Product Details

• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Pbs Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 3, 2001
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0780625579
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,123 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

As the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled through Europe in the early months of World War II, columns of panzers, finely designed German tanks, crushed everything in their paths. This video, which makes use of archival footage as well as visits to a museum in England that houses vintage tanks, follows the role of the battle tank in Europe from 1939 to the end of the war. The early blitzkrieg, with its innovative integration of armor and air power, is explained in detail. Later milestones of tank warfare are examined, such as when the Nazi tide in Africa was turned by English tanks led by Field Marshall Montgomery at El Alamein, and the colossal battle between more than 1,500 German and Russian tanks at Kursk, which marked the beginning of the end for Hitler's plan to expand eastward. This documentary provides lucid explanations of how the evolving design of tanks, as well as the refinement of tactics, played a crucial role in World War II. Of particular interest are the profiles of noteworthy tanks, such as the massive German Tiger, the slow but sturdy British Matilda, and the brilliantly designed Russian T-34. Each tank has its particular design assets and flaws illuminated both with diagrams and rare films of the tanks in action. The difficulties faced by the crews manning the tanks are also portrayed vividly, with visits to the museum tanks providing a look under the hatches and behind the armor plate. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your money, August 1, 2000

By 

"gerwei" (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wwii Battle Force: Panzer Battles [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I got that video along with other ww2 video i ordered from amazon such as the battle of the bulge/dunkirk/george stevens d-day to berlin and d-day:assault on fotress europe. But that video was far the best from all...The most of the content is about the eastern front,but other stuff is included as well(balkan,afrika etc etc).In particular every important battle where panzers played an important role in...But you will see not only panzers and stuff in the movie but also a lot of warscenes with soldiers and other stuff... It is one of the best world war 2 videos i own because it features some very nice and fitting background music and the sound is extrememly good for a documentation...Sometimes i thought it was stereo when some artillerie was firing...Really great video.And the authors really took always exactly fitting scenes to the soundtracks...Get it!!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where is "Hurrying Heinz"?, November 15, 2001

By 

uruz "julian1117" (King of Prussia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wwii Battle Force: Panzer Battles [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It disappointed and it surprised. It was not, as I expected, a study of primarily Panzer development and tactical employment. There was extensive footage of British and Russian propaganda films. Heinz Guderian, the Father of Blitzkrieg and its staunchest supporter, was nowhere to be seen in this video. There also was at times a pretty obvious attempt to jump on the Allied bandwagon ("Egypt itself was menaced by the German war machine.") That being said, the video did show a lot of footage I had never seen before: from certain scenes of the Afrika Korps in action to close-up shots of the battle-weary Panzertruppe during the Battle of Kursk. There were occasional shots of lesser-seen tanks, such as the Panzerkampfwagen V, the "Panther", and the Jagdpanther Sdkfz 173, the "Ferdinand." The diagrams that accompanied this footage were helpful, but certainly were not comprehensive. The statistics presented did, however, make me feel an awesome respect for the average German fighting man and how, despite being incredibly outnumbered and undersupplied, he displayed his valiant fighting prowess and fought on. A mention of the Panzer Ace, Michael Wittman, and his remarkable success would have ended the video brilliantly. Alas!