Customer Reviews

National Geographic - Lost Subs

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

 

 

I am a fan of the National Geographic series, but the poor quality of this relatively new issue was a deep disappointment. Rather than tracing the flaws in design, production, or emergency procedures through the evolution of the submarine (as I had expected), the documentary spent a huge amount of footage on filler, including a lengthy bit of fluff about the fun-loving antics of a current submarine crew. The facts that led to the demise or near-demise of each submarine were glossed over, while the camera dwelt at great length on the anguish of a few of the survivors. The incidents were presented nearly free of scientific content or historic context.

Lost Subs is a very interesting history of US and Soviet submarine accidents.It has some very clear film footage of the rescue of 33 men from the USS Sqalus in May 1939 and also uses recreations and good CGI footage to tell the story.It also has interviews with survivors.There are stories on both American and Russian submarines such as the ill fated Russian Sub the Kursk in which days went by as doomed men were trapped at the bottom when a torpedo exploded.The story on the Russian K-19 is dramatic and differs from the fictional movie version. Eight heroic men sacrificed their lives by volunteering to go into the Sub's reactor to fix it,coming out vomiting and swelling up.They died a few days later and others died a few years later from the effects of this radioactive submarine.The sacrifice was to avoid a meltdown of K-19's reactor.The documentary also covers the USS Portsmouth and the USS Thresher,which like K-19 was sent out too soon when it was not ready and imploded at a great depth after a power failure.The failure to rescue the men of the Kursk is followed by some dramatic footage of a grieving Russian mother confronting some Russian officers.This 54 minute and 35 second DVD also has a map detailing where and how the subs were lost.It has written and voice details with the map with all the details about the subs.All in all,a dramatic retelling that won't put you into a hurry to go down into a submarine.

In comparison to other national geographic documentaries, I found this one came up short on the investigative side. I felt that this particular DVD was not as in depth as it could have been. I was a little disappointed with this particular DVD,having said that, I still enjoyed this particular edition to my national geographic library.

This film follows in the tradition of the other shipwreck films that NG has produced. Information about the subs, films of the wrecks when possible, interviews with family members, are all interwoven into a good story. My only complaint is that they only picked a couple of subs and could have done a lot more.

Captions for "Lost Subs" were, at least, attempted, unlike "Pearl Harbor," but they weren't very good. Many of the captions were cut off, much like typing off the edge of a page, which ruined much of the legibility. Otherwise, it was a good production with plenty of extra stuff.

(1) it is difficult to write reviews when you fail to accomodate visually impaired people and refuse to create a space where they have control over the font size

(2) What can you say bad about anything the National Geographic produces but this was an especially interesting DVD and have watched it several times

(3) you could say the bad thing about this is that there was not enough of it!

(4) In some cases the background music interfears with your ability to hear the voices. Give us the options to turn the music off

At this point in time, I believe that only a fraction of the history of submarines has been written. One thing that is not a Cold War secret by any means, however, is the fact that being a submariner is a dangerous job indeed. If something ever goes wrong, your odds of surviving the crisis are very low. This documentary looks back on four such disasters, two American and two Russian/Soviet. Remarkably, a number of men lived to tell the tale of two of them.

The documentary opens and closes with the Kursk disaster, which was still a fairly recent event when this video was released in 2002. Most people are familiar with the Kursk, as it was a huge international story - made even more memorable by the initial attempts by the Russian government to downplay the severity of the accident (and with it the embarrassment of losing the most prominent sub in their navy). All 118 men onboard died, 23 of whom could have been saved if Russia had accepted international offers of assistance in the immediate aftermath of the accident. A second Russian (Soviet) sub also makes the list, and that would be APL K-19, also known as The Widowmaker. Having narrowly avoided a collision with an American sub weeks earlier, K-19 fell victim to a radioactive coolant link. Unable to send any distress signal due to a damaged antenna, many onboard survived thanks to eight heroic volunteers who exposed themselves to deadly radiation in order to rig up another cooling unit. This documentary states that these men knew they were accepting a suicide mission, but I have read other sources that say the men were not informed of the danger.

The other two submarine disasters chronicled here are American. One of them, the USS Thresher in 1963, remains the deadliest sub disaster in history. The Thresher was lost during deep-diving trials when a valve failure ultimately led to a nuclear reactor shutdown. There was never any hope of saving the 129 men onboard this sub because it literally imploded after sinking below its maximum depth. The story of the USS Squalus, which sank in 1939, is not so tragic a story, as 33 of its men were rescued (some 30 hours after the accident) by the brand new and untested Momsen Chamber (or McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber). All these decades later, it is still the greatest submarine rescue in history.

This documentary doesn't attempt to analyze what went wrong in these four submarine disasters, but it does offer a very good overview of the events themselves. It also makes you respect all the more those men and women who risk their lives for months on end inside these gigantic tin cans in service to their country. As the Cold War secrets of submarine warfare continue to be released, I believe we will have more and more reason to honor all of the men of the silent service - but especially those who never got to come home.

"Lost Sub"Series from National Geographic.
Which one is better between Human Right
or Patriotism? !!!!!


"Saving crews, As soon As possible" is vital benefit compare with
"Seeking,by their own techniques first,but in failure,then seeking
other's help without benefit of Patriotism !
1) USS Squalus(SS-192): on23,May,1939, a Diesel-Electric oriented Submarine
sunked to depth of 243feet(74m). Cause: Flood of Aft.Torpedo Room Compartment
due to damage of Engine Valve. with in 39 hours of vigorous effort,All of
33 Crews were saved.
2) USS Thresher : 10,Apr,1963,On Post-overhauled.trial,This Neuclear-engined Sub.,
go into deep dive test accompanied with Submarine Rescue Ship.
during test,By the Under Water Telephoe Communication,Repoting with garbled
noise,"Minor Difficulties"-inspite of "Emergency Blow"- No more communication.!
Emergency localization,destroyed, separaed imprtant parts of Submarine was found
under depth of 2,600m,at Bottom of the sea. after possible all death of 129 officers,
crews,and military and civilian technicians.Few days later USN officially disclosed
with citatios(QUOTED from Wikidemia Encyclopedia)
3) Soviet nuclear Submarine K-141. "Kursk": 12,Aug,2005, During Navy combined exercise,
Nucllear enginned OscarII class Submarine sunk at Barents Sea.
Cause of explosion was from explosion of Torpedoes in Torpedo Compartment
.-->Fire--> LAQCK OF OXYGEN-->Asphyxia--->Death.
**Soviet Government try to Rescue with 2 Soviet Rescue Vessel in vain(Already
spent 2 days in vain). 2 days later, From suggestion of help by USA,British
and Norway, finally Rssian governmet asked to Dutch companies Manoet and
Smit International. Among 118,all crews died( but there ,23 Crews, in Compartment 9
Showed evidence of longer SURVIVALS !--It Made lots of claiming Soviet Government's
Human Right !

Being a Navy veteran ( I didn't have my Dolphins), I am keen on Naval disasters, and I remembered the incidents related to this video. Like all National Geographic productions, it is top-notch. I wish it were even a bit longer, as this held my interest from credit to credit. I can watch this video more than once, and enjoy it, and learn from it. I heartily recommend this film for historians, those who love the sea, and those who see the drama and human interest involved with such happenings.

Terrific documentary. A great tribute to those who were lost.