Customer Reviews

Over There - The Battle Begins (Pilot Episode)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Well i am in the army and just returned from over there where i spent 16 months fighting on the streets of iraq. This movie is extremly accurate. It shows the way things really were, and it shows what we really went through over there. So take it from me an operation iraqi freedom veteran who was there and have some storys of my own, watch this show and support YOUR troops.

SPC. HEBERT
U.S. ARMY

I got back 6 months ago from "Over There" and from what I have seen this show is a very realistic depiction of what it's like(accept that their camel back always seem to be empty, lol). I haven't missed an episode and don't plan on it. Highly Recommended!

SrA Terrynce Jones
USAF

forget what you see in the media,watch this and you will truely suport our guys even if you think that they shuoldn't be there,this opens your eyes to the problems faceing them,from the "I expected that" to the complete surprise of "hell where did that come from?"

I loved this TV show and was disappointed when they took it off the air. However, be VERY careful when ordering! I ordered both videos (the pilot and the one with the episodes) - since Amazon was offering it as a "package" deal for a cheaper price, I assumed that the pilot episode was not on the boxed set - WRONG! It is repeated on that boxed set, so you will set yourself back $10 if you get them both.

Just a few words, best in it's class! Most importantly, NOT BORING!

When the hype machine began running for "Over There" in the Fall of 2005, I feared the worst: a knee jerk, jingoistic portrayal of Iraq II. So you can imagine my surprise when I watched the first episode-- still a skeptic-- and found myself geting involved with the characters, each an individual, each flawed, each heroic at times, each in service for his/her own reason, serving for reasons that weren't always noble or clear, but serving and becoming part of a disparate, dysfuntional family, in a world of kill or be killed, where the only certainty was uncertainty.

We were hooked after the first episode, and came back week in, week out, to watch with empathy and horror as the season unfolded, following each of the members of this unit-- and their families back home. It is a strange war, with satellite phones and internet video mail making it possible to stay connected-- somewhat-- while fighting heat, boredom, terrorist, land mines, etc.
It was gripping, real, filled with ambiguity, terror, heroism, self-doubt, hard choices, and no clear cut sense why we are there, what the Big Mission is, and worst, who the enemy really is.

In a just world, "Over There" would be back for another season. It will remain one of the most memorable depictions of modern war-- at the boots on the ground level-- you will see. It shows that there are casualties amongst the locals, their families, and children, and the families left back home to worry about their soldiers Over There. War is hell. Really. But it is not black and white.

We love "Over There," despite all my initial skepticism and doubt. See it. If you are not hooked after two episodes, it isn't for you. But if you are, you will stay with it to the end, and want it-- but not the war-- to go on.

While I admire FX and the producers for attempting to bring a fictional account of the Iraq War to the small screen, I found the series pilot to be horribly inaccurate. Watch it with any OIF Vet and I'm sure they'll view it as the cartoon that it is.

Granted, it's entertainment (which is questionable at best), but rather than presenting characters who well represent today's Army, they instead chose to fall back onto comfortable stereotypes. All that's missing is the "cocky guy from Brooklyn" and the "the backcountry sharpshooter from Kentucky".

Simply, the character's are wooden and trivialize reality.

The worst thing about the show is that in trying to be realistic and entertaining, it instead succeeds in myth-making. God help us if millions of Americans take this as "the way it is".

Viewers who are interested in the war would be better served by renting of buying the surreal "Gunner Palace" or the straight "In the Company of Soldiers".

I'm sure Hollywood will get it right given time, but "Over There" is simply laughable.

I have seen this episode of Over There and I was instantly hooked on the show. I make it a point now to not miss any episodes. I have read some of the reviews here about what people think of the show. Having actually served in Iraq I can relate to everything that has happened on the show. I am not at all surprised that Gulf War Vets and civilians who commonly know nothing at all about being a soldier would turn there noses up at this show. The style of combat we are waging now is the occupation of a hostile nation. We haven't had to forcefully occupy an enemy nation since World War II. Our military is a little out of practice on the matter. Keep in mind also the 'Politician' were to impatient for the invasion, and a clear plan for occupation was nowhere near finished.

