Tour of Duty - Complete Series

polkatese

Worthy buy?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=14740612&type=product&id=1496422

I couldn't remember when it was on, was it as good as Band of Brothers?

TIA.

Roy Munson

I haven't seen it but Deep Discount DVD has it for $93.88 and free shipping!

http://search.deepdiscountdvd.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=tour+of+duty&search.x=55&search.y=8

Amazon.com also has it for $85.36 and free shipping!!!!!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BMY2M4/qid=1134415582/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2302480-2512764?n=507846&s=dvd&v=glance

Soccerplyr

I loved the show as a kid. I would do my best to never miss a show. No where near as good as band of brothers. The production aspect of it was done on a far smaller budget so it doesn't give you the impression of really being in Europe like BoB does. I'd buy it for $40-$60, but $100 a little steep for me.

polkatese

Gratzi. I'll check Blockbuster before sinking in the dough.

Jstas

Tour of Duty...that was a neat show when I was younger. Saw it recently somewhere and the production value is on the level of a WB drama series. It's not horrendous like alot of them but it is kind of campy. I'd put right at about where Charmed is. The writing was good, the stories were decent and the acting was slightly above average. The thing about it was that it was one of the first shows on TV to show people actually dying in prime time time slots. It came out a year after Platoon and ran until 1990. It tackled many of the same issues that Platoon did only it wasn't quite so over the top about them. Some critics said it was Platoon toned down for TV.

As a comparison, the show China Beach was out at the same time. It focused on the role of support personnel like medical staff, ISO staff and soldiers in support roles. Some people found that show way too preachy and it made it seem like a country club. They felt that the show took the whole war thing too lightly. Comparisons to M*A*S*H ran rampant but the difference between the two was that M*A*S*H never made fun of the war situation, it only made fun of itself in the characters. M*A*S*H always took the topics about war very seriously and the tone of the show changed in a blink of an eye when it happened. China Beach was more like ER on the battlefield and many people complained that it wasn't true to the reality of the war.

However, Tour Of Duty was hard and showed teh glaring underbelly of troops at war, what they had to deal with and what it did to them. It showed people dying. A few main characters even bought it. Aside from some of the low-budget, hokey cinematography, it was a serious series based on a real event and they did thier besto to tell the story the way it happened.

Is it worth over $100? If you've never seen it maybe not. If you have and they have extras and stuff on the DVD then yes, it probably is. Especially if you like Platoon. Amazon has it for $85.36 though if you pre-order it now. That's a fair price IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BMY2M4/qid=1134429319/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6848802-1715115?n=507846&s=dvd&v=glance

Also, Amazon is offering the pilot episode of Over There for an extra 9 bucks. That is another war based series worth seeing. It's about current situations in Iraq and from what I have read about the producers, they are trying to stay as accurate as they can and still tell a story. I saw an episode or two on FX and it was quite good. I don't know when its regular showing is though so I haven't been able to watch it regularly.

polkatese

Thanks for the write-up on TOD, John.

simm

Just to note this series does not contain the original soundtrack which really reduces the enjoyment of it. The opening credits originally had "Paint it Black" by the Stones and that song realy worked for this show. It was a good show that my wife and I used to watch every Saturday night when it was on. I have the first season on DVD and it just isn't the same w/o the music. I am not one of those people who refuses to buy a show if it has been altered in some minor way but the music changes take a lot of the emotional impact out of this release.

Soccerplyr

"Just to note this series does not contain the original soundtrack which really reduces the enjoyment of it"

That really sucks. That song made me a fan of the stones. I bought every tape I could find with piant it black on it. Tape, funny.

polkatese

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll divert the fund to something else, for the time being. Hopefully, Blade Runner re-mastered will come out soon..