Germany At War 1943-1945

The last of the three overview documentaries in the Germany at War series from Artsmagic, this is also the strangest of the three, depicting as it does the final reversal of the fortunes of war for the Reich, as depicted in official German government sources. Even the references in the narration by Brian Matthews have an ironic grandeur, the disaster on the Eastern Front being referred to as "the Great German Retreat." With good news becoming less obvious and more difficult to find, the German newsreels dwelt on propaganda successes such as the rescue of Mussolini from captivity in 1943, which was amply documented. There's also a considerable amount of seldom-seen footage here, most amazingly the ME-323 transport, a huge six-engine plane capable of carrying 22 tons, which was flown almost exclusively within German sectors (and, thus, almost never seen in direct action against Allied forces in any capacity); with the war news getting worse by the week, showing the huge silhouette of the plane -- scored to Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries -- created a fierce and inspiring image. The quality of the footage in this installment is, understandably, not quite up to the standard of the middle volume; as the Reich collapsed, it seems that worries about quality and preservation faded quickly. The same six-chapter pattern used in the earlier volumes, which is hardly more than adequate, is employed here, along with the simple menu and offers previews of more detailed and specialized volumes on the war.