Search - History Of World War II The American Soldier on DVD

Nice to Have the Originals.

John Matlock | Winnemucca, NV | 06/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD set is composed mostly of films from the period. Most of them were produced by the Army and talk about such things as security (Lips closed, you don't know who is listening), preventing sabotage, training, transport (illustrating moving a mythical division from it's training camp to an unknown destination by train -- lots of good pictures from the early army in this one).

The dates on the films vary from before the war up through its end. By today's standards these movies are pretty crude. They are even pretty crude when compared with the movies made by the Hollywood professionals that got involved later on.

Being a World War II buff, I found the films fairly interesting and this is something I definitely want in my World War II collection. You see some clips from these movies in other films, especially in the historical programs on places like the History Channel. It's nice to have the original movies."

A Very Good Overview Of A Soldiers LIfe

Bart | Montpellier, France | 11/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the challenges every time America goes off to war is that with the exception of the Civil War, battles have never really touched our shores.

Back in the 1940s this problem was especially complex, because pre airline travel most people had never seen Europe or Japan and did not have any context with which to view what was happening over there and what our soldiers were actually doing.

Since Uncle Sam was asking people to make huge sacrifices in their lives and send their sons, boyfriends and husbands overseas, FDR and the War Department realized that they would somehow have to make the conflict and the lives of the soldiers "real" to the American people.

In this pre television era, the best way to do this was through preparing newsreels that would be shown before main features at the cinema.

So, they went to work and created a series of short films that documented exactly what life was like for the average American soldier - from when he was training at American bases, to when he got to the war theater to when he was actually in battle.

The point of these films was to make Americans proud of the war effort and willing to support what we were doing, so that they would accept rationing, buy war bonds and vote to keep the war going until we found victory.

The result is a series of very enlightening films that show how the war was presented to the American people in an era that didn't have the objective viewpoints of CNN or similar news outlets.

You get a very good sense of how technolgically low World War II was, but also how the soldiers worked hard in order to overcome hardships and work their way to victory.

The clips are very well preserved and it's interesting to see how the tone changed as the war kept going on and we got closer to vicotry.

All in all, a very complete and interesting historical overview of a soldier's life during World War II."

Really Great Clips!

jen | 07/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this DVD to watch with my grandparents when they came to visit and it went over very well. What you see here is a bunch of films produced by the army during world war II to help the new soldiers get ready for battle. You see everything from propoganda films to clips about not letting information get out to spies. My grandfather said he can remember seeing these same films when he was in the army and it made him feel y oung again. This was a great family bonding experience."

One Of The Best

Arthur | America | 04/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a total WWII history buff and I have to say this is one of the coolest things I've bought in a while.

Forget all that History Channel Crap - this thing skips the commentary and gives you a bunch of period films made by the government about GIs before, during and after the War.

The grainy footage is eerie and clearly left just as it was - which is what I want and the package made my spine tingle."