MikeyD Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Maybe it's a coincidence but the local Public Broadcasting station here in Boston (U.S.A.) just spent ALL of last night on the Eastern Front. An hour program about Army Group North, another on Army Group Center, and another hour on Army Group South! It looked like one big info-mercial for CMBB. Hey Matt, you guys got a payola deal or something with PBS? The program looked like a British import. A nice overview of what each army group had to contend with, though they were really skimpy on info about Russian forces. A touch too much hero worship for the valiant German warrior for my tastes in the series, though... in my opinion. [ October 03, 2002, 11:12 AM: Message edited by: MikeyD ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beyerun64 Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 You'd have prefered Hero worship of the Red Liberators? -Byron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNac Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Probably the programs were from the cold war era Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 And where is BFC located? Massachusetts! It all adds up. Once you have installed the CD, THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!!! The last thing you will remember is opening the door to someone named "Big Bird". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Red Line Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Reminds me the story that when Molotov showed de Gaulle around the devastated battlefield of Stalingrad in December 1945, the newly-elected French President exclaimed: 'What a great people! The Germans, I mean.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaylord Focker Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Originally posted by MikeyD: Maybe it's a coincidence but the local Public Broadcasting station here in Boston (U.S.A.) just spent ALL of last night on the Eastern Front. An hour program about Army Group North, another on Army Group Center, and another hour on Army Group South! It looked like one big info-mercial for CMBB. Hey Matt, you guys got a payola deal or something with PBS? The program looked like a British import. A nice overview of what each army group had to contend with, though they were really skimpy on info about Russian forces. A touch too much hero worship for the valiant German warrior for my tastes in the series, though... in my opinion.I saw that a couple years ago. There was an insane show on the Eastern front of pbs's sister station or whatever it is 3 years ago, never seen anything like it before or since, this war footage was war footage, and on the eastern front, showed stuka's blowing t-34's up into the air,and landing upside down, it was amazing that a tank can be tossed up into the air like a paper wieght, tanks getting their turrets blown off, i'm not talking about 3 second clips from a bunch of different battles either. I don't even think i'd watch it again either, but it's good they finaly at least put something on that does'nt look like an espn highlight show of a world war. [ October 03, 2002, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: Gaylord Focker ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmbunnelle Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Yeah, I've got this set on video, a 3-volume set in a slipcase. It uses a lot of declassified Soviet footage. The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of interviews with survivors, scholars, etc. The dry narration really started to put me in a stupor after the first tape. Just watched Kino's DVD re-release of MEIN KRIEG last night. Anybody here seen it? It's a documentary on five Wehrmacht infantrymen (maybe one in the Luftwaffe), all of which shot a great deal of 8mm footage during the campaign. Very interesting, since there is no war footage shown that they did not shoot themselves. This paints an eerily intimate portrait of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 From Gaylord Focker: There was an insane show on the Eastern front of pbs's sister station or whatever it is 3 years ago, never seen anything like it before or since, this war footage was war footage, and on the eastern front, showed stuka's blowing t-34's up into the air,and landing upside down, it was amazing that a tank can be tossed up into the air like a paper wieght, tanks getting their turrets blown off, i'm not talking about 3 second clips from a bunch of different battles either. Tanks being blown upside down?? HMMM... It seems that I saw a long-running thread on that about six months ago...More grist for the mill, here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 From jmbunelle: ...The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of interviews with survivors, scholars, etc.... That's because there WERE no survivors on the Eastern Front, Comrade... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted October 3, 2002 Author Share Posted October 3, 2002 I've notice while watching these WWII documentaries that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I often find myself cringing at what's being left out, glossed over, or mis-stated. Not to mention the repeated use of that damned 'generic' film footage used for filler. They're taking about fighting for Kharkov and show exactly the same infantry-throwing-grenade clip as in their piece on Stalingrad! Do they think we're not paying attention? That's what I like about that Brit magazine "After the Battle" They are SPECIFIC! "This picture was taken on this specific date, at this specific place, taken facing in this direction on this street corner"! Death to generic footage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffsmith Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 I sympathize with your Death to Generic Footage wish but unless generic scenes are used the total amount of film in most WWII Documentaies would likely be something in the range of 3 minutes I guess we could just look at maps or the narrator [ October 03, 2002, 04:32 PM: Message edited by: jeffsmith ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted October 3, 2002 Author Share Posted October 3, 2002 You gave me a thought. What's wrong with a WWII documentary using still photos like the Ken Burns series on the civil war? Who'd rather see a still photo of a specific Panzer II at the very place being described in the commentary on the very date being described in the commentary, as opposed to overused generic propaganda film? I think these documentary producers underestimate their audiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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