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(More customer reviews)If you were a kid growing up in the 1960s (as I was), and you didn't watch the TV series Combat! (1962-1967), you were living under a rock. I cannot imagine my neighborhood friends amassing our arsenal of toy guns, plastic helmets, and other uniquely devised accoutrements of war to play Army, without first arguing over who was going to play Sergeant Saunders, "Cage," or the BAR toting, wise-cracking Kirby. After years of sporadic syndication, the release of the entire first season of Combat! on DVD is long overdue.The first season is broken down into two, four-disc packages of 16 episodes each titled: Combat! Season I, Campaign I, and Combat! Season I, Campaign II respectively. The episodes are arranged in the order they aired in syndication, not as originally televised. There are 4 episodes per disc, plus Special Features including photo galleries, and interviews with past cast members. The sound quality is good, and the scenes not overly dark like some black and white transfers to DVD. Absent, however, is a booklet that would have been a nice touch. Instead, a mere list of episodes with scene selections is included. Consequently, I highly recommend the book "Combat!: A Viewer's Companion to the WWII TV Series (revised)" by Jo Davidsmeyer as an indispensable guide to the entire five-year run of the series.Campaign I opens with the pilot "A Day in June," which finds the squad of the 2nd platoon of (K)ing Company in England preparing for the D-Day invasion. Interestingly, Hanley (Rick Jason) is a First Sergeant, having not yet received his battlefield commission to lieutenant. Pierre Jalbert, a film editor, not an actor by trade, who will later mold the character of "Cage," is casted here as "Caddy." Other regular character-roles such as Lil' John (Dick Peabody) and "Doc" (Conland Carter- debuting in season-two) will be introduced in subsequent episodes, but not before Peabody and Carter are cast in different minor roles for an episode each. The comedian Shecky Green was also cast as a regular, but, due to other obligations, would not last the first season. A host of guest stars including: Dean Stockwell, Robert Culp, Frank Gorshin, and Tab Hunter get the first season off to a good start. Davidsmeyer's book not only lists the episodes as they are in syndication, but also notes what order they were aired. This allows one to watch them in their original order and marvel at the development of the characters of Saunders (Vic Morrow), Hanley and the rest of the squad. Morrow and Jason, both met tragic ends. Morrow was killed on the set of the 1982 film Twilight Zone: The Movie, and Jason sadly took his own life recently. Watching these first-season episodes today, some of the lessor attention to realism and detail become apparent. For example: the German soldiers are paper-doll cut-outs of each other. From kettle-helmet to jack boots (the latter was all but gone by 1944 anyway), they all wear the exact same uniform and arrange their battle kits the exact same way. At least once during a fire fight, the German will predictably leave cover, foolishly run out into the open, only to be shot by a member of the cast. Following episodes has the standard American M-5 Half-track switching roles between belligerents with the help of a noticeable vehicular make-up change. For other picky viewers, like myself, there is also more chronological attention paid to actual historic events and places during the Normandy Campaign in season one. This historic detail gets lost in subsequent seasons. But it is the fine acting, script-writing, directorial and production talents that made Combat! a classic TV series. The series portrays best the inner conflicts that affects men trying to survive the horrors of war. For the true Combat! fan, this two-part first season is a must have. For those who like the war film genre, or vintage television series with great acting and production, this DVD package will not disappoint. It was a long-time coming, but the wait was worth it.
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One of the television's most popular series, the groundbreaking Combat!! offers a gritty, unflinching look at American soldiers battling in Europe during World War II, confronting imposing odds and demonstrating remarkable levels of ingenuity and courage.
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