The Mighty Saturns - Saturn I and IB

Rating:
Summary: A definite "must have" for NASA-philes
Review: If you have a NASA addict in your family, this (and the other three titles in the series) are a "must have". I enjoyed the documentary (approx. 40 min.) but the other 5+ hours is just NASA footage, without narration, from various observation cameras. Boring, you say? Yes, I do, too. But I bought them for my husband, and it's probably the best gift I've given him in the past 20 years. If you put any rocket on the screen he's hooked, but with these DVDs he enjoys the multi-angle aspect, and will watch the same blast off from all possible angles. This is not everyone's cup of tea, obviously, but if you have to get a gift for someone who is fixated on the American space program, you can't get much better than this. I expect to find the Apollo sets more interesting, but he started watching the Gemini and Saturn sets first.

Rating:
Summary: A definite "must have" for NASA-philes
Review: If you have a NASA addict in your family, this (and the other three titles in the series) are a "must have". I enjoyed the documentary (approx. 40 min.) but the other 5+ hours is just NASA footage, without narration, from various observation cameras. Boring, you say? Yes, I do, too. But I bought them for my husband, and it's probably the best gift I've given him in the past 20 years. If you put any rocket on the screen he's hooked, but with these DVDs he enjoys the multi-angle aspect, and will watch the same blast off from all possible angles. This is not everyone's cup of tea, obviously, but if you have to get a gift for someone who is fixated on the American space program, you can't get much better than this. I expect to find the Apollo sets more interesting, but he started watching the Gemini and Saturn sets first.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Detail Of The Saturn I And IB Programs
Review: Like the other DVD sets in the Spacecraft Films series, this is a gem, detailing the development of the oft-forgotten early model Saturns. The three DVDs run at over six hours and include an enormous amount of archival footage of all Saturn I and IB launches. Most people will find the 43 minute documentary on disc one the most interesting part of the set. In that section the producers interview many Saturn program veterans, many of whom discuss Wernher von Braun.

I am very interested in the Apollo program, so this was an ideal set for me. Having said that, this set is not for casual space enthusiasts inasmuch as much of the footage of the various launches looks very similar (and some of the footage does not have audio.) One interesting thing to watch for is the changes that took place in the pad and gantry area between the early launches and the last Saturn launches to Skylab (and Apollo/Soyuz) when the Apollo/Saturn stack is elevated on a stand to be able to use the Saturn V fixtures.

This DVD set is intended for people with more than a passing interest in the Apollo program: if you are in that group you will love this set.


Rating:
Summary: I had hoped for much more...
Review: The release date couldn't get here soon enough. Looking at all the pre-sale info on these mission & program DVDs, I was sure that these space program technical films would be a great addition to the dramatic features like "From the Earth to the Moon" & Apollo 13. So far, I've purchased The Mighty Saturns, Project Gemini & Apollo 11. All three have let me down in some way but the Saturn box is the worst. Only one of the discs has a legitimate documentary on the launch vehicle. The rest is primarily multi angle launch after launch. This would be a much better set if the time was taken for an audio comentary. This would help differentiate one launch from another. Possibly technical schematics ... something? It looks like a better effort could have been made on what is to date, Man's greatest endevour. Inside the package was an anouncement for the next 4 sets that were to be released. Most of these were Apollo mission boxes. The announcement had a Nov 2003 release date. As of now, I've heard nothing on their release. Too much money for so little product.

Rating:
Summary: I had hoped for much more...
Review: The release date couldn't get here soon enough. Looking at all the pre-sale info on these mission & program DVDs, I was sure that these space program technical films would be a great addition to the dramatic features like "From the Earth to the Moon" & Apollo 13. So far, I've purchased The Mighty Saturns, Project Gemini & Apollo 11. All three have let me down in some way but the Saturn box is the worst. Only one of the discs has a legitimate documentary on the launch vehicle. The rest is primarily multi angle launch after launch. This would be a much better set if the time was taken for an audio comentary. This would help differentiate one launch from another. Possibly technical schematics ... something? It looks like a better effort could have been made on what is to date, Man's greatest endevour. Inside the package was an anouncement for the next 4 sets that were to be released. Most of these were Apollo mission boxes. The announcement had a Nov 2003 release date. As of now, I've heard nothing on their release. Too much money for so little product.

