Battle 360º[Degrees] – The Complete Series + Nostradamus: 2012 + Patton 360º[Degrees] – The Complete Season One (History Channel/A&E Blu-rays)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C/C/D     Episodes: B-/C/B-

 

 

Falling somewhere between documentaries, special interest programming and some slightly sensation programming angles, The History Channel has issued Blu-rays of three series that are attempting to gain the network new audiences. 

 

Battle 360º – The Complete Series focuses on key WWII fights in ten hour-long shows that have their moments and try to freshen-up the endless looks at the vast war that was WWII, but this is centered on the U.S.S. Enterprise and has its moments.  Fans of the classic game Battleship will also find the show amusing.  Episodes include Call To Duty, Vengeance At Midway, Jaws Of The Enemy, Bloody Santa Cruz, Enterprise vs. Japan, The Grey Ghost, Hammer Of Hell, D-Day In The Pacific, Battle Of Leyte Gulf and The Empire’s Last Stand.  Though not a great show, it can be entertaining if the basic CGI does not get annoying.  Otherwise, it is not bad and somewhat ambitious in wanting to put the viewer in the action.

 

Nostradamus: 2012 is a somewhat tired retread of the old “how right and accurate was this guy” programs about how the writer/predictor of world history events from centuries ago.  I never bought any of this much and some of it fits too easy, but the next new thing is that December 21, 2012 will be doomsday and if it is, we won’t have to put up with shows like this anymore.  As usual, some of this is laughable when it is not boring, so watch it at your own risk.  Both the main program and bonus program are over 90 minutes each.

 

Patton 360º – The Complete Season One is much like Battle above, but this is only the beginning of this show?  Well, we get episodes like Blood & Guts, Rommel’s Last Stand, Baptism Of Blood, Rogue General, American Blitzkrieg, Leading The Charge, On Hitler’s Doorstep, Siege Warfare, Battle Of The Bulge and Crushing The Third Reich.  I can go for all of them, but in this case, major feature films on the subject (Patton and Battle Of The Bulge, large-frame film Hollywood epics that still work, both also on Blu-ray and reviewed elsewhere on this site) tower over this show, but considering the budget limits and simple CG, it is not bad.  I just wonder how long they intend to keep this show going.

 

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on all the productions can have some nice shots and even nice color, but they also all have the computer animation that is only so good and even if these are 2K HD production, that still comes with its share of limits.  Still, this is more watchable than many such productions and the vintage footage, even when worn, is a plus.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 2.0 sound mixes on all the titles all offer some Pro Logic-type surrounds and are good recent recordings, but not much more and A&E was smart in all cases not to try and create 5.1 mixes, stretching out the original recordings beyond what they should be.  Like BBC, being reserved was a good move.

 

Extras on Battle include Additional Scenes and Making-Of featurette, while Nostradamus has the featurette The Last Book of Nostradamus that is about the equal of the main program.  Patton has no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo