''The Pacific'' is a 2010 American war drama

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 ...

produced by HBO, Playtone, and DreamWorks that premiered in the United States on March 14, 2010. The series is a companion piece 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 ...

's actions in the Pacific Theater of Operations within the wider Pacific War. Whereas ''Band of Brothers'' followed the men of Easy Company of the

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army 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 Eugene Bondurant Sledge (November 4, 1923 – March 3, 2001) was a United States Marine Corps, United States Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir With the Old Breed, ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' chroni ...

, 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 First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, and 7th, respectively) of the 1st Marine Division. ''The Pacific'' was spearheaded by Bruce C. McKenna ( co-executive producer), one of the main writers on ''Band of Brothers.'' Hugh Ambrose, the son of '' Band of Brothers'' author Stephen Ambrose, 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 se ...

, 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. ...

, 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 The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army ( ...

. 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 autobio ...

s of two US Marines: '' With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' by Eugene Sledge and '' Helmet for My Pillow'' by Robert Leckie. It also draws on Sledge's memoir '' China Marine'' and ''Red Blood, Black Sand,'' the memoir of Chuck Tatum, 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 as

Pfc. Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...

Robert Leckie (1920–2001) * Ashton Holmes as Cpl. Sidney Phillips (1924–2015) * Josh Helman as Pfc. Lew "Chuckler" Juergens (1918–1982) * Keith Nobbs 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 as 2nd Lt. 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 Recordi ...

as 1st Lt. Hugh Corrigan (1920–2005) * Tom Budge 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 as Cpl.

(1923–2001) *

Rami Malek Rami Said Malek (; , ; born May 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for portraying computer hacker Elliot Alderson in the USA Network television series '' Mr. Robot'' (2015–2019), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

as Cpl. Merriell "Snafu" Shelton (1922–1993) * Martin McCann as Sgt. R.V. Burgin (1922–2019) * Brendan Fletcher as Pfc. Bill Leyden (1926–2008) * Linda Cropper 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 as 1st Lt. Edward "Hillbilly" Jones (1917–1944) * Scott Gibson as Capt. Andrew Haldane (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), '' B ...

as MGySgt. Elmo "Gunny" Haney (1898–1979) * Jon Seda as GySgt.

(1916–1945) * Joshua Bitton as Sgt. J.P. Morgan (1919–1980) * William Sadler as

Lt. Col. Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel ...

Lewis "Chesty" Puller (1898–1971) * Jon Bernthal 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. Spi ...

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 in association with HBO Miniseries, Playtone, DreamWorks,

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...

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 Cinem ...

. Seven and Sky 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 ne ...

has previously broadcast the HBO productions of '' Band of Brothers''. Nine had a broadcast deal with HBO's parent Warner Bros., 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'' 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 ...

'' 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 th ...

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 F ...

; 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 BirdLife International is a global partners ...

and beaches at Rocky Point, Queensland. Production then moved to rural Victoria, in the You Yangs 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 ...

(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 south eastern 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 ...

until February 2008. Melbourne city locations were used in late 2007 and through 2008 including

Central City Studios Docklands Studios Melbourne is a major film and television production complex located in Melbourne’s redeveloped Docklands precinct. The site is approximately from Melbourne’s Central Business District. The complex opened in 2004 and its ...

at Melbourne Docklands (March 2008); Flinders Street (between Swanston and Elizabeth 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 and Swanston streets in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Opened in 1854, the historic station serves the entire metr ...

(February 2–3, 2008). Other suburban locations included Mornington Railway,

Bundoora Bundoora is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Banyule, Darebin and Whittlesea local government areas. Bundoora recorded a population of 28,068 at the ...

, specifically the Ernest Jones Hall at the

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...

campus, Bundoora (late May 2008); the Railway Hotel,

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government ...

(December 2007);

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is an independent school, independent Presbyterian Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Aus ...

(December 2007);

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb o ...

(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 Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living ...

, Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely and was released on March 9, 2010. Historian Hugh Ambrose, son of '' Band of Brothers'' author

Stephen E. 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 Or ...

, 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 and two men not featured in the series, marine officer Austin Shofner 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 ...

pilot Vernon Micheel. The different cast provides a wider view of the Pacific theatre, allowing the book to include the fall of the Philippines, 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, ...

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 on April 15, 2010.

Broadcast

The series premiered in the US and Canada on March 14, 2010, on HBO. HBO Asia 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

in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Portugal, the series was broadcast on April 5, 2010 on AXN and in HD on AXN 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+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow unde ...

; in Turkey, CNBC-e 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; 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 fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television show, television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a ...

'' 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) cham ...

, 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 Wan ...

, 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 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, 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, t ...

'' magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 TV Series of 2010. IGN 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 * Masters of the Air * ''Military History Magazine'', Vol. 26, No. October 4/November 2009 *

External links

* * at HBO * {{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