★★★★★ 0/5

The Pacific

Cinematic, relentless, epic in ambition and execution, HBO's masterful drama reminds us that the period miniseries is almost a thing of the past in itself.

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When the US Marines roll out the artillery onto the shores of Guadalcanal it’s hard not to be reminded that our TV networks are unleashing their firepower at one another, with the return of official ratings. This theatre of war is a fight for our imagination and victory must be won at all costs.

The Pacific is a series we have waited years to see. Since Seven first announced it was joining HBO’s campaign back in 2007, we have been promised a television spectacle. It has been held on high as a knight in shining fatigues. With names like Spielberg and Hanks and a budget of $200m, we have been told this is just about as big as it gets.

After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, America turns its attention to the South Pacific and to the march by the enemy towards Australia. US Marines sign up in droves to defend their country and are shipped off to miniscule islands they have never heard of. Each episode of The Pacific opens with Tom Hanks’ narration over vintage footage and interviews with surviving veterans. One old soldier recalls his troops couldn’t even pronounce Guadalcanal let alone know anything of what lay in store.

The documentary inclusions before the opening credits add much resonance to this tale, based in part on books by Robert Leckie, Eugene B. Sledge, Chuck Tatum and interviews with survivors.

The canvas to The Pacific is vast. The first two hours, which will comprise the Australian premiere, are based on battle scenes at Guadalcanal, filmed in Port Douglas. The third hour is filmed and set in Melbourne.

At the core of the story are three soldiers: PFC Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale) a machine gunner and intelligence scout, PFC Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello), and gunnery sergeant John Basilone (Jon Seda). They personify a cynical New Jersey boy, a sensitive young man from Alabama and an Alpha-male ready to prove his mettle.

Much of the first hour establishes how unprepared the central characters were for what lay ahead. It is a long haul by boat from America’s West Coast to the islands off the Solomons. The huge flotilla of US warships and overhead planes reaching the shores of Guadalcanal quickly shifts from a gung-ho mood to one of anti-climax. There is no enemy to meet them. But conquering the Japanese would not be achieved with the same tactics as fighting Hitler on the continent.

The Pacific perfectly pitches between an elusive, distant enemy somewhere in the jungle to surprise attacks unforgiving in their gore. The fear of never knowing when an attack will occur is palpable. But the naivety of young soldiers is contrasted by brutal sacrifice. Like a small-screen Saving Private Ryan, the action sequences are cinematic and at times, relentless. Authentic brutality and a mounting body count will not be to everybody’s liking.

The Pacific is at its strongest when it aims at the humanity in us, rather than its epic battle scenes. One scene involving malevolent torture of a Japanese soldier was particularly stark, echoed by the discovery of a photo of a Japanese soldier’s family. The unrelenting red-white and blue of the series is very possibly its biggest shortcoming -but it is a minor one.

The performances by the three male leads, especially James Badge Dale, are outstanding. Australian actors, including Tom Budge and a cameo by Chris Haywood, can be seen in the first episode. Others will follow in episode three including Claire Van der Boom, Zoe Carides and the obligatory cameo by Bill Hunter (it’s an Aussie period piece after all). The score by Hans Zimmer, Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely is suitably stirring. Cinematography by Remi Adefarasin and Stephen F. Windon captures weary soldiers on a lush tropical, template.

As entertainment, The Pacific is a masterful work, epic in ambition and execution, but I suspect one which will be significantly impacted from mood-breaking commercials more than most television. While the period miniseries is at risk of becoming something of an antique in itself, this remains one to be savoured. Don’t miss it.

The Pacific premieres 8:30pm Wednesday April 14 on Seven.

18 Responses

  1. What i like. Is according to channel 7 voice over on the promo. Our diggers we’re sitting back in Australia doing nothing but having cups of tea or something.

  2. Corny overacted tripe. I tried hard to watch this but I stopped at ep 3. The most interesting part of ep 3 is watching them weave Melbourne landmark into the 1940’s. Don’t waste your time with this waste of TV.

  3. The Pacific Part 1 wasn’t that good, it’s from part 2 where it get’s better, it’s only then that they really get into the thick of things, the war wasn’t some camping trip a 7 year old goes on, it’s tough, you survive on the worst food, you sleep in a month what you’d normally sleep a day outside of war, it’s mud, jungle and weird freakish animals crawling around and Japanese soldiers who are prepared to do anything for your head, that’s war, not counter-strike… there’s no re-spawn in real life, and I think The Pacific definitely portrays excellently, probably not worth the $200m spent in retrospect, after seeing the ratings, but still and excellent series, definitely a must-watch.

  4. Yeh I have to say that prime’s HD picture quality is.. Non-existant, frequently they just simucast the 576i SD channel, but even when they do actually show HD it seems to just be sd upscaled.

    On that topic, what is up with Southern cross ten Illawarra, they seem to broadcast a lot of widescreen shows in 4:3 stretched! It’s horrible. It’s not like they’re consistent either- they seem to be perfectly ok with showing native 4:3 shows in a pillar box, as opposed to stretched.

  5. up to ep4 in america. no spoilers here, but in terms of my review, ep1 5/5, ep2 4/5, ep3 3/5, ep4 2/5 … are we seeing the pattern here? very disappointed so far. Dont make the mistake of expecting band of bro’s quality and you might enjoy this.

  9. It’s because Prime are too cheap to get more bandwidth. It’s loses quality with more channel outputs. Since they have Seven Two it’s losing quality, since they also run it all day (except between 5-7pm weekdays) it’s probably also having silly issues. It’s never been run that long before.

  10. I cannot wait for this, so excited.

    One criticism though….the current advertisement 7 have running for the show, has The most inappropriate song running in the background.

    It’s like a pop song….where (in my opinion) it should be something a bit more serious, along the lines of a majestic piece of orchestra performed music.

  12. Hopefully Prime will be able to show this in HD without it stuttering and spluttering all over the place.
    Along with commercials cutting in and out of each other Primes HD channel seems to be losing the plot.

  16. I too am worried about the commercial breaks affecting the quality of this show, especially since it was made for the commercial-break free HBO. It’s one series that I wish the ABC (or even SBS) picked up.

    Will still give it a go though. Probably record this on the PVR, and watch HHIS.

  18. So annoyed that this has to air on the same night and time as Lost!! I really hope 7 do the right thing and chuck a repeat of the show on 7two. Although knowing them they’ll probably just expect us to catch up on Plus7, which would be fine If the quality of plus7 video was anywhere YouTube quality (ie not perfect, but watchable in full screen).

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