The Dawn Of War – The Early Battles Of WWII + Railroads
– Tracks Across America
+ Victory By Air (Mill Creek DVD
Sets)
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: D (Railroads: C+)
Compilations/Episodes: B-
Mill
Creek has issued much dramatic TV of late, but they have a variety of title
types and documentaries are included.
They have issued three more in The
Dawn Of War, Railroads – Tracks
Across America and Victory By Air. All are interesting, have rare content to
offer and will make those interested pleased they too the time to check into
them.
The Dawn Of War and Victory By Air are from the same TV mini-series producers, Pacific
Media and Octapixx. Though a bit dated,
produced on analog video and rough at times, the episodes that comprise each
(11 for War, 5 for Air) are pretty good, not for those
without good attention spans and hold up well enough in the face of so many
new, similar productions since. Those
interested in the subject should definitely give them a chance.
Railroads – Tracks Across America starts with a new documentary
called America’s Railroad: The Glory Years, which gives a very
thorough overview of how the U.S.
railroad system was made and how things like The Civil War, battles with Native
Americans and technology affected all of it.
This is especially helpful when you follow up that program with the
compilation of 35 industrial films on trains (usually produced by the railroad
companies themselves, some by the government) that are all interesting,
entertaining and more than a few are more informative than expected. You also see older technology at its best and
shots of places, scenery and machines you will never see again. Train fans will especially want this volume.
The 1.33
X 1 image on the mini-series have detail issues, aliasing errors and some
cross-talk and softness inherent to analog NTSC productions, even professional
ones. This extends somewhat to the America’s
Railroad program, but the older film short subjects can look really
good, but they all show their age in different ways. Some of the color prints are fading, others
looks a little plugged up, but sometimes color can look good, while the black
and white shorts all look like they have good silver content even when looking
rough. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
dated on the older shorts and a little harsh, low and limited on the newer
programs. You might even want to be
careful of playback levels and audio switching.
None of these sets have any extras, but America’s Railroad could
count as an extra, so we will include it just in case.
- Nicholas Sheffo