5.0 out of 5 stars "Combat! - The Complete Series" - Absolutely Great Picture Quality

D.C.W. · July 11, 2013

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } Hey Folks,I recorded all 152 episodes of "Combat!" on VHS tapes when the series was shown many years ago on the "Action Channel," and more recently, I recorded the series again on DVDs when it was shown on "Me TV." The picture quality of my old VHS tapes is actually much better than that of my more recent DVDs, but watching shows on VHS tapes today is not nearly as convenient as using DVDs. For several years now, I have been interested in buying the subject DVD set, but there were many customer reviews in past years which cited various problems with the set. In the past year, the customer reviews have been virtually all positive, so I again became interested in getting the DVD set. Wanting to get the convenience of modern DVDs as well as hopefully getting a better quality picture, I finally decided to purchase this "Combat!" DVD set.When I put the first DVD and started watching the first episode, I could not believe how good the picture quality was. I was watching it on a high definition TV, but the picture was simply much better than that of my old VHS tapes when viewed on the same TV. If you watch a "Combat!" episode on "Me TV," the picture quality is not anywhere nearly a good as the quality of the subject DVD set. The picture quality of this DVD set really is remarkable. Thus far, I have just completed watching the second season, and all of the episodes I have seen are the same high quality sharp picture.The set consists of forty DVDs - eight DVDs per season for five seasons, four episodes per DVD, and some DVDs include additional video material. Each DVD has one or more voice interviews with various people associated with the show, and there are also several videos of some of the actors being interviewed many years ago. Most of the DVDs include a commentary by the director of one of the episodes featured on that DVD. Each episode also includes notes on that episode provided by Jo Davidsmeyer and titled "Notes, Oddities, and Bloopers."As some reviewers have noted, the DVDs are difficult to get out of the snap holder the first time, and you really do have to be careful as you lift up and pull each one off the snap holder. Once the DVD is removed the first time, it seems the DVD does go back in the snap holder properly, and it is no longer so difficult to remove the DVD from that point on.There were several old reviews which complained of poor picture quality, but this is not the case with the DVD set I bought. The picture quality is absolutely great. I have to wonder if the folks who had poor quality might not have purchased knockoff copies rather than an original set as advertised?Another person stated the episodes were missing scenes because they were less than sixty minutes. All of the episodes run about forty-seven minutes because each episode is shown without commercials. There is even an old interview with Vic Morrow where he is asked about making a one hour show each week, and Morrow corrects the interviewer and clearly tells him the shows actually are designed to have a run time of forty-seven minutes for the one hour time slot. This was also the case with the episodes when they were shown on the "Action Channel" which ran them without commercials. Each episode was almost exactly forty-seven minutes.It was also noted the set does not have closed captioning, and I have found this to be true thus far. Another person said there is closed captioning, but it does not work if you use an HDMI cable instead of a three-wire cable to feed the TV. I have not tried a three-wire cable as yet, but I hope it does work because I find closed captioning useful at times. Remember, there was no closed captioning when this show was first aired.One person noted there were a few episodes where the show just stopped at some point and would not continue. Another person said he was missing all the DVDs from one of the season's box. I also have had three episodes where the show just stopped, and I had to skip over a portion. I wrote to the vendor about the problem and received a prompt standardized reply. It listed some procedures to attempt to fix the problem by cleaning the disc. At the end of the letter, it clearly stated they would replace any discs that were truly defective, and I would assume they would also replace missing discs. Since the reply I received was a photocopy of a "How To" disc fix, I assume they do get some defective discs in a forty disc package. That does not bother me as long as they do replace the discs if they are truly defective.Did I mention the shows in this DVD package have absolutely great picture quality? They really do, and I am truly enjoying the convenience of watching this great "Combat!" series with the convenience of DVDs. The next thing I would like to do is see if I can get them to show closed captioning, and then I would like to copy the shows to a hard drive that I can connect to a TV and watch them without having to switch DVDs.I watched "Combat!" when it first aired. By the second season, I was married, and my wife and I watched each week with her brother (a WW2 infantry vet) and his wife. It remains my favorite TV show of all time.Best wishes,Dave Wile

5.0 out of 5 stars Large collection

A.C. · May 10, 2025

All episodes from front to back including the ones in color

5.0 out of 5 stars Combat 5 season DVD set ♥️

s.t. · January 6, 2025

I was very impressed at how quickly I received these! I ordered it on Fri Jan 3 and just received it today, Mon Jan 6! I have done a quick check to see if any of the disc's were scratched or cracked. All seem good, but will know for sure when I start to play them. Several of the clear plastic disc holders were cracked/broken, but it didn't seem to affect the discs, so I'm not really bothered by it. This has always been a fave show of mine and was happily watching them on the H&I channel on Sat from 10pm-12am. However when Jan came so did a schedule change. Combat now starts 12am-2am! Since I'm hopefully long asleep by then, watching that station is no longer an option. Thus, this purchase. Now I will be able to watch whenever I want. I will write another review if any of these discs are messed up, but hope all will be well!Again, I am super impressed by the speedy delivery from the Last Stop CD Shop! Would shop with them again!

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this show

c. · March 24, 2025

Great addition to our Plex

5.0 out of 5 stars The rat patrol

M. · February 18, 2025

Very old school Good!

4.0 out of 5 stars Nearly eight years of time-biding is finally over!

