Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This 62-minute color DVD is taken from a war documentary done in 1944 and meant for Home Front theater audiences. It is absolutely superb. First of all, it is directed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler, who also did the 'Memphis Belle' news documentary. Second, it is carefully put together to give viewers a feeling for what life was like on a great American aircraft carrier in the Pacific in World War II. Third, the whole thing is in exceptionally good color. The film follows the 'Fighting Lady' (not her real name, because of the war and because it represented all the carriers) from the time the first planes arrive and land on her decks through a series of hard-fought campaigns, including Kwajalein, Truk and the 'Marianas Turkey Shoot'. The footage is excellent, whether showing the daily lives of men on the ship, from the captain to the pilots to the cooks and dishwashers, or showing actual combat footage taken from the gun cameras of American fighters and fighter-bombers. The action footage is amazingly good. Narration is provided by Robert Taylor, an actor who was a Naval Reservist during the war. It is first-class in every way. I recommend it for anyone interested in life on aircraft carriers in World War II, in good color combat footage, in watching planes take off and land on a narrow, pitching deck, or WWII naval history in general. This is a bargain at twice the price.