Product Details

• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 4
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 30, 2000
• Run Time: 208 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767025733
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,560 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Great Blunders of WWII presents exactly that, the great errors of judgement that both the Allied and Axis forces made during the course of World War II. Broken down into 25-minute segments, this work covers some of the pivotal moments of the war, such as the Battle of Midway, Stalingrad, and the Battle of the Bulge, and how they contributed to the ultimate defeat of the Axis powers. History enthusiasts will already be familiar with the topics covered here, and the length of each segment hinders any in-depth exploration of the subjects, but the archival footage, some of it in color, is staggering. The DVD edition features four bonus segments. --Kristian St. Clair

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful but over-priced, May 25, 2005

By 

Leo "Katphish" (Norwich, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The History Channel's Great Blunders of WW II (DVD)

Great Blunders of WWII is a fabulous 2 disc set from The History Channel portraying some of the most memorable blunders made by both sides during the second world war. These blunders include: The German failure to destroy the allied forces at Dunkirk, Hitler's declaration of war on the U.S., The pilot who bombed London, mistakes of the Luftwaffe, Hitler's blunder at Stalingrad, The failure of the plan to invade Britain, Japan's mistakes at Midway, and a few others.

There's 8 roughly half hour episodes, plus an additional four "bonus blunders" (including the bomb plot to kill hitsler and the mistakes of the battle of the bulge) - a total of 10 episodes for over 5 hours of WWII blunder goodness.

The Series is Narrative in nature, using archival footage and occasional graphics for effect. Over-all my impressions are good, I've been a fan of the series for some time. The episodes are entertaining and accurate, however the short episode length means that detail and depth is sometimes lacking. Also another good point is that this series is still on History Channel and History International Channel fairly frequently - so the price seems pretty high for something you could easily watch on tv or record.

Also it's worth pointing out that this set was formed from the "Great Military Blunders" series and is merely a SELECTION of episodes related to wwII from that series. They left out quite a few episodes of the series that both pertain to the second world war and are excellent - that's really sad. An episode on the failure of the Maginot Line, an episode on Hitler's Invasion of the USSR, and an episode on the mistakes of Pearl Harbor come to mind as VERY noteable exclusions from this set. That really disapoints me. Im also sad to see the rest of the series seems to not be available on either DVD or VHS.

If you like history channel and are interested in WWII and the colosal blunders made during it's course, then this set will be very enjoyable - though the more you like it the more you'll wish they included the other related episodes and the more you'll wish each episodes was longer and went into more depth and detail about the blunders. But overall it's a great series, in an incomplete package, and it will be up to you to decide whether or not owning it on DVD is worth the pricetage.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story changes by coincidence., March 18, 2001

By 

asger juul (demark, europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Blunders of WWII [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A fantastic video which shows you what strange coincidence contributes to change to history of the world. Generals to privates - people at the right place at the right moment who fortunately made the correct interpretations of what they thought they new at historical moments. Everybody should watch these videos which shows us what could have happened if these persons have made other descicions.

asger juul,

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good way to learn WWII history, August 29, 2001

By 

Todd Bradley (Broomfield, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The History Channel's Great Blunders of WW II (DVD)

I learned a lot about World War II history by watching this series. The 2 DVD set consists of several programs that were created by the History Channel, and so each segment does have a definite "made for TV" feel to it. But each segment is also a nice easy-to-watch bitesize piece of history. I had hoped Netflix had this for rent, but since they didn't I ended up buying it. Unfortunately, it's the kind of thing I'll probably only watch once. But it's definitely entertaining and educational.