U-Boat War

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Extremely well done documentary. The DVD covers all aspects of the U-Boat war in excellent detail. The footage is relatively fersh and well reproduced. Both the axis and allied sides of the war are covered. If you are at all interested in the U-Boat battles of the Atlantic this is a must get.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, informative, and at times moving.
Review: This is a set of 3 documentaries covering the U-boat's impact in WWII, from beginning to end. It is well-written, and supplemented with interviews with American, British, and German survivors (and also historians) as well as a good amount of archival footage. It is really interesting to hear the story from those who were there -- including a number of German U-boat commanders. The breadth of coverage is good, including both German and Allied tactics (and how these tactics changed during the war), as well as technical advances on both sides. Coverage also includes developments in the Allies' ability to read the German naval code. I think the most valuable thing it does is provide the human story without demonizing the German sailors.

DVD quality is generally good to satisfactory. In short, this is a very informative and comprehensive set of documentaries. Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: COMPREHENSIVE, INFORMATIVE, AND WELL-PRESENTED
Review: This is a set of 3 documentaries covering the U-boat's impact in WWII, from beginning to end. It is well-written, and supplemented with interviews with American, British, and German survivors (and also historians) as well as a good amount of archival footage. It is really interesting to hear the story from those who were there -- including a number of German U-boat commanders. The breadth of coverage is good, including both German and Allied tactics (and how these tactics changed during the war), as well as technical advances on both sides. Coverage also includes developments in the Allies' ability to read the German naval code. I think the most valuable thing it does is provide the human story without demonizing the German sailors.

DVD quality is generally good to satisfactory. In short, this is a very informative and comprehensive set of documentaries. Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Best U-Boat documentary to surface in a long time
Review: This is an extremely interesting and highly informative documentary in three parts. Each segment is roughly 50 minutes long and covers the broad history of U-Boats during WWII. There is much archival footage which I have never seen before, all of which is excellent. The film reveals a visual history of U-Boats that really brings history alive. Much of the footage is somewhat obscure (and rarely seen) and focuses on daily activities including the minute details of life on a U-Boat, something which other documentaries on the subject seldom present in depth. Commentary is quite good and includes interviews with leading aces as well as historians. It appears to be a British or Canadian production (additionally, there is a reference to the Discovery Channel in the closing credits). The material is highly organized and can probably be considered required viewing for many U-Boat history enthusiasts.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, informative, and at times moving.
Review: U-Boat War is a great example of how to do a military history documentary the right way. Each of the three approximately 50-minute episodes smoothly blends archival footage, present-day footage of key locales and ships (including U-boat interiors), and intelligent, thought-prooking commentary by historians and participants in the war. The episodes cover the major events, key players, and significant economic, political, tactical, and moral elements of the U-Boat war. The documentary understandably doesn't go into great technical detail--books will serve you better there--but it does discuss major devices and tactics in layman's terms: ASDIC, radar, HF/DF, depth charge and torpedo firing patterns, the Wolf Pack system, Enigma, schnorchels, and so forth.