HBO Home Entertainment have recently released two of the greatest TV Mini Series of all time together as one box set and we’ve been given the chance for one lucky person to win one. Band of Brother and The Pacific, Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are two of the most real series you could ever watch. If you’ve never seen them, you simply must. You can order your copy here or scroll down for your change to win a copy.

Get ready for the ultimate gift this Christmas as the award winning BAND OF BROTHERS and THE PACIFIC, are both released together in a stunning DVD and Blu-ray limited edition gift set for the first time ever on 7 NOVEMBER 2011 from HBO HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

Ten years after Band of Brothers first came to our screens, this beautifully packaged limited-edition gift set includes every visually stunning and heart-pounding episode, along with the exclusive to the gift set bonus disc of the never seen before 60-minute documentary “Called to Service” and hours of special features and comes in a fold-out collector’s piece.

“Called to Service” includes historian interviews and reunites veterans from Easy Company (European front) and the 1^st Marine Division (Pacific theatre) in a conversation revealing their experiences after World War II. Organised in a four-act structure, the documentary captures how these soldiers re-acclimatised to normal life and the transitions these men went through coming back home.

These two critically acclaimed 10-part miniseries, both filmed nearly a decade apart, have won multiple awards between them including fourteen Emmys^®, a Golden Globe^® and a Peabody. Individually they are two of HBO’s biggest selling titles and still prove popular amongst fans and newcomers alike.

BAND OF BROTHERS

Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose and made up of an all-star cast including Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class, Inglorious Bastards), Damian Lewis (Your Highness, The Escapist) and Scott Grimes (Robin Hood, E.R), the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army.

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company that parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered vast casualties, and whose lives became legend.

They were ordinary men, swept up in the most extraordinary conflict in history.  With the eyes of the world upon them, they found their greatest source of strength in one another.

THE PACIFIC

The ten-part adventure tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. From the very first scene witness the reality of war with disorientating and historical accuracy, set against a breath-taking and often harrowing backdrop. The series follows these men and their fellow comrades from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Costing an incredible $200m to create, THE PACIFIC is a cinematic blockbuster for the small screen, representing a revolution in television and further cements HBO’s position as a pioneer of innovative and challenging programming.

To be in with a chance of winning thsi awesome prize, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character Maj. Richard D. Winters in the Mini Series, Band of Brothers?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 28th November at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

With the re-release of Jurassic Park on the big screen here in the UK and the Blu-ray box set out this week it’s high time to catch up with one of the people who was there at the beginning.

Earlier in the week we spoke to Ariana Richards and today we have an interview with her co-star and on-screen brother Joseph Mazzello who, despite a burgeoning acting career as an adult, is still recognised for his role in the 1993 film.

He spoke to us about the legacy of Jurassic Park, how Steven Spielberg almost cast him in another film, and how a raptor almost ruined his birthday.

HeyUGuys:  It’s very exciting to see Jurassic Park back on the big screen and now with the new Blu-ray set. What’s it like for you, with so much history behind the movie?

Joseph Mazzello: I’m so jealous of you, I’d love to see it on the big screen again, I hope they do that here! With the Blu-ray coming out I’m glad they took time with it. I know Steven [Spielberg] cares so much about the quality of the process and it’s going to be a wonderful thing. I can’t wait to see it. I haven’t watched the movie in over ten years, so it’ll be a thrill for me.

Looking back at the movie, it remains an iconic film and it was groundbreaking at the time. When you were making it did it feel like you were pushing boundaries?

Well yeah, although as an eight and nine-year old you don’t think ‘Oh, wow – look at all this technology’. I didn’t think of it in that context but I knew it was special. When I saw the dinosaurs on set and saw how lifelike they were and how they moved… To see twenty guys controlling one dinosaur, even down to one guy controlling the eyelids and another guy doing the nostrils I thought ‘This is going to blow people away’. And then to know that on top of that there was going to be things that were computer generated I knew it was something special. Seeing it on the big screen I was blown away. And looking at things today I don’t feel like they’ve improved all that much – in some ways there’s too much CGI and Jurassic Park had it right with the mix of animatronics and CGI. It gives you a grounding when they are there and it helps bring you into the computer generated aspect.

