The American Soldier + WWII
Remembered (Mill Creek DVDs)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C/D Episodes: C+
Mill Creek has issued two older programs on U.S. Warfare,
including one reissue of a WWII series. The American Soldier and WWII Remembered are separate
mini-series that show their age, but have their moments. George Kennedy hosts Soldier and it attempts to cover 300 years of this history that can
get choppy and if it is not an outright Right Wing take, it is an uneven one. Kennedy does his best.
Remembered does a good, if not spectacular
job covering some of the most covered and filmed war of all time. There is some footage we have not seen lately
as WWII programming has been eclipsed a comparative bit by the War Porn of the
2000s and a general media tendency to dispose of history more than ever, even
on the 24-hour news networks. It has its
moments and holds up well despite not always aging well.
The 1.33 X 1 image on both are soft and originate on
analog NTSC videotape, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on both show their age
with limited range and compression.
There are no extras on WWII,
but Soldier has a DVD-ROM section
that includes 38 downloadable maps, three timelines (American Wars, Indian
Wars, Foreign Wars) and an historical overview.
- Nicholas Sheffo
