What makes it different from others?

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Mini Series like The Pacific are one of a kind just like its European counterpart Band of Brothers is. They both serve a purpose. While more and more of the surviving veterans who fought both wars are leaving us to join their fallen brothers, those two are keeping their memories for the next generations to come. They are reminding us of their sacrifices, their bravery and most importantly to remind us that they went into harms way so the world can finally leave in peace again.As a great grand daughter of one of those heroes, I thank you, Steven and Tom, for serving that noble cause. We should never forget those heroes who witnessed death at each step they took, losing many of their friends and sometimes siblings while getting wounded themselves.My great grandfather never talked much about what he saw but we could feel that it's something that haunted him for the rest of his life. He didn't consider himself as a hero but just as a young man willing to do his duty. I'm so proud of him and all his brothers who fought alongside him. I miss him so much. ♥So there is no need to compare both The Pacific and Band of Brothers because they are both an amazing tribute to the ones we call the Greatest Generation. Through them, we saw the ugliness of war and how mankind can be able to display unbelievable cruelty to each other. When you see Snafu digging gold through the denture of a dead Japanese or the horrible manslaughter of a Banzai charge, it takes you to the guts and you realize how traumatizing that war was and we should fight to never allow such a bloodshed again.So thank you Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg for reminding us that terrible truth in an age where war still rages on a lesser scale but still claims lives everyday. It seems we still have much to learn.

The trouble with filmmaking (or film viewing, for that matter) is that benchmarks are set that affect the way we view the next product. For example, "The Longest Day" was the standard for WW2 movies until "Saving Private Ryan" blew it out of the water. Then, "Band of Brothers" set the bar even higher by explaining the entire war in dramatic fashion, not just a single battle. Thus, "The Pacific" will forever be measured against BOB, whether fair or not, considering the different tone this series takes compared to the "European version".For a basic plot summary, "The Pacific" focuses on the stories of three U.S. Marines, always the "first men in" to all the major battles: Eugene Sledge, John Basilone, and Robert Leckie. Their collective experiences allow us to see the events (both on and off the battlefield) in places like Guadalcanal, Pavuvu, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Also, we get to have a glimpse of their lives away from the war and how they adapted (or failed to adapt) back into civilian life.In terms of tone, "Band of Brothers" was all about the battles, such as the spectre of D-Day or the bone-chilling conditions in the Belgium forest. "The Pacific", though, takes a much more personal tone. Sure, the key historical events and battles are covered in dramatic fashion, but this time the meat of the story is the characters themselves. By the end of the series, it's almost as if these characters have become a part of us that we don't want to see come to a close. As an added payoff, we also get some character resolution (something that BOB did not provide) for those main three figures.I thought that the first four parts of the show were average, it started picking up in 5-6, then exploded in 7-10. That slow start prevents me from giving the series a full five stars, but other than that it was very solid.Overall, I still consider BOB to be the better series of the two, but that comparison is flawed because of the differing tones. "The Pacific" does a great job in its own right of carving out a place in the war docu-drama category. Just don't stop watching after the first 1-4 episodes...trust me, it really picks up.

I was really excited to watch the series knowing this was a Companion piece to Band of Brothers (BOB) covering the Pacific Theater of Operations during WW-2, the series covers 1st Marine Division's battles on islands such as Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa. As a standalone series Pacific is excellent, but BOB being there a comparison had to be made and when done I felt Pacific to be a notch lower in almost every department. It's a different series than BOB in covering more on depressing side of the war than the heroic side.The series visualizes the war from the view point of three individuals of 1st Marine from very different backgrounds, getting into their private life. Its show how normal citizens become hero, some are heroes by action during battles, some by just surviving the war and not turning into monster. A lot of time is spend away from action, an episode covers a year spent in Australia, one recovering from battle trauma, another on finding love & getting married. The series focuses more on individual emotions & bonds, frankly the time spend away from action is not entertaining as mostly it covers the gloomy side of war, the damaged soldiers & there condition. The sad part is the time spend on war also gets repetitive after a time with most of the islands being similar in nature, the jungles with its malaria, rains, heat & the unrelenting japs. The action shown in the series is more gory then heroic, the series probably sets out portray wars as grim thing and not grand stuff and is successful at it.

Ostensively, this follows 3 marines and their individual stories in the Pacific during WWII. Bob Leckie (James Badge Dale) is a small town reporter who join the marines at the start. Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) is a 90 pound weakling whose parents are reluctant to allow him to join. John Basilone (Jon Seda) comes from an Italian family who becomes a famous war hero.Right off the bat, this must be compared to 'Band of Brothers'. While they are both WWII mini-series focused on the soldiers, they really hit on two different tones. BoB is more patriotic, more action oriented, and the story flow with a natural climax. This one still has the overwhelming action but it's muddier, grittier, and uglier. At times, this feels like a Vietnam war movie or a tough Korean movie. Unlike BoB, the last episode of this series is possibly the most emotionally tough. BoB can be an adventure thriller at times but 'The Pacific' is always a psychological grind. The only problem I have is the third episode where they spend the whole episode in Melbourne. It has some interesting stories but it's a waste to spend the whole episode there. Leckie gets a girl but they don't even stay together. For most of the Pacific, there are some great stories and impressive action. It's just a different style of war TV show.