DVD
Review | Air Power
Written by: Kage
Alan
A company, EDI, recently made a deal with a division
of CBS Broadcasting to
release the first in what may well become a number of Walter Cronkite
documentaries. "Air Power" is the first and was
originally broadcast in
1957, so we're talking vintage television here. I was curious to
watch it,
but wasn't quite sure when I'd have time to sit down and watch the 3
disc
set, which clocks in at over 6 hours, sort of like watching 2 Kevin
Costner
films. Actually, I'll admit that I thought it was just going to
be some
documentary on airplanes and that probably led to my waiting to review
it,
only that all changed after I popped in the first disc.
"Air Power" isn't so much something we used to watch in high
school in a
history class as it is a riveting series about World War II and the
aircraft
that shaped and changed events in it. It has to be the most
extensive
collection of archive footage mixed in with pictures and film clips
that I've
ever seen. Each disc contains over 2 hours of footage, including
bonus
features. Disc 1 contains the following chapters: Prologue, The
Luftwaffe,
Battle of Britain, Target: Hamburg, Target: Schweinfurt, Bombing of
Ploesti
and Conquest of the Air. Bonus featurettes are Fighters of the
RAF and
Defenders of the Reich. Disc two has: Road to Rome, Winning of
France,
Victory in Europe, Pearl Harbor and Japanese Perimeter with bonus
featurettes B-17 Flying Fortress, P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt.
Disc 3 rounds off with: Blockade, The Road to Japan, Kamikaze and
Defeat of Japan with the bonus featurette B-24 Liberator.
Narrator Walter Cronkite keeps things very simple and speaks very
eloquently, which is a must for such a long series here. The
pacing is solid and "Air Power" never overstays its welcome
in any one area. If there's anything odd here about this
release, it's that I haven't seen this title for sale in any
of the regular stores I frequent. I'm not quite sure how that
happens, but
if anyone out there wants to get a hold of a copy of this (and I urge
you to
do so), then check out www.timelessmusic.com
to order it.
EDI has released "Air Power" in a Full Frame transfer, the
format in which it
was originally filmed. While much of the historical footage is
imperfect, it
has been mastered to look the best that it can and I've no complaints
with
it. The Dolby Digital soundtrack sounds quite good and you might
just be
fooled into thinking there are really airplanes flying around your
living
room. As for extras, I've already listed them and they are quite
plentiful
and feature interviews with actual pilots discussing the various
aircraft.
I'm impressed with EDI's release and applaud them for making the deal
with
CBS. This isn't Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor" and
audiences are more likely
to learn more about the war in three hours here than three hours of a
Hollywood film. History and war buffs will thoroughly enjoy this
and even
those with a passing interest in the subject matter may find
themselves glued
to the set. I certainly was.
Film Rating:
A
DVD Special Features: A
|
