Customer Reviews

Victory at Sea 1-6 (6pc VHS): The Most Famous Award Winning Historical Drama of World War II: Special Collectors Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Probably the most extraordinary documentary of World War II ever produced for television, the original 26 episodes of "Victory at Sea" have been collated into six VHS tapes. To own the original 26 volumes on individual tapes is a collector's treasure indeed. Virtually impossible to find in that format and, if you can find it, good luck on the price!

Starting with "Prelude to War," each episode of the series focuses on a distinct naval engagement or campaign in the Second World War. Captured enemy film from various Axis sources enhances the vast collection of U.S. Navy and other Allied and private sources used to compile each episode. The narration by Leonard Graves is superb and the writing for the narration is equally prominent. Narration is always just right and never excessive allowing the viewer to relish the award-winning musical score with its familiar and sometimes haunting refrains. Three long-playing recordings of the original soundtrack and variations thereof from the series were released in the heyday of "high fidelity" recordings. Soundtrack CDs are currently available for those who enjoy the music as much as the video images.

All footage is in black and white and there are some technical "deficiencies" for the purists among the viewing audience. However, considering the series made its television debut in 1952, the historical accuracy, content and balanced perspective are truly remarkable. In the episode centered around the climactic naval and island battle for Okinawa, Leonard Graves describes the kamikaze threat to the U.S. fleet off the island as a "duel between gunners who fight to live and pilots who fight to die." There is no judgment of kamikaze fanaticism a mere seven years after the end of the war. Episode after episode, it is a factual account of what occurred on the vast oceans and seas of the world without political inclination of any sort.

"Victory at Sea" is a true classic documentary of American television with the bonus of one of the most enduring soundtracks of any film presentation of any kind. It is a mandatory addition to the video library of anyone interested in World War II -- especially all aspects of the war at sea. Selections from the series should be used to educate the youth of the nation in the secondary schools to convey the scale and sacrifice of so many six decades ago.

The combination of Richard Rodgers music and Henry Salomon's direction makes this 26 part series the ultimate documentary of the Second World War, beginning with Hitler's U-Boats versus Britain in the Atlantic and ending with the war's termination, Japan's surrender and American/Allied servicemen landing back home. Leonard Grave's narration is superb as he intertwines his descriptions with Rodgers music to capture the war at sea, in the air and on the ground in theaters as diverse as North Africa and the Mediterranean to Dutch Harbor, Alaska and Okinawa in the Pacific. The music scores richly describe the national aspirations of both the Axis and Allies, and the film collected from diverse sources is used to paint a vivid and at times, painful picture of total war. Beneath the Southern Cross, the Magnetic North, Mediterranean Mosaic and the Pacific Boils Over are just a few of the episodes contained in this documentary. Victory at Sea is unmatched in showing the role of seapower in accomplishing victory over Germany, Italy and Japan. Perhaps it can be described as propaganda in the view of some, but not to this writer. It is the finest documentary describing war ever made.

Buyer beware! The newer DVD set of this FABULOUS series is not up to the quality of this VHS edition. The DVDs are made by the History channel, and the sound quality is awful. This older VHS version, produced by New Line features (although on tape) has a much finer sound quality and even the video isn't that bad, compared to the lousey transfer of the DVDs.
These are still the finest chronicles of war footage AND narration that have been made of WWll, in my opinion. Try to get thru them without tearing up at the human sacrifice and bravery.

UPDATE: Mill Creek Entertainment now has a 3 disc DVD set for UNDER $10.00 with all the 26 episodes. I have compared them side by side PIP on my TV....Identical prints as the VHS tapes, only slightly sharper on the DVD's. Sound quality same as tapes, Great bargain!

The first reviewer missed the point of this great series. All military documentaries use representative footage to illustrate events since not all battles were fought with cameras running at just the right spots (even today's high-tech news casts often use file footage to fill gaps). "Victory at Sea" displays the massive effort the U.S. made to win WW II on a global scale. Nothing like this had ever been done before. It was truly "the greatest generation" both at the battlefront and the homefront. We should ask ourselves if we could muster the same courage and spirit if needed? As the eminent historian of the American West (our great achievement of the 19th century) Bernard De Vito has said "All Americans should watch Victory at Sea once a year, and members of Congress should watch it twice."

After nearly fifty years, "Victory at Sea" remains the finest documentary series ever. It is entertaining and informative, and the care that went into producing it is evident at every turn. Highly recommended.

A complete set of the most historic and realistic filming that will ever be produced of World War 2. This is not viewing entertainment, but rather recorded history of one of the darkest and survival challenging periods in America and the Free World's struggles. Historic in content with a salute to America's Greatest Generation.Film History collectors, find a place for this great set. A world of caution; The VHS set is complete with clear viewing filming and a sound track as filmed in 1950. Several DVD reproductions are reported to been very bad on product quality. I would recommend buying the VHS series and avoiding any of the DVD repros.

Five Stars ***** This VHS video set is the Preeminent Standard, when it comes to the "Battle of the Atlantic" and the "War in the Pacific" It "sets the bar so high", no other video history of the Naval Conflicts of WW II can come close. Beware!!! There are several DVD versions of this Series Floating around in the Internet Market, the Majority of them have serious issues with the audio quality.

I have only one regret and that is that I didn't buy the DVD set instead of VHS. This is great entertainment and great history. This and World At War series were the best I've ever seen and I'm pretty old. I was glued to the TV as a kid when this thing was on real TV. The fantastic music, naration and filming brings back not only the events but the feeling and mood that goes along with the times. The way our history is being rewritten by the people who are ashamed of the way things really happend in some of our more modern adventures could take a lesson from this series. Great set. Almost makes you feel embarrassed for what you watch on TV these days.

The extravagant praise reaped by ``Victory at Sea'' in the early '50s turns out to have been overdone. But in 1952, it was not possible to watch all 26 episodes together. Now we can, and we see that the same film clips are used over and over -- obviously some of them misrepresenting themselves. Without source documentation, I cannot demonstrate it, but it appears some clips shown as from the early years were actually shot as late as 1945. Furthermore, the series glosses over Allied reverses. The ``Guadalcanal'' section is particularly bad in this respect. The explanation for the Marines' lack of equipment in the early days is simply dishonest. The Battle of Savo Island -- surely a pivotal event in the naval war -- is mentioned, quickly, in a list of other battles; but nothing is said of its significance. Great propaganda. Lousy history. Wonderful Richard Rogers score.

Excellent documentary of World War II. Told from the viewpoint of America; therefore surprising it does not rise to the level of jingoism. If You never knew anything about key battles of the war You will now.