Tv Series Combat (1 Viewer)

[Rob]

I wonder if i could ask a question of my American fellow forum members.I have seen advertised DVD boxsets of the U.S series 'Combat' and have been tempted to purchase it.My question is,is it good?.Is it realistic/gritty and do you think it stands the test of time.?Would appreciate any views you may have on this show.Thanks

Rob

 

[boot51]

I wonder if i could ask a question of my American fellow forum members.I have seen advertised DVD boxsets of the U.S series 'Combat' and have been tempted to purchase it.My question is,is it good?.Is it realistic/gritty and do you think it stands the test of time.?Would appreciate any views you may have on this show.Thanks

Rob

Hi Rob, as a long time fan of Combat and someone who never missed an episode when they originally aired, yes Rob I'm THAT old, I have to highly recommend the DVD sets. Don't expect SPR or Band of Bothers realism, remember these shows were filmed in the early to mid 60's, but there's some great stories and lots of pretty big name guest stars too. If you can get past the Germans using M3 halftracks and Walker Bulldog tanks, I think you'll like it, loads of actual war footage mixes well with the b/w of the first several years of the series. I was thrilled when my wife gave me season 1 for Christmas, it starts off a little ragged, trying to develop characters and story lines, but towards the end of the first season it starts to come together. Seasons two and three are excellent with guests like Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Duval, Mickey Rooney and a couple of great two part shows, one were the squad teams up with some Brits to defend a railway junction, that are excellent. I'm half way thru season 4 now and still loving every minute of it, just be patient with the first season, it gets better pretty quick. You might want to keep track of how many times Little John gets wounded, I think they needed a duece and a half to haul around his Purple Hearts.

Fred

 

[Rob]

Thanks Fred i appreciate your answer,it is a big help.(just one more reason why this forum is so good).Sounds excellant and that guest star list is impressive.And like the sound of the UK/US episode,good things happened to the world when our troops fought together.Right i'd better start getting on the right side of the wife then!.Thanks again Fred

Rob

 

[desk11desk12]

Fred is "right on" on this one. I watched as a kid, it was great and I have the DVD's and they are still great but please remember its an early 60's TV series that had a limited budget. Therefore please limit your expectations on seeing authentic German armor. If memory serves me correctly, the German vehicles were accurate.

However the stories are top notch especially by toward the end of the 1st season, the action excellent, and at least the US armor and vehicles were authentic too.

It was worth my time as a kid watching the series and it's certainly worth my money to have the DVD's in my collection.

Carlos

 

[boot51]

You're very welcome, Rob. Just keep in mind that my opinion is probably a little bias as I've been such a big fan of the show since day one. I was worried that the DVD's wouldn't live up to the memories of that of a 11-12 year old, but they did and then some. Vic Morrow is awesome as Sgt. Saunders and Rick Jason (LT Hanley), Pierre Jalbert (Caje), Dick Peabody (Little John) do a great job in every episode, but the most underated actor, in my opinion, is Jack Hogan who played Kirby. And he's also way ahead of the times wearing his knit cap backwards the way kids wear baseball caps today. Look for the DVD's on Ebay, sometimes you can find them at a good price, Amazon has them too. If Carlos like the show, it HAS to be good.

Fred

 

[jazzeum]

I don't have this although I do occasionally catch them on cable. I used to love these as a kid. Really loved the theme music. Still do actually.

How about 12 O'Clock High? That was also another great series. If you've never seen the original movie, it's great also.

Just looked on Amazon. Each season is about $36 and you can get the whole series for around $260, not a bad deal.

 

[Rob]

Thank you all,i appreciate your comments and am going to start with the first series.Brad,i've not heard of that series you mention,was it another long running war story?.

Rob

 

[Louis Badolato]

Oh great guys, something else for me to spend money on. As if my wife isn't ready to kill me now!

