Dogfights - The Complete Season One (History Channel) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)The History Channel's "Dogfights" series is a huge step forward for air combat documentaries. Rarely can gun camera footage capture what actually happened in a dogfight. Instead you just see the final couple seconds before the target explodes. The "Dogfights" episodes overcome this limitation by adding in computer-generated reenactments of the air battles that make you feel like you are there watching it all unfold right in front of you. You come away with a much better appreciation of the tactics. For archival footage fans, don't worry--there is still plenty of that in these programs. But because they also have the vivid computer imagery, the episodes don't have to rely on showing the same stock footage over and over and over. I especially appreciated this for the jet era battles, where there is generally a short supply of good footage. In particular, I thought the "Mig Alley" episode was a tremendous improvement over previous pre-CGI documentaries about the air war in Korea. And in that episode, the reenactment of Robby Risner's epic mission is the most incredible air battle story I have ever seen.
The whole series is amazing. It is absolutely essential viewing for anyone interested in air combat. That said, let me also offer three minor warnings:
1. Air battles in Europe during World War 2 get surprisingly little coverage in Season 1--only a episode of "Greatest Air Battles" bonus episode and a flashback in the "Air Ambush" episode about Robin Olds. Likewise, World War I air combat is not covered except at the beginning of the "Greatest Air Battles" episode.
2. There is a glitch on the "Greatest Air Battles" episode. When I hit 'play all' or 'introduction' for that episode, it starts with Rickenbacker's mission. It seems like the logical starting point, but that isn't actually the start of the episode. There is a lot of interesting material before that, but you have to manually rewind in order to get the real beginning of the episode.
3. When last I checked, you could get "Dogfights" for much less money from Deep Discount.
Finally, if you want to learn more about the dogfights of World War 2, I strongly recommend VICTORY ROLL by William Wolf. This massive book (460+ pages with over 600 photos) is the most comprehensive history of all the US aces from World War 2 that I have ever encountered.

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DOGFIGHTS:COMPLETE SEASON ONE - DVD Movie

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The Hamburg Cell (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)'The Hamburg Cell' is an excellent film that follows the 9/11 hijackers in the years leading up to the attacks. The film is simple, yet extremely compelling. The acting is superb, and the characters are portrayed not as frothing at the mouth lunatics, but as the rather ordinary-albeit demented-young men that they were. The film succeeds in showing how one can go from a shy, secular, college student, to an angry, brainwashed, religious zealot. From the several books that I have read on the subject, the film seems to be very accurate. Conspiracy theories notwithstanding, this is the true story of the 9/11 hijackers and how they came to be the most infamous men of our generation. I highly recommend this film.

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"If there is a more important, more urgent story to be told than this, I can’t think of it." -The Guardian (U.K.) In this daring dramatization of events leading up to 9/11, director Antonia Bird (Face, Priest) casts her bold, unblinking lens on the roots of extremism. You meet a small band of middle-class students who commit themselves to the unconscionable: Ziad Jarrah (Karim Saleh), the confused and ultimately duplicitous lover and husband; Mohamed Atta (Kamel), the stern, puritanical enforcer, seething with hate; and Ramzi bin al Shibh (Omar Berdouni), the fanatic recruiter for violent martyrdom. Based on exhaustive research, including personal interviews, unpublished correspondence, and the official 9/11 Commission Report, the film offers a coldly detached yet unnervingly intimate study of young men who turned themselves into monsters. What’s more, it reveals the many instances when they might have been stopped.

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Mayday: Air Disasters (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)Hurray! I've been a huge fan of this series for a number of years (it also airs under alternate names like Air Crash Investigations in various countries). This is the first "season" of the series, which currently has 6 seasons of episodes, with something like 60 or so episodes. This is one of my all-time favorite documentary series featuring nice analytical and engaging storytelling and excellent production quality (typically far better than the average documentary). While later episodes would feature somewhat more advanced production quality, this first batch is still excellently produced.
Later episodes of the series aired in HD, but I don't ever recall seeing these earlier episodes in HD. An extra bonus for this set is that it's in anamorphic widescreen. Having only seen these early ones in their 4x3 aspect ratio, it was nice to see them in their full 16x9 aspect ration.
To the folks at Koch and National Geographic, PLEASE continue releasing this series. I'll absolutely purchase them all. And heck, it'd be extra cool to get the ones produced for it released in high def.
UPDATE: These episodes on the DVD's are definitely extended from the aired versions I've got previous recordings of. The couple episodes I compared had some 6+ more minutes on this DVD version (interview clips with family & survivors less important to the narrative seem to be a favorite for cuts). Each episode clocks in at 52 minutes, give or take a few seconds.

