John Kettler Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Am watching "Brothers in Arms: The Untold Story of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment." Great show, combining live footage , reenactments, animated segments taken from.adapted from the BIA game. Tons of interviews, with context provided by Col. (Ret.) John Antal. "Normandy:The Great Crusade" has gobs of footage from both sides (everything from invasion footage to armor, Nebelwerfers, Stuka zu fuss, Panzerwerfer 42, the converted from French tanks SPs, Crocs, Shermans -Firefly, Sextons, Universal carriers, Dingos, artillery of every stripe, actual bocage terrain, great building shots and stories. Highly recommended! June 6th, the Military Channel will run a D-Day Marathon. The above applies to the U.S. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hister Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Gosh, me wants to see this! ... but I can't, buhuhu 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 The BIA show was good, basicaly because it was the game put onto the screen. jeje, I definately recomend the games! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Too bad the Military Channel and MHC keep endlessly recycling the same old series and footage as if WWII began only when the Americans joined it, and consisted of Normandy and The Bulge. To be fair, they have improved recently with some new series that tell some little-known and and recently discovered stories -- "Secret War" and "Narrow Escapes of WWII" are some notable examples. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG TOW Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Don't mean to stray off topic but I find these new generation documentaries on the His and Mil channels recap too excessively and the total amount of content with the commercials and recap is very little for the time it takes to show an hour long program. I lose patience watching them now. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Don't mean to stray off topic but I find these new generation documentaries on the His and Mil channels recap too excessively and the total amount of content with the commercials and recap is very little for the time it takes to show an hour long program. I lose patience watching them now. Man I hear that. 10 minutes of content, 20 minutes of recap and 30 minutes of commercials. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 Not to mention how nearly every show needs to recap the first several years of WWII, because they assume their audience is either so young or uneducated that they have no idea who fought on what side, etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 These channels started out as some "grognard" fare with period documentaries and real archival footage but unfortunately have been watered down over time to this repetitive commemorative pap and other shows mostly consisting of video clips of drone strikes on Muslim militants, viewed from 5000 feet up and accompanied by the obligatory heavy metal earbusting scores. Not my cuppa, sorry. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 And the proliferation of "bests" programs (10 best machineguns, top tanks, etc.) is a plague that has really made those channels nearly worthless lately -- programs like that are mindless parades of hardware, devoid of context or narrative, and probably get made because they're so cheap and easy to produce (just splice a lot of old film clips together and narrate). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 And the proliferation of "bests" programs (10 best machineguns, top tanks, etc.) is a plague that has really made those channels nearly worthless lately -- programs like that are mindless parades of hardware, devoid of context or narrative, and probably get made because they're so cheap and easy to produce (just splice a lot of old film clips together and narrate). I am just waiting for the next reality TV show. "Desperate Platoon Leaders- The show follows the lives of a group of Marines, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their Quonset huts.." Okay yeah I edited the description for Desperate Housewives, but it's all the same formula 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macisle Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Man I hear that. 10 minutes of content, 20 minutes of recap and 30 minutes of commercials. That seems to fit the bill for the Battlefield II stuff I've been watching recently on YT. I made it through all 11 slices of Operation Market Garden. The uploader got rid of the commercials of course, but it was painfully obvious that the program was built around tons of commercial breaks with new viewers popping in each time. I almost didn't finish it due to the annoying recap. I'm about a third of the way through the one on Monte Cassino. -Had to laugh when they did the Weapons segment. For the Allied infantry, they showed the Lee Enfield and for the Germans the MG-42. Gosh, it sure is a shame that the Allies had to do all that fightin' with only rifles against them nasty German machine guns! Macisle 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 What's your monthly cable bill, John? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Man I hear that. 10 minutes of content, 20 minutes of recap and 30 minutes of commercials. Which is pretty much the way all tv and radio is going these days. I watch the few tv shows I like on my computer via their websites. I was supremely annoyed the other day when the show I was watching was interrupted every five minutes for two minutes of commercials. And the classical music radio station I listen to got to be like one of those newspapers with about four pages of reporting amid eight pages of ads. Only it's worse. With the papers I can skip the ads. With the radio, I have to sit through them whether I want to or not. