Customer Reviews

Victory at Sea Deluxe Edition [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you are like me, you grew up watching "Victory at Sea" when it aired on TV back in the 50s. I can still remember the anticipation, as that big "V" appeared on the screen our our fuzzy GE TV. Back then a lot of what you'd see was static ... but what a show. Well flash forward fifty years. I just received this new Bluray version of Victory at Sea, and am delighted to report it looks and sounds great. This show really stands up as a "classic" and it should be, considering that incredible score and the deep narration that I can I guess call "poetic"? They don't make history shows with this level of craft anymore, certainly not on network TV that's for sure. I get chills watching parts of it, especially the "Conquest of Micronesia" episode which is very moving at the end. This Bluray is a huge improvement over the VHS tape version, and has commentary tracks to boot. My only disappointment is that I wish Dad was around to watch it with me, like we used to do.

A good documentary is no different from a good movie: it requires a good script, good actors and good direction. "Victory at Sea" is a classic documentary. The script, by Henry Salomon and Richard Hanser, is absolutely magnificent. It does not simply describe the action, but makes our hearts beat much faster because of the "punching" nature of the dialogue. Then there is the narrator, the actor in this case, Leonard Graves. The narrator of a similar documentary, "Air Power," was Walter Cronkite. He did an excellent job as a reporter describing the action. However, Leonard Graves does so much more. With him we are not watching the action, WE ARE THERE! The tone of his voice, and the way in which he presented the descriptions of the action put us right in the midst of the fight. We feel as if we are part of history because we were present as it occurred. An example which some may feel is a little depressing (war is not a walk through the park) occurred when he described the casualties resulting from the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Never before, in modern history, has a war begun with so smashing a victory...188 planes and most of their hangars demolished. The Japanese have lost 29 planes, 68 of their pilots and sailors are dead...one of the cheapest military triumphs on record. Suffering, agony, death. 1,178 men - wounded. 68 civilians - dead. 109 marines - dead. 218 soldiers - dead. 2,008 sailors - dead." Also, upon the return to liberate the Philippines, the soldiers were at "the baseball stadium. But another kind of game is being played now, where one error means out and death keeps the score." These were not just words. They were delivered with passion, feeling, sadness, and even tenderness when the scene required. One cannot help but share the grief while watching and listening to Mr. Graves. I could go on and on about the fantastic script and the magnificent delivery by Mr. Graves, but this is something that you must see and hear for yourself.
Richard Rodgers masterly conveyed the spirit of the action in music. But much more than just sharing the credit was Robert Russell Bennett who orchestrated and ARRANGED this massive score. He was an arranger of many Broadway musicals (including just about all of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals), and a composer in his own right. Pay special attention to the Guadalcanal March in Episode 6 and the string of marches for the nations put together at the end of Episode 26. There is a plethora of marches in this series which is apt because one often relates marches to the military, including those by such famous composers as Kenneth Alford, Eric Coates, John Philip Sousa and even Tchaikovsky. Richard Rodgers outdoes all of them. Each and every march is magnificent. The combination of Leonard Graves' narration and the superlative music completely engrossed me so that there was no way that I could "put the book down," so to speak.
"Victory at Sea" originally aired on television from October 26, 1952 to May 3, 1953. I viewed it several times as it appeared on television over the years. I subsequently purchased the PRE-Blu-ray package, but its quality was nothing to write home about. As much as I enjoyed the experience of watching these episodes, there was the limitation of the quality of the sound and picture as originally made. Remember, this was 1952, before the world of digital.
Of course, we must not overlook the direction. The 26 episodes were assembled from about 60 million feet of film obtained from United States, German and Japanese archives, and, I assume, additional footage from Italian, Soviet and other countries' archives. This was edited to about 61,000 feet for broadcast. Even in my wildest imagination, I would not be able to grasp the complexities of this process. To put this all together was a Herculean task, and a fantastic job it was.
Now this marvelous series is brought into the world of digital and Blu-ray. From the start, we must realize that most of these pictures were taken in the late 1930s and early to mid-1940s, and the recording was made in 1952. There is no way that either could be the equal of pictures and recordings that are being made today. Today's technologies were not available then. However, as stated above, the technicians substantially improved those pictures and the sound is much more than acceptable. Of just as much importance is the fact that neither the music nor the narration drowns the other out. Both are heard with extreme clarity, something which cannot be said for the PRE-Blu-ray DVDs. I think the technicians did a masterful job.
Television appearances of this series over the years have been interrupted by commercials, reducing the 26+ minutes of each episode to about 22 minutes. The present set is absolutely complete.
Each complete episode begins with the swirling sea and the V coming out of that sea from the distance, followed by the credits. We then see the name of each episode on the screen with Leonard Graves saying, in his inimitable manner, "And now, 'Design For War,' and now, 'Melanesian Nightmare,'" etc. We have just begun our journey.
The picture is probably 4x3, or 1.333, the normal size of most older movies, but my Blu-ray player increased the width to 1.419. I don't know if the picture is actually larger than 4x3, or 1.333, or it is just that my player gives it a little extra width. However, the fact that either way it is still less than High Definition width won't affect our viewing pleasure. Again, the quality of the pictures is marvelous, considering their age and how and where they were taken. Don't forget, besides their age, many of them were taken under extreme circumstances - in the midst of war. The black and white photography is so much more effective than color since color would modernize something that belongs in the past. The black and white emphasizes the darkness that war spreads over the world.
Just one more word about Leonard Graves. At the end of the second Episode, which involved the attack on Pearl Harbor, as we are viewing the massive destruction caused by the attack of more than 300 planes over a period of almost two hours, we are told that the United States has begun the huge task of rebuilding the fleet. He spoke the following line with utmost feeling: "In the ruins there is life." This was the beginning of the resurgence by the United States.
I really would like to have seen included with the DVDs a generous booklet describing the action and all of the work that went into the preparation of this documentary. The back of the box lists the names of the episodes, but there is little more. Of course, we have an excellent 36-minute commentary after the end of the 26th Episode which contains a great deal of detail and explanation. Also, if the first disc is put into the Blu-ray drive of a computer, one can see the original publicity booklet for the series with press releases. I may be behind the times, but my computer has a DVD drive, but not a Blu-ray one. I don't know how common the latter might be, but I am told that, for those without one, Periscope Film will post this file on the web in the near future. Therefore, there is no question but that I heartily recommend purchase of this series. If I have to use one word, it is fantabulous.
One last word - the United States is not perfect. All of us have one complaint or another, but Mort Sahl once said, "We all know that America is the worst country in the world, except for all the others." We exist today as a free democracy only because of the brave men and women who brought us through the perilous times of World War II. They are the greatest heroes of all time. We owe our existence to them.

