Battlefield: Series 1

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[edit] General Information

War Documentary hosted by Tim Pigott-Smith, published by Discovery Channel in 1994 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

A comprehensive documentary series about the key battles of World War Two. This sweeping series offers detailed accounts of the key battles, combining extensive use of archival footage with full color 3D animation and a compelling and vivid narrative, complete with main weapon systems used and portraits of the principal leaders and commanders. Strategy and tactics are described in detail with excellent graphics, providing a fascinating analysis of the forces in conflict. A review of the political and military situation prior to battle and an examination of the weaponry and combat-readiness of the men are followed by original archive footage of important phases of the battle, supplemented by Situation Reports and finished off with a summary. Dramatic use of 3-D computer graphics and actual battle footage transport the viewer directly in the thick of the fight. Battlefield is a series that chronicles the decisive events and critical battles that shaped history. Archival footage from several sources includes film from the Moscow central military archives. Watch rare archival footage from vaults around the world! La Mancha Productions - A Co-Production with PolyGram Video International Ltd.

[edit] The Battle of France

Blitzkrieg's most astonishing triumph, establishing Hitler as unassailable within continental Europe.
At dawn on May 10, 1940, after nearly eight months of inactivity, the blitzkrieg rolled across the Dutch and Belgian borders. Despite its crippling violence, it was only the beginning of a much bigger drama.
Within a few days, the German armored spearhead had penetrated the Ardennes and bypassed the mighty French defense fortress, the Maginot line.
The Battle of France was in all respects the classic battle of World War II, where forward thinking, modern technology and innovation triumphed over outdated tactics and tired strategists. The effect on military thinking was revolutionary. In one blow speed, mobility and boldness regained their place in offensive operations and served as a model for future campaigns, both the Axis powers and the Allies.

[edit] The Battle of Britain

The two mightiest air fleets in the world clashed in tumultuous mortal combat. At issue was Britain's very survival.
The Battle of Britain wrote a new chapter in the history of warfare. It was the first time that air forces alone determined the outcome of a military campaign. At stake was the ultimate prize, the future freedom of the British Isles and the continuation of the war to victory.
For a battle of such importance, the actual fighting was done by remarkably small numbers of men, and the courage and skill of individuals, mattered in a way almost unique in the annals of warfare. Yet the battle was also a contest between nations, in which millions played a role. Beneath the vapor trails that charted the ebb and flow of battle, industry labored to turn out the aircraft that were the means to victory. Radar and communications systems were honed to a new level of sophistication and, in the bomb damaged streets, armies of volunteers fought the fires, cleared away the rubble and manned the air defenses.

[edit] The Battle of Midway

The stakes were no less dramatic when Americans met Japanese in this enthralling carrier-to-carrier battle of Midway. Both sides knew that the victor would rule the Pacific for years to come.
In June 1942 the critical battle of the war in the Pacific was fought between American and Japanese carrier forces, separated by hundreds of miles of ocean. The Battle of Midway was a significant landmark in naval history and a turning point in the war at sea.
For the first time battleships fled before aircraft carriers, and major fleet engagements took place well beyond the range of visual contact. In the aftermath of the battle Japanese naval power was fatally damaged, and the ability to defend her new found maritime empire, seriously weakened.
Although heavily outnumbered, the American task force, through better intelligence appreciations, superior tactics and strategy, and remarkably good luck, achieved a stunning victory, destroying four Japanese carriers at the cost of only one of its own.

[edit] The Battle of Stalingrad

The annihilation of an entire army amidst the charred and frozen ruins of Stalingrad was catastrophe for Nazi arms. Thereafter, the colossus of the Red Army was never to lose the initiative in the East.
The Battle of Stalingrad was the decisive turning point of World War II. Although not originally a primary objective of Hitler's 1942 offensive, the city quickly became the focus of his entire campaign.
As the battle developed, both Hitler and Stalin became locked in a contest of wills, and Stalingrad, a place of horrors. Through broken streets and fire blackened buildings men fought room by room. In damp, rat infested basements the wounded lay, untended with the dying and the dead.
With winter came the last act in the drama, the Soviet counter-offensive, the destruction of the Romanian, Hungarian and Italian Armies and the encirclement of the mighty German 6th Army.

[edit] The Battle of Normandy

D-Day was the biggest amphibious operation in history. But even after the Allied troops had successfully forced a landing in strength, they still had to face a foe whose tenacity and resilience in defence was legendary.
The Battle of Normandy was the last of the great set-piece engagements of World War II. It had been in planning for more than two years, and in preparation for almost as long.
In its execution, and particularly in its first critical phases, it was also one of the riskiest operations ever mounted. The French coast was known to be strongly defended, and behind the wire belts and fortifications of the Atlantic Wall were some of the most renowned and formidable divisions in the German order of battle.
For ten weeks, the Waffen SS and their supporting infantry and panzer formations fought a desperate battle against steadily mounting Allied forces. Their eventual defeat and destruction clearly signalled the beginning of the end for all but the most blindly loyal of Hitler's soldiers.

[edit] The Battle of Berlin

The furious, climatic last battle of Hitler's war. Over half a million lives were lost as the Red Army finally crushed the last Nazi citadel.
Deep underground in a bomb-proof bunker under the Reich Chancellery, Hitler commanded his few remaining armies in 1945 in the last battle of the war. Berlin, a city that had been bombed by four years, decimated by the Red Army artillery and ravaged by uncontrollable fires. Hidden in shelters and basements, the surviving residents awaited in fear for the end. For twelve days the Russians fought their way through the suburbs towards the center of Berlin. Although resistance was meaningless, the Germans put up bitter resistance. Remnants of the Waffen SS and Hitler Jugend fought to the death until they fell.
The climax of the battle was reached when it came to the capture of the government district and the Reichstag. Here violence and bloodshed reached an extent previously unknown in the war. Even in its death throes, the Third Reich remained a vicious enemy, wiping it out cost hundreds of thousands of more human lives. Its shameful legacy -- a city divided and the resulting forty-five year Cold War -- would plague generations to come.

[edit] Screenshots

[edit] Technical Specs

Video Codec: x264 CABAC High@L4
Video Bitrate: 2 046 Kbps
Video Resolution: 704x544
Display Aspect Ratio: 1.294
Frames Per Second: 25.000 fps
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 192 kb/s CBR 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: english
RunTime Per Part: 1 h 55 min
Number Of Parts: 6
Part Size: 1.80 GB
Source: DVD
Encoded by: DocFreak08