The Pacific | Part One | Full Reaction
Added 2025-02-26 23:00:08 +0000 UTCWelp, you all warned me. From the very start, there was a certain weight to everything- the quiet moments before deployment, the uncertainty in the Marines' faces, and the eerie calm as they landed on Guadalcanal. The way this show builds up tension, only for it to come crashing into sheer chaos when the Japanese attack at night, was overwhelming. More than anything though, that sense of abandonment hit hard. Watching the Navy retreat and leave the marines stranded really drove home the isolation and desperation they must have felt.
This show doesn't glorify war, it immerses you straight into its harsh realities and puts you right into the mud with these Marines. Seeing the psychological toll already creeping in made it clear that this was only the beginning of their suffering. I can already tell this series is going to sit with me long after I finish it.
P.S. I originally planned to watch The Pacific on Blu-ray, but my Elgato Capture Card finally decided to die after five good years. I knew I couldn't escape the move without one equipment replacement lol. I'll have to get a new one before I can record on the PS5 again. Until then, I'll be watching the veteran interviews on YouTube before each episode instead! But I did have trouble finding one for the first one, if there is one?
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Relax and enjoy 🍿🌿
LINK: https://youtu.be/20TQhEBxsdY
I watched this on HBO Max
Comments
Great point! Thank you for reminding me of the timeline here. I'll always remember the capture of the Eagle's nest, followed immediately by the broadcast announcing that soldiers would be sent to fight on the Pacific front next... Only for the relief to set in when they learned that they didn't actually have to go. Such an important detail to keep in mind!
Kali Wali
2025-03-06 01:27:44 +0000 UTCOne thing to keep in mind while watching this is that the period of time covered in band of Brothers (not including training) started at D-Day, June 1944 and they captured Eagle’s Nest in April of 1945. This first battle in the series The Pacific is December 1941, I think, and goes until August 1945.
Randy Hammill
2025-03-05 04:06:08 +0000 UTCPersonally I like this series better than band of brothers
C. J. Ramirez
2025-03-01 01:55:51 +0000 UTCI'm sorry that I dumped this on you and your Patrons.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 05:09:31 +0000 UTCBoB benifited for having a bunch of natural humble writers that made it through, but the Marines at the time were in the mindset of training new companies, battalions, and regiments from the states and sending them into battle. Easy company got replacement soldiers, but the Marines would just send in a new unit.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 05:08:03 +0000 UTCI will say this, the factuality of this series is very stretched, and even though I'm a retired Marine, I don't care for the series. Many things are good, if not excellent. The story lines are absolutely trash, because there's no cohesive story.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 05:04:35 +0000 UTCMost, (arguably all) of the main characters never met each other. The Marines had to use leftover parts, which is why you see water cooled MG's, which were 1910 tech. They took what they could into battle. I think they show that early on, the weapons were accurate. The priorities were to our East, FDR made that clear.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 04:55:27 +0000 UTCBand of Brothers, thanks to the Ambrose book (which is excellent to read btw) kind of encompasses the Company. This series is based of three books, so you get multiple perspectives that don't marry together like a company that were together from inception to victory.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 04:52:06 +0000 UTCI wanted to recommend this series to you when you started Band of Brothers, but I decided not to because it's such a different series, with Tom Hanks still at the helm.
Robert Bahr
2025-02-28 04:48:20 +0000 UTCJust to clarify, the "Living in Death" quote is not mine. It is, as you say, a haunting picture that really stuck with me from a biography I read. I am ashamed to say that I don't remember whos though. If you need some uplifting stories to help you make it through this series I would recommend a book called "Once Upon a Town" by Bob Greene. It is the story of the North Platte Canteen. A community project that started when a bunch of women in North Platte, NE heard a rumor that the local Nebraska national guard troop was going to be coming through on the train. So they baked a bunch of food and candy (this was just before Christmas 1941) and went to meet them. It turns out that it was actually the Kansas national guard, but they passed out all the goodies to those boys. It was the start of the local communities meeting EVERY troop train until April 1946 and feeding every serviceman that passed through. The story of people doing good because they decided that it was important. Keep up the good work!
