I had the fortunate luck to see this on a 1989 Saturday afternoon showing on Phoenix's,then,independent station KPHO channel 5 (now a CBS affiliate.) I had read the brief description in TV Guide and decided to give it a look. Being that movies shown this way then,were always scratchy faded and the sound somewhat muffled,it still didn't take anything away from this (for 1970) daring storyline.
Jan Michael's character is the ultimate anti-war,peace loving '60s hippie who'd like to be anywhere but in the military. He shows it by doing all he can to prove he's not soldier material. Jan should have stayed with movies and skipped doing a TV series,he's too good for that!
Earl Holliman (miles away from his co-starring role in "Police Woman"),is a great drill Sgt. who is at his wits end in trying to get this young man to "conform" to a military role. In one scene he is finally driven to bend down to Jan Michael and whisper,"You have to shoot etc..." in a way like an understanding father to his son.
It's often said of TV movies that they are badly acted,directed and come off with less depth than a theatrical release. "Tribes" is one of the handful of 1970's TV Movies that escapes that description,if these two main leads didn't win an Emmy,then that's too bad,their performances sure seem Emmy caliber. Buy it on DVD?...You bet I would! (END)
Jan Michael's character is the ultimate anti-war,peace loving '60s hippie who'd like to be anywhere but in the military. He shows it by doing all he can to prove he's not soldier material. Jan should have stayed with movies and skipped doing a TV series,he's too good for that!
Earl Holliman (miles away from his co-starring role in "Police Woman"),is a great drill Sgt. who is at his wits end in trying to get this young man to "conform" to a military role. In one scene he is finally driven to bend down to Jan Michael and whisper,"You have to shoot etc..." in a way like an understanding father to his son.
It's often said of TV movies that they are badly acted,directed and come off with less depth than a theatrical release. "Tribes" is one of the handful of 1970's TV Movies that escapes that description,if these two main leads didn't win an Emmy,then that's too bad,their performances sure seem Emmy caliber. Buy it on DVD?...You bet I would! (END)