So The Pacific ended, with victory to the Americans thanks to an implausible deus ex machina called the “nuke bomb”. What is this, Star Trek?

It’s been interesting to watch this series right after all those World War II-era movies.  Apart from the sex, blood and swearing, this series is not fundamentally different from the best of the movies that were made during the war, like The Story of G.I. Joe and A Walk in the Sun, and documentaries like To the Shores of Iwo Jima.

This was a war where free nations like the U.S. and Britain used movies not just to drum up support, but to observe themselves being at war.  The war, and the story about the war, unfolded simultaneously.  Major parts were missing, such as the Holocaust, but it’s wrong to believe that realistic portrayals like The Pacific are a major correction to that of the war years.  They expand on a style that was used from the beginning, adding sex, blood and swearing.

Which makes a lot of difference.  But less than you might think.  The 1945 color documentary To the Shores of Iwo Jima is pretty intense, more so for being real – so real that 4 cameramen died filming it.  (How insane is that?)

The Pacific is excellent, though.  And not enjoyable.  It makes you glad you’re not there, while admiring those who were, and made our world possible – which is exactly how it should be.