World War II: 360 [Blu-ray]

This is a review of the Blu-ray set which contains BATTLE 360 (the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise) and PATTON 360 (Gen. George S. Patton). This is one of the best and most informative World War II documentary sets I've seen.BATTLE 360 (3 discs, 10 episodes) covers the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the most-decorated Navy warship of World War II, from Pearl Harbor to its unfortunate post-war scrapping. It includes actual, stock and CGI video footage with the CGI being relatively good (one obvious mistake in the documentary's use of stock footage is showing weapons being loaded on the Enterprise's bombers---some of the weapons shown are AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles which were used in large numbers in the Vietnam War 20 years after the Enterprise saw combat in World War II). An added bonus are many interviews with former crew members of the Enterprise and its escort ships. Very informative commentary is provided by military historians including Jonathan Parshall and Martin Morgan. Highlights include the Battle of Midway, the Solomon Islands, the raid on Truk and the Battle of Leyte Gulf (the largest naval battle in history). When BATTLE 360 was shown on the History Channel, one of the sponsors was Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, whose founder, Jack Taylor, was a pilot on the Enterprise in World War II.PATTON 360 (2 discs, 10 episodes) follows the World War II story of Gen. George S. Patton, arguably the best and most controversial Allied general of the war. If you're a fan of the movie PATTON starring George C. Scott, PATTON 360 gives you a more detailed account of Patton which will give you a much better understanding of what transpires in the movie PATTON. Highlights of PATTON 360 including his victory over the Afrika Korps after his predecessor's humiliating defeat at the Kasserine Pass, Patton's race with British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in Sicily, his relieving of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge (perhaps his most worthwhile accomplishment) and the invasion of Germany, Patton's other race with Montgomery. Also included is a segment on Patton's Task Force Baum, the disastrous attempt to liberate POWs, specifically his son-in-law, at a German POW camp in the final months of the war in Europe. Like BATTLE 360, PATTON 360 includes numerous informative interviews with soldiers who served under Patton. Excellent commentary is provided by military historians including Rick Atkinson and Martin Marshall.There is one negative about this set---the documentary's excessive use of distracting CGI including bizarre celestial-type maps of stars, etc. which float throughout the documentaries during interviews with veterans and war historians and during actual combat file footage Also, stock footage, CGI tanks, warships and aircraft are often colored in purple, orange, pink, blue and other colors.Overall, this documentary set is one of the best World war II documentaries available. It is a highly recommended for any military documentary collection.

This is the same as Battle 360 and Patton 360 together which we have both already. I thought this was another video about this topic but different material.

This package includes the also separately available programs of Battle 360-Uss Enterprise, and Patton 360. If you already own the DVD copies of this program and are wondering if it is worth the money to upgrade to the Blu-ray versions, here are the differences between the two formats. The Blu-ray editions offer NO additional resolution improvements over that of the DVD editions. However, the Blu-ray images are scaled up to fill a 16x9 screen vs. the blank framed letterboxed image presented on the DVD editions. This is a "BIG" improvement. The Blu-rays also are able to fit the same programs on fewer discs, so they are preferable from these two advantages.Although the programs are represented in a 16x9 format, much of the material consist of stretched 4x3 images. You may prefer viewing the program in the 4x3 screen format to un-stretch the older footage that has been expanded to fit the 16x9 ratio. Ether way, half of the total image will look horizontally out of proportion. I have enjoyed viewing these programs many times, and highly recommend this set!

Excellent presentation of history. Very well done.

I am a WWII Buff. I tell you this is "THE BEST WWII" film made to date. In Europe, they follow General Patton from bigging to end. The story detail and completeness is just great with actual footage throughout. Computer graphics are added in between the actual footage to show you strategy, weapon configurations, and battle confrontation details that are not in the actual footage. Same for the war in the Pacific. In the Pacific they follow the Big-E through-out the war, the carrier Enterprise. The carrier Enterprise was the only naval ship that was in every major battle and survived. I purchased this film on Amazon for the lowest price and speed delivery. I and my wife have watched this film over 7 times in the past 4 months since I purchased it. You will never get tired of this film. It is just mind boggling the massiveness of WWII, failures and successes, and dumb US government politics that made the war twice as long as necessary. It is that well made!

This is one of my favorite History DVDs. It gave many accounts of individual acts of courage that I had no idea had happened. I have about 150 different segments on DVD and VHS and I have never heard of many of these actions. As I watched this series, it made me so thankful for these men whom God used to continue a struggle for freedom that began in the hearts and minds of our founding fathers and continues to this day. Did you know that 1 inexperienced US tank crew stopped an elite force of tiger tanks? It so emboldened our troops, that the GIs pursued the fleeing enemy into a town where they destroyed them! There were many such acts of heroism recorded as they followed General Patton's troops and also the Big E, as well. Thanks so much for contributing to this living record.

I really enjoyed this set of DVD's and I'm hoping that the History Channel will continue this series. In general the shows are easy to follow and very informative. The computer graphics are neat because they fill in all the areas that the old film footage can't. The 360 element is great as well, it gives you a birds eye view of the battlefields as well as some insight into the strategy used. I especially liked the Patton series because it didn't present Patton as the worlds best general. It showed his strengths and weaknesses as well as what his men thought about him. The show lets you draw your own conclusions by offering both sides. It was great being able to listen to the old veterans tell their tales as well. What an incredible and humble group of people.

First of all, I was aware of the region two's box art being completely misleading. So buyer beware, this is not 'World War II 360' but rather 'Battleship 360', revolving around one US aircraft carrier and the battles it took part in. Being a fan of said carriers, I loved everything about this series- the story is well told and doesn't leave you hanging too long, I didn't find the CGI annoying and it was interesting to see it being played out this way instead of just 'Fact, name, place, next' documentaries. Overly repeated footage is it's main down-point and combined with the misleading cover that's why it gets four stars and not five from me.

I bought this dvd after reading some of the more positive reviews above and found it to be well worth every penny.Yeah, its a little repetative but the recaps help reinforce the historical info for me. And yes, its loud and full of explosions, but war is hell.Excellent value for money IMO.KJ. Loughton, Essex. England.

Easy to follow

(Blu ray)(husband) this set contains two separate shows: battle 360 and Patton 360. Battle 360 is 5/5 stars, and Is about the aircraft carrier enterprise from pearl harbour until the end of the war In great CGI and all the key battles, very interesting. Patton 360 is 4/5 stars because it's not as interesting but still very good.

Firstly, the packaging is misleading. The cover shows a Stuka dive bomber when the set is entirely about the war service of the USS Enterprise in the Pacific campaign, nothing at all about Europe.Secondly, the set is very interesting but somewhat spoiled by the makers, who appear to be film school students who are thrilled to play with zooming camera angles during interviews and with computer graphics, using them with every special effect they can think of. We get CGI on the top of CGI, CGI "Ghosted" over archive films, over interviews with experts and veterans, CGI speckled to look like old film, and the wrong CGI used with the narrative ( The narrator talks about an American pilot shooting down a Mitsubishi Betty bomber attacking Guadalcanal, the CGI shows a Zero fighter being shot down.Thirdly, there are small careless slips with the narration. For instance, the narrator talks about the USS Vincennes being attacked by Japanese ships and correctly explains - with swirling CGI illustrations - it was a Chicago class heavy cruiser. With the next breath he calls it a Frigate.Overall I give the set three stars because of the story, but it could have been much better handled with more restrained computer graphics and more archive film, the Pacific war was well covered by US cameramen.