Customer Reviews

Gallipoli

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This DVD is technically very well made. It gives insight into the WWI mindsets of the English and Turks. The personal notes from participants on both sides of the fighting are read, "Ken Burns" style, which makes it all the more human and credible. It is much more informative than the popular movie of the same title, which is often shown on cruise ships as they pass the area.

This ia a very well written, edited and photographed film about one of the great "What If" Battles of the First World War. I frankly thought it was really the only imaginative plan put forth in that war. I think that if it had been properly supported and led by The British it could of been pulled off. But instead it was treated as a sideshow and the Brits tried to do it on the cheap. So it was doomed from the start.
Altogether well worth the coin and time to see if this is your forte of History.

I have watched many films on Gallipoli, both features and documentaries. Nothing comes close to having the sustained emotional impact of Tolga Ornek's modern masterpiece. The narrative is based on the diaries and letters of 8 allied soldiers and 2 Turkish soldiers. Gelibolu (the Turkish title) focuses on the shared suffering and sacrifice by both sides in the disastrous Dardanelles campaign. The similarity of this ill-planned invasion of a Moslem nation over 90 years ago and our current situation in Iraq is uncanny. I highly recommend this title.

Since Churchill is one of the most over inflated personalities of the twentieth century this presentation could have elaborated on his pitiful role in executing this foolish battle plan.

Seems similar to the wild and very out of the ballpark forecast of Wolfowitz and the Iraqi invasion of 2003, in that it would pay for itself.

Aside from those similarities, this program demonstrates how awful war is yet the pristine soul will never really understand the appalling nature of it all, but nevertheless this was well put together and should educate rather than provoke idiots to fight for ignominious pride.

Moreover, it is well balanced in displaying the hard lot that fell the Turkish soldiers. The conditions were even worse for them yet they fought on to defend their country to the last man if necessary.

Well done. If you are a scholar or merely a fan of history, this story of Gallipoli is well done and should meet all of your expectations!

A superb documentary of the old style "murder war" as it was sometimes derisively called at the time by Lawrence of Arabia. 120,000 dead in one brief campaign. The British thinking the Turks would be "over-awed" by a display of British naval power and would immediately surrender; Britain blissfully dreaming of a "cake walk," estimating that few troops would actually be needed, ignoring their own intelligence, which stated that plans for such a campaign were "much to be deprecated" and would lead to serious losses. Forgeting how hard simple men will fight the aggressor on their home soil. (Rumsfeld and Cheney never saw this one, I suppose.)

Brits, Australians, New Zealanders, and Turks all heroically following orders to certain death.

This documentary is far from an effort to glamorize war, but listening to the positive impressions of the Turk soldier gives one a far different impression than T.E Lawrence presented in that era. No mention of the Turk's serial crimes against humanity in Armenia or Syria or even against his own enlisted men, only five percent of whom were literate; but, one could not expect those events to be worked into this fine documentary on a single campaign, a documentary which at times attempts a "feel good" atmosphere of honor between equally admirable enemies on the battlefield. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. As one of the soldiers present wrote home, "Better a mechanical smile than a worried face; worry does a man no good."

I have visited Gallipoli twice for a number of days (over 12 years) and have found the battle fields the most moving and sad, as well as so wasteful of human life (equal to the carnage of the Western front) ....of the many war sites I have visited ... and these include Culloden, Isandlwana.
"Gallipoli" portrays for the first time in any depth the Turkish side of the 1915 debacle, showing the depth of feeling and commitment by the Ottoman army in defending their country from a hopelessly led coalition.
Both sides are shown in intimate detail including the hell of the trenches, the letters home, the hopeless conditions,the sickness, and the pathetic leadership of the English led allies. The courage and determination of the Turkish forces under Mustafa Kemal is detailed.
This fine (Turkish originated) documentary is the best so far of a fascinating episode of WW1 that could easily have changed the course of the war... and should have !!

The historic footage (minus Mel Gibson) still very engaging. Would have loved more info on Ataturk. One of the interesting sidebars of WW1.

GALLIPOLI by J. Irons and all of the supporting producers have done a marvellous job in creating one of the most objective and factual historical account of the GALLIPOLI battle which resulted in the loss of hundreds of Turkish, Australian and British lives during the difficult years of the OTTOMAN EMPIRE. This video is 100% history with no theatrical tones.
It is part of a long Turkish battle against invaders which could be classified as a British Crusade against the Ottoman Empire to control the militarily critical BOSPHORUS STRAITS connecting the Black Sea with the Aegean Ocean. The grand architects of the GALLIPOLI battle against the Ottoman Empire caused unforgivable crimes against the Australian the ANZACS and the TURKS who perished in great numbers which resulted in beating the invaders. The great Turkish general who won this battle was ATATURK who also created the westernized modern TURKISH REPUBLIC.
I recomend this video to everyone who have a sincere interest in war politics and true history.
MS

One of the best documentary with both sides of the waring parties (Turks and ANZACs: Aussies & New Zealanders) expressing their experiences of this famous battle of the first World war. A must see if you're studying modern history. Note that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk commander the 19th Division attached to the Fifth Army during the Battle of Gallipoli became founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first president.