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The Pacific: Complete HBO Series [Blu-ray][2010]

Joe Mazzello , James Badge Dale    Suitable for 15 years and over   Blu-ray
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (293 customer reviews)
Price: £25.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Pacific: Complete HBO Series [Blu-ray][2010] + Band Of Brothers: Complete HBO Series (Commemorative 6-Disc Gift Set In Tin Box) [Blu-ray] + Saving Private Ryan - 2 Disc Special Edition [Blu-ray] [1998] [Region Free]
Price For All Three: £57.59

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Product details

  • Actors: Joe Mazzello, James Badge Dale, Jon Seda
  • Format: Anamorphic, Widescreen, HiFi Sound, Colour
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: Dutch, Spanish, French, Korean, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, Greek, English
  • Region: Region B/2 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
  • Number of discs: 6
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Warner Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: 1 Nov 2010
  • Run Time: 630 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (293 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B003QP47RI
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,073 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Unsurprising attracting awards attention, The Pacific is a ten-part series set in the midst of World War II, that follows the actions of three US Marines In the Pacific Theatre Of War. It’s a series not a million miles away from its spiritual predecessor, Band Of Brothers, which is understandable given the crossover of creative talent.

Yet The Pacific is still a show with an identity of its own. It boasts the same sky-high production values of Band Of Brothers, but it also has a broader canvas, and a slightly slower pace to it. It’s absorbing drama, though, and the standard of it is kept high right throughout the ten-episode run. During that time, it takes in many key events of the time, and presents them with staggering confidence and strength.

All of this, of course, makes you hope that the high definition transfer can do all of this justice. Fortunately, the news here is good. Few television shows have been treated to anywhere near the love that The Pacific has been in its 1080p transfer, and matched by surround sound work that’d put many blockbuster movies to shame,

Is it Band Of Brothers 2? Absolutely not. Instead, The Pacific is a wonderful drama series in its own right, and one well worth picking up. --Jon Foster

Product Description

From the producers of Band of Brothers, The Pacific tracks the real-life journeys of three U.S. Marines--Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda)--across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain forests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day.


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 64 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding memorial to a savage conflict 22 Dec 2010
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
When I heard that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg had teamed up again to make the miniseries The Pacific, I was thrilled. Now that I've watched it in its entirety (over just two and a half days!), I can honestly say that it's a must-see piece of work. It's a masterpiece. As other reviewers have rightfully said, there's considerable contrast between this and Band Of Brothers. Is one better than the other? I don't think it's possible to say, because it's like comparing chalk and cheese. Both are 5 star + achievements, incredible memorials to the men who served and died in Europe and the Far East during World War Two. Both bring us the stories of real soldiers, real heroes, and what happened to them.

One of the main attractions of this series is that it tells us of the incredibly savage battles that took place across the Pacific as the Japanese were gradually dislodged from the thousands of tiny islands that they've occupied. This is a little known aspect of the war, which deserves to be more widely known. Shocked by the brutality of one particular battle, on an island called Peleliu (now part of the nation of Palau), I did some research, discovering that the struggle on Peleliu had indeed been savage beyond measure. It is in fact regarded as the most difficult battle that the US armed forces fought in WW2. Worse than D-Day! It took more than two months to gain control of an island just 5 square miles in area, and the Marines lost thousands and thousands of men.

I've seen some great films about the war in the Pacific, among them the outstanding Flags of our Fathers & Letters from Iwo Jima, directed by Clint Eastwood, and Kokoda - 39th Battalion, about the Australian experience in Papua New Guinea. But nothing could prepare me for the relentless assault on the senses that is the Pacific. Buy it. It's unforgettable.

Footnote: if you want to read more on the subject, two of the soldiers who were portrayed in the series wrote about their experiences. I've bought both books already. They are: Helmet for my Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge (for me the outstanding character of the series). I can't wait to read them.

Ben Kane, author of The Forgotten Legion.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A good series, despite some issues. 19 Feb 2012
By A. Whitehead TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
August 1942. The United States Marine Corps lands in force on the island of Guadalcanal and begins the long, gruelling campaign of 'island-hopping'. Over the next three years they will take the fight against Japanese forces on islands all across the western Pacific, drawing ever closer to the Japanese home islands and victory.

