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(More customer reviews)I purchased this box set when I was looking for color footage of WW II. However, when I got it in the mail, it turned out that these were documentaries made in the 1940s and most of them were shown in movie theaters as a tribute to the American troops fighting oversees and to get more people to enlist. When I learned of this, I was a little disappointed. After all, how good could 65 year old documentaries be, compared to the recent ones they show on the History Channel or National Geographic? The answer is: VERY. I own a lot of DVDs wth color footage of the Second World War but "World War II in Color" is by far the best of them all. Almost all of the action images of Allied fighter planes and bombers taking on Axis aircraft that you see in the History Channel's excellent "the Lost Color Archives" series are taken from the films you'll find on these discs. Most of the other color documentaries I've seen show amateur pictures taken by army officers or civilians that shot street images of marching soldiers, occupied cities or the ruined landscape and towns after the actual combat. Not so in this two disc box set. These pictures were shot by professional filmmakers who more often than not had earned their stripes in Hollywood or have had succesful careers in the movie industry after the war. The result of the life threatening risks they took to film this extrordinay footage is absolutely amazing.
John Ford's "The Battle of Midway" tells the story of one of the greatest sea battles in history. You see battle ships and allied fighters defend themselves against the relentless Japanese kamikaze attacks. Although this is my least favorite documentary, due to the rather silly sense of humour that is sometimes present, it does provide us with plenty of breathtaking color images of the courageaous American fighter pilots in their quest to gain control over the Pacific.
"The Memphis Belle" is my absolute favorite WW II documentary. It tells the story of an Allied bomber making its 25th and final flight across the English channel to wreak havoc on the German industry. We are shown how the pilots are debriefed: what flight formation they need to maintain, what their targets are, etc. We are introduced to the crew and are shown what it was like for these men to travel to enemy soil and how a bombing actually takes place. We witness some awesome aerial images of an entire fleet of Allied fighters and bombers, see the gunners fight off Nazi airplanes and the downfall of one of their own bombers, all while we are privy to internal radio communication over the intercom. The tension and anxiety is clearly present in the crew's voices but they still keep their head cool and get on with their jobs under life threatening circumstances. Afterwards we see the often damaged bombers return to English soil and witness the terrible images of men wounded in aerial combat and having their often crippled bodies taken care of by the medics.
"Report from the Aleutians" shows American forces fighting just as hard against nature as against the enemy. You see Allied fighters take of under the most dire circumstances and try to land wounded planes after the fight. This documentary may not feature the most impressive fighting images, but it does give us a good idea of what men had to endure on an island which has no peace time value whatsoever, since its harsh climate is unable to sustain human life, but wich became invaluable in wartime because of its strategic location. At the start of the War in the Pacific, this was as close as the Americans could get to Japan's home islands.
"Eyewitness to War" shows us who the brave men were who shot the images we see in World War II documentaries. This was actually a series of images shot and commented on by a professional film maker, hired by the US Army to shoot black and white pictures of the events from the Normandy landing to the fall of Berlin, so the military leaders could study their own tactics and improve them for future battles. The color footage you see was shot by the fillm maker with his own camera so he could show his family and friends back home what he witnessed in occupied Europe. We see images of the citizins of London who try to lead normal lives during the nightly bombings that occured every day, the boarding of ships and landing vessels bound for France, the Normandy landings and the soldiers' daily routines while fighting their way to Berlin with mention of the people in the film who did not make it back.
"The Fighting Lady" is a military documentary about airplane carriers during the War in the Pacific. We are introduced to the crew and get detailed information about the carriers themselves and what it was like to live inside them. There's a lot of footage of fighters taking off from the carriers and wounded ones trying to make it back. Some do and some don't, which provide spectacular pictures. There are also a lot of images shot by cameras that are mounted on the fighters' guns so we get a good idea of what it was like to engage enemy fighters and strafe Japanese airfields, with detailed explanation of what exactly is taking place.
"The 6th Marines at Okinawa" is a documentary about the capture of this Japanese island. Besides impressive jungle warfare images, it contains footage of the interrogation of POWs and striking pictures of an enemy soldier who has had to amputate his own leg to survive.
"The Last Bomb" tells of the fight of the American forces against the Japanese home islands. The documentary contains fascinating footage of dog fights with enemy planes, the bombing of Japan, some beautiful close-up shots of the P51 Mustangs and the B29 bombers in action and the drop of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In my opninion, this is a must have DVD box set for all World War II buffs. Especially if you like action shots of period American military aircraft, war ships, aiplane carriers, jeeps, tanks, halftracks and army trucks, you will not be disappointed.
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Item Name: World War II in Color; Studio:Timeless Media Group
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