And even watching it back on the big screen recently it didn’t look dated. Other things date it like Lex talking about an interactive CD-ROM, but the look of the film could be new, it retains that freshness.

Yeah, it’ll be on TV here once in a while and I’ll watch it and say that to myself, it looks like it could have been made today. I’m really proud to have been part of something that holds up so well.

Can you talk about the casting process? Did you know Spielberg before?

I was doing a movie called Radio Flyer with Richard Donner…

And he had done The Goonies…

Yeah, exactly. Actually – HeyUGuys, is that from The Goonies?

It is.

Great, so you’ll know all too well that they were friendly. Steven at the time was developing Hook on the same lot as Radio Flyer and he would keep coming over and talking to me and I was seven years old at the time and I didn’t know who Steven Spielberg was! He was this nice man with a beard who came around and wanted to talk to me the whole time. He showed me all the stuff for Hook and as it turns out he was trying to find someone for the film, but I was too young so he said, ‘Joe, don’t worry about that, I’m going to get you into a movie next Summer,’ and that movie turned out to be Jurassic Park. I made a pretty good trade – I love Hook, but Jurassic Park is definitely something to be a part of.

We’ve talked to Ariana about the switching of roles between the two kids in the book, her character was the younger one and the boy was the computer nerd.

Yeah, Steven actually switched those roles for me, because he wanted me to play the part. I can’t think of a bigger compliment than for his to change the script around to be able to have me in it. I feel like my role is very memorable. I still get recognised for it believe it or not. I got to be a funny, wise-guy and I had great fun doing it.

Do people still shout lines from the film at you? Does that happen?

It does! I can’t believe it when it happens. I look so much different now and half the time I have facial hair and still people will be like, ‘Hey, what do you call a blind dinosaur?’ It’s like – how do these people still recognise me? But I look on it as a compliment. It’s a great legacy to have. It’s a nice thing to know that it catapulted my career in such a way and I’m still working today because of it.

And with The Pacific there’s the Spielberg connection again…

Yeah, I had to do five auditions for that, and the final audition was in front of Steven. He didn’t even know I was still acting because I had taken some time off to go to film school and so when he saw my name on the sheet for that day that was the first time he knew I was going for it. So, when I went in he gave me a big hug and then it was down to business and I had to do the audition as if it was the first time ever because it was such a big role and there was so much money at stake that he wouldn’t just give me to me as a favour. I had to earn it. So, to know that he had faith in me as a kid and continued to have faith in me as an adult was a huge validation for me.

And you’re currently shooting G.I. Joe 2?

I am. I’m on hiatus from that at the moment. It’s going great. [Director] Jon Chu is fantastic and we actually went to school together and he texted me one day with a ‘Hey, I have a role for you in my movie, do you wanna do it?’ I told him that for him I’d do craft services… and that was how it happened. I’m loving it – Dwanye Johnson is fantastic. I think you could crush me with his pinky… but he wouldn’t – he’s the nicest, most gentle guy. Channing Tatum is so much fun. We’ve had a blast on set and going out at night experiencing New Orleans the way it’s supposed to be done.

Is there one memory from your time on set as an eight year old that stands out in your mind?

The kitchen scene. We shot that for two weeks and it was so beautifully choreographed, and so scary with those raptors. And that was the one injury I had on set where I’m going into the freezer and being chased – it went the wrong way and the claw of the dinosaur hit me in the head. And that was my birthday! So, that’s hard to forget – having the whole crew singing Happy Birthday while you’re lying on the ground with a bump on your head…

Has there been a cast reunion for the film since it came out?

No, I don’t think so. The film came out before you had the internet and these things got popular. There was no Facebook or iChat, and it was a lot harder to stay in touch with each other. So, there hasn’t been a reunion but I’d love to have one. It’d be so much fun to see everyone again.

