[.ca] Combat!: Campaign 1: Season 1

From Amazon.com:
Hailed as one of the best episodic television series about World War II, ABC's Combat! arrives on DVD with its first 16 episodes in a heavily annotated four-disc set that's sure to please its longtime fans. The men of King Company's second platoon (a.k.a. King Two) are the focus of this gritty and realistic series; led by Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason) and Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow in an Emmy-nominated performance), King Two fought its way across France for five seasons, beginning in 1962 with the 16 episodes gathered here. The storyline kicks off shortly after D-Day and carries the platoon up to the liberation of Paris, which concluded the season (the second half of season 1 is featured in a separate four-disc set). Cast members rotated in and out of service (Tom Lowell's Pvt. Billy Nelson is apparently killed in "The Celebrity," yet returns to the platoon shortly thereafter), but viewers could count on each episode to deliver both solid action and dramatic direction from the likes of Robert Altman and Burt Kennedy, as well as excellent turns by guest actors as Tom Skerritt and Harry Dean Stanton. Image's Combat! Season One: Campaign One establishes a watermark for other studios and distributors to follow with their own vintage television DVD sets. Commentary tracks by Robert Altman, first assistant director Michael Caffey, and actor Tom Lowell are featured on three episodes, while several other key participants, including actor Pierre Jalbert (Caje), directors Richard Donner and Ted Post, and Combat! episode guide author Jo Davidmeyer are featured in interviews for the featurette "Memories of Combat!." Davidmeyer also provides interesting factoids about each episode in the scene selection menus. A gallery of production photos rounds out the uniformly excellent supplemental features. Image's comprehensive boxed set is a must-have for devotees of the series and WWII drama in general. --Paul Gaita

Vietnam era deja vu:
... Together with *The Gallant Men* (following a small unit of American soldiers during World War II in Italy) on a rival network, *Combat!* was one of the most widely watched television shows in history. It's remarkable that it has taken this long for the shows to be made available in DVD, and the offering is quite welcome. One small slice of trivia that should interest Baby Boomers and new viewers alike. *Combat!* was actually used as a sort of half-fast training aid by US Marine Corps NCOs during operations in the city of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. At that time, the USMC had no formal training in military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT), and most of the young riflemen deployed to re-take the city had only an imperfect idea of how to go about the sort of house-to-house fighting required. The older NCOs tried to explain the principles involved in moving through streets under fire, but got nowhere until a couple of them remembered the popular television series. "You guys all watched *Combat!* right? Okay, you do it like you saw it on TV." Combining this very basic universal understanding of fighting in built-up areas with M-48 tanks and M-50 Ontos in support (and a whole lot of C-4), the Marines cleared the NVA out of Hue, killing more than 5,100 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong while laying the foundation for the modern MOUT war fighting doctine in use today. ...

First Season Jitters for a Great Series:
It's easy to slap 5 stars on a Combat review, but one must be careful and realize that this series was 5 seasons long with over 150 total episodes...In fact, if I could give this first season 3 1/2 stars I would....the show was trying to find its' bearings in this first season, and would face many bumps as directors and writers came and went....these are valuable episodes though in setting up what will become the best television series which covered the WWII theater.... Some of the Highlights: Lost Sheep Lost Shepherd....Jeffery Hunter is the guest star as a priest who fell from grace and is now a tanker...when he blows up the church steeple, you cannot help but think of his role in King of Kings. Forgotten Front...guest star Albert Paulsen (who recently passed away) portrays a very sympathetic German who is captured by Saunders...the writers had to add the final scene between Caje and Saunders because the producers did not like the final outcome of Paulsen's character... Cat and Mouse...a very exciting and tense story with Albert Salmi as a Seargent equal to Saunders in grit and determination. Reunion....what does one do, when you find out your long lost father is a collaborator for the Germans? The Medal....Frank Gorshin reluctantly, then aggressively, takes credit for a heroic act that he didn't do... No Time for Pity....one of the many episodes which shows the war's effect on children.... The Sniper....German sniper picks off US soldiers in French town. No Trumpets No Drums...Caje suffers through a period of angst after killing a little girl's father.... These epsisodes, and others are the high points of the first season...but since the characters have not yet fully evolved, there are some episodes that they are secondary to, at times, rather mundane characters: Any Second Now....Hanley is caught under some rubble in a church with an unexploded bomb for company...a rather boring subplot between the British demo man and his love interest... Missing in Action....Howard Duff as a downed pilot is again center stage to a romantic plot line The Chateau...Doc #1 is given the star treatment in this episode..the problem is that he is not a very good actor The Prisoner....Shecky Greene's comedic talents are on display but the episode is too "Hogans Heroes-ish" to be any good... The Walking Wounded...this time we have too much Gary Merrill.. Off Limits....William Windom and Peggy Ann Garner are lovers and guess what?...Garner is married to one of Saunders men!...yawn Well, I could go on but I will spare you....as I said, for the first season, there are highs and lows, but they do set up what is to come, and if you have some patience, there are many rewards in this first season.... So by all means, pick up this first season because the price is right and there is much to enjoy....as the seasons progressed, the show just got better, culminating in the 2 part masterpiece, "Hills are for Heroes" from season 4.... Recommended with some reservations....

Father and Daughter Bonding:
I was in grade school while this show was on. "Combat" was my dad's and my Tuesday nights never miss show. The stories to me, were more about the guys taking care of each other and watching each other's back as a child I saw it as good guy vs bad guys. My dad was a USMC Sargent, veteran of WWII in the Pacific. He used to critique Saunders, always tellin him to get his men spread out that they were bunched up too close and one grenade would take them all out. This was our show. I am now induldging in the guilty pleasure of taping the reruns of this show as it is now being played on the Action TV network on our cable system. Do you know that Robert Altman directed alot of the shows in this series? That Lee Marvin, Richard Basehart, Nick Adams, Nina Fouche guest-starred on this series? And finally, that the late Vic Morrow was probable one of the most under appreciated method actors ever to grace a soundstage. Watching these shows again I can state without equivocation that none of the actors on network television shows now running can hold a candle to him as an actor.

This program has unique introductory music:
Many programs of the era had their own introductory music and this program was no exception; the music was by Leonard Rosseman. They always start out with "staring Rick Jason and Vic Morrow." Instead of great sweeping epics this program focuses on a single squad with their trials and tribulation with confronting the Germans in WWII. Each episode is one hour and has to oppose a problem and a solution in that time. This was back in the time of professional privates. In 1967-1968 Vietnam if you were lucky certain areas actually had TV broadcasting at 1600 hrs. You guessed it; this was one of the programs. I wonderer what the locals thought of the episode? This would be a good series to own. Not just for the nostalgia, but the personal conflicts portrait in the program are still with us today.

Long Waited return of Combat:
I was so thrilled to recieve Season one Campaign one and Two. The black and white picture quality along with the sound effects are excellent. The interviews are excellent. It is interesting to watch the show from the beginning and watch the actors develope. Vic Morrow was my favorite. I can't wait for the release of the other Combat Seasons. I used to watch the series Friday nights on CFCF TV in Montreal. I also watched it last year on the History Channel, but sadly it was cancelled. I still hope they come out with The Combat Movie, with Bruce Willis. I was waiting for this series for yrs to come out on dvd. It's a must for Combat fans. Cheers Dave Maye