Watching this TV series when it was aired was frustrating. It's just too hard to bridge the mental jolt between such a serious subject and trivial advertisements, and back again. What a difference watching it on bluray! HD picture quality, lossless 5.1 audio, with no distractions simply makes it an entirely new experience.
I bought the bluray set specifically because I've read reviews that the award-winning 3D audio field was as close to perfection as any home-theatre audio could be. I was concerned that all this hype had raised my expectations way too high, so I was pretty reserved at first.
The battle scenes audio (small arms fire, and distant explosions) are simply superb, but reading all those audio reviews had painted unrealistic expectations for me with regards to “ground-zero” explosions. There's only so much a home theatre system can do and abrupt, percussive, chest-thumping slams isn't one of them… Although a free-standing picture frame did fall off my sub-woofer unit! :) Despite this obvious limitation, the audio is just as what the critics say… It may very well be your primary demo disc to show off what your sound system can do! The quieter tropical jungle passages are just as impressive as the audio field surrounds your living room with insects, snapping twigs, rustling wind, and monkeys (I think). Being more familiar with the characters the second time around also helped me stitch the story and timelines much better.
The Bluray set comes in a printed metal box which can be opened at the front and back. Each side allows 3 discs to flop out with some well selected but grim photos here and there. There is a look and feel of suffering about it, so there can be no mistake… This is not a run & gun macho war flick for those who discover the series for the first time. I somehow expected it to be over-packaged but it looks tasteful to me and I'm quite impressed by the way the color images were printed onto the textured metal surface. The olive and sepia motif gives it a very 1940s look, and the metal casing reminds me of the old stamped tin-sheet metal toys of that era. The overall packaging appearance immediately evokes the same feelings and emotions from watching the series earlier this year.
“The Pacific” bluray delivers an ultra immersive viewing experience and it will make a great present for those interested in WW2 stuff. Not for everyone though, as the battle scenes are quite horrific (but not exaggerated). Five stars for me.