So, Jurassic Park 4… There are rumblings and rumours. Have you been contacted, and would you be interested?

I know they are writing it and it’s been developed right now. The last time I saw Steven was at the Emmys and I put the bug in his ear, I have no shame in that! I said, ‘Hey, let me know when you’re doing Jurassic Park 4, ok?’ If it came around and I was a part of it that would be an absolute thrill. I think it would be a great idea to have Tim grown up and see how that would affect things. We’ll see, you never know. If it happens it’ll be the greatest thrill of my life.

With second directorial effort Larry Crowne due for release on the 1st July (he plays the titular lead character too), Tom Hanks is certainly intent on keeping busy for the foreseeable future.

Alongside a TV adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel American Gods, The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Hanks and Gary Goetzman (his partner in Playtone Productions) are looking to get an adaptation of popular US toy, Major Matt Mason, off the grounds and into the cinemas, via 3D.

Major Matt Mason (an action figure introduced onto the market by Mattel in 1966) was an astronaut who lived and worked on the moon. Sounds like a flimsy premise, but with word that Hanks is hoping to blast-off for the stars with his Forrest Gump director, Robert Zemeckis, onboard (from a script by the actor and Band of Brothers/The Pacific collaborator, Graham Yost) you can bet this will be nothing less than spectacular.

Wonder if Zemeckis’ Flight (which was intended to be his first live-action venture since 2000’s Castaway) will still roll into production before this?

Back in April / May, we went rather crazy for HBO’s TV series ‘The Pacific’. It was the follow-up TV series to the amazing, Band of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The series is now coming out on Blu-ray and DVD and HBO Home Entertainment have been kind enough to give us one Blu-ray set and one DVD set to give away.

The 10-episode series cost a massive $200m to make and is being released 1st November. You can pre-order your copy here. If you missed all our coverage, you can check it out here.

Synopsis: The year’s most anticipated cinematic event reaches DVD and Blu-ray on 1 November as HBO Home Entertainment releases THE PACIFIC in special collectors’ edition metal tin box sets.

Executively produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, THE PACIFIC sees Hollywood’s most-respected names reunite to uncover the true stories behind one of history’s epic conflicts and create the ideal companion to their phenomenally successful Band of Brothers.

The heroic ten-part adventure tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. From the very first scene witness the reality of war with disorientating and historical accuracy, set against a breath-taking and often harrowing backdrop. The series follows these men and their fellow comrades from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

The first person picked from the entries received will win the Blu-ray copies of the TV series with the second receiving the DVD version. So, to be in with a chance of winning this great prize, all you need to do is answer the following question using the form below:

Who played the character, PFC Eugene Sledge in TV series, The Pacific?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close Monday 8th November (release date) at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

As The Pacific, the epic mini-series on Sky Movies Premiere HD, comes to an end we have a set of the books that inspired the series to giveaway – Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed by E B Sledge.

This epic ten part series from the makers of Band of Brothers tracks the three entwined real-life journeys of Leckie, Sledge and Basilone and their fellow Marines over the vast landscape of the Pacific in World War II. The mini-series follows them from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Watch the final episode on Monday 31st May on Sky Movies Premiere HD at 9pm.

To enter this competition, all you have to do is answer the following question using the form below:

In which movie did Joseph Mazzello first work with Steven Spielberg?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only.
• Only one entry per household will be counted.
• The competition will close Monday 31st May at 23.59 GMT.
• The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

Competition now closed

Sky Movies HD are currently airing the HBO TV mini-series, The Pacific every Monday night. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers but not seen anything from The Pacific yet, they’re you’re very much missing out. The Pacific looks at the US Marines journey across The Pacific as they fight the Second World War against the Japanese. The series is based around two of the characters memoirs With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge and Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have produced this amazing series and every week I’m gripped as I watch the reality of war before my eyes.

