Weapons Races

Those with the biggest and deadliest can rule the world. It is what causes these races between rulers, countries, and military to invent and perfect the machines of war. This DVD set is worthy of 5 stars due to educational and historic factors. The races for 8 big war machines are considered from their inception to the year 2006. In every case the weapon has gone through considerable changes. Periods of intense redesign have been encountered, often during war, or cold war. The leader of each weapon race changes from one country to another. Overall, it is a major power's game, with the U.S. winning in the end, sometimes with help from allies.

Being born just after WWII, I've lived through the creation of many of these weapon machines. It is nostalgic to see the footage (excellent though often B/W film) of the beginning of most of the weapons. It brings back TV news coverage. The historic account of the developments brought many surprises as well. Declassified material can now be shown. Even some failures. Spying exposed. WWI through to the 21st Century. This would not be high on the "entertainment" DVD shelf, but for historic military interest is is a huge success.

2 U.S. Military Analysts (Thomas Hammers) (John Gresham, also a writer of this series) join Eric Meyers who narrates behind the scenes of a continual barrage of weapon footage, war action, and graphic pieces. Archival footage from Brit, US, Nazi, Russian, Japan, Germany, Iraq, Africa, Israel and more. Impressive!

8 50-min episodes, each a different weapon, each has SUBTITLES.
1 THE RACE FOR THE JET FIGHTER 1st dogfight to the F-22 Raptor (U.S.)
2 THE RACE FOR THE BATTLE TANK 1916 WWI trenches & Brit. Mark 1 to U.S. M1A2 Abrams
3 THE RACE FOR RADAR AND STEALTH WWII Brit. break, to Powers' U-2, to U.S. stealth F-117 Nighthawk
4 THE RACE FOR THE NUCLEAR BOMB 1945 U.S. 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima to modern U.S. W-80 Tomahawk cruise
5 THE RACE FOR THE STRATEGIC BOMBER 1915 Ger. Zeppelins bomb London to U.S. B-2 Spirit bomber
6 THE RACE FOR THE STRATEGIC BALLISTIC MISSILE 1944 Ger. V-2 rocket London hits to U.S. Trident sub-launched missile
7 THE RACE FOR THE NUCLEAR SUBMARINE 1954s nuclear-power USS Nautilus to 2005 U.S. nuke attack sub 'Virginia'
8 THE RACE FOR THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER 1918 Brit HMS Argus to 2006 U.S. Geo. Herbert Walker Bush, mobile airfield

Bonus: a booklet adding to interesting weapon history/data, text bios of Frank Whittle-jet; Erwin Rommel-tank; Enrico Fermi-nuclear fission; Aleksandr Feklisov-Soviet spy; Giulio Douhet-Ital Gen; Wernher Von Braun-Ger V-2 on to NASA.

Not for all, but well done. Also consider "World War I in Color".

Judge David Johnson, DVD Verdict-- Previously seen on Discovery's Military Channel, Weapons Races is an eight-part series of 50-minute episodes that examines the genesis, evolution and modern-day perfection of some of the major weapons used in global combat.

Each episode is expertly crafted to take the viewer from the beginnings of the weapons--the precursors and influences--and track it through its growth in the combat field. For example, you'll see the trailblazing fighter planes from World War I, with all of their fancy advances like guns that can fire through the propeller, which culminate in the hot new jet fighters of 2006 that can blow up the Death Star.

Every installment features interviews with experts and historians, archive footage of the old versions of the weapons, updated footage of their badass descendants and helpful graphics outlining how the machines have evolved. Good stuff recommended for the military buff in your family.

Simple DVDs: full frame, 2.0 stereo, and text-only biographies of various weapons inventors.
-Full review at dvdverdict.com

For all the history buffs, this one is the best for these military products. Planes, tanks, and nukes are all covered. This part of history is generally whitewashed by most documentaries because of the political incorrectness of the subject matter. This series cuts through all that crap and gets right to the specifics and strategies you won't find anywhere else. The only drawback is that this series is a few years old and has missed a few key advancements that you can follow up on the internet. Enjoy your research!