China Beach is set an American military base at China Beach, Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and follows the everyday lives and drama of those who work there. It takes the unique approach of focusing primarily on the women who volunteered for the war, in the support staff who try to make the lives of the soldiers better. The cast includes many recognizable TV faces, including Dana Delany, Robert Picardo, Michael Boatman, Marg Helgenberger, Concetta Tomei, Brian Wimmer, Jeff Kober, Troy Evans, Nan Woods, Ricki Lake and Nancy Giles.

It has taken 25 years for the series to finally be released on DVD, and I suspect much of that is probably due to music licensing—the hurdle that causes so many great older shows to never get released! However, Time Life has finally managed to release this China Beach complete series collection with that wonderful original ’60s/Mowtown music intact!

This 21-disc 25th Anniversary DVD box set of China Beach contains all 62 episodes of the series—the first time the entire series has ever been available in any home video format. It comes housed in a sturdy outer box that has a magnetic flap closure. Contained inside are standard size multi-disc DVD cases for each of the four seasons, another with a pair of bonus discs, and collector’s booklet. There are also some collectible dog tags attached to the front flap of the box set.

Currently this box set is only available online, directly through Time Life. However, seeing as each of the seasons inside are separately shrink-wrapped, each with its own UPC code, I suspect at some point Warner Brothers may decide to release the seasons individually. So with that in mind, I have decided to review each season separately and link those into this main review, along with a discussion of the box-set exclusive bonus features.

What’s Included in the Box Set:

SEASON 1 (3 discs) – Read Our Review

• All 8 episodes of the First (1988) Season
• Pilot Commentary by co-creator and executive producer John Scaret Young and director/producer Rod Holcromb
• China Beach—How It All Began
• Highlights From The 25th Anniversary Cast Reunion, December 12, 2012
• Interviews with Dana Delaney & Chloe Webb

SEASON 2 (5 discs)

• All 17 episodes of the Second (1988-89) Season
• Voices of War: The Real China Beach
• Interviews with Michael Boatman, Marg Helgenberger, & Robert Picardo
• Commentary on episode 12, “Vets”, by series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young, story editor Carol Flint, and executive script consultant Lydia Woodward

SEASON 3 (6 discs)

• All 22 episodes of the Third (1989-90) Season
• Interviews with Dana Delany, Nancy Giles & John Wells
• Deleted Scene from episode 13, “Souveniers”
• Season 3 Gag Reel
• Commentary on episode 13, “Souveniers”, by series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young, executive story editor Carol Flint, executive script consultant Lydia Woodward and Dana Delany
• Commentary on episode 20, “F.N.G.”, by series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young and Robert Picardo

SEASON 4 (5 discs)

• All 16 episodes of the Fourth (1990-91) Season
• Memories of War—The Lasting Impact of China Beach
• Interviews with Robert Picardo & John Wells
• Deleted Scenes from the season premiere, “Big Bang”
• Series Finale Commentary by series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young and Dana Delany

BONUS MATERIALS (2 discs)

• The 25th Anniversary Cast Reunion, December 12, 2012, Los Angeles, CA
  • Featurette—China Beach Reflections (30:03)
    The creators and cast reunite and reminisce about their China Beach journey. Includes interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
  • China Beach Origins (45:05)
    Roundtable Discussion with series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young, series co-creator William Broyles, Jr. director/producer Rod Holcromb and casting director John Levey.
  • The Legacy of China Beach—Roundtable Discussion (31:05)
    Roundtable Discussion with series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young, co-executive producer John Wells, writer/producer Lydia Woodward and director/producer Mimi Leder.
  • China Beach and the Vietnam War—Roundtable Discussion (30:49)
    Roundtable Discussion with series co-creator and executive producer John Sacret Young, writer/producer Carol Flint and writer Toni Graphia.
  • Cast and Crew Recollections (32:33)
    The cast and creators step up to the mike at the 25th anniversary reunion and reminisce about their time on the show.
• Interviews
  The creators and cast recall what it was like working on the series.
  • Michael Boatman (14:14)
  • Brian Wimmer and Jeff Kober (23:08)
  • John Sacret Young (9:26)
  • Nancy Giles (21:52)
  • Concetta Tomei and Troy Evans (25:15)
  • Chloe Webb (22:37)

COLLECTOR’S BOOK
The 36-Page “Tales from the Five & Dime” full-color collector’s book contains casting note, letters from vets and fans, and rare, archival production photos.

Final Thoughts:

For a show that’s 25 years old, it looks quite remarkable on this DVD set. While there is some occasional film defects, picture isn’t grainy. However, many of the nighttime scenes appear a bit too dark or washed out, and characters blend into the background. That said, the show probably looks about as good as it ever will—the DVD starts off with a warning that the best source materials available were used. As for the audio, it is certainly sufficient, but nothing notable. While it is a stereo track, I didn’t notice any specific use of separate left and right channels—everything pretty much sounds like it’s coming from the center channel. This was not really an issue—all of the dialog, music and sound effects were very clear.

Also impressive is the amount of new bonus material produced for this release, which includes featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes, gag reels and audio commentaries.

Since this is an expensive box set, I will need to watch more than the first season before I can give an overall recommendation, but from what I’ve seen, long-time fans of the series should be impressed by this release and shouldn’t hesitate to pick it up. Not only does the series look and sound better than ever, but the set also contains almost ten hours of bonus material. However, for folks just curious about the series, this first season is not currently available on its own, and spending $200 on the box set is quite an investment for a blind buy.

Update: As of September 2013, the first season of China Beach is now available separately in addition to being part of the China Beach: The Complete Series Box Set