Customer Reviews

WWII: War Chronicles The War in Europe [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

First, the good news. You get about 3 hours for about fifteen bucks. Some of the combat footage is incredible. And, the documentaries are enjoyable.

Now, the bad news. Video and sound quality are poor. This is not DVD quality. Video of studio shots (the announcer, maps, etc.) are blurry and appear to be a dub of a VHS tape onto a DVD. Sound on the first disc is gated to reduce hiss; unfortunately, this leaves the sound rather choppy and unnatural-sounding, and lacking in upper frequencies (which reduces the intelligibility of the voice-over). Sound on the second disc is thankfully not mangled, but instead there is noticeable tape hiss. Since it's almost all combat footage (sometimes jerky, sometimes not focused, often poor contrast) the poor video quality is not as much an issue, especially since the footage is edited in sections barely longer than a few seconds each -- you barely have time to focus on it before it cuts away to something else. As far as the sound, I would not be surprised if it was manufactured later with sound effects. And by the time you reach the last documentary, you begin to recognize some of the footage which they had already used for another battle.

Also, this is not a comprehensive history of the Pacific War, but a collection of 20-min. documentaries from the mid-'80's each covering a key battle or some other subject. At least they do generally have them arranged in chronological order.

The verdict? It's a chance to get a lot of combat footage for cheap (although it's almost all American footage, and told from the American point of view). I'm generally happy with it, but the DVD quality sure could have been better.

I do love WWII's books and videos,but when I bought this pack,I
couldn't believe my eyes...It's a wonderful collection of WWII's stories,all of them in color!
Besides,there are plenty of original B&W newsreels,all of them
very interesting.I strongly recommend for everyone who enjoys
History,including teachers.Buy it now,I assure you that you won't regret!So far,this pack is the best one I've bought.

DVD 1(Not listed in order):

* The Gilbert Islands (November,1943)
* Burma: The Forgotten Front(Spring,1943)
* Battle in Palau (Summer,1944)
* Liberation of the Philippines

DVD 2

* Dunkirk (September 1,1939)
* The Battle of Norway (early 1940)
* The Bombing of England (Fall,1940)
* The Battle of Malta (June,1941)

DVD 3

* The Fall of Singapore (October,1941)
* Pearl Harbor(December 7,1941)
* The Battle of Midway (June 2,1942)
* The Solomon Islands ( July,1942)

DVD 4

* North Africa (November,1942)
* Monte Cassino (September 3,1943)
* D-Day (June 6,1944)
* Retaking France (6 weeks after D-Day)

DVD 5

* Operation Dragoon (August,1944)
* Battle of the Bulge (December,1944)
* The Last Stronghold (November,1944)
* Mount Hot Rocks (February 19,1945)
*

I purchased this set after buying the companion "WWII: War In Europe." On "War in Europe" I enjoyed the footage, and the scripting for that set was historically accurate and well conceived. The same is true for footage and scripting on "War in the Pacific." The vintage (remember the original footage is over fifty years old) video was good.

I do have complaints about "War In the Pacific," and that is the muddy sound track. There is no excuse for such a shoddy job; it sounded better on broadcast TV. It is most noticeable if you play the sound through your stereo/home theater system. The distorted sound is a little less noticeable through standard television speakers. The sound track on the companion volume, "War in Europe" was less distorted than "War in the Pacific."

Another reviewer mentioned that the video quality on the narrator shots (with Patrick O'Neal) was also poor. I reviewed it recently, and have to concur. The video deficit is especially easy to see if you have a TV with a Super VHS or Component Video input.

I gave "War in the Pacific" 3 stars due to poor sound and slipshod video work on the introduction/narration studio shots. If the soundtrack was not muddy and the intro shots were reproduced better I would have given it a 5 star rating. The good news is that, even with the deficits, the scripting and the vintage video are worth the modest price.

There are some really good shots of actual combat, but the 2 D.V.D. set completely lacks any sense of the overall picture of the war. The actual conflict between MacArthur and the Navy, why Midway was so important,in fact the overall strategy of the Navy is never really explained. I would have thought the History Channel could have done better. The best part is the story of Bull Halsey.

This is an extraordinary film, a must see for anyone who wants to know what World War II in Europe was like. The film was shot by John Houston's Signal Corps unit. When the powers that be in the Army saw the film, they moved to prevent its release. It was just to vivid in showing what the war in Italy was like. And of course, it was completely different than the war movies Hollywood was churning out. So the story goes, Houston appealed to Gen. Geo. Marshall, who ordered it released. The film covers one battle in Italy. All elements are covered, from planning to fighting. There is none of the Huns-on-the-run-how-chased-the-Germans-away mentality of many war movies. It is a documentary in the finest sense. This shows the gritty details of war, including the only scenes I have ever seen of the stacking of dead GIs on to trucks, sewing them into shrouds and burying them, right on the battlefield. Houston had his cameramen right up at the front with the GIs as they advanced. Houston also shows the battle's effect on the village of San Pietro. All through the film, Houston's brilliance as a director comes out. While I have not seen the particular video offered here, if it is the standard version you won't want to miss it.

