The Pacific

The Pacific is a ten part HBO miniseries which loosely follows EB Sledge's With the Old Breed and Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow.  Both books are autobiographical accounts of the authors' Marine Corps service in the Pacific during WWII.  HBO hoped to capture the same lightning in a bottle as with Band of Brothers which told the story of the US in Europe during WWII, but fell a bit short.

The pacing was a bit uneven and the story would've been better told without the Basilone sideplot which "wasted" an entire episode.  I do think this series captured the major themes from the books - the misery, horror and stress of the fighting along with the camaraderie.  The visual effects were decent, but some of the sets looked a little fake.

I have relatives who have served and some who are serving still and I have nothing, but respect for those in military.  I can't imagine ever serving in combat and coming back the same man.

I recommend this series, but recommend you read both books firstly.