Product Details

• Actors: World War II in Color
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Goldhill Home Media
• VHS Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000DGHM
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,134 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Documentary > Military & War > World War II

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This collection of color footage shot during World War II focuses primarily on America's involvement in the war, beginning with Col. Jimmy Doolittle's legendary raid on Tokyo in 1942 and proceeding up to the liberation of the concentration camps in Europe. The footage assembled in this package is often quite fascinating, and while some of it is occasionally marred by scratches and other signs of age, the quality is generally very good. The 16 selections in the main feature all focus on a particular aspect of the war and include footage shot during bombing missions over Germany, on the invasion beaches of Normandy, and on aircraft carriers battling in the Pacific. Some of the film, such as hand-held footage shot during the U.S. Marine's desperate fighting on Tarawa, are inherently dramatic, and some shots, such as the celebrations of liberated French citizens, show the human side of war. Seeing all of this in color, as it truly appeared, is a vastly different experience than the black-and-white newsreels that form the basis for most documentaries. Besides the main feature, which runs for more than an hour and a half, the disc also includes a bonus movie, a one-hour color documentary on American bomber crews that was filmed in England and is narrated by actor Clark Gable, who was serving as an officer in the Eighth Air Force. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Video Material, October 20, 2000

By	NYC Resident (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: WWII In Color (DVD)

I now have both this DVD, and the "WWII: The Lost Color Archives" (LCA) and they are both superb. This one is a bit cheaper than TLCA but it complements it quite well, as it has far more coverage of the Pacific Theatre as well as European material not seen on TLCA.

This is a bit more graphic than TLCA, but it shows some incredible battle scenes in both N.Africa and Europe that are incredible! It makes you wonder how did the cameraman survive being right there in the middle of the battle, with tanks rolling around him (her?) and machine gun fire only a few feet away. The bombing runs of the Memphis Belle, from the perspective of those flying, are also here in spectacular fashion. The scenes of the gunners firing away at incoming fighters are truly exceptional.

Though I would rate this a very tiny bit below TLCA, it is definitely worth getting, and is highly recommended. A must buy for the WWII enthusiast and/or historian.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb collection of high-quality color footage of WW II, April 6, 1999

By	Robert Shapiro (Tucson, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

The only other documentary available of WW II utilizing color footage, that I am aware of, is the incredible one by George Stevens Jr, "D-Day to Berlin." It was therefore a revelation to purchase "WW II In Color" (from Amazon, I might add). I was surprised to see footage of both the European and South Pacific theaters (but some of it far too graphic for the eyes of children). If this documentary had the extraordinary script (narration) and musical score that "D-Day to Berlin" has, it would be of equal emotional impact. Regardless, this a most valuable look at WW II as it actually was seen (or much closer, that is). Included is footage taken and/or directed by Hollywood directors, John Ford, William Wyler, and both repeated and new footage from the camera of George Stevens (re: "D-Day to Berlin"). The reproduction of the color is quite excellent and the sound, often a problem with WW II documentaries, is very good here. Highly recommended.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The footage is spectacular, the packaging of it isn't, December 15, 2000

By	Taylor Fleet (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had expected long, raw, and uncut footage that would speak for itself, but found little of that here; "In Color" is perhaps something more appropriate for a high school history class.

First, insightful and fascinating footage is cut so that most segments last no longer than a few seconds. (Was this done to cram as much as possible into two 45-min. tapes?) I would have preferred more depth, less breadth; the edits are distracting.

Second, these brief segments are strung together almost willy-nilly to flush out an uninspiring, sometimes patronizing narration (complete with a music score to let us know that what we're seeing is grave and important). The footage is fascinating enough to stand on its own, without sophomoric narration and certainly without background music and retro-fitted sound effects.

Third, the film is rather sanitized. We see dead German and Japanese soldiers (burnt, putrescent, etc.) up close, but American ones (intact and with no visible wounds) from a distance. The soldiers shown are either alive or dead; there's almost no footage of anyone dying. I mention this not because I enjoy seeing death, but because I bought "In Color" expecting to see a head-on, unflinching picture of war--the heroic and the brutal, the banal and the terrifying.

(Also, having seen ABC TV's recent "Shooting War" documentary, which used some of the same footage, I can see how much potentially "troubling" material has been left out. For example, "Shooting War" showed a Japanese woman, evidently terrified by the approaching American Marines, throw her infant off a cliff and into the surf and rocks below, just before she herself jumps. In this film, the segment involving the infant is cut; we see only the woman jumping.)

So should you buy it? Well, yes. If you're looking for a brief chronology of important battles in World War II, a chronology that uses actual footage, you will not be disappointed. And if you're looking for more than that--well, all the above gripes notwithstanding, buy it anyway. Just watch it with the sound off.