer (3:47) to the miniseries can be viewed on the series' official website.
Episodes
Reception
Critical reception
''The Pacific'' received widespread critical acclaim. On the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the series holds an approval rating of 91% with an average rating of 8.8 out of 10, based on 44 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "An honest, albeit horrifying, exploration of World War II, ''The Pacific'' is a visually stunning miniseries not for the faint of heart." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the series has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's
James Poniewozik
James "Jim" Poniewozik (; born July 12, 1968) is an American journalist and television critic. He is the chief TV critic for ''The New York Times''. Earlier in his career, he wrote ''Time'' magazine's ''Tuned In'' column for 16 years.
Early life
...
named it one of the Top 10 TV Series of 2010.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
reviewer Ramsey Isler gave the entire miniseries an 8.5 out of 10, saying, "Although I don't think ''The Pacific'' overtakes ''Band of Brothers'' in terms of technical execution and overall entertainment value, many of the comparisons will be moot as ''The Pacific'' is a different kind of series with different goals. This series sought to look beyond the combat and it paints a full, vivid picture of the war and the people that fought it through focused, individual stories. That's a tall order for any series to fulfill, and although ''The Pacific'' doesn't always come through with shining colors, it does make an admirable effort." IGN also reviewed each individual episode, with Episode 9 receiving a perfect 10 out of 10 score.
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
Further reading
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Masters of the Air
''Masters of the Air'' is an upcoming American war drama miniseries based on the actions of the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It is being produced by Playtone, Parliament of Owls, Amblin Television ...
* ''Military History Magazine'', Vol. 26, No. October 4/November 2009
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External links
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* at
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific
2010 American television series debuts
2010 Australian television series debuts
2010 American television series endings
2010 Australian television series endings
2010s American television miniseries
2010s Australian television miniseries
American biographical series
English-language television shows
HBO original programming
Pacific War films
Peabody Award-winning television programs
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries winners
Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series
Seven Network original programming
Television series based on actual events
Television series by Home Box Office
Television series by DreamWorks Television
Television series by Playtone
Television shows based on non-fiction books
Television shows filmed in Australia
Television shows set in the Northern Territory
Television shows set in Victoria (Australia)
Television shows about the United States Marine Corps
War television series
World War II television drama series
American military television series
Television shows scored by Hans Zimmer