I didn't see any other post on this HBO series, so I started this one. I don't have HBO so I have had to wait for the DVD/BD release of it this month. I was on the fence on which version to purchase, but knowing the wait time to load a BD I went with the DVD WS version. Being a former Marine made me more interested on the take of this mini series and how they would portray the Corps. The added plus for me picking the DVD version was that it still came in DTS sound, along with the shorter load times. Watching 5 disk, 2 episodes per disk can work on the nerves waiting on disk loading. I still used my Pioneer 120 BD player for the first 2 disk then moved upstairs to watch the remaining 3 on my older Pioneer Elite -45A player and 20" CRT.

For being a former Marine it was like seeing a lot of what I was taught in boot camp coming to life on film. The characters of Chesty Puller, John Baslione are major figures in Marine Corps history. The detail location of small Pacific Island where 1Ks of young Marines died on that many citizens have never heard of to this day. The one key moment in this series to me was a very small encounter with one of the main characters and a taxi driver, when the driver refuse to take the Marines money for the cab fare. "I had England and Paris to get away, you Marines never got off the line, just jungle rot and malaria." In short a good story well paced out, but I feel veterans, especially Marines would get more out of it than most.