Despite being two of the most widely-acclaimed war dramatizations ever to hit the small screen, most viewers agree that The Pacific is significantly more brutal than its predecessor, Band of Brothers. While neither show shys away from depicting the savagery of combat, the graphic violence featured in The Pacific far outstrips what's shown in HBO's original World War II show. However, although the contrast makes some of the later series incredibly hard to watch, there are several good reasons why this approach makes total sense.
Both The Pacific and Band of Brothers serve as realistic depictions of combat during the Second World War. Band of Brothers, which originally aired in 2001, was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the 1998 feature Saving Private Ryan. The Pacific, meanwhile, serves as a companion piece to the series and was spearheaded by one of Band of Brothers' original writers, Bruce C. McKenna. Both miniseries received critical acclaim as well as several Emmy awards, including two wins in the "Outstanding Miniseries" category.
Given the close connection between the shows, it's unsurprising that there are many similarities between them. However, while thematically the two projects function effectively as a cohesive whole, there's no doubt that The Pacific adopts a darker, more visceral tone. Though this may at first glance seem like a contrast, given both the shows' subject matter and their provenance it actually makes total sense.
An important difference between Band of Brothers and The Pacific is historical. While there can be little doubt that both the European and Pacific World War Two campaigns featured some ferocious and brutal combat, the war in the Pacific was particularly vicious. Geography often forced enemies into intense face-to-face fighting, while Japanese soldiers were famously reluctant to surrender, even against overwhelming odds. This meant that every scrap of ground had to be hard-won, often at great cost. The Pacific theater was also the site of numerous atrocities in defiance of the 1929 Geneva Convention, explaining why the latter miniseries needed to be so much more violent.
In addition to the historical distinctions between the two campaigns, however, is the fact that both series drew their inspiration from very different sources. Whereas Band of Brothers, is based on a non-fiction book by historian Stephen E. Ambrose, The Pacific, which is also a true story, uses the memoirs of two ex-marines as its starting point. Given their first-hand experience of the reality of combat, it makes sense that The Pacific would feature a more intimate and ultimately horrific portrayal of the fighting. Both shows successfully shed some much-needed light on the horrors of warfare and provide a stern warning against the consequences of conflict. However, in terms of sheer brutality, there can be little doubt that The Pacific outdoes Band of Brothers.