I have the History Channel set, which is decent, and so I was hoping for a major image upgrade here. It's not. Marginally better, perhaps. What is MOST annoying - as other reviewers have mentioned - is the NON-REMOVABLE company logo in the LR corner of EVERY frame (it changes to their URL from time to time). This is their legal department's doing. I'm downing the Periscope set and will *never* buy another one of their products.

I just finished watching all 26 Episodes on the 3 disc set of Victory at Sea on blu-ray. Wow, what an amazing documentary series! I remember watching this series with my dad when I was about 12 years old and how much he loved it back then when it was on TV. It brings back so many memories. What's more, the series still feels new today. The music is just great, so epic! If you have never seen Victory at Sea, you really should.

Now the question: Is the blu-ray really worth the money? Simple answer in my opinion is YES. Here's why. On my big flatscreen, the picture is much much better than when I play those WWII DVDs I got from Costco last year. Not that the DVDs look so terrible, but this blu-ray is just more sharp. Why Costco (and Amazon) don't sell all these WWII films on blu-ray is beyond me. I mean they sell big screen TVs'. They sell blu-ray players, and then they just sell old movies only on DVD. Its make no sense. I hope they start selling more of the movies on blu-ray, and soon. I ain't getting any younger!

Also on this blu-ray was 2 bonus features: two audio commentaries from a Dr. Peter Rollins. They were really interesting. One audio commentary goes along with Episode 6 - Guadalcanal, and Dr. Rollins, a TV professor gives his comments about how the director and producer of the show made this episode. Its kind of an insight in the way TV was made back in the 1950's. The second commentary track is audio only and comes on the Disc 3. You shouldn't miss this one. A Mr. Spark interviews Dr. Rollins about the significance of Victory at Sea as a TV program for its time. Its really interesting and a nice surprise on the disc because I don't think Amazon or PeriscopeFilm really promoted it. But thanks!

I'm a huge fan of Victory at Sea. I own the music on albums and CD's. I have the series on VHS and DVD. I decided to treat myself to a Blueray copy. When it showed up I popped in in at once. Imagine my horror when I discovered that the company that produced the disks has added their logo, which occasionally changes to their URL, in the lower right hand corner of the video. Look, this annoys me when I see it on TV, and I sure am not going to buy a disk that has this trash on it. I returned them, as they are unwatchable.

One shouldn't have to be distracted by a constant Logo/Bug at the corner of the screen, especially after shelling out extra for a Blu-Ray Edition.

As many have stated, this version has a tremendous picture for the age. While not in widescreen, it has maximized the 4:3 aspect with a sharp picture. However, I felt other potential buyers should know about a few nits:

1. All screens have a soft cross-hair at the bottom right.
2. Every so many minutes the cross-hair turns into "periscopefilm.com".
3. Every episode closes with a forced FBI anti-copy warning.

While I respect there are piracy issues, having to have the picture they so well improved degraded by the constant flicker of advertising at the bottom right, and the annoyance of repeated FBI warnings (unlike one that typically covers the whole DVD/Blu-ray) very much detract from the experience.

The video content is decent, but well below Blue-Ray standards. In addition to the Axis, the other villian is the publisher, Periscope Films. Their marketing department seems to think it reasonable for their logo to be visible at all times. Even more annoying is that, just like the beloved FBI warning, the viewer is forced to watch promotions for other Periscope products before being allowed access the menu and thus the documentary.

The picture quality on this blu-ray release is definitely a step up from the DVD release, (which I thought was not as good as the VHS release), however Periscope films has elected to put an annoying video watermark in the lower right hand corner. It will change to PERISCOPE FILMS.COM then back to the periscope watermark. This is why I only gave it 3 stars. The content and quality of the picture is excellent though, and a worthwhile acquisition if you can ignore the watermark.

Victory At Sea is one of the all time greats. It's thirteen hours of raw footage from the front lines, accompanied by the compelling narration of Leonard Graves and that oh-so-familiar soundtrack by Richard Rogers. This Blu-ray version is simply priceless. It's one way to re-live classic television without any of that crappy "digital enhancement". This Blu-ray version has all the original film shot in period quality. Yes, that does mean it's not perfect but who wants to see this show colorized and "enhanced", not me! Sound is excellent with all it's great music intact, unlike the DVD copy I bought from "History Channel" a few years ago that was truncated and frankly an embarrassment. I see where other people are offended by the "bug" on this Blu-ray but it's tiny and not really distracting; when I compare it to what I see on TV all day long it's just nothing. Anyway in my book, this is a classic that is simply thrilling to watch on Bluray in all its original glory, emphasis on the "original".