This is a nice DVD which gives good general information about the WESTERN half of the European Theatre (the far more bloody and decisive EASTERN theatre of Europe is curiously absent from the video) and the film is good for pinning down the dates that things occurred. Overall it is a well done series, and the fact that it was made in the early part of the 1980s is obvious in the way the narrator relies on hand-drawn maps (no computers images here!). This fact actually makes the video more fun, in a "campy" sort of way. What brings this series down is the narrator's constant editorializing. He doesn't just give out the information, but gives it out complete with an "American" bias (this isn't really the narrator's fault, as he is simply reading the lines someone else prepared for him). He tends to overemphasize the American role in defeating Germany, while underplaying or neglecting completely the role of Russia and England. His mispronunciation of the German word "luftwaffe" is ludicrous. He inaccurately depicts Field Marshall von Rundstedt as a "Nazi" when all history books agree that Hitler was wary of him precisely because he WASN'T a nazi. This series isn't very expensive, so overall it's worth it, but in some places don't be surprised if you hear yourself saying "gimme a break."

This solid set, which can be found for $20 or lower in many retail outlets, is a bargain for the price, with over 7 1/2 hours of material and a fairly good, if low budget, presentation. The five discs included take you through most of the major events of both the European and Pacific campaigns, using a relatively informative narrator, occasional interview clips from historians and veterans, and actual World War II footage to bring us through the invasion of Poland, Singapore and Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, D-Day and much more.

The actual World War II footage that drives these documentaries forward is the centerpiece of the set. Pulling from sources both battered and crisp, the footage is edited fairly well, setting the scene for the conflict being documented. While the packaging boasts "in color," the truth is about 30 to 40 percent of this is colorized black and white footage (the first few documentaries on the first disc might be as high as 50 to 60 percent). Disappointing, but, save for much of the footage on the first disc (which has poorer colorization than the rest), it's not a terrible color job. When set next to the often shoddy color footage of the era, it's often not even noticeable, especially in the Pacific footage.

Newsreels, propaganda films and poster galleries supplement each disc. If you find the set for under $20, a history buff would almost find the price worth it for the newsreels alone. These are interesting, informative, and really pull you back to the period.

These aren't high-budget, top of the line documentaries, but rest assured this isn't "you get what you paid for," either. This set (assuming you can find it for the price mentioned above) is a bang-for-your-buck bargain that any World War II buff will enjoy.

Four out of Five stars for the incredible value; three out of five if you have to pay $30 or more.

Potential buyers should be made aware that this History Channel presentation dates from the mid 1980s. As such it lacks some of the "spit and polish" of more recent THC offerings, but the subject matter and footage are of course much older than that.

Overall it is a decent package considering the amount of material and the price, but I found it somewhat lacking compared with the shows that THC currently produces, which tend to have better narration, better music, much better maps, and a more professional presentation.

Video quality is about as good as one could expect, and the audio is basic and serviceable stereo.

This is a good set overall, but the quality is uneven. Some of the footage is good original color film. However, some is either poor quality color because of the age of the original film or it may be colorized; I'm not sure. There is also a fair amount of repetition, slightly disguised by using zoom-in/out and mirror images. Whether colorized or not, I think the color adds to the realism and am glad I came across this. I still rate "World War II the Lost Color Archive" the best of this type followed closely by "World War II in Color, the British Story" and "World War II in Color"

This box set has 5 DVDs:
Disc 1: The Atlantic Campaign (Pt.1) - Dunkirk, Battle of Norway, Bombing of England, Battle of Malta.

Disc 2: The Atlantic Campaign (Pt.2) - North Africa, Monte Cassino, D-Day, Retaking of France (6 weeks after D-Day).

Disc 3: The Pacific Campaign (Pt.1) - Fall of Singapore, Pearl Harbor, Battle of Midway, Solomon Islands.

Disc 4: The Pacific Campaign (Pt.2) - Gilbert Islands, Burma:The Forgotten Front, Battle in Palau, Liberation of the Philippines.

Disc 5: The Atlantic Campaign - Operation Dragoon, Battle of the Bulge. The Pacific Campaign - The Last Stronghold, Mount Hot Rocks.

I don't know how they did it but all the footage are in COLOR!! Approximately 7 hours 30 minutes.

If "World At War" is not going to be released I would have rated this set five stars.