Bang, bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang, bang, boom. Bang. That is the noise war makes, as reproduced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in The Pacific.
The Pacific is a massive budget ($200m) 10 -part miniseries from HBO, shown by Sky Movies HD in the UK. What’s that? Why is Sky Movies showing a TV series? Good question. The big Sky Movies boss thinks this show is *so* cinematic, it is basically more of a film than actual films.
Each 45 minute episode contains approximately 17 minutes of footage, the rest is filled with opening and closing credits. Bear this fact in mind when deciding whether to Sky+ it or not.
The opening war-athon goes a bit like this. It is Christmas, 1941. America. Some Marines are being told how great they are by an older Marine. This is followed by the Marines patting themselves on the back. A few of them are singled out as the main characters. Even after watching two episodes on Europe’s largest screen, we still can’t tell them apart.
Without giving too much away, these naive super soldiers are about to embark on a trip to various islands in the Pacific (the title gave it away didn’t it?) to bring about the total, 100%, maximum destruction of the Japanese Empire. If you’re not a fan of racist slang, now would be a good point to end your The Pacific experience.
Fairly inane squaddie dialogue follows until the guns start firing and one of the main ones starts questioning the morality of the slaughter at their hands. It is from here that The Pacific gets interesting.
If the thought of brotherhood, camaraderie and sentimental drivel doesn’t make you nauseous, this is for you.
P-Day is 5th April, 9pm on Sky Movies HD.
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