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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.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Dogfights - The Complete Season One (History Channel) (2006)
Harnessing the technology from the latest cgi video game flight simulators this puts the viewers behind the cockpit pitted against enemy aircraft in 11 of modern historys greatest air battles.Studio: A&e Home VideoRelease Date: 04/24/2007Run time: 517 minutes
Click here for more information about Dogfights - The Complete Season One (History Channel) (2006)
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