Silent Wings – The American Glider Pilots Of WWII (Documentary)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Documentary: B+
The
Germans had their fighters in WWI and they still lost that war, but it took
WWII to make all countries realize how important air power was. The U.S. had airborne units, but the actually
U.S. Air Force is not as old as you might think. The amazing story of the trial, error,
tragedy and triumph that made that possible had to do with large, unarmed
gliders and Silent Wings – The American
Glider Pilots Of WWII (2007) tells the shockingly untold story about the
unbelievable sacrifices and painful circumstances that eventually proved why an
Air Force was necessary.
Narrated
by Hal Holbrook and featuring amazing interviews with many military veterans
including Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney, we hear testimony and history that
has been suspiciously absent from educational curriculums for inexcusable
reasons. Even with military matters, it
is strange how political correctness and extremists from the Right do not want
real stories of individual achievement, anyone getting credit for what is
achieved, the excitement thereof and any kind of records of solid, factual,
indisputable history.
After The
Attack On Fortress Eben Emael and Germany’s glider program, proving The
Hindenburg was only the beginning of Hitler’s ambitions for the skies, the U.S.
decides to respond and it becomes a slow road to success. At 113 minutes, the program is jam packed with
all kinds of twists and turns throughout with amazing detail and revelations
you have to see to believe. I also loved
how some name persons thought air ambitions were a mistake and even used the
program as a scapegoat for their shortcomings.
When you
see how key the gliders were used in Normandy, Sicily, Burma and The Battle Of
The Bulge, you will see why how they helped win the war. There were tragic moments in battle, as well
as in demonstration that will remind you of the U.S. Space Program (see Philip
Kaufman’s The Right Stuff) and other
important aviation experiments, risks, breakthroughs and those innovators who
put their lives on the line (see Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator).
Holbrook,
a great actor, is perfect for the narration, while Cronkite is as
journalistically sound as when I watched him as a kid growing up and Rooney is
amazing as he does more than his few minutes of complaining on 60 Minutes every week, which I always
get a kick out of give or take his serious moments. For all of the awful war films of late with
endless digital effects and bad scripts (like Flyboys), it is great and refreshing to see this kind of story done
with heart, intelligence, detail, real honor and dignity instead of as fluff or
propagandic hype with some sick agenda. Silent Wings is the year’s first great
documentary.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is really good as is the case with all
Inecom DVDs, but there is more vintage footage of various quality than usual
and 1.33 X 1 footage has been stretched a bit instead of cut to fit the 16 X 9
frame. The DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1
mixes are very clean with the DTS having the slightest edge. There are not many surrounds here, but you
get good ambiance and interviews are clear.
Extras
include trailers for other documentaries in the series, a brief (about 8
minutes) talk about the finished product with writer/director Childs and how he
picked up the project in progress and a nearly 20-minutes-long look at the
terrific Silent Wings Museum. You can
find out more by ordering the DVD and visiting the following website to find
out about the latest on how this history is being celebrated and preserved:
www.silentwingsfilm.com
- Nicholas Sheffo
