I just saw this for the first time a few weeks ago on Smithsonian and I was mesmerized by the color cinematography in this series. I have read the other comments and they are not wrong. This is not a 'documentary' to learn about the Pacific War (of course, most viewers do not need to learn about the war from TV, I hope. And most probably know more than the producers of this series.)
It is true that the series is riddled with historical errors. But I see similar mistakes on the news often enough. (Anything with tracks and armor is a tank?) Also, some video clearly does not match up with the event being discussed. Maybe most noticeable is that the film dictates the episodes. Major events like Midway and Guadalcanal get short shrift, mainly because there is a lack of color footage. However battles like Tarawa get oversized coverage precisely because there is ample color film. The air war is mostly ignored for the same reason, until the B-29 when they apparently carried a lot of color cameras.
But that is the point here. This is not WWII in Color, with its colorized history. This is an attempt by the Smithsonian, which is more archive even than museum, to present rare footage that has mostly never been seen. Pre-war home movies of the US and the Pacific Islands. Raw battle footage, often from the aftermath of an event. This is what makes this such an effective series. If you watch a lot of documentaries, you already know the story. What this series does is give you a lot of new visuals that help bring those events to life. The narration may not be robust, but the film is maybe as close as future generations will ever get to feeling what it was like.
It is true that the series is riddled with historical errors. But I see similar mistakes on the news often enough. (Anything with tracks and armor is a tank?) Also, some video clearly does not match up with the event being discussed. Maybe most noticeable is that the film dictates the episodes. Major events like Midway and Guadalcanal get short shrift, mainly because there is a lack of color footage. However battles like Tarawa get oversized coverage precisely because there is ample color film. The air war is mostly ignored for the same reason, until the B-29 when they apparently carried a lot of color cameras.
But that is the point here. This is not WWII in Color, with its colorized history. This is an attempt by the Smithsonian, which is more archive even than museum, to present rare footage that has mostly never been seen. Pre-war home movies of the US and the Pacific Islands. Raw battle footage, often from the aftermath of an event. This is what makes this such an effective series. If you watch a lot of documentaries, you already know the story. What this series does is give you a lot of new visuals that help bring those events to life. The narration may not be robust, but the film is maybe as close as future generations will ever get to feeling what it was like.