Customer Reviews

World War II Collection, Vol. 2 - Heroes Fight for Freedom (36 Hours / Air Force / Command Decision / Hell to Eternity / The Hill / Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The older ones were far better, than the more recent ones.

I could end my review here, but it would be unfair, considering the effort made to put this collection together.
So let's start at the beginning:

1. "Air Force" (1943) - B&W - 124 min.
starring John Garfield and Gig Young, is a simple tale of a crew of a Flying Fortress struggling their way from "The Day of Infamy" through the entire Pacific War. (Watch the B-17 closely, it was a true Flying Fortress and alas was lost in the process of fighting that war!);

2. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944) - B&W - 139 min.
Who doesn't remember Spencer Tracy in this one, together with Van Johnson and Robert Walker? This too, is based on a true story of WWII, but this time we're talking about a B-25 "Mitchell" crew and its deeds that led to the first bombing of the Capital of Japan.

3. "Command Decision" (1948) - B&W - 112 min.
with Clark Gable at the helm and based on a stage play, comes through from a different perspective. What do Commanders do, when it comes to gambling with people's lives (in this case Bomber Pilots and Crews), when the stakes are high and the mission is key for victory or defeat?
Assisting Mr. Gable (who himself was an Air Force Captain and flew real missions, hence knows what he's talking about...) are Walter Pidgeon, again Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy and Charles Bickford.

4. "Hell to Eternity" (1960) - B&W - 132 min.
The story of a man, raised in an American-Japanese family, confronted with the War in the Pacific. Based on a true story, this is the tale of a man facing prejudice from both sides and who manages to win his internal struggle by even capturing, single-handedly, hundreds of Japanese Soldiers. Incredible but true!

5. "36 Hours" (1964) - B&W - 115 min.
A "What If..." movie, starring a powerful James Garner. We are in 1950, the war is over and the lead Character wakes from a Coma in an American Military Hospital. He suffers from Amnesia, he can't recall anything.
Only that we are not in 1950, but rather in 1944, in a mock-up Hospital built by German Intelligence and the setting has carefully been prepared in order to find out where the Allies will finally land.
More than a true War Movie, this is far more a Spy Thriller, and tightly knit at that, so well told it is almost believable as a true story.
These are 36 Hours you won't easily forget.
Together with Mr. Garner appear actors of the caliber of Rod Taylor and Eva Marie Saint, together with Werner Peters as a Gestapo Man (an actor I love to hate).

All DVD transfers are clean and the sound although mostly in 2.0 channel Mono, is sharp and clear.
This is a very interesting Collection, even from a purely analytical standpoint. I must compliment the people at Warner's for having chosen 5 very significant movies out of dozens others and having offered them in this very reasonably priced set.
If more, of the same quality were produced, I am sure people would flock to buy them.

I'm not sure about THE HILL, but the other 5 titles in this collection have NOT been on DVD--at least legitimiate disk. AIR FORCE, THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO, and COMMAND DECISION are all wonderful war or combat films (there's a difference between the two--see the books on the genre by Mike Mayo, Thomas Doherty and Jeanine Basinger). It's great that other classics such as THE PURPLE HEART and even the less stellar SO PROUDLY WE HAIL are finally being released this spring on DVD. Collectors and film historians should appreciate all of these titles that really reflected the country's mood between l94l and l945. Propaganda was such a vital component on the home front and these movies show us the nationalistic side of the American people at the time.

Some of these may have been available before now, but none in a WWII set that includes shorts and cartoons from the period. Pick any two you like and they are worth the price. "Command Decision" with Clark Gable as General Casey, a serious officer commanding a bomber group in England, is wonderfully realistic. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" with Spencer Tracy as Jimmy Doolittle leading the first bomb raid on Japan is excellent. The others are just bonus as far as I'm concerned and a very good one at that. "The Hill" is a good English military prisoner movie with Sean Connery as a prisoner that must buck up under a tyranical Commander. "36 Hours" with James Garner is good espionage movie. Air Force is resonably decent account of a B-17 crew that witnessed Pearl Harbor starring John Ridgely. "Hell to Eternity" with Jeffrey Hunter and David Janssen is about Hispanic boy raised by Japanese-Americans and fought for United States. Fans of WWII movies should enjoy the set. I recommend it. Especially for a Fathers Day gift.

