Customer Reviews

Space Race [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2.4 Import - United Kingdom ]

5 star:		(4)
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This BBC program was broadcast in the USA by National Geographic. The four hour program, based on Deborah Cadbury's well researched "Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space", is very well done. It depicts the simultaneous efforts of the Russian/USSR Chief Designer, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev and the German/USA Rocket Scientist, Werner Von Braun, to send a man to the moon and bring him back safely.

Information about Korolev is so hard to find in the USA that I'd think this video would be welcomed here and readily available. Not so.

This DVD has been available since 2006 in the UK/PAL but not in the US/NTSC. Why is that? Do we need to depend on YouTube for everything? From what I've seen of it there, this is a top notch production. You can visit the National Geographic website for more information about the program. I emailed National Geographic as to product availability. They say it's not available. Why not?

BTW, I recommend James Harford's thoroughly researched "Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon" highly.

This is an amazing walk-through of the history of rocketry. I enjoyed this so much that I keep watching it over and over again. For those who expect real footage, note that maybe only 10% of the whole movie is real footage and the rest is actors playing the events of the period. For North American buyers, be careful since the DVD is European region and your DVD player might not be able to play it. Overall, accurately made and the narration is also very good.

This BBC produced docudrama displays its roots - the British apparently cannot get beyond the fact that Wernher von Braun was the mastermind behind the V2 program. I can't say I blame them, that's human nature, but it must be factored in by viewers who are not fully aware of the facts. After watching this program, an uninformed viewer would be left with the impression that virtually everyone working on the American program was morally, intellectually and patriotically inferior to their Russian counterparts.

Viewers will probably enjoy the drama but should take it cum grano salis.

This is a well done documentary about the race into space between the soviets and the United States. And since it is a British project, there is not the normal bias one might see. What is most interesting is the depth explored about the development and failures of the Russian technology. It is in PAL format and so to watch it here in America, you will need access to a standards converter.

The Space Race wasn't quite as one sided as one might believe. This series outlines the benefits of Capitalism over Communism but also shows serious flaws in NASA work to "get man to the moon before this decade is out".