From producer Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues) comes the first scripted television series set in a current, ongoing war involving the United States. Gritty, intense, evocative and emotional, Over There takes you to the front lines and explores the effects of war on a U.S. Army unit sent to Iraq on their first tour of duty, as well as the equally powerful effects felt at home by their families and loved ones.
Everything I read about this series mentioned that it's the first series set in a current war, and it may be the last. Bochco/Gerolmo found out that people don't want to watch a series about an ongoing war; the ratings were poor, and the series wasn't picked up for a second season.
I caught the pilot episode when it was released last August, and I loved it, but I didn't see any of the other episodes; I don't even know whether it was broadcast in Canada. I like shows that push the boundaries to tell their stories, and Over There pushes a lot.
Fox has put all 13 episodes of the series onto this 4 disc set.
Disc 1 (2:13:45)
Pilot (44:15)
Roadblock Duty (43:40)
The Prisoner (45:50)
Disc 2 (2:55:30)
I want My Toilets (44:51)
Embedded (43:48)
It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding (42:59)
Mission Accomplished (43:52)
Disc 3 (2:56:17)
Situation Normal (45:06)
Spoils of War (44:39)
Suicide Rain (43:26)
Orphans (43:06)
Disc 4 (1:28:55)
Weapons of Mass Destruction (43:04)
Follow the Money (45:51)
Video
This show is very gritty, so the grain that's in the transfer helps the show, it doesn't hinder it. They used 16mm film to give it the gritty look, and to save some money. The show has a unique style, from the oranges and browns of the color pallette, to the camera angles and lenses. They use two very distinct shooting styles; chaotic, hand-held shots in Iraq, and fixed, or dolly shots back in the US. The pilot episode had a chapter right after the Over There logo, but that's gone in the season set. It's nothing to complain about since the opening is about 5 seconds long. The discs lack a "play all" function (which is common for the Fox drama releases).
Audio
The pilot release contained a Dolby Surround audio track, and I commented that the low frequencies weren't utilized as much as they could be. Fox has fixed that by included a Dolby Digital 5.1 track; it rocks. The explosions can be heard, and felt if you have a decent sub. The rear speakers are used a fair amount for various ambient effects. There's also a Spanish Dolby Surround track, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish, along with Closed Captions.
Commentaries
There are 3 good commentaries on this set. I like that they broke them up into producers, consultants and the cast.
Pilot - Chris Gerolmo (co-creator/writer/director) and Joan Gerolmo (co-producer)
It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding - SSgt. Sean Bunch (military advisor) and Sam Sako (Iraqi advisor)
Spoils of War - Luke MacFarlane, Erik Palladino, Keith Robinson, Kirk "Sticky" Jones, Omid Abtahi, Lizette Canion and Nicki Aycox
Weapons Debriefing (5:53)
Can't tell an AK-47 from a PKM? Just watch this featurette.
Tour of Duty: Filming Over There (1:20:10)
A documentary on the making of the final episode of season 1; it ended up being the series finale. This is a great, great, great documentary featuring the cast and crew of the show. This is something that has to be watched.
Summary
I really liked this show, but I can see how it failed. News about Iraq is all over the TV and papers; soldiers keep dying, things keep blowing up, and there's no end in sight. People watch TV to escape, but it seems very few people want to escape to an ongoing war, so the ratings suffered. It's a shame because this show was great.
Fox did a pretty nice job with this DVD set. The documentary is great, the commentaries are good, and the upgraded audio will give your system a workout. I'd recommend this DVD, but only to those people that aren't sick of the war in Iraq.