I disagree totally with the above reviewer. These films are excellent. The only one I am not thrilled with is The Hill, all the others are very good WWII films. I have been waiting for Command Decision for a long time. This collection will not disappoint.

I have been trying for some time to get copies of some of these films. I have not played all of them yet, I am savouring the moment. So far they have all been of excellent quality, and thoughly enjoyable. My only query is, is there a Volume 1?. If so where can I get a set?

If you like WWII movies, this collection is great. I particularly have always liked THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO, included in this collection. Though a few parts involving our hero and his wife are "schmaltzy," by today's standards, it was typical of the period. The depiction of the Doolittle Raiders was excellent. I found THE HILL to be far better than my expectations. Excellent compilation of movies.

This is a good collection of World War II movies. They give a verity of perspectives from different points of view.
Air Force you're with the crew of the B-17. You see B-17 crews' world as it changes from the beginning of the war.

In Command Decision you see the tough choices a good commander must make. You come to understand that it is not always a piece of cake to give good orders. Politics cause some of the situations as much as people. Choices are not as easy to make or as easy as they seem.

In Hell to Eternity: A good story about over coming hardships. Amazing in that it's based off a real life story.

The Hill: a good movie that is poorly explained. Soldiers are brought here to be broken down and then built back up. The purpose of the place is to restore the soldier from a bad person to a good soldier. This is back to basic training for bad soldiers. The hill is all about having a bad person in charge that loves the breaking down and forgets there is supposed to be a building back up.

Thirty seconds over Tokyo is the Doolittle raid. This movie is very good but could use some basic facts to help make it better for today's viewers. This strike at Japan came at a very low point in the war when we were losing in the pacific almost everywhere. The Raid did not cause huge damage to Japan but it did raise our moral and caused the Japanese to guard their home waters with more troops and ships. (A good movie to see this with is Destination Tokyo Cary Grant movie)

36 hours a good spy movie with a good plot. James Garner is very good in this movie.

Good movies worth owning. I just wish WB would add a little more history for today's kids as special features with the movies.

36 Hours: classic thriller. James Garner and Rod Taylor were so dang good together. Air Force: a true classic, done shortly after Pearl Harbor. What a cast, and Harry Carey's performance is heartbreakingly good. (But don't be fooled -- the real star is what was intended -- the Mary Ann.) Command Decision: If the opening minutes don't have your heart pounding, nothing will. Hell to Eternity: Okay, it's not really based on Guy's life, but it sure is entertaining. Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen and Vic Damone are classic war buddies. (Honestly, we could have done without the female-subplot.) The Hill: an overlooked goodie. And Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo: simply one of the best war movies ever made. And as they are on their bombing run, be sure to notice ... no talk, no music, just the sound of the engines. So incredibly tenseful. Wow.

Buy it. Just buy it. It's that good of a collection.

I wanted Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, and always enjoyed Air Force and Command Decision, so the package seemed like a bargain. Wrong! None of the selections have scene selection. If you wish to see a selected portion of the movie, you have to run through the entire film. I had seen the other three selections and I wouldn't have bothered to buy them individually. I now have Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, but it is a cut rate DVD and not worth the price I paid.

20+ years ago, Ted Turner colorized all of these films except THE HILL and HELL TO ETERNITY (?) and they were great -- far better than this B&W trash. Given the recent commercial success of the colorized BEWITCHED and HOLIDAY INN, hopefully these films will be colorized as well in the future. And if someone are going to give me some self-serving crap about "these films were supposed to be in B&W", I would say -- "baloney -- the original producers have said on many occasions. if they would have been allowed to make these films in color originally, if they could have. They were only made in B&W to cut costs because they were not expected to make any money".