Britain At War In Colour
Contains the three episodes: 'Darkest Hour' 'The Beginning of the End' and 'Unknown
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Warriors'. Narrated by John Thaw and described as "just about perfect" by the Daily Telegraph 'Britain at War in Colour' is the follow-up to ITV's critically acclaimed 'The Second World War in Colour'.
Colour is different. Much of the footage here was shot unofficially by servicemen and civilians as a personal record of events unfolding, giving the three programmes a more inward, human quality. "Darkest Hour" covers the period from the government's failed policy of appeasement, through the months of misfortune and failure, to the turn of the tide in North Africa late in 1942. "The Beginning of the End" traces the successes in Asia and the Atlantic, through the D-Day landings, to victory in Europe in April 1945. "Unknown Warriors" takes a chronological overview, through the letters and diaries of, and recent interviews with a dozen people caught up in the conflict. It makes for a detailed, informal and moving insight into the impact of war on those who live through it. On the DVD: The colour film reproduces with excellent clarity in the 4:3 picture format, enhanced by the immediacy of the stereo soundtrack and John Thaw's thoughtful narrative. Each programme has 28, 19 and 12 access points respectively. Thirty minutes of additional footage are welcome, though the five letter and diary pieces add nothing significant. The year-by-year breakdown of events, and key facts linked to 24 Hot Points within the films, make a valuable study aid. Reproductions of 10 original war posters are harmless enough, but the inclusion of William Wyler's hard-hitting 1943 documentary, The Memphis Belle, gives a valuable insight into bombing missions from an American perspective. All in all, this is essential viewing for World War II buffs and newcomers alike. --Richard Whitehouse
Colour is different. Much of the footage here was shot unofficially by servicemen and civilians as a personal record of events unfolding, giving the three programmes a more inward, human quality. "Darkest Hour" covers the period from the government's failed policy of appeasement, through the months of misfortune and failure, to the turn of the tide in North Africa late in 1942. "The Beginning of the End" traces the successes in Asia and the Atlantic, through the D-Day landings, to victory in Europe in April 1945. "Unknown Warriors" takes a chronological overview, through the letters and diaries of, and recent interviews with a dozen people caught up in the conflict. It makes for a detailed, informal and moving insight into the impact of war on those who live through it. On the DVD: The colour film reproduces with excellent clarity in the 4:3 picture format, enhanced by the immediacy of the stereo soundtrack and John Thaw's thoughtful narrative. Each programme has 28, 19 and 12 access points respectively. Thirty minutes of additional footage are welcome, though the five letter and diary pieces add nothing significant. The year-by-year breakdown of events, and key facts linked to 24 Hot Points within the films, make a valuable study aid. Reproductions of 10 original war posters are harmless enough, but the inclusion of William Wyler's hard-hitting 1943 documentary, The Memphis Belle, gives a valuable insight into bombing missions from an American perspective. All in all, this is essential viewing for World War II buffs and newcomers alike. --Richard Whitehouse
...Expanse of Colour is another CD in the "ambient sounds of nature" series. There seems to be a minor error in the Ciao catalogue. It lists the artistes involved in the "ambient sounds of nature" series as being "variousartists." The credits on the CDs in my collection show that the composer and performer on the CDs is Levantis.
The tracks on this CD are: Past, The Womb of Mother Earth, Expanse of Colour (the title track of this CD) Density of Life, Preservation and Future.
As with the other CDs in the series, Levantis takes some sounds from nature (ambient sounds) such as singing birds, crickets, and blends them into a perfect with some rather gorgeous and lush music.
Unlike some of the so-called relaxing CDs that are on the market which rely on rather weedy electro-pap music created on ill-tuned synthesisers, the music...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Relaxing story telling music with a bit of heart Disadvantages: Too boring
...OK album, with a nice mix of different artist most of which i have never hear of before. As you can probably tell I'm not usually into this kind of music but being someone always looking to expand my musical horizons, I thought i would give it a go but was not too impressed.
Most of the songs featured were not too impressive, many of which sounded very boring and generic for the genre.
Track 15, Green Fields of France - Furey & Davey Arthur was probably one of the most impressive tracks on the album; this song featured delicately sung lyrics and an impressive story which i think is based on world war 2. Some of the other tracks were almost up to this standard but were too boring and didn't catch my attention....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Superb, original, sounds great Disadvantages: Bits can be a little cheesy (but not much!)
...I'm always wary of modern adaptations of old books. It's very easy for the person to get carried away with new technologies, and forget the concepts of the original book, in favour of new and 'better' visual or audible effects and impressive special touches. The original story is lost in a myriad of technological advances and the point is lost.
Luckily, this didn't happen with Jeff Wayne's musical version of H.G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. It did happen in the film version, which I hated, but Jeff Wayne has kept faithful to the original story, inflating the story with atmosphere and imagination. It's a popular album, with quite a cult following now, and with good reason.
- The original author
The War Of The Worlds is a novel written by early science fiction entrepreneur H.G. Wells. Born in 1866, Wells was one of the first...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
helpful 26.04.2001
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