The President’s Book Of Secrets (2010/A&E DVD) + 20th Century with Mike Wallace – America At War (CBS/Athena DVD
Set) + The Unknown War – WWII & The
Epic Battles Of The Russian Front (1983/Shout! Factory DVD Set)
Picture: C+/C/C Sound: C+/C+/C Extras: D/C+/B- Main Programs: C+/B+/B
Now for
some interesting titles on government, military, war, history and secrets…
The President’s Book Of Secrets (2010) is a speculative and long
piece about what if there was a secret guide book for each president to get and
what would it tell them. At 94 minutes,
this becomes a bit much, though it is bold in covering some of its
speculation. This is a curio at best
some will want to see, but once was enough for this writer. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is
nicer than some of the letterboxing A&E/History still does on their DVDs,
but the image can still be weak, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no real
surrounds, but is well recorded enough and there are no extras.
20th Century with Mike
Wallace – America At War continues the releases from the
series on Acorn’s Athena label, but this time, we get some remarkable footage
of what really happened in Vietnam
in the first four of the tem episodes here.
Korea and the first Gulf War are also included, but the remaining
episodes cover technology, elite fighters and the politics of war, which has
suddenly become more relevant (as has the whole set) since Osama Bin Laden was
killed. This is a solid series and it
holds up very well with priceless footage and history, made better by Updates On American Warriors included on
all three DVDs. The 1.33 X 1 image is on
the soft side with a slight harshness and aliasing errors throughout suggesting
a second-generation digital copy, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono plays back
better with some distortion but not as much wear. Other extras include a link to additional
information and 12-page viewer’s guide that further enhances the release.
The Unknown War – WWII & The
Epic Battles Of The Russian Front is a 20-episode series hosted by Burt Lancaster about how
the Soviets took on the Nazis in WWII after the false non-aggression treaty was
signed and the amazing toll the two totalitarian powers took on each other,
though it is ironic that Stalin killed more of his own people in his private
terror campaign against them that the highly murderous Hitler did.
On five
DVDs, the series was featured most up to date information at the time about the
events and is interesting as this side of WWII was somewhat to absolutely
censored (or at least ignored to the extent it was publicly) by the U.S.
Government because of The Cold War with the U.S.S.R. and they could not be
given any ground like that until they were brought down. This was actually pulled out of syndication
and off the air itself (continuing the censorship side) when the Soviets
invaded Afghanistan, which
ironically (along with Chernobyl
and the communications age) led to their demise.
The 1.33
X 1 image was all shot on film and has older film footage, but these copies
look like older analog transfers and can be soft. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also down a
generation or so and sounds a little compressed throughout. Still, this is in good enough shape to enjoy
and is vital history. Extras include a
Rod McKuen interview (he co-wrote the program and did the music as well) and
Russian History scholar Willard Sunderland also does an interview featurette
updating the series and telling us what we know now that the Soviets were
keeping secret then that is now possible with their collapse.
For more
of Wallace’s series on DVD, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10555/20th+Century+With+Mike+Wallace
- Nicholas Sheffo
