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The Third Reich In Colour | 
 enlarge | Director: Michael Kloft
Actors: Marlene Dietrich, Reinhard Heydrich, Alfred Jodl, Heinrich Himmler, Robert Ley
Studio: Dd Home Entertainment
Category: Video
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £15.99
You Save: £4.00 (20%)
New (2) Used (1) from £12.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 11410
Format: Pal
Rating: Exempt
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 208
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
EAN: 5019322038962
ASIN: B00005AMFN
Release Date: April 23, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new, unplayed.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Fantastic colour viewing of the Third Reich March 10, 2008
This must be the best in colour footage for the Third Reich, it brings home how real the events were as watching the two part DVD in full colour makes it look like it was filmed yesterday. Anyone interested in WW2 history must get this, it is a must for all who love to look at Germany the way it was before the total destruction to many of its city's and landmarks.
"The Third Reich in Colour" - but a lot more besides February 2, 2008
Anyone interested in the Second World War will find this DVD interesting and well worthwhile. The title, however, does not do the DVD justice for, while there is much footage of the the Third Reich and wartime life in Germany, there is also considerable footage from the UK, USA and the Pacific theatre.
The key to this title is "in Colour". The producers (Spiegel TV, 2001 for the UK's Channel 5) have clearly tried to make some sense of the chronology of WW2 but have been limited to what is available in colour footage. The two parts of this DVD won't help those unfamiliar with WW2 understand the chronology but, for those with some knowledge, the two parts might seem odd but certainly won't affect the value of seeing this colour film. The BFI website indicates that this TV documentary was made in three parts - for more detail of the contents see http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/680465?view=synopsis.
As well as showing footage of some familiar events, but in colour rather than black and white, the value of this DVD is the unfamiliar. Life went on, and early colour film buffs covered minor and ordinary events that rarely feature in the classic documentaries about the war. There are extracts from the work of famous film directors while in uniform, some of which was never screened owing to censors, and extracts from both German and Allied propaganda films. But, most of all, it is the work of private individuals, both civilians and military, that make this DVD unique. Some footage is just like a home movie and it helps to remind one that, even in total war, with all its horrors, life did indeed go on.
Robert Powell's narration is excellent, and film buffs and historians will be interested to know about the colour stock used when colour film was rare indeed and expensive. My only quibble is his misuse of English when he makes an all-too-common error and refers to "the HMS Ivanhoe" (it's never "the HMS", as it makes no sense!) and, also, he refers to this ship as a cruiser when, in fact, she was a British I class destroyer (built 1937 and lost on 1 September 1940).
Overall, this is an excellent DVD and a worthwhile addition to any library - it is certainly different.
Colour: the difference ! December 25, 2004
3 out of 25 found this review helpful
Best dvd of the Third Reich in colour...
 Colour makes the Difference? September 20, 2003
58 out of 63 found this review helpful
Does colour make a difference? It certainly seems to bring the events closer to our own times. The impact of some scenes hits you with a wallop, knowing for instance, that the gore is real and the bodies are actual corpses - far more explicit than the broadcast footage of the Gulf Wars. Still, I found it a bit irritating to be told of this enhancement on several occasions during the narrative, not to mention the somewhat tedious technical descriptions of the stock used. Nevertheless, what really impressed me was the sheer novelty of the subject matter. To many of us the 1934 Nuremburg Rally is visually familiar through Leni Riefenstahl's work, but I can't remember ever seeing that of 1938 (not that there's a deal of discernible difference from year to year). I would have expected more of the 1936 Olympics though. But it is the amateur, casual material I find really memorable - some of it shot in battle conditions. It is sometimes not so obvious that the ordinary German had little idea of the depravities and deprivations of the 2nd front and the ruinous battles with the Red army. This compilation certainly puts that across.
The real horror is that had Hitler been more circumspect and listened to advice, the power he would have been able to bring to bear should have proved inexorable. We must thank Providence for megalomania and the climate of Russia. Even without the infamous greatcoat buttons of tin, the Russian winter did for the Wehrmacht as it did for Napoleon more than a century earlier. You'd have thought they'd have learnt the unavoidable lesson.
We in the West have been brought up to believe the Allies won the 2nd world war : rather Hitler lost it. With his death went the infamous 3rd Reich, Nazi pseudo-philosophy and their incredibly evil proponents. This DvD goes some way to reminding people we can never risk it happening again. Does colour make a difference? I suppose it does. Some of these scenes could have been shot in April this year....
Useful archive material, well presented. June 20, 2001
46 out of 60 found this review helpful
This is over 3 hours of colour film from 1937 to 1945, largely shot within Deutschland but not completely. It is well mastered and the narration by Robert Powell is informative. My only criticisms are: a) The background music is repetitive and intrusive. b) The two programmes on the disc have different film but identical chronology, ie. 37 to 45 on one then 37 to 45 again on the other.
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