Strike Back: Cinemax Season 1 (Rpkg/Viva/NF/DVD)

Good action but almost pornographic; I won't be watching anymore.

This review is for both season 1 and 2 and since I don't want to write two (similar) reviews i might as well say all I need to say here.Without droning on and on, I have to say this has been one of the most extraordinary action thriller tv series' I've ever seen. Period. I dont know what was more impressive; the awesome action sequences coupled brilliantly with excellent writing or the acting along with such compelling storylines. Indeed, my biggest praise is reserved for the extraordinarily high production values, which only current hot shows like HBO's Game of Thrones and Netflix's Marco Polo can match. The cinematography, set locations, special effects and stunts surpass any tv action series I've ever seen including the likes of 24, Homeland etc. as well as most action movies today for all their heavy investment in visual and special effects. Truly, Strike Back is the gold standard for action thrillers today. I'm still in wonder over how a tv connoisseur as I believe myself to be, could've missed this show until I discovered it right here and to learn it's been running for five or six seasons now. I'm even in greater wonder as to how (from my perspective) this show has bit garnered nearly as much attention as it deserves. That I'm in shock.

The casting was way too Hollywood. The women were all size six or less, with boobs prominently featured - even the colonel wore a tight T shirt. The male stars were both chiseled specimens. There wasn't a real looking, homely person on the set. The sex scenes between Scott and his many conquests were way overdone and boy did they milk the nudity. But even worse was their attempt to show Scott getting serious about a woman. That was nauseating. The sex alternated with the scenes of gratuitous violence, which got more and more implausible, as Scott and Stonebridge took on armies of opponents. It was a good series to fall asleep by, but eventually, we got impatient with the silly formula.

'Strike Back' pulls no punches in telling the story of a Brit SAS soldier (Philip Winchester) teamed up with an American former SF trooper (Sullivan Stapleton), both now attached to a covert counter-terrorist team. These two are very convincing in their roles; the producer and director obviously hired highly competent military advisors. While the frequency of encounters with attractive females is fanciful compared to real world direct action ops, it does make for good scenery, and the women actors -- often as involved in fighting as the men; not just wives and girlfriends -- are strong and well scripted. The episode involving Tuareg fighters led by a beautiful Berber woman was outstanding.The Brits are now doing action adventure better than our politically correct US film and television industry if this series is a representative example. The script is tightly focused and fast paced, with a far better ratio of action to side drama (as on such US series as 'The Unit'). The characters are far more complex and realistic than normal for this genre, e.g. an American veteran of the French Foreign Legion now working as a South African mercenary, who starts out as a hardened villain only to die an honorable death.Apparently there is an earlier 'Season 1' only shown in Britain that did not make it to the Cinemax/ Amazon selections; hopefully Amazon can use its global reach to bring these episodes to us. Meanwhile I look forward to Season 3.De oppresso liber.

Strike Back is a fun show to watch, kind of like a British version of 24, but with multiple plot lines building into one story over the course of the season. The plot for season one is extremely interesting, and while I will not give any spoilers, it fits in very well with the war on terror. The one real issue with the show is the constant need to have a sex scene in every episode. It is comical how they work a random woman into the scene, have sex, and then return to battle. I understand this is supposed to be an adult action show, but at least make the scenes reasonable. Otherwise the show is fun and exciting. The funny part about the show is there is an American guy playing a British soldier, and an Australian guy playing an American.

I was VERY impressed with Strike Back!! I had some misgivings going in that the story may be too simple, but I was impressed by the scope of the story, the characters and the points of interests used in the filming. Of course, every episode appears to have at least one "adult" situation, which I'm okay with. Eye candy can't hurt a show, but I also think there should be a better balance in the use of it. Sometimes I feel likes it's a mandatory scene in each episode now.. Overall though I really like it and am halfway into season 2 with equal excitement!

There was a BBC series called Strike Back staring Richard Armitage. I thought this was that series, or at least a continuation so I was really excited to find it. Then I was really pissed when they killed Richards character off in the first ten minutes and replaced him with some american twat. Dont waste your time or money.

Although this 1st season series had an American as one of the lead characters, it was obviously a British made series and consequently was not very well done as far as production and direction goes and the story line was mostly made for a British audience. The acting was ok, and there was a good amount of action, but as an American, for the most part I just could not relate. I won't be purchasing or watching the other seasons of this series.