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankster65 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 That seems to fit the bill for the Battlefield II stuff I've been watching recently on YT. I made it through all 11 slices of Operation Market Garden. The uploader got rid of the commercials of course, but it was painfully obvious that the program was built around tons of commercial breaks with new viewers popping in each time. I almost didn't finish it due to the annoying recap. I'm about a third of the way through the one on Monte Cassino. -Had to laugh when they did the Weapons segment. For the Allied infantry, they showed the Lee Enfield and for the Germans the MG-42. Gosh, it sure is a shame that the Allies had to do all that fightin' with only rifles against them nasty German machine guns! Macisle Funny you mention that Macisle. I usually will look on Youtube for stuff like this in order to see whether I want to actually purchase a program for my private library. Was taking a look at Battlefield Series, specifically the "Battle for Normandy episode. It is the one which actually focusses on the Battle for Caen. In it, during that weapon comparison sequence, they kept referring to a Churchill tank but were showing a Cromwell. I just shook my head in disgust. You would think they would have some historian check the accuracy of their program. No excuse for that kind of error. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I am just waiting for the next reality TV show. "Desperate Platoon Leaders- The show follows the lives of a group of Marines, seen through the eyes of their dead neighbor. They work through domestic struggles and family life, while facing the secrets, crimes and mysteries hidden behind the doors of their Quonset huts.." Okay yeah I edited the description for Desperate Housewives, but it's all the same formula Heh. Made me think of The Unit. Though I liked that show, the first two series of it at least, which is what I've gotten around to watching so far. DVD boxed sets FTW. Squirrelly-thinkin' Special-Forces units FTW, too... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macisle Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Funny you mention that Macisle. I usually will look on Youtube for stuff like this in order to see whether I want to actually purchase a program for my private library. Was taking a look at Battlefield Series, specifically the "Battle for Normandy episode. It is the one which actually focusses on the Battle for Caen. In it, during that weapon comparison sequence, they kept referring to a Churchill tank but were showing a Cromwell. I just shook my head in disgust. You would think they would have some historian check the accuracy of their program. No excuse for that kind of error. Yeah, there was a lot of footage in the OMG episode that clashed with what any enthusiast or beyond would expect to see--like "American Paratroopers" being talked about when regular GI's in winter gear ala Bulge are being shown. I got my WWII fix, but it sure felt like they added some baby-powder! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Belenko Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 RECAP/Recrap is flipping waste of time - I don't watch the these shows because of it. The old 1970s World at War was the best. I really enjoyed the interviews with the assistants to the military/world leaders. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Also, note the difference in tone between the 1970s Word at War series and the ones made today. The WoW series was thorough and factual, and always conveyed respect for the dead and the vets, and showed the cruel face of war for civilians and soldiers alike. I always feel a bit sad after a WoW episode, even as I enjoy the history of it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 The old 1970s World at War was the best. Supposedly the costs of producing docos and searching for good quality archival footage is prohibitive. But, you know, there's probably enough old 1960s/70s free-to-air docos like WaW, as well as offical military docos/propaganda like "Why we Fight" and that film made in Arnhem in about 1946 (using abandoned German kit and a lot of the soldiers from 1st AB Div as extras) to fill up most of a TV channel, without having to resort to the pap that passes for milhist now. Can't get much cheaper than something that's already been made. OTOH, there are some reasonable quality milhist docos still being made, like this one: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=102610 He's a bit breathless and OTT, and you'll learn a lot more from a good book like van Creveld's "Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton" or Thompson's "Lifeblood of War: Logistics in Armed Conflict", but a good doco can be a good supplement. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadsword56 Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 OK, here's an unqualified rave for a documentary series (occasionally shown on public TV in the USA, but not on the TMC or MHC as far as I know -- I recommend you buy the DVDs): The "American Road to Victory" series (one program each on D-Day, Bulge, OMG) http://www.livingbattlefield.org/battlefield-tours-on-dvd.html Like most of you, I've felt I'd read 'em all, seen 'em all. And my earlier posts describe what I think of most of what poses as WWII documentaries nowadays...But these really seem to stand out for a number of reasons: *Great human-level storytelling that manages to show the "bigger picture" of these operations at the same time. *Ellwood von Seibold (the Canadian historian who tours the sites as he narrates and even acts out the situations on camera) is an absolute trip -- totally passionate about the history, and manages to entertain even as he shows you the places and events. *Good special effects that help show the story -- not just eyecandy for its own sake, but enough to make it convincing and appealing to the modern viewer -- much better than just the same old film clips and talking heads. *Loads of veteran interviews, many telling stories that probably have never been told anywhere else. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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