Customer Reviews

Gun Camera Footage [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This television documentary is 45 minutes of black/white and color gun camera footage and newsreels taken from national archives of the US, Germany, and Japan (surprisingly, the Japanese footage is mostly shot from the ground with very little air-to-air filmwork). It is separated into distinct sections, so that footage from later in the war is put into historical perspective. I noticed that near the end of the film, the German and Japanese victims weren't pulling the sort of defensive maneuvers evidenced earlier in the clips, which is probably a good indication of the quality of pilots the Luftwaffe and Imperial Japan were forced to use late in the war due to attrition rates of its combat pilots.

The film is divided into "chapters", focusing on time period and theatre of combat, with the separations being introduced by vintage war newsreels. An excellent way to do the job. The film starts with the introduction of America into the battle over Germany, with Luftwaffe fighters chewing the tails off of B-17s and B-24s. This footage is accompanied by some of the most sombre music I've come across in this sort of video, and the producers were thoughtful enough to include the sounds of the guns and explosions as the German MG 17s and 20mm cannon tear into the bombers' engine cowls and crew compartments.

Anyone who has played an air combat simulation on a computer will thoroughly enjoy this film. I've certainly played my share of "Air Warrior" and can fully appreciate the maneuvers the pilots were making during their attacks. After watching the film, I promptly created 6 air combat training missions for "Air Warrior III" just so I could relive some of the footage for myself. This movie should be a staple in every armchair fighter pilot's library, right along with "Air Force", "Twelve O'Clock High", and "Memphis Belle".

They give you some histroical references to put all of the terrific footage into perspective -- but the footage -- WOW. Germans chewing apart our bomber. Then our own fighters coming to attack. I felt like I was there!

Like several other documentaries this one resorts to adding filler in the form of War Department films showing briefings prior to missions. While this is generally ok, this approach misses the point -- namely, showing gun footage. Scenes that were used are often excellent, but the quality of transfer appears to be poor. Obviously, such films would have severe lighting problems. What it looks like to me is a poor quality system was used for the transfer process. On the other hand, some of the music in the background was very good. There were many other film sources (e.g., Russian) that could have been added to make this an excellent film for those that are interested in aviation history. Too bad none of these were used.

I am the designer of one of the worlds best online flight sims. As such I have hours and hours of gun camera footage. I have to say this is a great collection, with good editing.

I fly a couple of online sims that model World War Two Air Combat. We always argue about the damage the different projectiles cause on different aircraft. There are engineers who research this data, ballistics experts, physics majors, former and current pilots.

Here is evidence of what the MG151/20 did, Evidence of what the .50 Cal did, what the Mauser 20mm did.

Watching the B-17s stand up under attack by the LW flyers is AMAZING.

Get the movie and compare the gunnery of the online sims to this footage.

I am in my first year of teaching and always on the look out for ways to get my students interested in US History. This video is an excellent tool to use in order to achieve this goal. Although the footage is raw and sometimes of poor quality, it is also REAL. The viewer is literally placed into the cockpit and is allowed to see what it was like to wage war from the air on a first hand basis. I showed this to my 11th grade students and it definetly held their attention. The only criticisms that I can offer is that the nararator sounds like John Wayne on helium and he makes some really "over dramatic" comments during the footage. (I couln't even begin to try and keep a couple of the guys from "cutting up" during the film). Also, the film is a little lacking on educational value as it does not offer any good backgroud information on the war. However, the film is a great way to supplement important information about the war and to allow your students to view the air combat experience in a way that no hollywood production could ever hope to rival.

The films are great as they are documentation from real life.
However, the producers fail to attach the film with any kind
of useful data: when, who, where? In most cases you can't tell
who is who. Is the shooter allied/axis and who is the victim.
If the producers had attached the date as text in films I
would have enjoyed them much more. Some films are from Europe
and others from Pacific. I did not find any shot from Eastern
Front. Surely there has been films taken? Besides that the films are unique and they are must for every air combat enthusiast.

AMAZING FOOTAGE , I DIDNT KNOW FOOTAGE LIKE THIS EXISTED. WELL PUT TOGETHER, LEAVES YOU WISHING IT WAS LONGER