Secrets of World War II (DVD)

For the history buffs, the World War II enthusiasts and the plain old army aficionados this DVD collection set has your name on it. There are 26 chapters on World War II secrets and yes some scenes are repeated multiple times. When it comes to the breaking of the German code, since it played an important role in a number of war secrets you will see parts of the code breaker's secret house a number of times. (I too was tired of seeing hut 6 video played over and over again.)However, I am recommending this DVD collection because a lot of the film footage is new and each chapter is given enough time to go into the important details. But, I want to warn you its 24 hours of non-stop action even I could not keep my eyes open that long. It took me to 2 weeks to watch all the chapters.

Another great series from Nugus Martin. However, I must disagree with some of my fellow reviewers regarding the background music. Although it is louder than some of the other series from these producers, I was able to hear the narration easily. As with most all Nugus Martin videos, the music is provided by the De Wolfe library (the oldest of its kind in the world). I feel the De Wolfe soundtrack fits very nicely with Robert Powell's classy British narration, reminiscent of Century of Warfare. If you liked Century of Warfare, Great Blunders in History, Heroes and Weapons of WWII or WWII In Colour, you will enjoy this set, as it is more of the same great documentary fun, full of interesting information.

I have been a BBC junkie for years because of the top notch research and production that goes into their titles. Their choice of narration; Robert Powell, David Attenbourgher etc. is simply the best. Having seen this series on the Military Channel, I was very much looking forward to having this boxed set.BAD DECISION.The quality control in the manufacturing process on the BBC's dvd disks is horrid. I had two disks in this set that will not play at all. I have tried to play the material on four different dvd players and all disks create errors in the same spots on the disks. I know that the players are not the problem, as I have hundreds of other movies that play without issue. The disks themselves are scratch free as well.I believe the issue is with the BBC's transfer and manufacturing process with double-sided dvd disks, as I have not had issue with any of their single-sided material. It is an absolute shame that the once great BBC is destroying such a wonderful series with their poor quality control.If you can find a set that actually plays correctly, then this series is top notch. I have purchased Secrets of World War II, Heroes and Weapons of World War II, and Gladiators of World War II. Out of those three sets, the only one that was free of manufacturing defect was Gladiators of World War II.

3rd and 4th episodes on each of my discs would not play. In fact I reached out to Amazon (who had great customer service!) and they sent me not 1 not 2 but 3 replacement sets to fix the problem for a grand total of 4 DVD sets. Every single set had the same problem at the same time stamp on each disc. So even though it says 26 episodes its actually 20 watchable episodes and 6 that will either let you watch 10 to 20 mins or not at all. It is sad too because I love the series and the narrator is amazing. Its very good and some episodes will blow you away with secret stuff. I hope Amazon will investigate the problem and get it fixed so others and maybe me in the future can watch all the episodes. This problem could also easily be fixed if amazon had the series on Prime Video to buy or rent, which they do but its always "currently unavailable" on Prime.

This is a great collection for any history buff. I have been a fairly active student of military history for over 50 years and thought I pretty much knew it all when it came to WW II.This collection has some great video I had not previously seen as well as lots of interesting and obscure information. Many details regarding the breaking of the enigma code. Some interesting British secret missions. A great piece on the German daylight run through the English Channel with 3 capital ships.The 26 one hour BBC programs in this collection provide some new perspectives on World War II that will interest most armchair historians.

Sorry to report in at least my copy of this title disc #1, 2, 3 side A the last two episodes of each disc will not play. I have tried on different players and same results. Debated about buy another copy, but believe this is a manufacturing problem. This problem could be related to these discs being double sided which is a little unusual.

I first saw this on the Military channel and liked it, so bought the DVD set. It is really good and a great collection for anyone interested in WW2. The episodes are interesting and lots of good footage. I gave this 4 not 5 stars because I have two issues.1. The episode list on the box is not in order and there is nothing inside the box with the episode detail. To find a specific episode you have to play all the discs until you find it.2. I found some of the footage and introductions to the episodes are repeated in other episodes. Also some of the video I have seen in other shows like World at War.Overall a great series and I put it on a par with World at War. This one being made more recently.

22+ hours of BBC styled/quality documentaries. I prefer these to more recent documentaries that include modern re-enactments that I often find historically objectionable.Determining what's on each disc is a bit of a challenge. Each disc specifies the episodes it contains, such as "Episodes 1-4" and "Episodes 5-8" on the reverse side. On the back of the packaging, the episodes are listed in order, but without the corresponding episode number. So, your either going to have to count or print out your own episode listing.

Lots of in depth coverage of various incidents of the war. Multiple chapters that explain different secret events. A bit long sometimes, but well presented. No droning boring narrators here. It moves along and is always interesting. Four DVD's that equal over 1300 mins. I paid $20, used. It can be expensive, so watch for a used set. Original and interesting. You won't be dissapointed.

About 50% of the sides play. Advised to provide a working copy, received another dud copy.

great

My husband being a Vet loved this video. True to life ...not fabricated. Great account of events! He was very happy with this dvd.

When I saw that the narrative was done by Robert Powell I thought this would be great. To be fair he has done an excellent job and probably saves the whole thing for me.There is far too much repetition of footage and story ( was it done originally as a series on TV?). By the time I got halfway through I was scrolling through the same shots and explanations of Enigma, while crucial to the story, gets a bit monotonous after the third or fourth time. This happens with other parts of the story also. I found that the last third contained more interesting things.