 

[Beaufighter]

Wow! Someone read my mind! I had a couple of hours to kill the other day & ended up at a "Borders" where I found myself staring at these DVD sets. I ended up with Season 2 as I left the store as Season 1 was MIA. I just logged on Treefrog to ask about this series and the rest is history...Thanks for the Q & R! Louis is right with his comment as I got home last night finally & within a hour was on the couch watching Season 2 with the Flying Chihuahuas at my side. The wife is out of town so she calls to check in and says "what are you guys doing-watching Band of Brothers?" I proudly & promtly replied-COMBAT! She says great-another War series to which I replied it was along the lines of Lifetime network & married life!

 

[Chuck Harris]

Thanks Fred i appreciate your answer,it is a big help.(just one more reason why this forum is so good).Sounds excellant and that guest star list is impressive.And like the sound of the UK/US episode,good things happened to the world when our troops fought together.Right i'd better start getting on the right side of the wife then!.Thanks again Fred

Rob

Rob

I have question for you. There was UK TV show about WWII called UBX I think. I saw one show on BBC America. It was about a bomb disarming team was a good show. What do you know about It?

 

[Shiloh]

Hey Chuck I watched a bunch of uxb when I was stationed in Germany.It was a pretty good show from what I recall. I think the uxb stands for unexpolded bomb. It did a pretty good job of showing what these guys did for their country and a lot of the tricks the Germans did to try and kil them. I would recommend it especially compared to the crap on tv now. We watched BBC if we wanted to understand what they were saying and German TV for the games that made the players strip down to just their underpants if they lost. Words weren't really necesary for that show.

 

[Rob]

Hi Chuck,yeah Danger UXB was an excellant series i have it on DVD.It was realistic and shocking at times.I beleive they have just released a new boxset of it which probably has some more extras.These men did a wonderful job in saving lifes and often risked and lost their own,its well worth getting,very enjoyable.Sorry this is short chuck but i'm on my way out the door.Best wishes

Rob

 

[Rob]

Back again,the series stars Harry Andrews a well known actor over here.The set i have has all thirteen episodes over four discs with an extra disc which has a documentary 'UXB The True story'.I watched it all again recently and it has stood the test of time.The tricks the Germans used were terrible and you can only admire the courage of these men who defused these things.Well worth a view Chuck.

Rob

 

[Louis Badolato]

I read that the BBC made George MacDonald Frasier's wonderful "Private MacAuslan" books into a series. Anybody know where I can get a copy of that series on DVD?

 

[jazzeum]

Louis,

There's a guy who guys to all the shows who has practically every war related DVD known to exist or knoww about them. His knowledge is encyclopaedic. I think I have his catalogue at home. I'll check tonight and let you know if I do. One of the problems may be if the DVD is compatible with the US zone.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Brad,

Thanks for checking for me. If the DVD is not US compatible, can you use your computer rather than your DVD player to watch it?

 

[jazzeum]

Generally, yes. I purchased a few months ago a dvd about El Alamein from the Battlefield series, which are made in the UK, and the seller said it was compatible with the US zone. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the home dvd but it did work on both home and office computers.

 

[Wraith]

Generally, yes. I purchased a few months ago a dvd about El Alamein from the Battlefield series, which are made in the UK, and the seller said it was compatible with the US zone. Unfortunately, it didn't work on the home dvd but it did work on both home and office computers.

Brad / Louis,

There's the more obvious issue of DVD Regions (US - 1, Europe - 2), but with regards to the nstc vs PAL formats, I think most modern TVs nowadays can be set to watch one, the other or both. I know that all of the TVs in our household can play both formats, but I needed to get the instruction book out to find out how to alter the settings, as the automatic default setting was for PAL only.

Can't be 100% sure, but it may be worth a quick look to see.

Simon

 

[jazzeum]

I've emailed this to Louis but the name of the company that has a huge amount of war DVD's and VHS's is Belle and Blade and their number is 973 328 8488. They also have a website: www.warshows.com

 

[Chuck Harris]

Brad,

Thanks for checking for me. If the DVD is not US compatible, can you use your computer rather than your DVD player to watch it?

There are DVD players you can buy that play PAL UK DVD format. Cost is not bad. I have one and love it