Those lovely people at Sky Movies HD have sent us this new clip from tonight’s episode 7 entitled ”Never Lay Down When You Can Sleep’. I’ve been lucky enough to see this episode already and for me, it was the most emotional and disturbing episode in the series so far. Hopefully most of us will never get to understand what these men had to endure to make the world a free and better place but this series really does do it’s best to make the whole experience as real as possible.

I’ve embedded the clip below and you can watch the episode in full, tonight on Sky Movies HD at 9pm.

Yesterday HeyUGuys dedicated itself to the celebration of The Pacific – the HBO companion piece to the critically acclaimed World War II series Band of Brothers.

With its debut on UK screens last night we wanted to get your reactions on what you thought, whether you’ve never seen Band of Brothers, or if you’re a huge fan of the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks produced series let us know.

You can see all of our coverage listed below and there’s much Pacific goodness to indulge in, including interviews, Q&As, reviews and images as well as a few pieces of info about the rest of the series to come.

• Here’s our review of the first episode,
• A few excellent images from the series,
• An exclusive Q&A with Director Tony To,
• A comprehensive exclusive interview with special effects supremo Joss Williams, who also worked on Band of Brothers,
• A UK trailer for the series,
• A nicely bizarre piece on a screening of The Pacific with President Obama,
• And a featurette and images from the series.

Will The Pacific have the same impact as Band of Brothers? We certainly think so – time for you to tell us what you thought in the comments below…

We’ve been lucky enough to see the first two episodes of The Pacific and tonight on Sky Movies HD, you can too!

Like Band Of Brothers, The Pacific follows the fortunes of individual soldiers as they battle their way through World War II. Joseph Mazzello – no longer the kid from Jurassic Park – leads the cast as Eugene B. Sledge, one of three marines whose stories intertwine against the backdrop of the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Sky have put a few teaser clips on their website along with some images from the new series. I’ve embedded the new images below but head over to Sky’s website to view the clips. The image below taken from the air is both beautiful and harrowing, just like band of Brothers was as a series. We have the trailer for the series which you can see here.

So, who’s looking forward to this one then? I know I am!!

Today has officially been designated Pacific Day on HeyUGuys.  With good reason – 9pm tonight sees the UK episode one and two debut of HBO’s The Pacific on Sky Movies Premiere and Sky Premiere HD!  Last week we had the opportunity to watch these episodes at BAFTA and take part in a Q&A with director Tony To and cinematographer Remi Adefarasin in order to bring you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at this epic television event.

The Q&A, chaired by Adrian Wootton, is embedded below.  The sound quality is not ideal and you may need to turn down the volume for our questions as we were sitting rather close to the mike.  However, it does make for fascinating listening to hear these talented men speak with such heart about their commitment to the project.  The Pacific was filmed in its entirety in Australia and series producer Tony, also one of its six directors, was present for the whole ten month shoot.  Remi was one of the show’s two cinematographers, alongside Stephen F Windon, and also spent months overseas.  Both men spoke with passion and conviction about the project and their respect for the true stories they were entrusted with telling was evident throughout.

The overriding message that came across to us was that the production team had determined to tell personal stories – to maintain the intimacy of the individual experience of the lesser known Pacific front of the war, rather than taking a broad overview of its history.  To this end both spoke about the importance of things happening “to the men” and not “for the camera.”  If an explosion went off in the periphery of a shot, rather than being beautifully aligned front and centre for the viewer, well so be it.  If a perspective was required from inside a foxhole and the actor was dug in deep, well then the camera man had better start digging!  There was a real emphasis on physical as well as emotional truth.  As far as possible the sets were real, every stone and blade of grass placed there for veracity.  In some cases the set designers painstakingly building two and three acre jungle scenes for the actors to work in.

Having watched episodes one and two and enjoyed the Q&A we were then granted an exclusive glimpse of an action filled airfield scene from a later episode on which both men had collaborated.  It was a breathtaking spectacle, made more dramatic by the knowledge that everything we saw had been experienced by the actors – there was no CGI here.

