Silent Victory Submarine Warfare in WWII

a little slow in places

Excellent

I recently received this War Video combo set and I must say I wasn't disappointed. I watched both discs, Silent Victory and The "Devil Boats". Silent Victory proved to be a very in depth look at the role that the Submarine played, especially during World War II and the ups and downs it had to endure before establishing itself as a forceful menace to be reckoned with by the enemy. The actual rare footage and the excellent narration exceeded my expectations. On the other disc, Devil Boats, the history behind the use of this vessel enlightened my limited knowledge of it's key role in World War II. It proved to be a bastion of historical information that I wasn't aware of. Also, the soulful journey that the World War II vets were undertaking to restore the old PT boat 658 was both touching and enjoyable. They displayed the same comraderie during this ordeal that they lived through in actual wartime action.The ups and downs of this huge restorative undertaking was astonishing. Kudos to their kind. I wish that we could all display that kind of gumption.All in all, a very good buy. Would recommend to all war buffs.Andy

A must for submarine warfare history viewing

The first disc contains a complete history of submarine operations of World War II, from Pearl Harbor to the final victory. Various classes of submarines are shown with changes that evolved from the 1930's, and the boats were not the only source of change. The evolution of operational policies changed with the officers and men that drove them. Finally, troubles with the Mark XIV torpedo and the years it took to correct. Included is an interview with a survivor, detailing the sinking of a submarine by its own torpedo that ran a circular course. Nine men were picked up by Japanese escorts, the others perished.The second disc is a well rounded history of PT Boats of World War II and the reason for the fast build-up and distribution to foreign waters. Many film sequences show PT Boats from the "plywood derby" race to boats in military formation. As the war progressed, PT Boats evolved into gunboats that sunk Japanese commerce conveyed by barge.Finally, the restoration of PT 658 is shown and the PT'ers that did it.This is an excellent set for anyone wanting a history of WWII submarines and PT Boats.

The contribution of US subs to winning the Pacific war may not be well known They sunk a great percentage of the Japanese merchant fleet (down to about 1.5 million tons at the end of the war from 5-6 million tons at the start) plus a goodly number of fighting ships. This is under appreciated probably because the very nature of the process does not make for easy filming. A lot more detail is available in Clay Blair's book Silent Victory. The DVD is well done (as I expect from TMG) and attractively priced. The maps are a definite plus (as noted elsewhere). A listing of the US subs sunk (at the DVD's end) is useful. TMG might have included a list of all the US subs and their "scores" (numbers and total tonnage) in place of the PT DVD. The story of the non-performing torpedoes at the war's beginning is a sad one and is well covered here. One also learns of just how dangerous the work was (24% did not return,which was greater than bombing losses according to the DVD)

"Silent Victory" is terrific! It is a well-produced, professional effort, a great documentary betrayed by terrible packaging! I'm guessing this twin-pack (also featuring another winner, "Devil Boat, the Saga of PT 658") is available at "Big Box" electronics stores with other "shut-up" or "impulse-buy" DVDs and had I encountered it there my response would likely have been "nah!" and walk away, the previous and enthusiastic review had me ordering this right away. As I said, this is a remarkably professional effort, the writing, direction, and editing are all top notch and the original film employed is fantastic! There is much use of really well-preserved color as well as clean black & white footage. The music is complementary and unobtrusive, the scripting accurate and concise and the animated graphics are also well done! Interspersed within the film are "on-camera" anecdotes by many veteran submariners, including USS TANG survivor Jesse DaSilva and even some pilots, including Alex M. Vraciu, 4th ranking Navy Ace in the Pacific. My only gripe-a tiny one-is the lack of any rank/rating given with the names of the submariner interviewed. I know both Mendenhall and Ruiz were officers but the rest? All in all, "Silent Victory" belongs in your DVD collection if you're as goofy about WWII submarines as I am and believe me, I'm mighty goofy!

The disk about submarines was fascinating and I never realized that in the early part of the war they had so many problems with torpedoes. The documentary was well done and the archival film used was, for the most part, very good to excellent. There are a couple of places where, for dramatic purposes, they cut in film from Hollywood movies but these did not detract from the overall feel of the documentary. Extremely well done but much too short.The disk about the PT boats was also informative but there could have been a little more on their actual operation. The segments on the veterans rebuilding a nearly-derelict old PT boat was interesting and I will probably make a trip up to see it since my uncle served on a couple of boats during WW2. Two well-worthwhile documentaries at a great price.

This is two DVDs: one is about the restoration of a PT boat by WW2 veterans, which is very interesting to watch. The second is about US submarines in the Pacific in WW2. If the viewer already has an interest and has done some reading about US subs and their activities in WW2 in the Pacific then there is nothing new in this documentary for you. The film footage is very good, but the information presented is nothing new.

This is a very interesting 2 Disc set... The first disc is called Silent victory submarine warfare in WW II. It's a documentary how about submarines in World War II. The second disc is called devil boat and it's about the Sega of PT Boat 658. It was good too. Case you're looking for point of view I'm a war buff

there were 2 discs ... one was exactly the same as the production available on YouTube and the other was not very interesting. this package was a ripoff and not worth the money. I do NOT recommend this item.

I guess I would say it was okay. The ordering and delivery were of course very, very good as is most of my experiences with Amazon.The DVD itself was really nothing spectacular and was satisfactory in content.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT THERE WERE ANY PT. BOATS STILL AROUND