Blu-Ray Review: Why THE PACIFIC Is The TV Blu-ray Event of the Year
Back in February I previewed this series with the mild criticism of the decision to screen it on Sky Movies in the UK - deeming it a reductive choice that would limit what could have been a TV event viewed by millions to an exclusive club for those with the full Sky package. Thankfully, that concern has now lapsed with the Blu-ray and DVD release of the highly anticipated HBO mini-series upon us this coming Monday.
The question was never whether The Pacific would be good: considering the pedigree of the team behind the scenes, and their collective success on Band of Brothers, that was never a doubt. It was just a matter of how well Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks could apply the stunning production values of that former glory to this new project, without being swallowed up in the narcissistic whirlpool of second-feature egotism that claims so many potential talents. With this review I intend to look back at the earth-shatteringly good series, now that it has found its home on Blu-ray and offer exactly why the release is as essential a TV boxset purchase as I can remember...
Production Values
It's HBO, so there is no surprise whatsoever in the discovery that The Pacific is pretty much as immaculate as a TV series could get. It was this fact that made me so excited at the prospect of the Blu-ray release of the show - HBO have built up a reputation for granting their events almost unprecedented scope to be as beautiful and cinematic as they desire, regardless of cost (as long as the money spent reflects something tangible in the production quality), and in The Pacific they have scored one of their very best hits yet.
There is of course the familiar cinematic quality, which makes The Pacific feel like ten feature films rather than an episodic series, and that quality and format makes it a lot more easy to digest some of the more troubling aspects of the show's content- affording the film-makers the luxury of time to develop and never skimp on the important ideas.
Subject Matter
Though World War I and II have long been considered favourite subject matter among feature film, TV and video games, who have been consequently condemned for their tunnel-vision and unwillingness to tell a new story, there is definitely still a mine of riches to be taken advantage of in the two Greatest wars of any generation so far. And for every story that tells of the trenches, or the war against the Nazis, or even the far-less focused upon Pacific theatre, there is a vociferous vocal reaction that says they have seen it all before.
But the truth is that the Pacific front has certainly never been shown this way. The WWI trenches have amassed a body of work that furthers the idea of them as the most harrowing of warscapes, to a degree where it wouldn't be unfair to presume that film-makers somehow judge that to be the worst war for mass suffering. And really, wars in cultural media are generally depicted by one over-bearing idea- for WWI it was senseless mass carnage, and the advent of new technological war, (to a lesser extent the same can be said of the Crimean), Vietnam is a war of disobedience and dissent, the modern Gulf is generally depicted as a war of non-necessity and as an incredible waste of life.
The second world war story is generally intrinsically linked with the Western Front and the events of the Holocaust- so horrible were those events (and loaded with cinematic potential the cynic might say) that the rest of the war's history is somehow diminished by comparison (even the unprecedented suffering of the Allies' choice to bring about the age of nuclear warfare).
The Pacific goes some way to redress this bias, taking the ultra-realism and harrowing unflinching approach of WWI literature and film, the human concerns of Holocaust war films and the barely hidden dissent of modern conflict movies (to a lesser degree perhaps) but depicts the brutality of that notoriously violent front in neither an excessively pornographic or unnecessary manner. The balance is perfect, as the show portrays the tremendous psychological and physical strain of the war in the Pacific theatre along with an engaging undercurrent of dissent that is a mile away from the camaraderie and brotherhood of Band of Brothers.
At its heart, The Pacific is dealing with something a lot more tricky: at the end of Band of Brothers with the events of the episodes "Why We Fight" and "Points", it is very possible to detect a shift in tone towards a more politically dissenting voice, and it is that theme that bridges the gap between that and The Pacific. The show offers marvellously theatrical and compelling drama from a highly chaotic series of battlefields, following men who don't command the spirit of Takoha and Easy Company, but who are a complex combination of heroes, innocents and dissenters.
And make no mistake, The Pacific is not an easy watch in places: there are some subjects dealt with (especially the expendibility of human life and humanity's capacity for both great honour and great evil) that lead to genuinely challenging sequences, but it is an incredibly enriching experience for that difficulty.
Characters
Initially, the show's approach to characterisation may have seemed a little skewed: in fact in the first few episodes, none of the three leads were particularly fleshed out at all - they were more removed portraits than actual engaging characters but that approach was a stroke of genius. Much like at the start of Band of Brothers, where even Damien Lewis' Winters felt like he lacked the substance of a traditional mini-series lead (even in such a sprawling ensemble), the show's creators chose the slow-burning development approach with their characters, revealing enriching facets and further layers of each as the war irrevocably changed the men.
The show ingeniously uses the characters' experiences as a filter through which those layers are revealed and the characters become wholly-painted portraits. The same approach worked incredibly well on Band of Brothers as we grew to know the characters along with their experiences, informing a view that they were actually being forged in front of us (as is the recounted experience of a lot of war veterans).
