Product Details

• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Questar
• DVD Release Date: October 10, 2006
• Run Time: 540 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GNOGDI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,094 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars for Reporting Miracles - 1 Star for Repeating Stories, May 27, 2008

By 

Ms. Casillas (America) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Against All Odds - Israel Survives: The Complete First Season (DVD)

As a believing Jewish person, I wish so much that I could give this 5 stars without reservations, but I cannot. The video itself is well-made, complete with re-enactments and credible eyewitness interviews. The G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob truly is on Israel's side.

My first and major gripe is that it repeats segments A LOT! There are about 6 DVDs, but if one were to delete the repeated segments, it would amount to about 2 DVDs of great video. I wish they had done just that. Buy it used or at discount and you'll get a great video set. Otherwise, I cannot justify the retail price for videos that repeat over and over again.

Also, the video's subtitle, "The Complete First Season," makes it appear to be a drama. It's not; it's a documentary-style video.

128 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Modern Day Miracle of Israel Documented, February 10, 2007

By 

kone "kone" (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Against All Odds - Israel Survives: The Complete First Season (DVD)

When the Roman General Vespasian and his son Titus smashed the city of Jerusalem and burned King Herod's (the Jewish) Temple, the Israelites (the Jews) ceased to be a nation. Those that survived were dispersed into the far reaches of the Roman Empire, a typical fate of any population that rebelled or defied the Roman government. The thinking was that a dispersed people would never again organize to rebel, and that they would cease to be identified as an ethnic group. Time alone would absorb them into the existing culture and forever erase their unique identity.

But is was not to be.

Israel returned as a nation on May 14, 1948, and many consider this to be a modern-day miracle. The reestablishment of Israel and its many battles with its hostile neighbors Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, are documented in this 13-part series by Michael Greenspan. Greenspan uses each episode to document whether a "miracle" may have taken place in certain events in Israel's history. He documents Hitler's Holocost and how this led to international sympathy for a Jewish state. He shows how the British Empire tried to suppress the establishment of the new state of Israel, and how the Jews drove Great Britian out of Israel. He documents in horrific detail the life of an Israeli woman spy who was captured in Lebanon and tortured in prision, and then later miraculously released (my favorite episode). Greenspan tells the story of the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948, the 1956 war with Egypt and Syria, the 6-day war in 1967, and the surprise Yom Kippur war of 1973 where Israel was saved at the "last hour" by President Nixon's arms shipments. All these wars stories are told from the perspective of certain individuals who encountered "miracle" conditions.

This is a compelling documentary. It is very well-done, mixing documentary information with dramatic reenactments of historical events. Greenspan does not directly answer his question of miracles, but leaves this up for the viewer to decide.

For anyone interested in the history of modern-day Israel, this is a most enlightening documentary that has faith implications as well as rich historical information.

I have enjoyed this series so very much, and have shared it with my friends. I intend on using it for a future Sunday School Class, as I believe that God has been, and is continuing to, supernaturally intervene in the history and future of the country of Israel.

Highly recommended.

kone

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All About God's Plan, April 18, 2007

By 

Quilmiense (USA/Spain) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Against All Odds - Israel Survives: The Complete First Season (DVD)

This is not fiction: one has to be reminded every now and then of this, because these stories are just unbelievable (if they weren't true).

13 episodes of 25 minutes plus an extra feature film. One would have wished each story had been developed more extensively. Each episode could well deserve more than an hour for us, people, to fully comprehend the amazing facts in the stories. There is an excess of emphasis, on the part of the narrator, on whether or not these are miracles; which I think detracts from the stories themselves. The stories of Israel's survival tell themselves.

I personally don't like reenactments and prefer to use my imagination fueled by a good narrator. I would have preferred a more quiet and deeper presentation of the facts, but we have to be thankful for whatever we have. CNN Investigator Michael Greenspan takes us through the stories by means of interviews with the very protagonists, and by reenactments.

In episode 1 tank commander David Yaniv "recalls how he and his men were miraculously saved when a mysterious wind exposed thousands of explosives in the minefield in which they were stranded." This one leaves you with your mouth open, speechless.

In episode 3 the investigator interviews 85-year-old Shula Cohen, who tell the story of how she became a spy for Israel. Her whole story is a series of miracle after miracle. The reenactment is alright, but if you were interviewing this lady you would have certainly asked her more questions. That only interview is worth a million dollars.

Episode 4: WWII & the Holocaust in 24 minutes... what a rush!

Episode 5: 1947, Israel in the making, and an interview with veteran freedom fighter Ezra Yakhin, another great testimony.