Customer Reviews

Victory at Sea

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have been watching Victory at Sea since I was a kid. I seldom missed an episode when it was shown. Over the years I have taped the series two or three times but never got it complete. I have bought crummy VCR tapes. Worst of all I bought the A&E piece of junk. What an expensive rip off that is. Finally we have this one (Studio: Digital 1 Stop DVD Release Date: July 12, 2005 Run Time: 780 ASIN: B000A2XC7Q) BUY IT if you like Victory at Sea. The picture is very good and the music and narration are like you remember it. I don't think it has been remastered but that is a plus after being suckered into buying that A&E piece of crap.

As far as I can see it is complete and each episode is 26 minutes long.

I can remember watching "Victory at Sea" on Sunday afternoons on PBS, and I still enjoy seeing the rolling waves and hearing the distinctive music which made this series so popular. All 26 episodes of the original series are included on 3 DVDs. I don't think that the individual episodes have been re-mastered. Regardless, each episode appears just as it was when it appeared on television. From the U-Boat battles of the North Atlantic to the final capitulation of Japan, the viewer is treated to a very well-done and entertaining look at the naval battles of the second world war.

Although there are other versions of the "Victory at Sea" series available on DVD, I like this one the best because of the very reasonable price. Some of the other versions cost upwards of $50. The only drawback to this set is that the picture quality isn't as good as it possibly could have been. However, this is a minor point. Each episode runs approximately 26 minutes, and each is loaded with actual footage derived from over 13,000 hours of actual film shooting.

I give this fine version my highest recommendation. You'll get to re-live the series just as it was when it was on television. The rolling waves are still there, and the large "V" still appears at the end of each episode. Watch this legendary series and experience how the second world war was fought on the high seas.

The version for around $14 that Amazon is selling is not the full version - it has been abridged and this has not been made clear in the description of the item. I would rate it ZERO stars if I could.

I own the full set of this series on LD but wanted a set which could be taken on travel.

If you are on a budget then this version is OK, but for those of us who have watched it for years it is unsatisfactory UNLESS Amazon lists it as being abridged from the original. CAVAET EMPTOR.

This version of Victory at Sea appears to be a faithful reproduction of the original television program. While I have only viewed a few episodes, they are without distortion and of good visual and audio quality. This version was purchased through DVD Legacy/Lorsay, Inc., an Amazon Marketplace pariticpant. The $9.95 purchase price for all 26 episodes on 3 DVDs is an outstanding bargain.

I conducted a head-to-head comparison between the more expensive collection by the History Channel and NBC and this economy edition produced by Mill Creek Entertainment, and here's what I found: the picture quality is indistinguishable between the two sets (both appear to be digitally remastered), but the sound quality of the Mill Creek production is clearly superior. As other reviewers have noted, the music is too loud and the narration is too soft on the History Channel set; the viewer must constantly adjust the volume to hear Leonard Graves' voice-over and to avoid being blown out by the formidable Richard Rodgers score. Both come through crisp and clear--and at equal volume--on the Mill Creek discs.

"Victory at Sea" was an NBC TV series first broadcast in 1952 using combat footage and period films along with some re-enactments, which were obviously made within seven years of the war's end, so none of the source material was up to 21st-century standards to begin with. Hence, the picture quality is largely dependent on the original sources, which vary from fairly rough to roughly fair. The History Channel set features introductions to each episode by Peter Graves, which were added by the History Channel for its re-broadcast of the series and were taped on the USS Intrepid. This is the only extra you get with the History Channel set that you don't get with the Mill Creek edition.

This is NOT the same as the more expensive "Victory at Sea." I mistakenly bought this version for my father for father's day at Best Buy, thinking the low price must have been a sale price. Duh... He called a few days later to inform me that, while he didn't want to sound ungrateful, the quality was awful--grainy and blurry. I returned it and will replace it with the better, more expensive version.

Believe it or not, this version is far better than the one released by the History Channel two years ago! The reason I say that is this; The sound was terrible. You could not hear the narrator for the music and yet this series cost over $55.00 vice $10.00 for the one I am reviewing. I have always had good quality from Amazon and always will!!!!

. . . just watched this incredible series and while the eps are not pristine they are more than watchable and EVERYTHING is here, contrary to what another poster incorrectly implied. (Each of the 26 episodes has a running time of apprx. 26:20; do the math!)

Here is Victory at Sea, complete on two discs for less than $10.00--and the sound mix is fine.

I wrote this about the History Channel release of Victory at Sea, which was its first time on DVD and originally sold for nearly $70.00, making the disappointment even more acute:

"The sound on this DVD is terrible. It is not possible to hear the narration when the level is set for the music score. With the level set for the narration, the music track is too loud for the music-only passages.

"The narration on these DVDs, when you can hear it, sounds thin and reedy, as if it was fed through a telephone line.

"This problem has nothing to do with the age of the original material. I have Victory at Sea on laser disc. The audio on them is fine when played through my TV or through the same sound system that I use for DVD. The sound was fine on the VHS release. The sound has been consistently fine when the series was shown on TV over the years. And the sound, with Richard Rogers acclaimed score, was fine when the series first ran on NBC when I was a boy."

This release is just fine. Many of the episodes have a volume number superimposed on the title screen ("Volume 5" for instance). These supers also appeared on the laser disc release suggesting that both the laser disc and this DVD release of Victory at Sea were mastered from the same acceptable source. I'm very satisfied, pleased to at last have a decent copy of Victory at Sea on DVD.

I have viewed three copies of this Mill Creek Entertainment pressing. The first two were my original order and a replacement obtained from the midwest via the internet, while the third was purchased locally in New York State. ALL THREE had the same technical defects, as follows. DVD 2 suffered from much digital breakup and omitted about a minute near the end of Roman Renaissance. DVD 3 stopped cold as German soldiers were surrendering their weapons toward the end of The Fate of Europe.

Victory at Sea is one of the finest creations of the documentary art. Between Henry Salomon's script and Richard Rodgers's music I find it nearly impossible to view and keep my eyes dry. To offer it complete at this price must have had its cost in slipshod quality control. It really is worth purchasing an alternative issue that will serve the buyer well through many years of viewing.