We caught up with Tony To and his wife Gina at the after party.  Here they spoke more personally about how imperative it was that these stories not die with the veterans who lived through them.  Gina To talked about the privilege of taking the Band of Brothers vets and their wives to France for a break before they previewed the series at Normandy.  She remembered one of the wives remarking that her husband had never spoken of the experiences Tony and his team had captured onscreen.  Gina and her husband were all too aware that in the ten years since Band of Brothers many of these extraordinary men had passed on and they wanted The Pacific to stand as a memorial to their stories and their sacrifice.

We also spoke with Sky’s Programme Information Editor Chris Prince who gave us an exclusive insight into what viewers can expect from the later episodes.  Because The Pacific might initially appear a more acquired taste than Band of Brothers we were keen to know how the story would develop.  Chris was able to assure us that, as impressive as the action in episodes one and two may be, the human stories become equally compelling.  He particularly lauded the tipping point the series reaches after a period of R&R in episode three: as malaise sets in the tone alters dramatically and Leckie and his brothers in arms are hurled headlong into a hellish conflict Chris described as “relentless stuff you’ve never seen on screen before!”

When The Pacific begins on Sky Movies Premiere tonight HeyUGuys urge you to unplug the phone and take time out to discover the remarkable story of the 1^st Marine Division for yourselves.

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/pacific/tony_to_pacific.mp3"] A Q&A with Tony To [/gplayer]

Band of Brothers is rightly regarded as a high point in television drama, and the ten episode mini series is as impressive today (particularly on the blu-ray version) as it was nine years ago. With the series beginning tonight on Sky Movies today is The Pacific Day on HeyUGuys, and we’ve got something very special for you.

A few weeks ago we met something of a legend in the special effects industry, a man whose credits include two Indiana Jones films, Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd for Tim Burton, The Bourne Ultimatum and Green Zone as well as both Band of Brothers and its companion piece The Pacific. This is the man who built Willy Wonka’s Chocolate River, and the man whom Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg called on to produce the crucial special effects for their new series.

Joss Williams has an impressive  IMDb page and his work with Paul Greengrass, Tim Burton as well as Spielberg and Hanks charts a very interesting course of three decades at the forefront of a ever changing industry. Not cowed by the surge of CGI and visual effects, Williams’ positive and professional attitude is one borne out of a dedication to use both practical, in-camera effects with the enhancement that post production CGI can achieve.

Detailing his work on The Pacific and Band of Brothers Williams talks about the changes to the process in the nine year interim, and there’s a very special behind the scenes look at the aforementioned Chocolate River constructed for Tim Burton and his 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

He also talks about his next project, the Martin Scorsese directed The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Our thanks to Joss for taking the time to speak with us. The Pacific is on April the 5th on Sky Movies HD.

In 2001 a ten part HBO miniseries event instilled in millions a renewed respect for and awareness of the extraordinary sacrifices made by a generation of men little more than half a century before.  That series was Band of Brothers, the compelling story of parachute infantry unit Easy Company and their role in the European front of WWII.  The award-winning show, and its big screen predecessor Saving Private Ryan, reinvigorated stories, now more familiar from text books and exam papers, by breathing life into the history and giving names to the heroes who lived and died through it.

But the Second World War was fought on two fronts, and the second – The Pacific – is one we are less familiar with.  Now, nearly ten years after the success of Band of Brothers, executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman intend to set that right.  Their brand new miniseries The Pacific shadows the intertwined journeys of three men of the 1^st Marine Division – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda).  Their war takes place in the heart of the Pacific Theatre of Operations, from the Marines’ first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, into the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu.  The story treks across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima, and through the horror of Okinawa before their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

The miniseries is based, in part, on the memoirs of Leckie and Sledge, as well as on original interviews conducted by the filmmakers and other source material.  It is not an easy watch.  Unlike Band of Brothers we have few points of reference for the images with which The Pacific confronts us.  There has been something of a common language used for war films since Saving Private Ryan and indeed that unflinching and bloody viewpoint is here but there are few similarities beyond the superficial.  The terrain is as unfamiliar as the tactics of the enemy and we learn the hazards at the shoulders of the men themselves.  Each Marine has a unique and distinct experience of his own war, the stories do intersect at times but the common narrative thread of Band of Brothers is absent here.  To approach the show expecting a follow-up would be to do it a huge disservice.  The scale of the story and the multiple strands of the plot reflect the complexity of this other war – a world away from Europe – which encompassed most of the Pacific Ocean and its islands.

