Search - Dogs O'War Collection: WWII - The European Front 10 Film Set on DVD

Oh boy

PAUL PISANO | DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA United States | 05/06/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I had to send the set back due to very bad picture quality. The picture would even roll at times."

Allowing its all sourced from VHS copies and the films aren'

Stephen M. Kopian | GLEN HEAD, NY USA | 08/28/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a mixed quality set of films that appear to have all been sourced from VHS video tapes. It's a similar situation to many of the DVD collections that Video Asia has been putting out which collect a far flung number of "B" action films for a relatively small price. Getting a bargain set like this is a trade off with the number of off the beaten track films for a low price being needed to be weighed against the fact that the sound and picture is not going to be top of the line (lets be real the odds of any of these films showing up on DVD outside these release is slim with the chance of a good release even slimmer). I get these sets with the understanding that I'm dealing with a crap shoot.

It seems to be currently out of print and I had to pick it up from an e-seller. I'm going through a phase of watching a good number of European made war films and the list of titles in this set didn't really over lap with any other collection I had so I picked it up.

As I said at the outset this is a mixed bag. Some of the source tapes are rather worn (War Devils a good deal of tape damage.) Some are letterboxed, some are not. None of the films are in what we think of as DVD or HD quality however all of the films are watchable. The box said that the film is ten films on five DVDs, however when I opened the set I found it was ten films on three DVDs with two of the DVDs being flippers. There is no inside art.

I've seen as of this writing only four of the films and I've spot checked some others. Of the one's I've seen:

Bridge to Hell is a good mindless action film about downed fliers escaping from a POW camp, getting mixed up with partisans and trying to get back home.

Desert Commandos is a dramatically uneven story of German soldiers trying to Casablanca to kill Churchill (it does have some good action, especially in the second half).

Heroes without Glory is a lousy film about a bunch of British soldiers (yea right) on a mission. If it's serious its too funny to be taken seriously and if it's a comedy it's the wrong sort of funny. The action is good but not enough to save it.

War Devils is a very good story of German and Allied soldiers who have to work together only later to end up fighting each other. I really liked this.

Over all this is a good set. Its not a great one. While the films are not the best looking bunch, but they are also not really likely to be a group that you've run across before (as I said I have only one of the films and I have several collections of war films like this and I'm only run across nine of them for the first time.) There are some winners and some losers in it. If you're looking for some good Euro-war films this maybe a set to consider, but if you do pick it up understand what you're getting.

---
Addendum
I've finished the set and I do like the film choices

Eagles over London is a spy drama set in England after the chaos of Dunkirk-its very good (but needa a letterboxed print)
Dirty Heroes is a very good war/crime caper film in Holland
War Boy- is a weak drama about a family caught between the two sides of the war. There is no war action.
Mediterranean in Flames is a soapy drama set in Greece.
Operation Cross Eagles is a very good commando mission story set in the Balkans.
Hell Commandos is an often silly story of trying to stop a German gem weapon"