MovieChat Forums > Over There (2005) Discussion > Unbelivable how high the rating is on th...

Unbelivable how high the rating is on this show


This is one of the most terrible tv-shows portraying war I've seen. The script, acting, environment and so on. And even the camera shooting was horrible! What were they thinking when filming half the face close up in a scene between a officer and a wife to one of the returning soldiers, to get her checks. And one episode that disturbed me alot was the one with the orphanage. "The iraq government" has decided that the orphanage have to evicted. It starts out with the american soldiers arriving and a kid with what most people would recognize as a box with a chess game, of course they have to take security precaution but then the scene goes so exadurating that you wanna cry. The camera zooms in on all soldiers and shakes around making it look like a old showdown from a western movie. Terrible. Then to make it worse, they send in a horrible actor portraying some french worker fighting for her cause with her orphanage. Very touching but not convincing. Then when the americans fire upon the suspicous box after the kid drops it (why they would do such a dangerous thing in the first place) all the pieces of the chess board fly around lying themselves symbolically on the ground, oh the horrors of war! Destroying the very one thing that had a meaning for that poor kid. Sure I feel for them, but again its not convincing. And to stir things up with the political part, its alomst so you wanna puke. The bad actress playing the french woman starts hammering the american squad leader with things like: "Everee time yu emerikans get en idea...!" Oh please. And of course, to lift off somne of the focus on the americans, the writers thought that "the iraq government" decided to evict the orphanage, oh you mean iraq government! Hoe convenient. And to get back to the debate with the french woman, the squad leader throws out this: "You of all should know how to collaberate" And the lady says nothing! What the hell? Yeah that is so true, a woman in her 30's, not even born during WW2 should feel guilt and know everything about collaborating with nazis.
Latter of the episode was so predictable it hurts. And to add up something more, the enviroments looked like they come from the middle ages! Gee, not even in a trouble country like Iraq are circumstainces so poor. American rightwing-populism at its best...

Dont watch this show, fails utterly in many areas. If USA wants to make something more convicning about the Iraq conflict, this is not it.
The producers of this show probably didnt even look at pics from Iraq or interviewed people that have or are participating in the conflict.

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I disagree with everything you said. I VERY VERY much enjoyed this movie. This movie is actually very precise to how it is overseas. I would know. Im a soldier myself. The fact that they filmed this movie in the States and made it look as urban as it does, that is fantastic. The acting was always very spectacular. Look, get your facts straight and then come back.

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Amen!

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derek, if you think this show is even remotely accurate, then you are NOT in the military nor have you ever been

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Plus, the producers did all this with NO FEEDBACK, or ADVISEMENT from the Pentagon, or any service branch.

Hey Mav, you got the number of that truckdrivin' school, Truck Masters I think it is..

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Yea, I as well go a very unconvincing feeling after watching this show. I thought almost every aspect of film was poor in this show, to be honest. I'm having a hard time believing a lot of you supposed seemingly die hard Over There fans. Give me a break, go watch Band of Brothers and you'll realize what real art is.

"I'm sorry, did I break your concentration."

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While Band of Brothers is a GREAT mini-series, it aimed to capture an invasion from 60+ years ago.

We've all seen the Nam movies and even Jarhead showed the lameness of the Gulf War.

This was the first show/movie to show the FUBAR of the OCCUPATION the US is in. I only caught a single episodes and sure, it wasn't the best put together, but I'm pretty sure it was the first (and only TV show so far) to attempt to portray the current occupation "Over There".

Anybody catch "Home of the Brave"?

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With comparison to Band of brothers (BoB) which is a war movie showing all the action etc,
Over there is more of an anti war film showing u the emotions and feelings of the folks in America and the frontline IRAQ,

This series is perhaps more diferent from BoB which it used documentry like effects. But this doesnt make it terrible, the story and the action are quite well done and very emotional

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"And even the camera shooting was horrible!"

well theres all i need to know right there, you obviously know absolutely sweet FA about film making. I think the term you're struggling for is cinematography, and no, it's not horrible, it was very very good throughout. much better than most tv productions.

As for the effectiveness of the characters and plots, it's subjective, like anything, but i for one completely understand why it got such a high rating, it managed to not make a camp, not to employ the totalitarian jingoism of many other American productions featuring the American armed forces. It showed the bad and the good, and also humanized the "invading army" effectively and on many levels.

there is a certain amount of latitude you have to give this kind of production for it to remain entertaining, and yes sometimes this can be at the expense of it's credibility , but i think they hit a happy medium, which no doubt is why it was so well received.

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I agree wholeheartedly with moshun.

How many damned dirty apes does it take to change a light bulb?

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I can't believe it was canceled, that's what I can't believe...
Such an amazing show. You know a show is good when people are talking about it years after the last episode airs.
I just sent a meager request to FX to maybe try to rerun the first season to see what kind of ratings it gets... Of course it'll never happen... It would be interesting to see it happen though

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I thought the 'cinematography'' was horrible. It felt they were trying to make things 'cool' rather than documentative. Like soldiers advancing on an enemy position, etc, isn't entertaining enough, instead they play around with the camera (changing angles, shaking it, super quick cuts, distorts it, applies weird filters, etc, etc), essentially ruining most of the combat scenes.

I liked the series over all though.

"I see that your recent reassembly has not affected your behavior core, nor your attitude!"

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There is truth behind this miniseries. Many soldiers who served in Iraq and have seen this show said how overblown it is. This is not what the Iraq is like. Generation Kill is way better and more realistic

_____________
When A Man Lies He Murders Some Part Of The World

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This show was an embarrassment to the troops. Horrible in almost every way. Anybody on this forum claiming to be actual military and then claiming there is any legitimacy to this show, or even the slightest dose of realism is either a liar, or the most rear echelon of people whose deployment experience never left an air conditioned building.

This show was pure exploitation, and thankfully the viewing audience recognized this and rightfully ignored this show so that it ended up where it belonged, canceled.

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Yes, I too was just surprised - 8.2.

Rated 3/10 without thinking much about it.

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This show sucked

Forget your feelings about the war and Right Wing or Left Wing bs.I'm talking about the terrible acting,writing and that terrible song.I have seen lifetime movies with less cheese then this and the battle scenes were about as realistic as GI Joe.

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Where as I hold this as one of the best television shows I have ever seen.

Entertaining, gripping and emotional ... All I want from my dramas.

Shame about the cry-babies though, disrespectful? It's a goddamn television show. If you're offended by it, turn it hell off and don't watch it.

Then don't troll onto websites and complain about it - You just look like a sore child.

You know what? The 8.2 wasn't wrong. You are.

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