Roaring Glory Warbirds, Vol. 7: Vought F4U Corsair

Rating:
Summary: Great Plane -- Good Movie
Review: As a recreational WWII historian, the Chance Vaught F4U Corsair holds a warm place in my heart -- the gull wings, huge propeller, stubby landing gear, and commendable service record combine to make it one of my favorite WWII fighter planes. I've read a fair share about the plane in Boyington's autobiography Baa Baa Black Sheep (and seen the TV shows of the same name too), but this movie adds a level of detail and insight that I've found most enjoyable. The movie has everything from take-off and landing checklists, cockpit control location and operation, carrier landing techniques, climbing and diving techniques, and stall recovery.

The DVD is formatted into a several sections:
-Chapters (flying with Steve Hinton) -- This section has nice footage of a restored Corsair doing some simple maneuvers,
-Multiangles -- Nice footage of a Corsair where you can change your vantage point,
-a WWII-era training film -- This section was my favorite. I love the black-and-white footage. And the level of detail in how to actually fly the airplane was very enjoyable.
-The actual pilot's handbook,
-A family album of photos -- This section I liked as it has a lot of black-and-white photographs of the Corsair, pilots, squadron photos, etc..
-The Young Pilots -- I really liked this section as it has black-and-white newsreel type footage narrated by actual pilots telling their experiences in WWII with the airplane.
--And previews of other WWII aircraft. Suprisingly, the previews section is very good and shows the P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning, Zero, Avenger, Hellcat.

I am definetly going to get a few more in this series. I'll have trouble deciding, I might have to get them all!

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS DVD FROM ORDERBOX.COM
Review: I'd love to review this DVD I bought my boyfriend for his birthday, but unfortunately orderbox.com does not ship things you pay them for. I am on a fixed income and could not afford the amazon price so I made an attempt to order from orderbox who supposedly ships in 1-2 days. 10 days later - no tracking number = no shipment = no item = me out of $20 (for this and another DVD in this series). This looks really good - just do not buy from orderbox you will be ripped off.

Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Surprise!
Review: I'm not sure what I expected when I bought this... probably something along the lines of what you see on the 'Wings' network - lots of scratchy footage of old planes with monotonous narration of specifications. But that's not at all the approach that this video takes. This is my first 'Roaring Glory Warbirds' disc, but I ordered two more immediately after seeing it.

The roughly hour-long main program begins with our pilot-narrator standing before the Corsair. He takes us on a brief tour of the outside plane as he performs a pre-flight check of all of the important 'parts,' and this alone was great! You get a close-up view of all of these details while a skilled pilot explains what he's looking for and why. Then he jumps in, gives us a tour of all of the controls, and takes the plane up!

It's wonderful seeing this classic machine actually in the air, not in a Hollywood film or old newsreel footage. The picture is quite sharp; the Dolby sound is wonderfully vibrant and great for that prop-engine sound. As the pilot does maneuvers with the F4U, he explains everything he's doing, eventually landing it.

The program then switches to a dramatization of a young pilot training for and then flying an F4U in battle. This was modestly but nicely done, too, and informative. It was interesting, for instance, to hear how flight manuals for these planes were so scarce that if a pilot could get his hands on one he would hoard it!

Extras on the disc include an actual F4U training film, which ran about half an hour. This was really interesting, too, on many levels: it explained aspects of the plane and how it should be flown in detail, and is also a time capsule of what kinds of training pilots received.

Other extras include a still photo gallery and pages from a Corsair flight manual reproduced on-screen, but this is the weaker part of the disc. This could have been much better if the disc's logo wasn't plastered across the top third of the screen, obscuring the images - I'm not sure what they were thinking here. Even better, I would love to have seen some of these diagrams reproduced in print form and included as an insert with the disc, though I realize that this would have added to the cost of the disc.

More information about the F4U's place in WWII warfare would have been appreciated, too. I would have given an extra star for this. As it is, this disc is more of a 'here is the plane' presentation, with the added dramatization about the pilots.

I really wish they could add some British, German, and perhaps even Russian planes to this series, though I realize that the lack of availability of these planes may make this nearly impossible.

Rating:
Summary: This F4U Corsair DVD is 4U!
Review: If you like the Corsair, you'll love this DVD! This DVD has modern color footage of a Chino Planes of Fame F4U-1, a great WWII training film on the F4U, an original Pilot's Handbook, a short movie based on a real pilots F4U experience wich combines both new and WWII footage, and there are photos from a WWII pilots "family Album". I especially liked the training film which goes through step by step proceedures for starting and flying the F4U. There are great shots of the Corsair's cockpit and controls as well as external shots of the plane in flight. The DVD title is superimposed over each page of the Pilot's Handbook, which is a little annoying, but overall I'm very happy with the DVD and would buy it again.

Rating:
Summary: This F4U Corsair DVD is 4U!
Review: If you like the Corsair, you'll love this DVD! This DVD has modern color footage of a Chino Planes of Fame F4U-1, a great WWII training film on the F4U, an original Pilot's Handbook, a short movie based on a real pilots F4U experience wich combines both new and WWII footage, and there are photos from a WWII pilots "family Album". I especially liked the training film which goes through step by step proceedures for starting and flying the F4U. There are great shots of the Corsair's cockpit and controls as well as external shots of the plane in flight. The DVD title is superimposed over each page of the Pilot's Handbook, which is a little annoying, but overall I'm very happy with the DVD and would buy it again.

Rating:
Summary: Roaring Glory Warbirds, Vol. 7; Vought F4U Corsair
Review: This DVD is okay. There are a lot better. There is excellent footage of one museum piece Corsair flying. The narrator is also very good at explaining the preflight and technology behind this aircraft. The attempt to make new footage look old appears cheap and phoney. It is very clear that the actors are not professional; obvious that they are reading a script. This DVD also lacks in providing much historical footage or detail. The little provided is very sketchy and not conclusive. If you are looking for a great DVD on the F4U Corsair you will probably be disappointed in this one.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This DVD is one of the best values a World War II enthusiast can find! Included is not only a full color flight session in your favorite WWII warbird, but the original training film and a full, printable manual. This DVD not only tells you what the plane can do, but this DVD teaches you how to fly it! If you have any interest in WWII aviation, buy this DVD!

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS DVD FROM ORDERBOX.COM
Review: This is a terrific video. The DVD version is particularly good in that it includes extra features if you have a PC with a DVD player. The video quality is really good, detailed, and the WWII pilot training film is very interesting. You can pick which part of the video you want to watch, and if you're like me you will watch this film over and over. I have used screen captures to make great wallpaper on my PC. I'm ordering all 6 DVD's, and I wish there were more.

Rating:
Summary: Vought F4U Corsair DVD
Review: This is not a bad DVD, but it hardly earns 5 stars. The narration by Steve Hinton is good; but you can tell his forte is flying not narrating. He does explain the preflight and technical aspect of the Corsair adequately. The tale of the adventures of USMC pilot Verne Salisbury looks like it was filmed by amateurs. The tan tinting attempts to make the film look old, but it fails miserably. There are some excellent flying sequences of a museum piece Corsair in a modern setting. However if you are seeking a movie to explain the mission of the F4U Vaught Corsair during WWII you will find this DVD inconclusive. There are a few quick shots of historic footage; but the story is somewhat sketchy. While this film has some endearing points, it does lack much in storyline.