WWII in HD The Air War tonight at 8 ct

[Steve Nelson]

I enjoyed it for what it was: a chance to see some great color footage of WWII bombers in action. As expected, there was a lot of stuff from the Memphis Belle documentary, and most of the rest of the footage was hopelessly jumbled as far as time and location were concerned. I especially loved the footage supposedly of ground troops training in England for D-Day, and being repeatedly buzzed by a Wirraway in full Australian markings. My biggest complaint was that in order to make it "HD," they horizontally stretched much of the wartime footage to fit a wide aspect ratio screen.

SN

[Jumper]

HD format is a wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio only so if you want to watch anything on HD you have to use it. I don't think it helps watching this footage in HD since it seems exaggerate all the dirt and scratches in the film.

I think the producers just use any footage to illustrate what their written commentary says. If TV news ran video of a battle in Iraq which was filmed 3 years before and tried to pass it off as something that happened yesterday people would not be happy. So why can the History Channel do it in factual documentary ? I watched footage in this program that was not even filmed in the country they said it was much less the date. They even put in footage shot in the south Pacific and implied it was Europe and vice versa.

The worst was showing cheering Czech partisans welcoming Patton's army near Pilsen in May 1945 and the film said that these were French farmers in Normandy welcoming D-Day invasion troops.

Don't documentary filmmakers have to adhere to some sort of honesty?

[dred]

I'm just surprised the History Channel altered their anything-but-history programming enough to slip in something historical (flawed as it may be).

[Mudge]

I'm just surprised the History Channel altered their anything-but-history programming enough to slip in something historical (flawed as it may be).

Yeah...How does WWII relate to Ice Road Truckers or Pawn Stars or UFOs? What's going on here? Outrageous!!!

Mudge the incensed

[Jumper]

They love most anything to do with Nostradamus and his predictions for the end of the world- saw their website and they no less than 70 "info-documentaries" on him. Ice Truckers is now being replaced by "Top Gear" - how to drive your brand new Ferrari. Does anything they do have anything with history ? Maybe they should change the name of the channel, how about Anything That We Think Might Get Ratings" Channel and their new slogan could be We Don't Know If Its True Or Not.

[airknocker]

I enjoyed the four-episode "The Mission That Changed The War- Doolittle Raiders" on the Military Channel this past month. Having just visited NMUSAF and viewed the reunion goblet collection with only six remaining upright, it was moving hearing the living survivors relate the mission.

[Ken]

Having read most of the books available on the Doolittle Raid (and having low expectations for television history) I thought the Doolittle series was very well done.

[Steve Nelson]

Did it accurately portray the Raiders bombing Tokyo in formation and getting chewed up by flak while Alec Baldwin gave them a pep talk on the radio?

SN

[Obergrafeter]

Yup, they missed that point entirely. I think Alec was at the hairdresser.