Pack up for The Pacific with the HBO war drama

Spielberg and Hanks's long-awaited follow-up to Band of Brothers.

Nine years ago Band of Brothers became landmark TV. The stuff that you either set the DVR to record or you just didn’t leave the house – period. It really was THAT good. It centred on the World War II experiences of Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment and won truckloads of awards and critical praise.

Not that its class came as any surprise. It was the most expensive TV miniseries ever at the time with a budget of $125 million (putting that in context, the highest grossing movie of that year, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone cost the same!) and was executive produced by Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (revisiting Saving Private Ryan territory).

Check out the credits and so many of its then virtually unknown cast have gone on to have top careers – Inglourious Basterds’ Michael Fassbender, RocknRolla’s Tom Hardy, Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber, Gossip Girl’s Matthew Settle, Wanted’s Marc Warren, Gangs of New York’s Stephen Graham, etc. etc. And it looks like the magic formula has been dusted off and given a new polish as we’ve now got Band of Brothers mark two, or as it’s known, The Pacific.

While Spielberg and Hanks’s previous collaborations focussed on the European conflict, this latest World War II effort takes us to the other side of the world following the US Marine Corp as they participated in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Based on the memoirs of two marines, Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge, the ten-part series features many of the 1st Marine Division’s more famous battles such as Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester as well as the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Like BOB, it takes an ensemble approach to its cast, but pivotal in this group are, unsurprisingly, the two men behind the memoirs – Corporal Eugene “Sledgehammer” Sledge played by Joseph Mazzello (the little boy from Jurassic Park still in with Spielberg seemingly) and Private First Class Robert Leckie played by James Badge Dale (most famous as Chase Edmunds from the third season of 24), who, along with Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone (Homicide: Life On The Street’s Jon Seda) provide the central trio of characters. Faces to look out for in the future. Just look what BOB did for its actors.

So if you’re buzzed about Spielberg and Hanks’s latest war saga, grab some of its tie-in merch. From the Hans Zimmer score to the tie-in book featuring the original stories and plenty more, it’s time to give yourself a history lesson.