The Pacific is HBO's companion series to their acclaimed 2001 series Band of Brothers. Like the earlier series, The Pacific follows American soldiers across a single theatre of war (albeit a far vaster one). Unlike Band of Brothers, which was able to concentrate on a single company of the 10st Airborne and cover its journey in some detail (the whole series, bar the opening training sequence, only spanned nine months), The Pacific is rather diffuse in its focus. It covers a period of three years and the almost modular nature of the war in the Pacific (multiple major battles raging simultaneously on islands hundreds of miles apart) means it is impossible to focus on one unit throughout the whole war. The series copes with the problem by dividing the narrative into three storylines following three marines (John Basilone, Bob Leckie and Eugene Sledge), but this ultimately proves to be a move with mixed success.

Plaudits first. The Pacific is visually stunning. Filmed on location on Australia's Pacific coast, the series employs impressive location filming, practical special effects and CGI enhancements to depict WWII combat on-screen more viscerally and in a more convincing manner even than Band of Brothers. The Pacific really does look and sound like a movie, especially on Blu-Ray, and as an audio/visual experience is always impressive. The lead actors - Joseph Mazzello, James Badge Dale and Jon Seda as Sledge, Leckie and Basilone respectively - are impressive and are lent able support by the likes of William Sadler (as the infamous Colonel 'Chesty' Puller) and Rami Malek, who gives an offbeat but fascinating performance as 'Snafu' Shelton. In terms of direction, production values and acting, the series is overwhelmingly impressive.

The issues arise from structural choices for the series. The Pacific War was a very different beast to the Western Front of WWII in Europe, spanning vaster distances and featuring the marines, navy and army fighting simultaneously on different fronts. An immediate drawback of only having ten episodes to tell this story is that other units and services outside the Marine Corps get short shrift. None of the immense naval battles in the theatre (Midway, the Coral Sea etc) are really mentioned and the massive American bombing campaign against Japan is not featured. There are some nods to the other services (the Battle of Savo Island is briefly watched by the marines from the shore; aerial assaults on Japanese positions are occasionally shown) but the focus is squarely on the marines.

Even this is problematic. To get across the scale of the conflict, HBO conflates three separate stories together. John Basilone's story allows them to show life on the home front (Basilone was sent home after Guadalcanal, initially serving as a PR representative to raise money for the war and later as a marine instructor before returning to the field during the battle for Iwo Jima), whilst Bob Leckie is used to cover the initial stages of the fighting and also the role of Australia in the conflict. After Leckie is wounded and forced to return home, Eugene Sledge steps up as our principal POV character and we see most of the latter stages of the war through his eyes. This baton-passing approach to the narrative sounds good but ultimately feels disjointed, as the three soldiers' paths never cross (aside a fictitious brief meeting between Sledge and Leckie). It also complicates things by giving us three different sets of supporting characters to also get to know, which is a tall order for just ten episodes.

Which isn't to say that what we are left with is still not compelling. The actors do a great job of selling their characters' respective storylines: Leckie is left on the front lines a little too long and begins suffering from battle fatigue; Basilone is tired of being hailed a hero at home whilst his friends are still fighting and is anxious to return to the front; and Sledge is angry at missing out the start of the war due to poor health and is keen to prove himself, only to ultimately start losing perspective as the gruelling months of combat unfold. These are familiar storylines, but are given added depth and weight by being true (all three marines are real, and Leckie and Sledge's memoirs provide the basis for the series).

The overwhelming feeling of the series is one of despair. The fighting is savage and without quarter, and the marines often feel that their fighting and dying over specks of land in the middle of nowhere is pointless. There is a lack of any type of grand strategic overview which is true to the experience of the soldiers on the ground. Notably, there is no equivalent to the Why We Fight episode of Band of Brothers (where the 101st liberates a concentration camp and their horrific experiences harden their resolve to help destroy the Nazi regime). The marines are left feeling bereft of a purpose, which makes the horrors they experience strike home even harder. It's no wonder that many of them are shown breaking down or needing urgent time away from the front to reorient themselves. HBO should be congratulated for not downplaying these angles, but it often makes for very hard viewing.