A.V.A. · June 23, 2014

I've been waiting since I first came to AMMY late in '06 to get the COMBAT! complete series set.My concerns at the time were a high price and a lot of reviewers complaining of bad discs.This was on IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT'S 2005 box.I'm hoping this-->2013 edition has all those bugs worked out, and at less than a hundred bucks for 121 hours,I thought it a good deal, even if it no longer has the extras offered with the original package (not sure).My dad fought in the ETO with the 508th Airborne. On D-Day they crash-landed in gliders behind enemy lines.He parachuted more than a dozen times over Belgium, including at the Bulge. From what I could tell,he saw some real horrors, things that haunted him the rest of his life. And yet, dad would watch on TVevery WWII-related documentary, and he was a fan of COMBAT! and other such war series.As a youngster I picked up his interest in this show, plus Vic Morrow was SOOOO good-looking!So, seeing all these episodes again after so many decades will certainly be nostalgic.Sgt. Saunders, Lt. Hanley, Caje, Kirby, Littlejohn and Doc, back again! The only aspect that got silly ispractically every week a main character was seriously wounded, but he was never sent home.Just some of the guest actors and the number of episodes they appeared in:Shecky Greene (8); Tom Skerritt (6); Ted Knight - a German Captain (4); Robert Duvall (3); Sal Mineo (3); John Considine (3); Claude Akins (3); Simon Oakland (3); King Moody (3); Nick Adams (2); Richard Basehart (2); Telly Savalas (2); Dan Duryea (2); Fernando Lamas (2); Frank Gorshin (2); Joseph Campanella (2); Peter Brocco (2); Keenan Wynn (2); Peter Coe (2); Ramon Novarro (2); Noam Pitlik (2); William Campbell - the Squire of Gothos! (2); Claudine Longet (2); H.M. Wynant (2); Leonard Nimoy (2); Michael Murphy (2); Jeffrey Hunter (1); Eddie Albert (1); James Caan (1); James Coburn (1); Robert Culp (1); Joan Hackett (1); Lee Marvin (1); Dean Stockwell (1); Theodore Bikel (1); Neville Brand (1); Beau Bridges (1); Paul Burke (1); John Dehner (1); Gary Lockwood (1); Roddy McDowall (1); Ed Nelson (1); Jeanette Nolan (1); Jay Novello (1); Mickey Rooney (1); Bobby Rydell (1); Rip Torn (1); Frankie Avalon (1); Charles Bronson (1); Jack Carter (1); John Cassavetes (1); Chad Everett (1); Nina Foch (1); Mike Kellin (1); Robert Loggia (1); Jack Lord (1); Andrew Prine (1); Gilbert Roland (1); Tommy Sands (1); Dennis Weaver (1); James Whitmore (1); Bill Bixby (1); Randy Boone (1); Brandon De Wilde (1); James Franciscus (1); Dwayne Hickman (1); Carol Lawrence (1); James Stacy (1); Robert Walker Jr. (1); Fritz Weaver (1); James Daly (1); Ricardo Montalban (1); Peggy Ann Garner (1); Larry Kert (1); Michael Constantine (1); Howard Duff (1); Tab Hunter (1); Albert Salmi (1); Frank Sutton (1); Margaret O'Brien (1); Gary Merrill (1); Anthony Holland (1); Billy Gray (1); Gavin MacLeod (1); Faith Domergue (1); Wayne Rogers (1); Harry Dean Stanton (1); Ken Berry (1); Seymour Cassel (1); Pete Duel (1); William Schallert (1); Noah Beery Jr. (1); James MacArthur (1); Henry Daniell (1); Fifi D'Orsay (1); Alida Valli - THE THIRD MAN! (1); George Murdock (1); Vic Dana (1); Dick Miller (1); Dennis Hopper (1); Rance Howard (1); Edward Binns (1); Anthony Eisley (1); Mike Farrell (1); Dan O'Herlihy (1); Warren Oates (1); Guy Stockwell (1); Richard Anderson (1); James Best (1); Bing Russell (1); William Windom (1); Richard Jaeckel (1); John Agar (1); Bernard Fox (1); Walter Koenig - CHEKHOV! (1)Uncrediteds: Rocky Marciano; Warren Spahn; William Wellman Jr..What a mind-boggling assemblage of talent (and Bobby Rydell)!It seems everyone who was anyone (and Tab Hunter) wanted to guest on COMBAT!Of the half-dozen series regulars, as of late June 2014 only Jack Hogan (Kirby) is still alive.Most recently passed was Pierre Jalbert (Caje). He died at age 89 in January of this year.(eee: Comment #1, below for update)

5.0 out of 5 stars Prompt shipping

k.s. · December 14, 2024

The DVDs arrived on schedule and well packed. I got them for my husband and he was very pleased.

日本語字幕無し！

一. · December 29, 2022

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } 字幕は韓国語、音声は英語でドラマがヒジョーに分かり難い‼️‼️

WWII TV Series

T.B. · November 12, 2024

Watching this series brought back a great deal of memories from my childhood and evenings watching TV with my Grand Mother who seemed to enjoy the adventures. The characters were great and the SGT. was impressive. Really enjoyed the series and although in B&W I still enjoyed the adventures.

Having the full set

c.h. · September 8, 2022

I love it

日本語訳がない！

A.カ. · October 18, 2020

音声でも字幕でも日本語が出ない。英語ができないので・・・2万円を捨てたみたいなもの・・・（最悪！）

It is what I expected

r.t. · April 4, 2023

just what I ordered