Solid 80s style series exploring 12-month Vietnam deployments.
Judy B. from DORA, AL Reviewed on 2/4/2013...
My husband and I enjoyed this series when it first came on TV and we were thrilled to find this DVD set to be able to watch it again. The only disappointment is that the original music is not included. I did a little research and found out that only the UK version has the original music. Still, it's a fabulous series.
Movie Reviews
Here we go again.
M. Smith | Pittsburgh, PA | 04/06/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I guess the negative feedback from customers on the first season DVD set didn't faze Sony/Columbia-Tristar one bit. Again, no original music and the transfer is awful. The picture most of the time is grainy and I even noticed the audio track doesn't match characters lips at times. There are VHS tapes out there with better quality picture and sound than this. Sony should be ashamed to release trash like this. The only thing giving this set even 2 stars is the content of the series itself. It still remains a great groundbreaking sereies, but these DVD sets have much to be desired. This series and everyone involved in it's production along with the diehard fans deserve much better than this. Just as an example of how much Sony/CTSE care about this sereies and how much effort they put into these DVD sets, take a close look at the cover photo for season two. If you know anything about the show, or the military for that matter, you will notice that the MAC-V insignia patch is on the wrong shoulder of everyone in the photo, also look closely at the U.S. ARMY strip on Ramon Franco's (Ruiz)right chest and the Devlin name tape on Kim Delaney's (Alex) left chest. See anything wrong? Yeah, that's right, they printed the negative backwards. Gee, they spent alot of time on this one. Hey, Sony, do us all a favor and sell the rights to this series to someone who will spend the time, effort and money to do this great series the justice it deserves."
Good Show, Rushed Release
Bryan Sebring | Atlanta, GA | 01/09/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Skipping past the debate about the music issues, this is a dvd set that seems to have been rushed out for release. As you work through the 4 dvds included in the set you find problems build the further in you get. The black spots where the commercial breaks had occurred bother you less and less the more you watch, but as you do work past that other problems appear. There are problems with the video footage that jumps from very clear to very grainy almost instantly. The biggest problem I ran into, and what I can't work past is the fact that on discs 3 and 4 some complete chapters within the episodes have the video and audio feeds completely out of sync. I have never seen this problem on any other sets and as much as I was looking forward to getting this set, I am beginning to wonder if Season 3 will be worth the money or if I will just skip it. This is a real poor way for them to treat fans who, after almost 15 years still have yet to get over the music issues."
The music sucks
S. J. Ates | Pearl, MS | 02/03/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I've borrowed the second season of Tour of Duty from a friend. On the box it says in english "Includes a new music soundtrak of popular songs from the Vietnam War era". I doubt very seriously, that people during the 60's and 70's listened to synthetic instumentals, that barely even sound like the original songs they cover.Dont get me wrong I enjoy watching the show again, and I'll continue watching the rest of it. But, I refuse to but it untill they release copies with the originall music soundtrak. These copyright issues are ridiculous, and so is the greed from all these companies who own the music. I think those SOBs have more than enough money to spare to let us fans, who enjoyed the original shows with the original music, enjoy it again. The actuall music makes it seem alot more real to us so please bring it back."
Same name on the show, but a different show in season 2...
JohnD | Winnipeg Manitoba Canada | 02/03/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Season 2 sees the grunts transferred out of the front line, into a "in the rear with the gear" situation.What really happened is CBS wanted to try and attract female viewers, to what was essentially, a male targeted show. In short, isolated instances, it worked. As a full season, it didn't work so well.This is also the season that saw the show loose the backing of the US military, because of their objections to the story lines, which saw someone going nutjob practically every week: in the first 9 episodes, at least one character, main or secondary, goes nutjob.That and the show seems to have changed from the "this is the life of a combat soldier in the Nam" of season 1, to a cross between ER and any early evening female oriented soap opera, which just happens to be set in Vietnam (something we are reminded of by the obligatory 2 to 5 minutes of "combat" added into the episode which frequently are jarring to the rest of the show, as they really have no reason to be there other than to remind us the story is taking place during a war). Heck, even Anderson isn't a rock anymore (in season 1 when he went flaky it was striking because it was so out of character, in season 2, it is the norm).The combat no longer seems to be the main point of the show in season 2, it just seems to be there to set up the requisite psychotic episode that the other 38 minutes will focus on.ToD was (and is) one of my all time favourite shows. Reading this review, it might seem like it isn't. Its still a good show in season 2, its just not really the same show as in season 1...."
Poor Quality
HankSter | Area 51 | 09/08/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with a previous poster, the quality is pretty poor. Such a shame for one of the Best shows to hit the air waves in the 80's.
As many have mentioned about the music, how would you like to watch Miami Vice (also one with great sound) with a completely different soundtrack ?
The video portion needs some remastering ..... period !!!"