Season 4 is arguably the best of COMBAT!'s five seasons. In Season 4 we find three of the best episodes in the series: The two part "Hills are for Heroes" and "The Leader." The two part episode "Hills are for Heroes" could easily have been a theatrical feature-length film. In another of his directorial efforts, Vic Morrow was able to capture additional emotional dimensions of Lt. Hanley and the rest of the squad.
COMBAT! found its stride during its fourth year. By that time, the stories revolved around the characters rather than adding superfluous misadventures with French resistance and other dramatic vehicles to add fluff to the story. Even though Saunders' squad, and Hanley's platoon, had taken four years to battle their way through France, each episode appears as fresh as if the D-Day invasion had taken place the episode prior.
Earlier I mentioned another great episode, "The Leader" contained in the Season 4 set. For those who have ever been in a leadership position, military or otherwise, "The Leader" encapsulates the leadership challenge when someone is unexpectedly put into a leadership position. In this particular episode, we find that Kirby, normally laziest complainer in the squad, is thrust into a life or death position of authority over his peers. His evolution throughout this episode is common to anyone undertaking the difficult path from supervisor to leader.
Yes, you would not be incorrect in tossing arm chair criticisms at COMBAT! for the non-Norman California countryside, recognizable MGM sets, and un-1944-ish German uniforms. In doing so, remember that this is 1960s television action-adventure at its best. As a kid growing up in the 1960s, COMBAT! locations and sets certainly appeared more like Europe than did our suburban neighborhoods -- where we played COMBAT! Somehow diving for cover behind my dad's car never had the same dramatic feel of Sergeant Saunders doing something similar on an MGM backlot location.
Basically, if you could only see your way to buying a single season of COMBAT!, this is the season to buy. The two Season 4 volumes are still in black and white and have the gritty feel of war movies like HELL IS FOR HEROES, ATTACK, MEN IN WAR, GO FOR BROKE, and BATTLEGROUND.
As an adult, it is unfashionable to run around the neighborhood playing Army. Watching COMBAT! is the next best thing.
Highly recommended
This collection includes the two part episode "Hills Are For Heroes", directed by Vic Morrow. Many a "Combat!" purist regard this as one of the finest episodes ever produced. Some of Morrow's camera work has never been equalled in television to this day in my opinion, and others will agree.......
combat keeps on gettin better
....people talk about saving private ryan... granted it was a great film.. but combat did the same 40 years ago.. i have all the dvd's so far, and will continue to but them... they're great.............. hopefully garrison's gorrilla's will become available..
do yourself a favor but combat.... you'll be glad you did..
But here goes, anyway: My picks for best episodes of "COMBAT'S" 2nd season.
BRIDGE AT CHALONS -- Riveting performance by Lee Marvin. I'm not necessarily a fan of these ultra-macho guys, but he's so damn' POWERFUL in this show.
GLOW AGAINST THE SKY ---- Very intense and violent. Of course, had Billy Nelson been wounded this seriously, he would have been shipped home immediately, and never appeared in another "Combat".
THE WOUNDED DON"T CRY---- Very well done. Karl Boehm very sympathetic. The twists and turns near the end will keep you on the edge of your seat.
***Suprise "Hit" episode: "A SILENT CRY"-----typical set-up with
misanthropic soldier (Richard Anderson) whom Saunders gets stuck with. The guy is a braniac who was... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vic Morrow DVD Release Date: Released the 30 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.99 Your Price: $31.99YOU SAVE $8!
Buy it
I watch 2 or 3 episodes every day. Great way to use my time waiting for the MLB playoffs. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vic Morrow DVD Release Date: Released the 30 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.99 Your Price: $31.99YOU SAVE $8!
Buy it
The further adventures of King Company's second platoon are highlighted in all their blazing action and dramatic impact in this four-disc set, which concludes Combat!'s 1962-63 debut season. King Two undergoes a few changes in episodes 17 through 32--Shecky Greene's Pvt. Braddock is absent from the platoon (Greene quit over pay issues) and Jack Hogan, whose Pvt. Kirby first appeared in "The Forgotten Front" (featured in the Combat! Season One: Campaign One boxed set) is now a featured cast member; Emmy nominee Conlon Carter, who would later join the cast as Doc in the third season, appears as an unnamed PVC in disc 3's "Hill 256." The 17 episodes featured here carry the men of King Two to the liberation of Paris, which concludes the season; afterwards, the series would no... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Vic Morrow DVD Release Date: Released the 20 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.99 Your Price: $31.99YOU SAVE $8!
Buy it
Hailed as one of the best episodic television series about World War II, ABC's Combat! arrives on DVD with its first 16 episodes in a heavily annotated four-disc set that's sure to please its longtime fans. The men of King Company's second platoon (a.k.a. King Two) are the focus of this gritty and realistic series; led by Lt. Gil Hanley (Rick Jason) and Sgt. Chip Saunders (Vic Morrow in an Emmy-nominated performance), King Two fought its way across France for five seasons, beginning in 1962 with the 16 episodes gathered here. The storyline kicks off shortly after D-Day and carries the platoon up to the liberation of Paris, which concluded the season (the second half of season 1 is featured in a separate four-disc set). Cast members rotated in and out of service (Tom Lowell's Pvt.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Byron Paul - James Komack - Tom Gries - Bernard McEveety (II) - Jus Addiss DVD Release Date: Released the 20 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.99 Your Price: $19.97YOU SAVE $20.02!
Buy it
