The Pacific: HBO’s war drama in pictures

Images from Steven Spielberg's new second world war drama
  
  


The Pacific: The Pacific
Band of Brothers proved an Emmy-award winning hit in 2001. Nine years later, HBO's new series will focus on the brutal conflict in the Pacific
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
The project's executive producers are Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks – continuing their Band of Brothers partnership
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
But The Pacific is described as a companion piece, rather than a sequel, to Band of Brothers
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
'The Pacific is Band of Brothers goes to hell,' says the series' co-executive producer and writer Bruce McKenna
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
'It’s more intense, it’s more personal, it’s more savage, and the reason why is because it’s an accurate depiction of what that war was like in the Pacific,' McKenna adds
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
The series is based on two first-hand accounts of the war – With The Old Breed by Eugene Sledge, and Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie – along with additional research material
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
Spread over 10-parts, the format allows The Pacific to recreate battles at (sometimes great) length - highlighting the unrelenting nature of the war
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
Which clearly comes at a cost. And with a budget of about $230m, The Pacific is thought to be the most expensive television production in history
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
But producers insist that there is nothing gratuitous about the violence – rather than it is necessary to show the truth of the war, and illustrate its emotional effect on those fighting
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
'The question we ask in The Pacific is not so much "How did they do it",' says Tom Hanks. 'I think what we ask is: 'How were they able to go through all this and come back and just get on with their lives?"'
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
The cast includes Jon Seda, Joe Mazzello and James Badge Dale. They were all sent on a gruelling bootcamp ahead of filming
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
But the most surprising thing, says actor John Seda who plays US marine John Basilone, was actually the emotional part of the role
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
The miniseries was shot in Australia
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
The production team found that the country's jungle and turquiose sea proved good doubles for the Pacific islands
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
The Pacific: The Pacific
Quarries in the Australian outback were transformed into battlefields for the HBO miniseries • The Pacific begins on Easter Monday (April 5) at 9pm on Sky Movies HD
Photograph: Sky Movies Photograph: guardian.co.uk
 

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