Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11553 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-01
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 575 minutes

Synopsis
Steven Bocho, the Emmy-winning producer responsible for such gritty television programming as 'NYPD Blue' and 'Hill Street Blues', turns his attentions to the conflict in Iraq for his series 'Over There'. A nonpartisan view of the experience of war, the show follows a team of seven American soldiers stationed in Iraq, all of whom are on their first tour of duty, and are reporting to Sergeant Scream (Eric Palladino, 'ER'). The show also examines the effects of war on the families the soldiers have left behind. Avoiding politics in favor of an honest portrait of the war itself, the series is a first in that it addresses a conflict in which the U.S. was still engaged at the time of airing. Newcomer Luke MacFarlane ('Kinsey') shines as Private Dim Murphy, while the two female soldiers, Esmeralda Doublewide Del Rio (Lizette Carrion) and Brenda Mrs. B. Mitchell (Nicki Lynn Aycox) draw attention to a side of war that is often overlooked, than on the home front.

Customer Reviews

The best modern day war seiries ive seen
After i warched the first episode i thought it was good, so i went on to watch the hole of the first disk to make sure that it wasent just a one episode wonder. It just kept getting better and better as i watched on. The acting is good the special effects are brilliant and it has a good soundtrack to it. Over there will keep you on the edge of your seats throughout the whole seiries. Unlike other war film it shows pain and happiness from both the americans and iraqis.

In another league
This goes way beyond Bochco's earlier work and his formulaic attempt at a novel. It is simply a brilliant, moving, gripping, desperately needed window on unpleasant reality - and a great tragedy not to be continued.

One day this will be regarded as a classic.

An informative show for people to see and to get an idea of what it's like
The strongest aspect of "Over There" is the way the various characters are developed. Their lives are fleshed out to the point that you feel like you know them and care about what happens to them. As a military wife I have an idea what's goes on. Some shows manage to alienate their audience with characters that are so annoying or unlikable it's impossible to care about them, but "Over There" accomplishes something rare: even when one of the characters does something unforgivably stupid, cruel or selfish, they remain sympathetic and keep you invested in what happens to them.

There have been complaints about the way the soldiers are depicted, but I think the show does a good job of being realistic while highlighting these soldiers' professionalism, self-sacrifice and constant struggle to do the best job they can in what are often difficult and dangerous no-win situations.

The producers also deserve a lot of credit for not sugarcoating the war or the soldiers' attitudes about the Iraqis. If anything they could do more to make clear what the US media has mostly overlooked: the horrific toll of war on the civilian population. Many people opposed this war on humanitarian grounds. Just as in Vietnam, just as in every war of the modern era, there are 10 innocent civilian casualties- mostly women, old people and children- for every armed insurgent or "terrorist" killed. War should always be a last resort, never an affirmative policy objective.

The war in Iraq took a bad situation and made it worse, compounding the error through ignorance, arrogance and incompetence. At a time when major news organizations have grown so timid they are only willing to show a sanitized, non-controversial version of the war for fear of offending those in power, we need more shows like "Over There", shows that are willing to tell the whole, unvarnished truth, uncolored by any agenda.