Product Details

• Actors: Marty Callaghan
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Mpi Home Video
• DVD Release Date: March 26, 2002
• Run Time: 675 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B00005YUOV
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,344 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Documentary > Military & War > World War I

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This six-tape boxed set focusing on wars of the 20th century takes an unusual approach by utilizing seldom seen films and newsreel clips while eschewing the conventions of historical documentaries. There are no historians interviewed on camera providing perspective, and what background information is offered appears in occasional screens of scrolling text. For the most part, vintage black and white newsreels shot by Britain's Pathe News serve as the mainstay of the presentations, though the first video, which focuses mainly on World War I, actually uses a fairly lengthy theatrical silent film produced in the 1920s to illustrate the horrors of warfare in the trenches. Two videos showcase newsreel footage of World War II, and one tape each is expended on the Cold War, the conflict in Korea, and Vietnam. The content varies considerably, as some footage was shot under combat conditions and is intrinsically dramatic, while other film clips may have been interesting to audiences of the day, but their immediacy has sharply faded with the passing of decades. There are some obvious drawbacks to this approach of packaging newsreels (and even some U.S. government propaganda and Civil Defense films), and while this collection doesn't stand up very well as a comprehensive history of the century's wars, it does have its moments and shows how warfare was covered by the newsreel cameramen and presented to a curious world. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding collection of British news reel material, February 5, 2007

By	Student of History (La Grange, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This DVD collection, which includes all six volumes of the original VHS release from MPI Media Group, includes a comprehensive selection of British-source news reels and other material. The producer obviously knows his military history and it shows in the diversity of subject matter: everything from World War One veterans suffering from "shell shock", to rare footage (at least to US audiences) of French military operations in Vietnam.
As I mentioned in my other review on "Archives of War," this material is not interpreted via narration and is not a conventional documentary. Rather, it provides teachers and students alike an excellent opportunity to interpret original news reel coverage of warfare in the 20th century. So if you're looking for a program that offers heavy interpretation, then look elsewhere. However, "Archives of War" is valuable as a rich visual supplement for anyone with an interest in military history.