J’ai découvert cette série en 2012 lorsque elle passait sur Canal +. Il s’agit de la VRAIE première saison de cette série, d’abord produite et diffusé Grande-Bretagne, puis elle a été reprise par les Américains avec la chaine Cinemax. En effet, cette saison composée de 3 épisodes d’1h30 chacun permet d’introduire les personnages qui viendront dans les prochaines saisons produites par les américains.Les histoires sont inspirées des romans écrit pas Chris Ryan, ancien SAS (Spécial Air Service), inspirés de ses années de service en tant que soldat britannique.Résumé de l’histoire :« Cette saison 1 mets en mets en avant 2 personnages : John PORTER, un ancien agent du (SAS) et Hugh COLLINSON, un officier de la Section 20 des services secrets britanniques (MI6). Tous deux et plusieurs autres soldats ont participé à une opération de sauvetage à Bassorah, la veille de l'invasion de l'Irak en 2003, dans laquelle deux soldats anglais trouvent la mort sans savoir qui est le responsable.Ces 3 épisodes vont nous permettre de suivre à la fois les différentes interventions à travers le monde de PORTER/COLLINSON mais aussi un autre scénario parallèle suit les soupçons de PORTER sur le véritable assassin des soldats morts en Irak. »Cette mini-série est très rythmée en action. Les scénarios et la réalisation sont de qualités et très réalistes. Il n’y a pas des explosions toutes les 30 secondes parce qu’une voiture tape dans un mur. Nous sommes vraiment immergé dans un univers militaire avec de l’action, des complots, espionnage un peu d’humour aussi, mais aussi un coté psychologique. Il ne s’agit donc pas que d’une simple série d'action musclée. Malgré un univers plutôt brut et disons « masculin et testostérones », même ma conjointe a été séduit par le concept de cette série (à moins qu’elle est juste un coup de cœur pour Richard ARMITAGE ^^)Les personnages sont très bons et bien interprétés. On y retrouve donc Richard ARMITAGE (Thorin Ecu de chêne dans la Trilogie « The Hobbit ») et Andrew LINCOLN (Rick Grimes dans la série « The Waliking Dead »)En ce qui concerne le coffret DVD :Composé de 3 CD, vous avez la possibilité de regarder les épisodes en VO ou VF.Guide des épisodes:Mission Irak, première partie et deuxième partie (DVD 1)Mission Zimbabwe, première partie et deuxième partie (DVD 2)Mission Afghanistan, première partie et deuxième partie (DVD 3)Article reçu dans les temps et bien emballé. Bon rapport qualité / prix et obtenu avec une réduction.Je recommande cet article.Si ce commentaire vous a intéressé ou s'est avéré utile, cliquez sur « oui ». Ça fait toujours plaisir de se savoir utile et/ou lu.

Diese Serie ist ein richtiger Knaller. Actionreich und brutal. Sexy und tabulos. Jenseits aller Konventionen räumen zwei weiße 007 Machos unter Arabern und Afrikanern auf. Trotz aller Übertreibungen bleibt die Story stets glaubhaft und spannend. In bester James Bond-Craig Manier zeigen hier die Briten/SAS, wem die Welt gehört - nur alles eine Stufe härter und nackter als bei 007, aber vom Actionniveau und weltweiten Schauplätzen durchaus vergleichbar. Eine gelungene Besetzung sind Stapledon/Winchester.

Informar a quien le resulte de interés que la presente edición (Alemania-ASIN: B008CXJB8O) incluye Inglés, Francés, Alemán y Español Latino, en lo que a Audio se refiere. En el capitulo de los subtítulos, están los ya citados idiomas, (el español también es español latino) además de otros muchos. En la ficha técnica de Amazon no indica que haya subtítulos en español.Y dicho esto, me gustaría añadir dos comentarios:1) Que puesto que Amazon tiene la pésima costumbre de mezclar todos las reseñas publicadas sobre un mismo producto sin discriminar la edición de la que se trata (DVD, BR, Edición UK, Alemania, España, etc.), todo en el mismo saco, al no haber modo, por tanto, de saber a qué producto en particular se refiere cada comentario, deberíamos nosotros, los interesados, incluir siempre la referencia ASIN en el comentario.2) Tenía la esperanza de que, al tratarse de una edición europea, el español del audio y/o de los subtítulos fuese español/castellano; pero, como ya he dicho, lamentablemente no es así. Lo cual no deja de sorprenderme. Suelo comprar películas y/o series en EEUU que incluyan español al menos en los subtítulos; allí siempre es latino, pero entiendo que tiene su lógica, dado el inmenso mercado latino estadounidense. Pero que películas/series editadas para Europa no incluyan español/castellano es una vergüenza y un despropósito, que sólo puede explicarse a partir del país de auténtico sainete en el que España se ha convertido. ¿Alguna vez hemos dejado de serlo? No somos 'nadie' en el mundo, ni siquiera en Europa. Y éste es otro síntoma más. Y, desde luego, que seamos uno de los países con más pirateo del mundo, en el que uno casi siente vergüenza cuando confiesa que ha comprado legalmente una película o serie (en vez de piratearla) mientras que los que sí piratean alardean de ello, no ayuda nada en absoluto. Que éste sea un país de golfos y pillos (y además le haga a la mayoría mucha gracia creyéndose los más listos del planeta) ha de tener sus consecuencias: el desprecio cada vez mayor hacia este país por parte de las grandes productoras. Cada vez más desearía haber nacido en países como Alemania, Francia, Reino Unido, Suecia, Noruega, Suiza... Y, la verdad, encuentro esto tan triste como decepcionante.Nota: Aún no puedo pronunciarle sobre la serie porque no he comenzado a verla. He leído buenas críticas y espero pasarlo bien con ella.

