Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best

The other side of the coin to HBO’s earlier World War II epic (on which more later), The Pacific tells the story of the men fighting out in the pacific theatre from the summer of 1942 until the end of the war. Though much of the same creative team is used, it’s a different kettle of fish to its predecessor, in terms of its storytelling format and its tone.

For the most part, The Pacific narrows its focus on three soldiers, Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge, and John Basilone, with the memoirs of the former two making up the basis of much of the story. The Pacific avoids major stars for the most part (though a young Rami Maleck, pre-fame, has a decent role) in an effort to keep things as immersive as possible.

It works; The Pacific captures the horrors of war as well (and as frightfully) as any combat drama you could care to name. By focussing the narrative on three men rather than a sprawling cast, we’re given to see the effects the brutality of the situation has on them, and more often than not, what we see isn’t pretty.

It’s heavy going, then, but you can guess that going in. As a technical exercise, there’s little topping it; that it achieves so much emotionally is to its immense credit.