The following actors played starring roles in multiple episodes and are split by the principal character they appear with. Characters from the different plot strands do occasionally interact, while Sidney Phillips serves with Leckie and is the best friend of Sledge.
The Pacific was produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman in association with HBO Miniseries, Playtone, DreamWorks, Seven Network and Sky Movies.[8][9] Seven and Sky both invested in the project for the right to broadcast it in Australia and the United Kingdom respectively.[10]Nine Network 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 productions separately.[11] In April 2007, the producers set up a production office in Melbourne and began casting.[12]
Originally the project was estimated at $100 million to produce,[11] but ended up costing over $200 million, making The Pacific the most expensive television miniseries ever created at the time.[13][14][15] According to the Sydney Morning Herald an estimated A$134 million was spent in Australia.[16] The Australian newspaper Herald Sun estimates that it brought 4,000 jobs and generated A$180 million for the Australian economy.[17]
Historian Hugh Ambrose, son of Band of Brothers author Stephen E. Ambrose, wrote the official tie-in book to the miniseries,[38]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 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 and Luzon 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.[39][40]
Broadcast
The series premiered in the US and Canada on March 14, 2010, on HBO.[41]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 languages available. Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines broadcasts were available in high-definition on the HBO Asia HD Channel.[42]The Pacific began broadcast on April 5, 2010, on Sky Movies in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[43] 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.[44] In Denmark, Norway, Finland, France, and Sweden, the series began broadcasting on Canal+; 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.[45] 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 before the season 2 premiere of True Blood 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.[46] Another trailer was shown in February 2010 during Super Bowl XLIV, depicting several combat scenes. An extended trailer (3:47) of the miniseries can be viewed on the series' official website.
Basilone and the 7th Marines land on Guadalcanal to bolster the defenses around Henderson Field. Basilone, attempting to relocate his machine gun to a better position, bare-handedly cradles the hot barrel and severely burns his arms. Despite this, he continues fighting and kills scores of Japanese troops. The following morning, Basilone discovers that Rodriguez has been killed in action.
The 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal is relieved and arrives in Melbourne, Australia. Battle weary, many Marines go AWOL, engaging in drunken hijinks. Leckie falls in love with Stella Karamanlis, an Australian girl of Greek descent, who invites him to stay at her parents' home. Not wanting to go through the pain of losing him, Stella breaks up with Leckie and tells him not to return. As a result, Leckie becomes belligerently drunk; when his friend Lew Juergens asks Leckie to relieve him on guard duty so he can urinate, an officer catches him, culminating in Leckie pulling a sidearm and both he and Juergens are punished and demoted. Basilone receives the Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal and is sent home to sell war bonds.
Previously limited by a heart murmur, Eugene Sledge enlists in the Marines and trains for combat, while Leckie and the 1st Marine Division are put into action at Cape Gloucester. The relentless rain and jungle environment takes its toll on the Marines. Leckie is treated for nocturnal enuresis caused by combat stress and is hospitalized for a number of weeks. The Marines arrive on Pavuvu, which serves as a temporary base for the 1st Marine Division.
Sledge is briefly reunited with Phillips on Pavuvu before Phillips departs to return home to Mobile. Sledge meets Merriell "Snafu" Shelton, R.V. Burgin, and Bill Leyden. The 1st Marine Division lands at Peleliu.
Sustaining heavy losses and fighting in exceedingly hot conditions with little drinkable water, the Marines move to capture Peleliu's vital airfield. Leckie is wounded by a blast concussion while trying to relay a message to the corpsman. With a face full of shrapnel and limited mobility, he is evacuated and sent to recuperate on a hospital ship.
Tired of selling war bonds, Basilone is transferred to the 5th Marine Division where he trains Marines for combat as a gunnery sergeant. He meets and marries Lena Riggi. Basilone lands at Iwo Jima, but is killed in action on the first day.
Sledge and the 1st Marine Division land at Okinawa. Cynical and exhausted, Sledge and Shelton show no compassion for the Japanese troops and struggle to lead new replacement Marines fresh out of boot camp. The Marines are horrified to discover Okinawan civilians, including women and children, are being forced to act as human shields. Sledge is nearly court martialed after assaulting a Japanese POW. As the battle concludes, the Marines hear of a "new bomb" that "vaporized an entire [Japanese] city in the blink of an eye".
Following the Japanese surrender, the Marines return home. Leckie takes a job with a newspaper; he starts a relationship with Vera, revealing that he never sent the letters he wrote because he believed he was not going to survive the war. Sledge, Shelton, and Burgin arrive home in the spring of 1946. Sledge is still haunted by the horrors of war, he struggles to adjust despite reassurance from his father and Phillips. Basilone's widow, Lena, visits his parents and gives them his Medal of Honor.
Special
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date
US viewers (millions)
"Anatomy of a War"
TBD
TBD
2010 (2010)
TBD
This episode is a companion piece to the series. It uses historical footage, footage from the series, and interviews with participants, scholars, and members of the series cast and crew to try to explain the societal, cultural, and religious reasons that contributed to the ferocity and brutality of the Japanese military during World War II.[57]
Reception
Critical reception
The Pacific received widespread critical acclaim. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 89% with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10, based on 46 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."[58] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[59]
Time magazine's James Poniewozik named it one of the Top 10 TV Series of 2010.[60]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 in 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."[61] IGN also reviewed each episode, with Episode 9 receiving a perfect 10 out of 10 score.[62]
Tom Bellfort, Benjamin L. Cook, Daniel S. Irwin, Hector C. Gika, Charles Maynes, Paul Aulicino, John C. Stuver, David Williams, Michelle Pazer, John Finklea, Jody Thomas, and Katie Rose (for "Peleliu Landing")
John E. Sullivan, Joss Williams, David Taritero, Peter Webb, Dion Hatch, John P. Mesa, Jerry Pooler, and Paul Graff (for "Guadalcanal/Leckie")
Nominated
John E. Sullivan, Joss Williams, David Taritero, David Goldberg, Angelo Sahin, Marco Recuay, William Mesa, Chris Bremble, and Jerry Pooler (for "Peleliu Landing")
Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Eugene Kelly, Todd London, Cherylanne Martin, Bruce C. McKenna, Steven Shareshian, Steven Spielberg, Tony To, Tim Van Patten, and Graham Yost
