Japan At War In Colour

Customer Reviews:

Amazing colour footage of Japan through WW2 - and beyond.......2007-01-19

I nearly didn't buy this thanks to other reviews, but I'm glad I did and felt I should recommend this to others. Firstly, I have a number of war documentaries from WW2 in my DVD collection and I have to say that this material really told the whole story of Japan from the 30's to the late 40's. What particularly impressed me was the amount of old restored colour footage used - giving a real feel for the time and place. The documentary is pieced together from diary excerpts for numerous Japanese sources, ranging from soldiers to farmers and even children.

Its not just about the civilians as one reviewer states, there is plenty of action here (colour footage of the Pearl Harbour attack, desperate kamikaze attacks against overwhelming American forces, Japanese soldier set ablaze and running about, e.t.c). However some of the battles throughout the documentary could have gone into more detail perhaps.

Some of the footage - and the matching diary excerpts was used to great effect to show the horror of war. In one scene an American fighter plane attacks a civilian train and if you zoom in you can see the terrified faces of Japanese citizens through the windows and bullets slicing through the carriages. As the plane spins around for a second and third attack the diary of a schoolgirl describes how a plane attacked them again and again, the screams and the blood - its very powerful stuff and it certainly doesn't glorify the actions of the Americans !

I was moved to tears when Americans had trapped a load of women and children in a cave and the women strangled their babies and blow themselves up rather than be captured. Some women through their babies off cliffs and jumped off after them - you actually see dead toddlers floating at the foot of waterfalls.

Yes - this documentary does include a lot of detail about civilian life - for the Japanese and for the civilians in territories they invaded - but that just makes it all the more effective viewing. There are no winners in war - only victims.

Review.......2006-06-08

Don't expect this DVD to give you an insight into Japans War. It only focuses on the civilian population. There is hardly any information into the battles at Pearl Harbour and Singapore. The dropping of the atomic bomb is described in as little detail as possible and there is hardly any mention into the harsh ways the Japanese treated their prisoners of war. This had to best the worst war DVD documentary I have ever watched. There only good thing is the colour footage.

Excellent.......2004-06-11

Very good. I have waited for months for this DVD to come out and it's worth. As Japan have invaded many asia countries, also British and America territories, this were the ambition of the japanese military and government. You get to see and listen in the point of view of the japanese civilians, as they too are the victims of the war, lead by their own Country. The culture and spirit of the Japanese has keep them 'alive', even today. The Japanese Emperor (which were above God in Japan in WW2) were surprisingly not brought to trial, and remain as the powerful symbol continuity with the past.

Customer Reviews:

Woodstock Diaries [1969].......2008-03-11

ca. 180 Minuten

DTS 5.1 Dolby Digital + Stereo 2.0 Sound

Tracklist:

Freitag, 15. August 1969 Richie Havens I can't make it anymore * Country Joe McDonald Fixin' to die * John Sebatian Rainbows all over your Blues * Incredible String Band When you find out who you are * Bert Sommers Jennifer * Tim Hardin If I were a Carpenter * Ravi Shankar Evening Raga * Arlo Guthrie Walkin' down the line * Joan Baez Drug store truck drivin' man * Sir Galahad

Sonnabend, 16. August 1969 Quill Waiting for you * Santana Soul sacrifice * Canned Heat Leaving this town * Mountain Southbound train * Sly & The Family StoneLove city * Janis Joplin Try (just a little bit harder) * Ball & Chain * The Who My generation * Jefferson Airplane Somebody to love * White Rabbit

Sonntag, 17. August 1969 Joe CockerLet's go get stoned * Country Joe & The Fish (Thing called) Love * Ten Years After I'm going home * The Band The weight * Johnny Winter Mean Town Blues * Crosby, Stills, NashBlack bird & young * Paul Butterfield Everything gonna be alright * Sha Na NaDuke of earl * Jimi Hendrix Star spangled banner * Woodstock improvisation * Villanova junction

brilliant film.......2005-11-24

a really brilliant film. a look back at how the whole thing was put together by the people who put it together.
music out of this world, played by people who knew the meaning of making music: johnny winter, al wilson of canned heat, santana, alvin lee, the who, hendrix,tim hardin, the band, and especially sha na na. also features the incredible string band, the only scottish band to play woodstock.
like isle of wight, crowd of over half a million makes modern festivals like glastonbury and keech in the park seem like village fetes.

Fill in the Blanks.......2005-01-27

Ever wondered what those other bands were like who you knew were on, but never saw or heard? This film works well enough to fill in those blanks. There are a few more songs from some of the people on the original (Joan Baez and Joe Cocker) that aren't as good as what appeared. There's also some great other songs by artists that did appear: CSN doing McCartney's "Blackbird"; and Richie Havens doing some other great song. And there's The Band doing "The Weight"; and Johnny Winter doing "Mean Town Blues". All up, a great bunch of extra stuff, plus the promoters reminisce about what a crazy idea it was in the first place.

Customer Reviews:

A most objective view at this daring raid.......2003-10-02

I bought this DVD in order to replace a VHS tape of the same topic.
I was pleasantly surprised at the detail of this documentary in comparison to my tape (of different origin), and is by far the most objective I have seen to date.
In this documentary, the Dambuster raid has not been over glorified, as you might expect, but gives the viewer insight into many aspects not normally thought of.
This documentary also includes interviews with surviving aircrew who took part in the raid, this gives the viewer a personal side to the event.
Highley recommended.

We all know the tune but do you know the story?.......2002-01-30

The story of a single daring raid that captured the imagination of the world.

With the war hung in the balance in 1943 and with Germany still occuping the whole mainland of Europe, its powerful armies stood behind the unassailable Atlantic Wall.

The way in was to attack from the air. With the RAF bombing at night with their Lancaster bombers and the USAF during the day with the Flying Fortresses the task was to try and bring the German industrial machine to a standstill.

The decision was was to strike powerfully at single targets. Thus born the Dambusters raid. If bombers could puncture 3 major dams in North Germany they could deprive german industry of water it sorely needed.

The bombers would have to fly dangerously low and at precise speed and height to drop the bomb and to allow it to bounce successfully.

This is the story of how it happened.

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