The Pacific (****) is ultimately worth watching. It's a stunning production that makes some hard comments about war and its ultimate savagery, even when a war is worth fighting. It doesn't glorify war and shows its horrors in full force, which can make for hard viewing, but the superior acting and writing make it compelling. Structurally the series is disjointed, and would have benefitted from a tighter focus on maybe just one or two of the marines featured. Extending it to three stretches the story almost to breaking point. However, once you adjust to the structural issues the series is an impressive piece of work. It is available now on DVD (UK, USA) and Blu-Ray (UK, USA).
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112 of 124 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Some may argue it is unfair to compare The Pacific to Band of Brothers, however given it is another WW2 drama miniseries produced by a Spielberg & Hanks dream team in exactly the same format I think they should be contrasted.

Although I am the patient type The Pacific is a very slow starter, this wouldn't matter if the acting was up to the standards of the pyrotechnics and special effects, but it isn't in many places. Of the main characters, Jon Seda who plays John Basilone is the stand-out performance whereas the likes of Robert Leckie (played by James Badge Dale) are unconvincing and some of the romantic scenes with him are cringe worthy. It is true that overall the acting is a far cry from Band of Brothers and I am unsure as to why this is. With the exception of John Basilone, character development is patchy and thus it is difficult to empathise with their story. In addition, I couldn't help but notice the similarity between Basilone's story and that of the characters in Flags of our Flathers i.e. paraded as a war hero and used as a poster-boy to encourage Americans' contribution towards the war economy. But in reality he is left with feelings of guilt as he sits it out cosily while his comrades continue the fight.

The Pacific still is an absorbing and enjoyable experience and admittedly it could never live up to the hype machine surrounding it. The production values are what is expected of a Spielberg behemoth and the battle scenes are highly impressive, although not quite as intense or brutal as Saving Private Ryan or Assembly, to name just two. But after each episode I was expecting the The Pacific to take off, but alas it never actually does. I just can't help but feel it could have been so much more, especially given the $150 million budget and every resource under the sun available to them.

I appreciate The Pacific is a different approach to WW2 drama, focusing more on the events and story rather than the characters, however it feels stuck in second gear for most of the time and only occasionally moves up to third. Just my opinion at the end of the day but I was left rather dissatisfied and unfulfilled.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good
Starts off very well, but seeems to lose its momentum a couple of episodes in and I lose the initial interest. Still very good, but not as entertaining as band of brothers.
Published 11 hours ago by Robert
4.0 out of 5 stars Great - Nearly as good as Band Of Brothers...
This is well worth a watch - although for many (like myself), I suspect it won't live up to the expectations created by the masterpiece that was 'Band Of Brothers' (the first... Read more
Published 4 days ago by MR
1.0 out of 5 stars Probably good
Mine was corrupt so I have rated it low. Amazon is to return the payment but much slower than when I had to pay for it.
Published 10 days ago by Charles Dingwall
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Good service and good price, arrived promptly and well packed. Product was exactly as described all in all very good.
Published 1 month ago by Sheila Rowbottom
5.0 out of 5 stars Bullets and bangs
Bought this for a present and the person who I bought
it for has not completely viewed the whole series.
Good value for money and very happy with this product. Read more
Published 1 month ago by boopyloopy
5.0 out of 5 stars superb
what an amazing set,fantastic to watch,really great action,feels like you are there with them feeling all the emotions they went through
Published 1 month ago by stephen taylor
4.0 out of 5 stars loved it
bought this for my husband - we both sat and watched it through a week, thoroughly enjoyed it, i surprised myself!
Published 1 month ago by Lesley
5.0 out of 5 stars good
got it for a present for my fiance and he loves it, the package arrived quickly and as described. It is a harrowing but good series.
Published 1 month ago by Gem92
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Effects!
After watching the amazing Band of Brothers, I knew I had to watch this (sort of) sequel. It was great acting, great effects and also very different from Band of Brothers in the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by sazap
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Series !
This was bought as a gift and was very well received, as a very great series and one that can be watched and enjoyed, over and over!
Published 1 month ago by A. R. Hughes
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