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As seen on National Geographic Channel as "Air Emergency"
Hold on to your seat! Each episode of this white-knuckled, thrilling series features a detailed re-enactment of a real-life air emergency. Using cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitness accounts and interviews with aviation experts, Mayday: Air Disasters provides an exciting and compelling look at the critical moments before, during and after these catastrophes and near-misses.
Includes Six Gripping Episodes:
"Unlocking Disaster" – At an altitude of 33,000 feet, the cargo door of Flight 811 opens, ripping a huge hole in the 747 and taking out five rows of seats and nine passengers.
"Racing the Storm" – At the height of thunderstorm season in Arkansas, American Airlines 1420 slips off a wet runway, down an embankment and breaks apart.
"Fire on Board" – The pilot of Swissair Flight 111 smells smoke in the cockpit.Minutes later, fire and complete electrical failure cause the MD11 to crash into the Atlantic.
"Flying Blind" – As Aeroperu Flight 603 takes off from Lima, its airspeed and altitude indicators jam. The flight crew is flying blind and heading for disaster.
"Cutting Corners" – Shortly after Air Alaska Flight 261 takes off, the stabilizer malfunctions. The pilots struggle to control the nose-diving plane before it crashes into the ocean.
"Flying on Empty" – An Air Transat Airbus runs out of fuel over the Atlantic and has to glide to a power-free landing, narrowly avoiding catastrophe.

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Airline - The Complete Season 1 (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Very few 'reality' TV shows are very realistic at all; they're staged, scripted and sliced/diced in the editing room to create dramatic stories that probably bear little resemblence to the 'real' events that actually transpired.
Not so with "Airline", the pseudo-documentary program on A&E (and now on DVD) that chronicles in 30-minute episodes the various trials and tribulations a handful of Southwest Airlines employees go through while trying to get a sometimes insane public to and from their destinations.
The sad part of this, and if you travel frequently you've probably witnessed it yourself so many times, is the fact that so many people in this country are just plain scary in their aggressive ignorance of the world around them, the law and their responsibilities and etiquette associated with travel. Among the most frightening examples:
1. The passengers who demand that it is their God-given right to board a plane whether or not they're too drunk to stand up
2. The MANY passengers throughout the 18 episodes who, given the SLIGHTEST inconvenience, threaten to sue everyone in sight
3. The many passengers who show up to the airport only minutes before scheduled departure and then scream and yell when told that it's not the airline's fault that they are going to miss their flight(s)
I am not a regular Southwest passenger because I don't enjoy the cattle car mentality of being herded on and off a plane, and also because the times I have flown them, the passengers have been as bad or worse as the ones shown on this show. However, I am impressed by the ability and the mindset of its staff in handling the various sticky situations they encounter, and can better understand how they have managed to stay profitable in a (pardon the pun) turbulent competitive environment both before and after 9/11.

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Now boarding for the hit A&E(r) reality series AIRLINE, where every flight is a guaranteed trip to the land of zany human behavior. Travel has never been so much fun! Every day the hard-working and harried employees of Southwest Airlines interact with thousands of weary, giddy, fussy, confused, grumpy, and sometimes genuinely nice travelers. The results are pure entertainment, full of all-too-real drama and unexpected comedy. From smelly passengers, weather delays, and gospel singers to tired executives, howling children and celebrity sightings, each fast-paced episode of AIRLINE captures the unforgettable and oh-so-familiar realities of flying. At the same time, the behind-the-scenes views of America's fourth largest carrier bring a new appreciation for ever landing at your correct destination. Culled from nearly 5,000 hours of footage at two of America's busiest airports--Los Angeles International and Chicago Midway--AIRLINE features all 18 episodes of its debut season on DVD for the first time. DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection.NOTE: DVD does not include original broadcast theme song.

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