Sterling LaLoge
2025-02-28 04:12:48 +0000 UTCDespite being a big BoB fan, I've actually never seen The Pacific. No particular reason why, just never made the time. So I figured, hey, now's a good time to finally check it out. It might be a little unorthodox to watch a thing for the first time alongside a reaction video, but I think it'll be fun. The first episode was... bracing, to say the least. Definitely strikes a somewhat different tone from BoB. And gets into... things... a little faster. I can only imagine what's coming. It's gonna be a trip for sure.
Dude Longcouch
2025-02-28 01:39:53 +0000 UTCThis perspective really puts the scale and brutality of the Pacific Theater into focus. Those numbers are staggering and they show just how completely different this war was compared to the ETO. Not even just in tactics, but also in the level of devastation. It's true that the European front tends to dominate mainstream narrative for WWII and with your explanation and now seeing a couple episodes of The Pacific so far, maybe it does stem from the unwillingness to fully confront just how nightmarish the Pacific was for these men. The way this series is directed makes it feel much more personal and unrelenting. You're right, there is no way to portray what it was like to actually stand in their boots without it being deeply visceral. "Living in death" is an extremely haunting way to put it. I can already tell this series is going to be tough for me. I came out of Part Two a little dazed and numb. But I'm glad to endure it and reshape my understanding of what these Marines endured. I really appreciate your insight, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of this history with you as we go through the series.
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 20:13:51 +0000 UTCThank you for starting this series. I am looking forward to watching your reactions and insights. I am sure that you are tired of hearing by now that this series is different than BoB. I think it demonstrates a still prevalent focus on the ETO being what WWII was about. Maybe it is just a hidden motivation to not acknowledge how gruesome and horrific the battles in the Pacific were. To put a little perspective on it, we encountered approximately 2,200,000 Japanese during the course of the war. Of those we took roughly 50,000 as POWs. To put it into numbers that are not to big to comprehend for every 45 Japanese soldiers we took 1 POW and killed 44. As Leike (sp?) said there are things that men will do to each other that are sobering to the soul. And there is no other way to see this war then total slaughter. Which is always hard to see as a noble act. The other big difference of the war in the Pacific was that it was much more close quarters combat. Whether it was the meat wall tactics of the early battles or the later use of underground tunnels and caves. The marines faced enemy soldiers at far less distance than similar encounters with the Germans in the ETO. I think that is why this series is so much more visceral. There is just no other way to truly portray that the Marines were quite literally "living in death."
Sterling LaLoge
2025-02-27 05:57:49 +0000 UTCI really appreciate you saying that. Even just in this first episode, I understood what everyone meant by it pushing limits and being super graphic.. No need to apologize at all! And you're absolutely right. No matter how intense it is to watch, I can't even begin to fathom what it was like to actually be there in their shoes. I'll definitely be taking my time with this one if needed. Thank you for the support!
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 02:30:17 +0000 UTCYesss, I feel you on trying not to compare because it's not fair. But wow, right from the start you can feel how different the war was in the Pacific. The isolation, the unpredictability, and the intense brutality make it a completely different experience. The way the Japanese fought only amplified the chaos, too. Night time raids? Absolutely terrifying. It's really intense, and like you said, tough to swallow.. But I think that's what makes it such an important watch, too. And yesss, thank you! I changed some lighting around today and I think it helped make everything more brighter and cozier for sure. And yesss, I'm so surprised that Pixel has been loving my work space because before she never really stepped foot in my office. Every time I'd start talking in my Intro she'd be out of the room super fast haha. I know I've said it a lot, but the energy and feel in this new home is amazing and I've been loving it so far- Obviously so has Pixel hehe. So cute that she keeps an eye on me like a little guardian 🤣😭 She's a cutie chonk for sure
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 02:28:12 +0000 UTCYeah! I planned to jump back in after a one show break from Band of Brothers- That 'break' show happened to be Firefly! So here we are, back in WWII genre. So far, I feel the heaviness and why you all have warned me to take a break after BoB before jumping into this one 😮💨
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 02:22:15 +0000 UTCAbsolutely no worries of course! Gotta take care of the important stuff, that makes all the sense in the world! Again, loved the movie and reaction stuff so much!
