Review: Tour of Duty

DVD: Tour of Duty (2015)

Major John Cafferty (Tahmoh Penikett) wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there or what happened to him and his team in their last mission in Afghanistan. The other members of his squad are just as confused and it’s not long before they begin to fall apart, whilst also suspecting the people who are supposed to be helping them, maybe doing more harm than good.

With the title Tour of Duty (aka Painkillers) I was expecting a full blown war movie but what I got instead was a well made science fiction thriller. A lot of the story is told through flashbacks which keeps you interested until the final act as the truth about Major Cafferty and his team is finally revealed.

The cast of relative unknown actors do well with the dialogue and all deliver strong performances despite the slightly hokey subject matter. Colm Feore is always good value but whenever I see him in a movie I can’t help but be suspicious of his character. Maybe he just has one of those faces?!

Despite what I would imagine was a relatively low budget, Tour of Duty has excellent production values and is well filmed. Director Peter Winther brings his experience of working on massive productions such as Stargate and Independence Day and lends the film a nice touch of class.

If I have a slight criticism it does feel like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone, but the story is intriguing enough to keep you entertained.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Tour of Duty and would recommend it to fans of the science fiction and thriller genre.

Review by Chris (co-host of 60 Minutes With and The Same Coin) from a disc kindly supplied by 101 Films.