As for the violence, surprise, there is an abundance of that in a combat zone. Maybe that last reviewer on here thinks we use paint rounds or something. Yes there is a lot of violence on T.V. Perhaps there should be less of it. But when making a show dealing with a combat zone, what else are you going to show.

When watching this show you should do one very important thing, that is ignore whatever political thoughts you have and just observe what is happening in the show. After all it was politics that sent me and thousands of my fellow soldiers to Iraq. In the show you will see that the last thing on the soldiers minds is crap like politics. Unless the only soldier you can relate to is the guy they call Smoke who thinks everyone is out to get him because he is black. He is often surprised when people don't see things his way and that is because he is an idiot. You see a lot of them in the military, mostly officers though. That guy Smoke cares only for himself and if he keeps his current attitude up in the show he will get one of his guys killed, if not all of them.

You see in this show the basic problems soldiers have to deal with while Over There. Main concern being survival of course. Soldiers having to deal with leaving loved ones back home fighting a campaign few of us understand or even want to be apart of. Soldiers deal with being seriously wounded, as in one soldiers case he deals with the loss of his leg in the last episode. Muslim troops having to deal with the natural prejudice soldiers show towards anyone they beleave to be an enemy. A sergeant in 101st Airborne who was a muslim murdered fellow soldier by throwing grenades in there tent. He was just recently put on death row. You try not being that when you don't even know if you can trust someone who is supposed to be on your side because they are a muslim. The show also shows a wife back in the states cheating on her husband who is in combat, because for some reason she can't come to terms with the fact that the fighting has nothing to do with her. You think I'm kidding. When my unit came back from Iraq half of my companies troops were either getting a divorce or heading for one. Or how about the stress of road block duty, IED's (improvised explosive devices, for you civilians). Or how about the constant propaganda slams against us by Al Jazeera news teams. Keep in mind the Al Jazeera new network aired the beheading of Nicholas Berg on all their news channels in the Middle East. Yeah we saw it there.

All this and people back here are always wining about how the Iraqi civilians feel, and why don't the soldiers be nice to them. That disgusting word 'Politics' is why. I personally did not want to go to Iraq. I would have rather fought in Afghanistan where I think our attentions should be focused. We never found any weapons of mass destruction like Bush or Rumsfeld said there was. Over 1000 troops dead then they admit that the intel was bad. Then we have to install a democratic nation with people who have been fighting each other for over a thousand years, and just cause we are there our politicians think it should just stop. When those old learned people fail to do there jobs on the hill, it is the young men and women in the soldiers uniforms who do the dying. Then the politicians have the guts to give small raises to the troops that means nothing to them because taxes take it away, and the politicians make almost a million dollars a year. Far more than someone who has sworn to die for there country and like many of my fellow soldiers has seen enough carnage and horror to cost many a nights sleep.

Bottom line. You want a safe glimpse of what it is like in hell from the safety of your living room, where you will never have to bleed for the freedoms you all take for granted, purchase this episode or just watch it on FX. But remember, if you don't know what you are talking about when it comes to war, don't say anything or make sure you at least have done your research.

The Battle Begins, Over There's first episode is a good start to a promising series. I'm not sure about the accuracy, because I've never served in the military. One thing I find funny is that half the reviewers have bashed Over There for being innacurate and being too "Hollywood", but the two actual soldiers who have reviewed have praised this show for being an accurate depiction of what is going on in the Middle East. I think I'm going to trust the words of reviewers who have actually been "Over There" when it comes to issue of accuracy.

Anyway, this series is great. I watched the first episode and could not wait for the second episode to air. For those who have not started watching this series, I'm not going to spoil the ending of the first episode, but I will tell you that it will catch you off guard and will make you want to watch the rest of the series.

Over There is probably the best TV series out right now, so catch the new episodes every Wednesday night at 10 on FOX!

After seeing the first two episodes of "Over There" and being emotionally torn apart by both, I was struck by what is so important and moving about this show: Over There has started a national dialogue about the war in Iraq that is not centered around politics. It's about the human aspects of war; the day-to-day stories of the soldiers. For non-military people (like me), it has given a peak, whether or not completely accurate, into the horrors of war - up close and personal. Watch this show and think about the real, individual men and women fighting "over there"; not about the political arguments and justification. It gave me a new perspective on the lives of our soldiers and their families, which I otherwise couldn't imagine.