MorahBieno
2025-02-27 02:21:33 +0000 UTCAwesome that you're going to check out The Pacific alongside me! So far, it is a lot heavier feeling than Band of Brothers. It feels more raw and graphic, for sure. But I'm still looking forward to the journey and think these series are a great way to reflect back on human history and what these Veterans went through! As for gaming, it's on the backburner for now. Unfortunately, with the move, and a lot of other life things going on (sicknesses, my parent's house flood, a few other person things) I decided to just spend time re-uploading my older videos from my main channel to my gaming channel for the time being. I still love gaming and plan to revisit it when things settle in for me more here. Plus, spamming re-uploads like I was- YouTube actually flagged my account and stopped putting uploads out to my subscribers. So, I had to slow down the re-uploads because of that as well. I hope you understand, but I'm definitely not quitting gaming! Just taking a bit of a break while I try to get my life back in balance with reactions and gaming.
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 02:19:54 +0000 UTCThank you for this! I had trouble finding the introduction scene on YouTube for some reason, but the other ones were easier to find for just specific episodes. I'll do a watch of this one in my introduction to Part Three since I did film One and Two today! I appreciate it! RIP to my Capture Card lol. It held up for awhile!
Kali Wali
2025-02-27 02:14:53 +0000 UTCKali, unlike the BoB I have only watched this twice. What you saw in this episode is only a taste of what you will see. I'm afraid to say too much, I don't want anyone mad at me, but it is history, and I will expound more as the episodes play out. I just know for myself, it pushed my limits of what I could handle watching. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to be there. Sorry for repeating myself, but take your time with this if you need too.
John A
2025-02-27 01:42:03 +0000 UTCRight off the bat with episode 1, everything has just got such a different feel to it compared to Band of Brothers. I don't want to compare the shows, bc that's not fair, but comparing the sides of the war in which each depicts, there are such stark differences. Isolation, chaos, brutality. And even how different the enemy is. Compared to fighting the Germans, everything seems to be so much more unpredictable with the Japanese, which just further increases that feeling of chaos. I know we got to see a little bit of how the Japanese fight with very little regard for their own lives in Hacksaw Ridge, but already this episode drove that even further home Though a show that's very tough to swallow for sure, I know this is going to be an amazing and enlightening reaction journey with you! I have two more episodes left to finish the series for myself, and on the rewatch with you now, I'm already picking up on a lot of little things I missed the first time On a separate, and lighter, note, your setup background is coming along so well!! And I love how big a part cozy Pixel has in it :) She kept looking up and checking up on you throughout the episode haha
M1 Maz
2025-02-27 01:04:00 +0000 UTCDang, Kali! Perhaps you already said it, but I didn't expect you to start The Pacific so soon! It will be my first rewatch, and I'm interested in hearing your perspectives!
Phil Stubblefield
2025-02-26 23:15:57 +0000 UTCHey Kali, i’ve never seen the Pacific before, so I’m excited to check it out with you here! Apropos of nothing though, I am curious to know if I’ve missed at any point an update or official word on the gaming side of the channel at all? Cause I really enjoyed the transition to doing movies as well, but just wanted to know if there was just a long break in work, or if the plan was to just transition full time to shows and movies! Thanks again for the wonderful channel and everything you do!
MorahBieno
2025-02-26 23:09:15 +0000 UTCHi Kali! Sorry to hear about the Elgato dying on you! In case you want to see the first episode intro, it’s within this video (which is a compilation of all the Pacific episode intros): https://youtu.be/PzZnLNCCsXI?si=ZOSAx1WenNtbUnQj The intro for episode one starts at the very beginning of the episode and goes until the 2:11 minute mark. After that, the intro for episode 2 will start playing. ALSO, for some reason, in the video linked above, a very small snippet is cut off and not shown in the very beginning. Just know that the first few seconds were supposed to include mentioning the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that marked the USA’s entry into WW2. It’s just a small snippet that’s missing from the very beginning, but just wanted to clarify anyway. The intro gives the usual background info it is supposed to do from that brief moment on. Do let me know if you want any other timestamps! I think all but the first episode and last episode intro can be found seperately on YouTube outside the video I linked. The individual episode intros (aside from #1 and #10 intros) can be found uploaded by a channel called ‘Gary Hugo’, but just search for “Pacific Episode # Intro” on the YouTube search bar and his videos of the individual intros should come up.
Jake McGrath
2025-02-26 23:06:20 +0000 UTC