While this series has some glaring flaws and inconsistencies, that doesn't stop me from loving it. Let's start with the problems. Virtually every episode has one or more shoot-'em-up scenes with a massive body count, often of a dozen or more, and the sequences are pretty much set up like the violent shooting video games that young people have been playing for the past 20 or more years (I assume it's thus being marketed to that audience). Also, there isn't much analysis of why the bad guys are THAT bad, and sometimes, the rationale can be pretty superficial - I thought this to be particularly true at the end of (North American) season two, though I'll offer no spoilers on that one. Finally, unlike, say, Game of Thrones, where "anyone" can die, we can feel pretty confident that the two protagonists are going to make it to the end of the season, so long as there are no problems with their contracts, or they don't drop this show to take on something even bigger (and this one is pretty big, mind you).Now, on the positive side... It goes without saying that Philip Winchester as Stonebridge and Sullivan Stapleton as Damien Scott are absolutely inspired. This is a buddy show, and these two guys are perfect buddies in that time-honoured tradition - with Winchester the "straight" guy and Stapleton the "loose (but dependable) cannon." They are also allowed at times (never for long) to have fun, and that element of intermittent delight was never written into the (earlier) UK season one (see my review of Chris Ryan's Strike Back). As to the production budget, it's obviously of good size, and thus we are able to travel the world (literally) with our protagonists. The screenwriting is excellent, the dialogue regularly engaging and deeply insightful, and the soundtrack/music are state of the art - outstanding. The same goes for the cinematography/camerawork, and the Blu-Ray picture is crisp and clear (you will not get that in UK season one, which is equivalent in terms of the competency of its actors, but produced on a much lower budget). Finally, it should be obvious from what I have written that these are characters you will care about (Mr. Stapleton sustained a head injury in Thailand earlier this year, and I'm concerned for him in the same way I would be for a friend).... but, more than that, these are characters who will teach you about yourself and the world: that is, they often face moral dilemmas, and are able to handle them in such a way that it is necessary to reflect on one's own life and choices, and how we might measure up in the same circumstances. The moral dilemmas feel VERY real - they are not staged or strained, and the actors are at that highest level, in that they have the ability to take us to the unexplored places of our own lives.In conclusion... this series (originating in the UK) was a surprise. I hadn't heard anything about it until seeing the first season blu-ray on display one day while shopping. So I'll rate this one my "lucky find of the year." (Last year, my lucky find was Orphan Black, so I think my standards are reasonably high.) If you can handle the extremely high body count, you will be rewarded with every episode. There is very little time wasted at any point in this series.

Les commentaires étant communs aux différentes éditions, celui-ci concerne uniquement l'édition blu-ray.Action, guerre et espionnage. Si vous en êtes amateur, la série Strike Back est incontestablement faite pour vous. Chaque saison apporte son lot de rebondissements, de scènes d'action maitrisées et haletantes, de poursuites, d'armes, de méchants, de menaces et de sexe.Elle ne cherche jamais à s'étirer en longueur, ce qui est également probablement dû au budget, chaque épisode étant relativement couteux.On prend vraiment beaucoup de plaisir à suivre cette 4ème et dernière saison.Au niveau de l'image, pas de problèmes, c'est parfait. Pour le son, la VO est en DTS HD-MA 5.1 tandis que la VF est "seulement" en DTS mais 5.1 quand même et il faut souligner sa qualité. Sachant que les épisodes sont très fournis en sons divers et peuvent parfois être bruyants, il fallait que ce point soit à la hauteur, ce qui est le cas.Guide des épisodes:Thaïlande, première partie (Épisode 1)Thaïlande, deuxième partie (Épisode 2)Thaïlande, troisième partie (Épisode 3)Thaïlande, quatrième partie (Épisode 4)Corée du Nord, première partie (Épisode 5)Corée du Nord, deuxième partie (Épisode 6)Autriche, première partie (Épisode 7)Autriche, deuxième partie (Épisode 8)Suisse, première partie (Épisode 9)Suisse, deuxième partie (Épisode 10)Si ce commentaire vous a été utile, c'est super et merci d'appuyer sur OUI ci-dessous.😜