In the morning light, after a great battle on Guadalcanal, a young Marine stands and stares at the bodies tumbled across the ground before him.  The rising sun dances over the tips of the bullets on the ammo belt flung over his shoulder until they resemble a necklace of teeth, prehistoric, each one a life – a potential kill.  It is a breathtaking moment.  Elsewhere a Father entreats his son not to enlist, fearful not that he may die, but that something in him will never return if he lives.  From extraordinary panoramas of fighting ships to the claustrophobia of the foxhole and the roulette-random quirks of fate, the series walks alongside these men and lives, bleeds and dies with them.  It is an astonishing achievement and truly compelling viewing.

Initially less accessible than Band of Brothers perhaps, the series utterly justifies the investment you will make in its ten part odyssey.  Just 24 hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan and the United States officially entered World War II.  The ranks of the Marine Corps more than tripled as patriotic young men flooded enlistment offices determined to do their part.  To these young men the islands where their war would take place would have been nothing more than specks on a map.  Many of them never saw American shores again. The debilitating environment, as much an enemy as the Japanese themselves, is eloquently depicted.  The heat, the claustrophobia, hunger and exhaustion represented as a heartbreaking matter of fact.  The brutality of the Japanese too is revealed to us as the Marines experience it, shock by shock and horror by horror.

This is not to say that The Pacific attempts to make heroes of the Marines who fought there.  Within two episodes it has been made perfectly clear that, though there may be acts of great heroism, there are few heroes on either side in this war.  It presents an “under the helmet” look at the theatre of war from deep upstage.  There is no wider discussion of war as concept or metaphor and, though the timing of this series makes parallels with the invasion of Afghanistan inevitable (and poignant), there are few truisms here.  There is entertainment yes, startling battles, explosions and violent bloody combat.  Beyond that though there is a very contemporary human story.   By episode four the true emotional impact is realised through the eyes of one of our main protagonists and with episode five, the assault on Peleliu, the Marines’ real descent into hell begins.  Indeed episodes five and six present the most relentless depictions of battle yet to be realised on screen.  Yet there is a reverence and intimacy with which The Pacific confides its truths which renders even the most horrific moments mesmerising.

While at the time the stories of these men made headlines, those legends faded with the newsprint long ago.  It is appropriate that they be retold because theirs are the true biopics.  These men didn’t make music or movies, they made sacrifices.  They made history.

The Pacific debuts in the UK on Sky Movies Premiere & Sky Premiere HD tonight at 9pm

Sky Movies HD have released a new trailer for The Pacific, the follow-up to the awesome mini series, Band of Brothers. It’s not so much a sequel but has the same driving force in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg behind it. It’s on tonight so don’t miss out!

The series has been filmed completely in high definition and cost around $200 million which is nearly double what Band of Brothers was estimated. The Pacific focuses around three main characters, Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda).

There’s no exact release date as yet but we know it’s going to be around Easter. We were lucky enough to go and see the first two episodes and you will NOT be disappointed. Check out the trailer below or head over to a previous post where we have some great photos from the series.

Details on why the US went to the Pacific:

On 8^th December 1941, just over 24 hours after the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbour, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan.  For a decade, tensions had been mounting between Japan and the US, as the Japanese expanded their conquest of a large region including much of China and Southeast Asia.  As a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the United States officially entered World War II, already in its third year of being waged by countries of the Allied powers, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Canada and Australia, against the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy.

