War is hell; that much I know from watching HBO’s newest series The Pacific. The series which was produced and conceived by many of the same industry giants as its cousin series Band of Brothers yet the season premiere episode has proven the show to undeniably set itself apart from previous WWII cinematic ventures. The Pacific becomes a show more about the impromptu nature of war and in particular the pacific theatre than about anything else. As such, HBO has created a scarily intimate view of war which at once becomes both haunting and inspirational.
Our introduction to the U.S. marines and command assigned to Guadalcanal: “merry Christmas, happy 1942”. Part 1 of The Pacific starts off with minimal introduction, and to be quite honest, minimal bullshit. Unfortunately, since the show in both its conception and thematic considerations is so similar to Band of Brother I will inevitably fall prey to using at as the ‘Procrustean bed’ to which I will measure The Pacific in some regards. With that disclaimer in place, I point to the introduction of the series’ main characters and setting and although the series doesn’t start off with much background on either, but the little bit it does proves my point exactly as it turns out to be little more than mushy-bunk-filler.
To be honest, I don’t quite know the reason behind this move towards conciseness, whether or not HBO figured that their viewership would undoubtedly already be familiar with the show’s cousin Brothers or whether they felt it, like myself, a crucial way to incorporate the viewer-as-participant within the action. The Pacific’s three focus characters are Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello), Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale) and Jon Basilone (James Seda). Basilone and Sledge, however, are the only two whom we meet who already have a previous relationship, something we’re given via a brief glimpse at the last Christmas supper at the Basilone residence while Sledge joins as a guest. The scene is jovial and oh so very brief, an appropriate foreshadow of events to come. Our introduction to Leckie is equally brief with a mere minute or two dialogue between himself and his best friend, whom has a heart murmur and can not join the effort as he passes along his good wishes and disappointment that he too can not join his friend Robert in battle.
