Customer Reviews

National Geographic: The Search For the Battleship Bismark

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4 star:		(3)
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There are two worth-talking stories of German warships in World War II. One is the Admiral Graf Spee and the other is the Bismarck, pride of the German Navy.

Just like the Titanic, the mighty battleship Bismarck, built secretly, took a one-way ticket in his maiden voyage. Both ships are both found by Dr. Robert Ballard later thanking to modern equipments. The mission of the Bismarck was to blockade the British. After he sank the HMS Hood in a pretty short time, it caused a tremendous shock to the British and the Royal Navy was anxiously trying any way possible to sink him.

The style is similar to the DVD "The Battle of Midway" released by NG. Documentaries, interviews with survivors in that battle, and the progress of searching the sunken Bismarck interweave through this film. The going is smooth without redundancy.

I recommend this film to people who are interested in WW II history and battleships. If you like "The Battle of Midway" and "The Lost Fleet of Guadalcanal", both released by NG, you would like this, too.

It is to my surprise that no one has reviewed this DVD. I think it deserves better and so I wrote the first review of it.

This is a well-done documentary which one would expect to come from National Geographic. I really liked it and would recommend it to anyone.

Dr Robert Ballard, National Geographic and the U.S. Navy support teams do a fantastic job!!!

--This film is dedicated to someone who I believe is Dr Ballards son, Todd.
I believe his son is in this footage, assiting in the survey for the Bismark.

--Dr Ballard, Im sorry for your loss. I hope it finds a place in your heart that you shared your work with your son, and its preserved on film forever, on such a historical challenge.

The mix of historical footage, interviews with the remaining survivors of WWII that took part, well done folks!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this National Geographic special the highlights Robert Ballard's search for the final resting place of the German WWII battleship, Bismarck. This magnificent and deadly ship sailed into history on its maiden voyage during the spring of 1942. It gained legendary status when it sank the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Hood. It's legend was then sealed when the vast majority of Royal Navy ships were given orders to seek out and destroy the Bismarck before it could break out into the Atlantic and harass allied shipping there.

It is believed to have been the most powerful, and most technologically advanced warship of its day.

This National Geographic special tells the history of this ship in tandem with the telling of Ballard's search for its resting place. Robert Ballard gained international fame when we discovered the resting place of the Titanic, and he then turned his sights on the Bismarck.

The narration is good, and the historical footage of the Bismarck and Royal Navy ships add greatly to the telling of the story. Without that, the show would have little more to use than hours and hours of footage of muddy, soft sediment some 3-4 miles down in the North Atlantic, punctuated by the discovery of the ship.

Well worth watching for anyone with an interest in military history, or history in general.

4 solid stars. I'm glad I watched it.

The story of locating the Bismark seemed overshadowed by the story of its destructive powers and its destruction, not to mention an apparent death of loved of an expeditionary of this adventure. I believe it was the son of Dr. Ballard. You have my most sincere condolences for your tragic loss. From a historical perspective it was well done. The interviews of those taking part in its final moments made the story come alive. The ships themselves were as lifeless monsters and the crew as the blood that pushed them along. The story too, separated them this way. The editors in every way tried to keep any gore or other horrific scenes out of the film but I found one that slipped through. Somewhere towards the part where the Bismark was to get its final death blow, a few frames seemed to have been missed as they didn't appear to belong to anything that was going on at the time. The scene was one of a man whose head, torso and right arm were raised in terror as he was swept under a ship. This could only have been when the HMS Dortsetshire sped away at was reported as a German U-Boat sighting. It was 0:35 minutes into the clip as the torpedoes hit the water. Watching the few frames in slow motion was a dreadful sight. Other than that it was an interesting documentary.

my father in law has really enjoyed this dvd. i recommend you purchase this dvd for anyone who loves to watch war movies and documentaries.

I have developed a keen interest in WW11 Naval Battles and to hear first hand accounts puts me right amongst it. Those guys gave it and had to take it right to the bitter end, no matter what their beliefs or country of origin. The bitter courage experienced and to what end - has been displayed brilliantly by Robert Ballard in his quest to successfully locate the wreck of the Bismark and the wrecks in the Pacific. These are brilliant accounts which should never be foregotten.