Practically overnight, military recruiting offices across the United States were jammed, as thousands of Americans rushed to enlist in the armed forces.  Many of those young men chose to join the Marine Corps, which saw its ranks more than triple in the six months following Pearl Harbour.

The Pacific tracks the three entwined, real-life journeys of Leckie, Sledge and Basilone and their fellow Marines over the vast landscape of the Pacific in World War II.  The mini-series follows them from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

It’s been nine years since Band of Brothers redefined the television mini series with its cinematic storytelling and producing partners Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have reunited with many of the crew of Band of Brothers to bring the story of the U.S. Marine Corp in the Pacific Theater of Operations in the new ten part series The Pacific.

To celebrate this highly anticipated series reaching UK shores HeyUGuys is bringing you a series of articles and reviews on The Pacific, including an exclusive interview with Special Effects Supervisor Joss Williams.

The series begins tonight on Sky Movies at 9pm so to get you in the mood keep an eye on HeyUGuys throughout the day and let us know what you think of The Pacific.

Click here to go to all of our Pacific coverage so far.

When we started HeyUGuys, Jon and I always said that if we got invited to a screening, we’d have ‘made it’. Well, now we get to go to quite a few screening every week so I guess we’re there! What isn’t so usual is when you’re attending or presenting a screening to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama (just incase you weren’t sure of his name!).

The White House blog has posted an awesome video of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg screening their new series, The Pacific (the follow-up 10 part mini-series  to Band of Brothers) to War Veterans, special guests and The President himself. I’ve embedded the video below for you to enjoy. I loved the candid nature in which it’s been shot and my favourite part has to be Steven Spielberg following Barack Obama with his iPhone videoing as he walks. You can tell he’s in awe of the man and no doubt that video he collected was shown to all his friends! He doesn’t even hide the fact he’s following him with it! And that is one of the best directors in the world!

I have to say, the White House screening room looks rather plush, it might give Sony’s a run for their money! Before the screening, Obama introduced the show where they watched the first episode.

The Pacific is airing on Sky Movies HD in the UK, 5th April. We’ve seen the first two episodes and we know you’re going to love it. Now, check out the video below.

A few weeks ago, I posted some images from the The Pacific, which is the follow-up to the Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg produced series, Band of Brothers. In that post, I mentioned that ‘the lucky dabbers at Sky Movies had been lucky enough to see the first two episodes’ from the new 10 part mini-series. We,, I am now one of those lucky dabbers as I got to see it a couple of weeks ago and suffice to say, those of you who liked Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan will NOT be disappointed.

Today we’ve been sent a new featurette which shows some snippets of interviews from the cast of the new series and also some great new images. There’s still no exact release date for when The Pacific will air in the UK but we know it’ll be around Easter and it’ll be on Sky Movies HD. The HD is important and this show has been completely filmed in HD and this is why the new series looks so great.

The Pacific’s three main characters are James Badge Dale, Jon Seda and Joseph Mazzello. Check out the shots of them below the new featurette.

Click the images to enlarge

You may have seen quite a few months ago I posted a trailer for the follow up to the Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks’ produced epic mini series called ‘Band of Brothers’ (which if you haven’t seen you MUST). The new show is entitled ‘The Pacific’ and follows the Pacific Fleet’s journey through the 2nd World War. The trailer was leaked to the Internet so disappeared from everywhere pretty sharpish.

Well, good news today as a new official trailer has now been released by HBO. Band of Brothers in my opinion is one of the best mini series ever made. The accuracy, the acting, the suspence and production was just mind blowing and I cannot wait to see this follow up.

So, without further ado, here is the trailer for The Pacific

*** Update***

I just found out that in the UK, Sky Movies HD have bought the rights to air the new series. It’s going to premiere in the UK Spring 2010.

Here’s the synopsis:

“Made up of 10 episodes and produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the creative team behind the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, The Pacific tracks the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines ““ Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone ““ across the vast canvas of the Pacific. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day.“