While none of the character performances yet match up to the Winters and Donnie Wahlberg's Carwood Lipton (the two major acting high-points of BoB), that is probably a lot to do with the almost ten years of familiarity and hyperbolic praise. Indeed all three leads-Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge- are able to convincingly stake their claim for focus even despite the narrative model that makes such an achievement less than a given.
The decision to depict three occasionally intersecting narratives, instead of the ensemble story of a company like Easy Company drives home that The Pacific is a different thing entirely to Band of Brothers- the fractured narrative and the emphasis on the importance of each man's individual story, combined with the show's willingness to show the damaged relationships between the marines emphasises the idea of the war as a complex collection of individual stories rather than a collective experience.
Casting
All in all, the decision to cast little-known actors in the three leads was a genius one: rather than spending a relatively large chunk of their budget getting recognisable names on the cast-list, Spielberg, Hanks et al were able instead to inject that money into some simply jaw-dropping sets and set-pieces and thus drawing on one of the most successful elements of predecessor Band of Brothers.
There is also consequently no sense of an ego getting in the way of a performance (which is perhaps the greatest legacy that Tom Hanks brings to the production - the man seems to have no ego). That effect cannot be underestimated, since it allows for total audience immersion in the narrative (rather than the sometime distraction of recognisable faces), and the fact that each of the main performances is excellent and perfectly judged does a great service to the overall agenda of the show.
Within the near ten hours, there are some moments of such startling sadness, poignant strokes of such raw human frailty, unsettling scenes of such terrible tragedy that those performances needed to be really nailed on.
In the tradition of Band of Brothers, it seems we may well be seeing a lot more from the triumvirate of lead actors, since so many huge stars appeared in early roles on the last Hanks/Spielberg production (Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender to name but two). Indeed we can reasonably expect to see the names Joseph Mazzello (who has since already appeared in the excellent The Social Network), James Badge Dale and Jon Seda a hell of a lot more in the next few months and years.
The Script
In part upon the books Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie, With the Old Breed and China Marine by Eugene B. Sledge and Red Blood, Black Sand, by Chuck Tatum, The Pacific is once again further enriched by original interviews conducted with veterans and survivors, giving it the extra personal edge that made Band of Brothers more appealing. That choice adds a depth to the show, and an incomparable level of emotional engagement that is invaluable to the audience's experience alongside the main characters- not only that the appearance of the real figures behind the characters always adds a great deal of depth to that character (sometimes false, but not here) as the audience genuinely cares how their story unfolds.
The script is generally very good. The most clever thing it does is the way in which it voices its dissent to war- rather than being the all-guns-blazing embodiment of cynicism that had dominated war movies in the period up until Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks teamed up for the first time with Saving Private Ryan, the series is far more subtle and complex. In taking that approach, The Pacific intelligently engages with the impact, enmity and insanity of war without compromising the service and innate sacrifice of the ordinary men who choose to fight for their country, and becomes an incredibly timely commentary in the current political environment.
The choice by the scripters to stick closely to the original source texts and spend a lot of time focusing on the marines' home lives is also one of the most successful choices, as the jarring juxtaposition of normality and the horrendous experience of the war becomes far more effective for it. The overall effect is a humbling one, and you begin to realise as the show unfolds that the fanfare of expectation that came with the initial announcement of The Pacific is quickly being replaced by a fanfare for the heroism of the men who fought in the war itself. A tight script allows for the film-makers to keep a reign on the ultra-violence that occasionally rears its head, and gives that aspect of the show an intelligent and human foundation that is incredibly affecting.
Blu-ray Quality
Staggering. This is what Blu-ray was made for, and The Pacific is the perfect answer to any nagging doubt that creeps in when a studio releases yet another cynically bad transfer. It is difficult to describe the success of this high-def transfer without lapsing into hyperbole and simply shouting superlatives at you but here goes: the colour and black tones are astoundingly good, and the treatment gives the incredibly Pacific setting an incredibly worthy pallette to dazzle.
Detail is just as good - in fact I don't think I've seen anything this detailed that didn't have any examples of imperfections anywhere - the battle scenes have to be seen to be believed. And this being HBO, the sound quality matches the visuals - The Pacific has one of the most arresting, affecting sound tracks in recent memory, with clarity at the highest point, and the battle scenes again showing off the best of what the transfer has to offer.
Overall, and thankfully, HBO has treated The Pacific with a tremendous level of respect and have honoured the shows filmic qualities with an immaculate, true-to-its-source transfer that is worthy of the even the most discerning of high-definition fans' highest praise.
Blu-ray Extras
Incredible. It's a must-have of epic proportions. Arresting occasionally discomforting and engrossing, The Pacific deserves to be considered as one of the most distinguished, cinematic, astounding television productions of all time. Now we just need Hanks and Spielberg to turn their attention to the Vietnam war for their next project...