Rating  - Victory at Sea - The Legendary World War II Documentary
THis is all I hoped it would be. There are voulme change problems on the episodes, but the volume control on your remote is easy to use. The picture quality is great and the content is all that it ever was, which is to say archival footage from Japan, Germany and the US. In short, ifl you want to know the scope of US Naval and political action during WWII this is a must see. I grew up in the 50's and this isa trip down memory lane!
Rating  - Dramatic Documentary
Since 1952, when NBC television first aired "Victory at Sea," the 26 half-hour programs have been repeatedly shown on television and finally released on home video. Admittedly, the sound quality of the narration, music, and sound effects is typical of television in the early 1950s, but the visual impact of the actual wartime footage remains quite powerful.
For those who want to enjoy a true high fidelity version of much of the music Richard Rodgers and Robert Russell Bennett produced, the RCA Victor albums (first released in the early 1960s) remain the best source. It is known that Rodgers composed the melodies in a piano version, then turned it over to Bennett to arrange and orchestrate. The albums take the 13 hours of music, which repeated themes, and present them in a cohesive and concise version. Bennett conducted the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, which was drawn from the Symphony of the Air, itself a reorganization of Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. Back in 1952, when the documentary was prepared, Bennett used the actual NBC Symphony, presumably with the blessings of the Maestro, who was a big fan of early television as well as Broadway musicals.
The main focus in the 26 episodes is on the American Navy's involvement in World War II. In editing millions of feet of archival footage, NBC assembled programs which captured not only the naval and aerial battles but the lighter moments when the sailors, pilots, and crew waited for the inevitable deadly combat to begin or resume. The most important elements of the war are vividly represented here in sharp black and white.
Yes, "The World of War" was probably more comprehensive and utilized some of the rare color footage of the war, but this was the first television documentary to chronicle the historic events, complete with glimpses of the famous and infamous leaders -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Tojo, and Stalin. When you see the real figures, instead of actors portaying them, you recognize their unique and remarkable qualities.
The visual images remain quite powerful on the videos. To enjoy the brilliance of the music, listen to the CDs for the outstanding musical performances by the New York musicians.
Rating - Is it just me, or
...has the History Channel version been cut? I have been watching a version played on PBS that has scenes that my version does not possess, or so it seems. I am old enough to have watched the originals, and still enjoy each segment, and especially the Score. Sound being the weakest feature (IMO) cost it a star.
Rating  - 5 Stars for original documentary - 2 stars for DVD transfer
Excellent documentary about our brave fighting men of WWII. Anyone who's ever wondered why the depression/WWII generation is often refered too as "The Greatest Generation" need only to watch this documentary to find out. Made before the America hating looney left took over our media, when it was still okay to be unashamedly patriotic.
Unfortunately, the audio transfer to DVD was badly botched. The narrator's voice is barely audible when the musical score is played at a normal volume. You basically have to blast the musical score to make out what the narrator is saying.
Maybe I'll try watching it again with the surround sound turned off. Sometimes the transfer doesn't work very well when they try to take an old program that was origninally done in mono and transfer it to a surround sound DVD.
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