by NebTheWise on Mon May 17, 2010 4:59 pm
Okay, part 10 aired last night (May 16), and that concluded the miniseries. Overall it was a good series... the tone was so different from Band of Brothers that it is hard to directly compare the two, but I think BoB might have been better.
The Pacific suffered from what appeared to be a lack of focus in the first few parts. Unlike BoB, this series was the story of three specific Marines, who for the most part never served together (two of them were in the same unit early on, but one was transferred stateside after an injury). So the peripheral characters were a little harder to distinguish as the episodes jumped from one Marine's story to another, as opposed to BoB's approach of focusing on a single unit and keeping a few key characters in the foreground for the entire run. Still, as each story got rolling, the series grabbed you in much the same way BoB did.
It is an understandably gruesome show. The violence early on seems surreal in the way it is presented, as Japanase soldiers are almost comically mowed down and left to lie in virtual hills of bodies while the Marines reload for the next wave. As the series progresses, it focuses more on the grim realities of stationary warfare, unable or unwilling to advance, where the enemy is largely faceless and incomprehensible in spite of the fact that your foxhole is 10 feet away from previously killed Japanese soldiers. One scene in part 7 or 8 has a Marine chucking stones into the brainpan of a dead soldier after a torrential rainfall... the splash sound it makes is stomach churning once you realize what is going on.
The plot overall is really about the psychological fraying of the minds of US Marines engaged in a war they really don't understand, against a people that will not surrender despite the odds and are willing to do unimaginable things to keep from admitting defeat. As such, there is very little empathic viewpoint offered towards Japan here, no exploration at all of the Japanese military mindset, and perhaps more poignantly, no apology for the devolution of the American rules of engagement; early on, the Marines are willing to satisfy the Japanese sense of honor with a quick kill, but as the war drags on, the film shifts more toward a "don't they know they are beaten" attitude with rising cruelty and sadism on the part of our "heroes". This is not a stellar portrayal of the Marine Corps: the Marines here are ill-prepared for this war, and unable to cope with the grim reality once they are in the thick of it... perhaps totally accurate, but as I said, less than glowing portrayal. Not like the Airborne from BoB.
The second half of episodes were much improved, however, with the various stories starting to take off as the Marines invade first Peleleiu and then Okinawa. It turns out that the story of Eugene Sledge, who I mentioned earlier was sidelined early on with a heart murmur, may be the heart and soul of the series, as it is through his eyes that the horrors of Okinawa and the end of the war are told. His character runs from innocent volunteer who is desperate to serve his country, to bewildered outsider shunned by his battle-weary squadmates, to shocked-to-immobility soldier in the thick of what looks like a stupid assault across an airfield, to first jaded and then openly hostile sadist sick of mud and blood, and finally to war-weary veteran who realizes his life will never be the same. From beginning to end, the best story of the lot, and you have to get about halfway through the series before he even gets in the war.
Acting was top-notch all around. No names to speak of in this cast; the only person I recognized from anything else was Annie Parisse, who had a short stint on Law & Order as an assistant D.A. The writing was solid; no cringe-worthy dialog, everything seemed to move on pace and tell an efficient story. Same with the directing... only a few times were frenetic quick-cuts used during battle (mostly during beach landings), everything else was generally staged wide with building suspense. I have no complaints about the score either. Good production from top to bottom.
They're running the whole series in a marathon Memorial Day weekend, so I'll give the early episodes another viewing and see if my opinion of them changes. It is a good miniseries, but perhaps not an instant classic like Band of Brothers was. There also are a few truly stellar moments that might be more powerful than anything in BoB. If you liked BoB, this is must-see viewing when it hits DVD.
Certified Net-Ninja™
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