With the success of “Band of Brothers”, HBO turned to the Pacific Theater for a new WWII miniseries. Instead of following one unit, like BoB, this series concentrates on three Marines. Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello), and John Basilone (Jon Seda). They served in the 1st, 5th, and 7th Marine Regiments in the 1st Marine Division. The screenplay was partly based on Leckie’s “Helmet for My Pillow” and Sledge’s “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa”. The miniseries covers the Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, and Okinawa campaigns. It was budgeted at $100 million, but ended up costing more than $200 million, making it the most expensive miniseries up to then. It was filmed in Australia. The series was critically acclaimed and won the Emmy for Best Miniseries and seven others.
EPISODE 1 (Guadalcanal/Leckie) - The series opens with narration by Tom Hanks outlining the situation in December, 1941. Pearl Harbor had been attacked and the Japanese were building a strategically threatening air field on Guadalcanal. We are introduced to the three main characters. Robert Leckie is a middle-class intellectual who goes to war because it’s the thing to do. John Basilone is a career Marine. Eugene Sledge desperately wants to get into the fight, but a heart murmur prevents his enlistment. The episode quickly has Leckie and his buddies landing on Guadalcanal. There is no immediate contact, in fact the first death is friendly fire on a pissing Marine. The opening battle is a night banzai charge which sets the stage for the visceral combat common in the series. The aftermath of the battle also establishes the theme of racism and the dehumanization created by war. The series gets the camaraderie and soldier talk right. At the end of the episode, Basilone arrives on the island with “Chesty” Puller.
Grade = A
EPISODE 2 (Basilone) - This episode continues on Guadalcanal with Leckie and Basilone. An intense naval bombardment is featured. The episode is dominated by the incident where Basilone earns his Medal of Honor, but loses one of his best friends. It is part of an amazing night battle that is among the best combat scenes ever shot. Admirably, the film does not copy the “Saving Private Ryan” style but has its own look and feel. Themes include the mental and physical exhaustion of battle. The episode ends with the conclusion of the battle.
Grade = A+
EPISODE 3 (Melbourne) - The series moves to Australia as both Leckie’s and Basilone’s units recuperating and then retraining. There is lots of fraternization and drinking. Leckie hooks up with a beautiful lass and becomes part of her family. The relationship develops rapidly because this being HBO there has to be a sex scene. The girl is all in until she shocks Leckie with a jilting that hits him hard. Meanwhile, Basilone is awarded his Medal of Honor and told he will be going stateside for a bond tour. Themes include the temporariness of wartime romances and the disconnect between the frontlines and the rear areas. Combat junkies can skip this episode. It should keep females viewing.
Grade = C
EPISODE 4 (Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika) - This episode concentrates on Leckie. He is off to Cape Gloucester on New Britain. The campaign is extremely hard on morale mainly due to the almost constant rain. There is one awesome night engagement which is in a different style than the Guadalcanal combat. Mostly quick cuts. Leckie gets in trouble with his commanding officer when the Lt. steals a chest from “Lucky”. To make matters worse, Leckie develops a urination problem which causes him to wet his bed. He is transferred to a hospital which is mostly for PTSD patients. It’s not a fun place, but he’s released back to his unit after a couple of weeks. Themes in this one are the effects of weather on soldiers and the results of combat stress. Grade = B
EPISODE 5 (Peleliu Landing) - We get a brief look at Basilone as he begins his bond tour accompanied by a celebrity blond. Sledge arrives as a green mortarman and is greeted with disdain by his new mates. One of the mortar crewmen is destined to play the role of company jerk (nicknamed “Snafu”). Leckie returns and implausibly meets Sledge. It’s the naïve, intellectual meeting his future cynical self. The big set piece is the invasion of Peleliu. It is a tour de force that is one of the best combat scenes ever. We follow Leckie in on his amphtrac and then inland. The scene is obviously influenced by “Saving Private Ryan”, but differs in that it focuses on one individual (Sledge) and uses a lot of hand-held and closeups. Kudos to the cameramen who went into “combat” with the actors. Leckie arrives a little later and the scene shifts back and forth between them. This scene tops any of the combat scenes in “Band of Brothers”. The episode closes with the night of the first day, which unlike Guadalcanal brings relative calm.
Grade = A+
EPISODE 6 (Peleliu Airfield) - Picks up where Ep 5 left off with both Sledge and Leckie on the perimeter of the air field. The next day the Marines launch a typical frontal assault to take the field and its main Japanese-infested building. The cinematography carries over from Ep 6, but is even more graphic with several dismemberments. Most females will have only fond memories of Leckie’s romance at this point. There is lots of artillery fire. The men run a gauntlet of fire and steel. Leckie has to run the gauntlet back to seek a medic and is wounded in the process. He ends up on a hospital ship. Sledge rescues the jerk and begins to get some cred (and the new nickname “Sledgehammer”). After capturing the air field, Sledge’s unit moves on to the next obstacle – a heavily fortified ridge-line. Themes include the randomness of death and the pressures that make men crack in combat.
Grade = A
EPISODE 7 (Peleliu Hills) - Still on Peliliu, Sledge gets deeper into the Hell of the miserable island. The Japanese are holed up in caves in a Hellish environment. Flamethrowers make their first appearance. Days pass in a montage using Sledge’s journal to mark the passing weeks. Turns out being on a mortar crew is not that safe, especially when you “volunteer” for stretcher duty. The big set piece is the taking of a bunker. The use of a flamethrower results in the line “let the bastards burn” (where have I heard that before?). The men are developing a tight bond with and adulation of their leader (the “Skipper”). Premonition alert. We get the famous “pebbles in the Jap skull” incident from Sledge’s book. Themes include the dehumanization of civilized men by combat and the strong bonds that develop in war.
Grade = B
EPISODE 8 (Iwo Jima) - Sledge’s unit is taken out of combat. This episode will be Basilone-centric. He is chafing on his bond tour and itching to get back into combat. The Marines reluctantly grant his request and he begins to train a new machine gun crew. In the meantime he falls in love with a feisty, hard-to-get nurse. They are married and deserve to live happily ever after. Suddenly we are in the thick of the landing on Iwo Jima. Basilone is doing his Rambo imitation in cinematography reminiscent of “Band of Brother”’ this time. The action frenetic, violent, and graphic. Themes include even the greatest warriors sometimes run up against the odds and warriors will be warriors. Not to mention that true love can be ephemeral.
Grade =
B
EPISODE 9 (Okinawa) - Sledge is sent to Okinawa with his unit replacing an Army unit. This episode concentrates on the difference between replacements and veterans. Sledge and Snafu have to deal with a naïve private named Hamm who gradually earns their respect by trying to do what’s right and standing up to their hazing. On the other hand, the green new captain is incompetent and in over his head. This episode also focuses a lot on the effect of war on civilians. The combat has a no man’s land feel to it with the Japanese civilians caught in the middle. Some of the grittiest battle scenes occur in this episode plus the added affronts to humanity. Sledge goes to the edge of barbarism, but pulls back from the brink.
Grade = A
EPISODE 10 (Home) - The war is over and Leckie is convalescing in a hospital. Sledge is still on Okinawa, but has been out of combat for weeks. He and Snafu celebrate the wars end. Leckie returns home and starts dating the girl next door and renews his career as a journalist. Lena visits Basilone’s family and they have some bitter sweet moments. Sledge returns to his caring parents, but is suffering from PTSD and has trouble adjusting to civilian life. This episode is a lackluster post script to the series.
Grade = C
When Sledge manages to retain his humanity by comforting the dying Okinawan women is one of the most heart breaking scenes in any war movie.
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