Customer Reviews

Thunderbolts:Conquest of the Reich [VHS]

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Any P-47 fan will really enjoy this video. In fact, anyone with an interest in aviation or WW2 will find it compelling. I've seen quite a few WW2 aviation videos, and this one rates in my top 3. The other 2 are "Fei Hu" about the Flying Tigers, and "Wing and a Prayer" about the Ploesti mission.

It's all in color, and the quality of the film is outstanding. You'd never believe it was filmed almost 60 years ago. It covers the life of a 9th Air Force P-47 ground support group in the final few months of the war in Germany - from the Battle of the Rhine to the final collapse. Running throughout the wartime footage are recent interviews with former pilots. Their insights make the film fascinating. Some of the aerial sequences in this video have to be seen to be believed. Twisting, turning, down on the deck taking on all kinds of ground and air targets.

The video goes to great lengths to give the viewer a sense of the carnage on both sides. The chances of survival for these pilots was grim, given the profusion of radar guided anti-aircraft artillery. I believe it says 50% of the pilots in the film were killed, wounded, or captured in the 10 weeks after the filming was completed. The devastation they inflicted on the Germans was equally grim.

I thought this video might be the same as a DVD called "Thunderbolt". It is not. That DVD covers ground attack P-47's over Italy involved in "Operation Strangle". "Thunderbolt" is also a very worthy addition to your library. Hats off to the History Channel for an excellent production.

This documentary has been shown a few times on the History Channel, as a stand alone and as part of its "Color of War" Series. I wish this film could get wider, major network air-time (like Tom Brokaw's NBC). I think it's tremendous.

It's the story of the last couple of months of the European War through the eyes of combat pilots flying ground-attack missions with P-47 "Thunderbolt" fighter planes. It combines archival footage with recent filmed interviews with surviving veterans. The following make this unique and important:
1. The film is original color, and it is incredibly vivid. All of the archival material is color.
2. The film takes pains to show all of the key components of a successful fighter group, in addition to the pilots and their planes: the ground support team, made up of mechanics, armorers, ack-ack, drivers, and many others.
3. The shots of P-47's in action are stunning. Also, the gun-camera sequences are chilling and hair-raising.
4. The film, although it depicts the successful winning of the war in the final months, doesn't ignore the terrible costs inflicted on the pilots, and to the enemy as well. All of the terrible things from the end are shown, destroyed cities, concentration camp victims, displaced persons, etc., and all in unforgettable color.
5. This film successfully places the actions of the figher group into the big scheme of things - it is not just for aviation fans.

For me there is an especially poignant scene at the end of the film. It shows hundreds of men from the fighter group filing past the cameras. You see all emotions displaced on their young faces as they head on out to the rest of their lives. The old tune, "Long Ago and Far Away" plays in the background. You can't help but feel pangs of sadness as you know that many of these men, your fathers, uncles, teachers. etc., have grown old and passed on. However, this film is a fitting tribute to the men depicted, and all our WWII veterans.

I hope that this comes out on DVD, perhaps packaged with other History Channel episodes of the "The Color of War" series.

Most of the action footage shot during World War II was in black and white. This one is in COLOR! It is a documentary of the P-47 Thunderbolt in action over Germany. The film contains excellent gunship footage, especially of the aerodrome raids in April, 1945.

Near the end of the program, thousands of German soldiers are shown walking back to Germany in defeat. U.S. Airmen are filmed during the close of the war and are shown during the disbanding of their units.

The fact that this documentary is in color is what separates it from others I have seen. The vivid colors of the German country side, and of people, uniforms, and equipment bring a reality that black and white cannot duplicate. Having served seven years in Germany with the U.S. Army, I find that many parts of the country shown in the films look as though they were filmed yesterday. I highly recommend this video.