Rating:
Summary: Documentary + NASA Archival Footage
Review: This set is quite good. Very good transfers of original NASA films of Launches from the earliest Saturn Rocket to the 1B. Note this set does not include the Saturn V launches and is contained on a different DVD Set.

The Series starts off with an excellent documentary on the Saturn Rockets. NASA hoped to use existing rockets as clusters to create the 1B rocket. It was hugely successful and was later re-used for later Soyuz docking flight.
The archival launch films highlight just about every angle, from the lauch pad, from below the rocket, above the rocket, etc and it was great to see this. It is nice to see that the film transfers look as well as they do. I've seen older NASA film transfers that basically look like they were filmed off a projection screen. These appear to be digitally scanned per frame. I recommend this highly.

Rating:
Summary: Documentary + NASA Archival Footage
Review: This set is quite good. Very good transfers of original NASA films of Launches from the earliest Saturn Rocket to the 1B. Note this set does not include the Saturn V launches and is contained on a different DVD Set.

The Series starts off with an excellent documentary on the Saturn Rockets. NASA hoped to use existing rockets as clusters to create the 1B rocket. It was hugely successful and was later re-used for later Soyuz docking flight.
The archival launch films highlight just about every angle, from the lauch pad, from below the rocket, above the rocket, etc and it was great to see this. It is nice to see that the film transfers look as well as they do. I've seen older NASA film transfers that basically look like they were filmed off a projection screen. These appear to be digitally scanned per frame. I recommend this highly.

Rating:
Summary: Too much money for limited content
Review: When I first saw this title, I was quite excited to see it. Although it was pricey, I figured with three DVDs, there must be tons of content so I purchased it and was quite disappointed. The only disc with content was disc one and there was only about 40 minutes worth. The other two DVDs were Saturn launches and that's about it. The box said over six hours of content but only about 40 minutes of it was a documentary and I guess five hours of launch footage (I never watched all of the launches). I doubt very much that I will purchase other content from this series.

Rating:
Summary: Comments from the producer
Review: When we set out to create this series of DVDs, we wanted to achieve something that all of the previous accounts of a documentary nature had not - to present this material without a filter, in a way to allow the viewer to see the maximum amount of material - both video and audio - in the best quality possible. In short, as lifelong students of the U.S. space program, we wanted to put together a collection the way we wished to see it - the way it happened.

Most importantly, we set out to present the complete television transmissions and onboard motion picture film for individual missions - material that just hasn't been available before. This material is purposely left in its original form, albiet with new digital transfers, color correction where necessary and possible, and digital noise reduction.

To do this we realized we would have to use certain unconventional methods. For example, we wished to present multiple angles of footage from rollout, suitup, etc. To do this required us to use different angles out of context, so that from time to time certain events were shown a couple of times so that the varied angles could be presented. Unless one realizes this was done to present multiple angles one might mistake it for material out of order.

Nearly all of the 16mm film from EVA training, suitup, astronauts visiting the launch pad (all of which was re-transferred from the original using modern, digital telecines) was shot silent, and since we also wished to present as much audio as possible from mission events such as countdowns, we have married this audio to that footage. The result is the maximum amount of primary source material available on the subject and results in important audio from other events used on previously silent film.

Lastly, especially for launch vehicles, we wanted to present the material we had only previously seen in short clips on documentaries, such as pad cameras, in its entirety. For those interested in the creation and flight of these vehicles, this material is fascinating, and filled with insightful information.

Much of the material on these sets is presented, purposefully, the way it was shot. Some of the Hollywood storytelling created on this subject is wonderful, we love that, too, but as a chronicle of the greatest explorations of mankind the material deserved to be presented without such a filter. This is the way it happened, and it is amazing.

Very soon in 2004, a six-disc chronicle of Apollo 15 and a three-disc edition on the Saturn V will be released.