The Cool Blue Blog

Tour of Duty

The first season of the TV show "Tour of Duty" about the Vietnam War has been released on DVD.

This late 80's TV show was one of the best tributes to the Vietnam War and the men who fought there ever put on film. Suprisingly it was not anti American (as most Vietnam films were) and it was neither pro-war nor anti-war. It was a surprisingly realistic depiction of the type of war-fighting done in the bush.

It also dealt with the issues of anti-war sentiments at home honestly and without degrading our soldiers or the men who fought and died. Many other issues such as racism and the draft were also dealt with honestly.

The technical advice was top notch as well. The small unit maneuvers were well presented down to some pretty small details without great fanfare.

And also, realisticly, show regulars would die in combat.

The only criticism I have of the DVD set is that due to licensing problems (expense?) most of the great music featured on the original show have been replaced. As such, the opening which used to feature the Stones "Paint it Black" is gone.

While this is a great loss, the DVD set is still worth the price of admission. The stories are great, the acting is above average (mostly) and the dialog is realistic.

Cool Blue rates it "Good stuff"

Review of a Mockumentary

The NYPost's Lou Lumenick reviews Michael Moore's new fictional piece "Fahrenheit 9/11"

President Bush need not lose any sleep over Michael Moore's much-hyped "Fahrenheit 9/11," which turns out to be a wet firecracker.

Moore's virulent feature-length attack on Bush, which premiered yesterday to a 20-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, falls far short of delivering on the filmmaker's extravagant promises of election-swinging revelations.

"You will see things you haven't seen before and learn things you have not learned before," he vowed on Sunday.

Well, maybe if you spent the last three years hiding in a cave in Afghanistan.