World War II - Vol. 2: Divide and Conquer/The Battle of Britain

Rating:
Summary: history remembered
Review: Let not history be forgotten, lest it be repeated. This film series provides unquestionable reminders of why the world now watches diligently its neighbors. Hitler could have beeen stopped in the early days when he flexed his muscles, and these films prove it. some would label them as propoganda, but the truth is World War 2 needed no propoganda to be fought. It was an unfortunate part of history, and this fiolm helps to remember and pray it never happens again.

Rating:
Summary: Great Perspective of World War II
Review: This film does a great job of portraying the feelings during the early days of World War II just after the fall of France when the Germans looked like an indestructible juggernaut of a war machine. The fear was justified given that the Germans commited over 1 million men to the invasion of Poland, even though this was totally uneccessary, to show how great they were. Also, the French, who were reputed to have the best army in the world, fell to the Germans in 1 month (although this was largely due to incompetence). All in all, this film is great because it shows the mindset during the early days of World War II.

Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate, but under the circumstances, understandable
Review: This film is nothing more than propoganda. I can get over this fact because the propoganda was beneficial to the "good guys" but it still doesn't help the fact that many of the film's claims are totally inaccurate. The narrator's assertion that the Germans had "45,000 armored vehicles" for the invasion of Poland in 1939 is absolutely laughable, and the claim that the Luftwaffe outnumbered the RAF "10 to 1" is obscene in its ludicrousness. The film also glosses over the fact that the Germans were not alone in their desire for territory (one look at a 1939 map of colonial possession will surely place Britain in the top spot for land-stealing) and tries to use ridiculous fear tactics in claiming the Axis planned to invade the United States. The narrator comes off like some smart-mouth primadonna who's brighter than everyone else. He says in his glib voice "You'll notice that here in Paris there are no cheering crowds to welcome Hitler." Well of course not mister, because every schoolboy with an ounce of education knows that the film of Hitler driving through Paris was taken at 4am, so he could visit the museums without crowds bothering his view of the exhibits and architecture. This film is basically valuable as a historical piece of propoganda, and it is understandable, given the period in which it was made, that they would use fear tactics to draw a line between good and evil. But, as a source of educational material (which the box implies it is), this film is utterly useless because it cannot provide objective information.

Rating:
Summary: Inaccurate, but under the circumstances, understandable
Review: This film is nothing more than propoganda. I can get over this fact because the propoganda was beneficial to the "good guys" but it still doesn't help the fact that many of the film's claims are totally inaccurate. The narrator's assertion that the Germans had "45,000 armored vehicles" for the invasion of Poland in 1939 is absolutely laughable, and the claim that the Luftwaffe outnumbered the RAF "10 to 1" is obscene in its ludicrousness. The film also glosses over the fact that the Germans were not alone in their desire for territory (one look at a 1939 map of colonial possession will surely place Britain in the top spot for land-stealing) and tries to use ridiculous fear tactics in claiming the Axis planned to invade the United States. The narrator comes off like some smart-mouth primadonna who's brighter than everyone else. He says in his glib voice "You'll notice that here in Paris there are no cheering crowds to welcome Hitler." Well of course not mister, because every schoolboy with an ounce of education knows that the film of Hitler driving through Paris was taken at 4am, so he could visit the museums without crowds bothering his view of the exhibits and architecture. This film is basically valuable as a historical piece of propoganda, and it is understandable, given the period in which it was made, that they would use fear tactics to draw a line between good and evil. But, as a source of educational material (which the box implies it is), this film is utterly useless because it cannot provide objective information.