I'm up to the eighth episode of about 26. Have to admit the Netflix "World War II in Color" is much
better. "Victory at Sea" seems to have been produced to build morale, not be a documentary of the
war. Much time spent on ships going across the water and main guns firing. Actually just a lot of
wasted time where the narrator says nothing.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable. It is. But I found the Netflix version much more so.

John H. wrote:
I'm up to the eighth episode of about 26. Have to admit the Netflix
"World War II in Color" is much
better. "Victory at Sea" seems to have been produced to build morale, not
be a documentary of the
war. Much time spent on ships going across the water and main guns
firing. Actually just a lot of
wasted time where the narrator says nothing.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable. It is. But I found the Netflix version much more so.


Victory at sea was done to honor the veterans. Was done by the network
after the war, I think, and he each segment was shown with no breaks or
ads.

On Tue, 5 Jun 2018 15:30:25 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
I'm up to the eighth episode of about 26. Have to admit the Netflix
"World War II in Color" is much
better. "Victory at Sea" seems to have been produced to build morale, not
be a documentary of the
war. Much time spent on ships going across the water and main guns
firing. Actually just a lot of
wasted time where the narrator says nothing.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable. It is. But I found the Netflix version much more so.


Victory at sea was done to honor the veterans. Was done by the network
after the war, I think, and he each segment was shown with no breaks or
ads.

1952. It is definitely done in a way to promote patriotism. I'm enjoying it, but a lot of the
patriotism rendering and time filling with ships riding the seas could be spent telling the history.

On Tue, 05 Jun 2018 13:07:29 -0400, John H.
wrote:

On Tue, 5 Jun 2018 15:30:25 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

John H. wrote:
I'm up to the eighth episode of about 26. Have to admit the Netflix
"World War II in Color" is much
better. "Victory at Sea" seems to have been produced to build morale, not
be a documentary of the
war. Much time spent on ships going across the water and main guns
firing. Actually just a lot of
wasted time where the narrator says nothing.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable. It is. But I found the Netflix version much more so.


Victory at sea was done to honor the veterans. Was done by the network
after the war, I think, and he each segment was shown with no breaks or
ads.

1952. It is definitely done in a way to promote patriotism. I'm enjoying it, but a lot of the
patriotism rendering and time filling with ships riding the seas could be spent telling the history.

In 1952 I am not sure Truman really wanted us to know that much about
the history. He wanted the party line to be "evil rose it's ugly head
and we saved the world". "Now feel good about yourself and try to
forget I got you into another war we are not going to win."

On Tue, 05 Jun 2018 07:03:03 -0400, John H.
wrote:

I'm up to the eighth episode of about 26. Have to admit the Netflix "World War II in Color" is much
better. "Victory at Sea" seems to have been produced to build morale, not be a documentary of the
war. Much time spent on ships going across the water and main guns firing. Actually just a lot of
wasted time where the narrator says nothing.

That's not to say it isn't enjoyable. It is. But I found the Netflix version much more so.

Victory at Sea is mostly a showcase for Richard Rodgers' music. At the
time it was seen as a real masterpiece tho. My dad had access to it on
16MM film, borrowed from the navy and we sat around a neighbor's house
and watched the whole thing, one reel a night. (all he could bring
home at one time). That was before TV was a thing and it was really
cool for 7-10 year old boys. We usually watched each reel several
times. They were probably only 15 minutes long but it seemed like it
was a lot.
It is interesting how much of that video footage shows up as B roll in
other productions tho. That shot of the destroyer vectoring across a
periscope shot has shown up in everything from 50s and 60s sub movies
to McHale's Navy.
The same is true of most of that old WWII footage.
They really love that shot of the German soldier walking down the road
carrying the STG44 and they use it a lot, even in scenes depicting
time before the gun was designed.