Machines of War (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	150:06
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Robert Hartel Kenny Scott Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Planet X

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Made for the National Geographic Channel, Machines of War is a three part series, each episode using archival footage, interviews with military officers, graphics, reconstructions and Mythbusters type experiments to examine the history and the development weapon of modern war: the cruise missile, the tank and the machine gun. Each episode is narrated by Mark Halliley and is 50 minutes in length.

Cruise Missile

     This episode looks at the first experiments with pilotless aircraft in 1918, through the German V.1 rockets of WWII to the modern Tomahawk missile as used in Operation Desert Storm. Topics include the development of the propulsion systems, fuel mix, guidance systems, payloads and target acquisition systems.

Tank

     Looks at the development of tanks from 1916 in WWI, through the Russian and German tanks of WWII to the American tanks used in Desert Storm. Topics include track and suspension systems, armour, ordinance, main guns and range finding and sighting equipment.

Machine Gun

     Traces the development of automatic weapons including the Gatling Gun of 1861, the Maxim gun of 1883, the massacre of soldiers attacking across No Man’s Land during WWI, the Thompson submachine guns used by the criminals and police in 1920s America and the range of automatic weapons used by the US army today; heavy machine guns, lightweight machine guns, assault rifles and the new Gatling aircraft mounted gun.

     On the whole, Machines of War is a well put together and informative look at three of the weapons which have changed the face of modern war. The first two episodes are particularly interesting, the last less so as it focusses rather too much on US gangsters and omits totally any consideration of the development of light weight individual automatic weapons during WWII, skipping forward from 1920 to the 1950s. Still, that episode has some interesting facts: I did not know that Dr Gatling actually invented his gun after seeing the carnage of the American Civil War in order to save lives!

Video

     Machines of War is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.77:1, which looks to be the original broadcast ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     With a diverse range of archival footage going back to WWI, not surprisingly the video quality within the episodes varies but is always acceptable. Modern interviews, experiments and reconstructions show reasonable detail and natural colours. There is some motion blur with movement in front of broken surfaces, but otherwise marks and artefacts are absent in this modern footage.

     There are no subtitles.

     The layer change was not noticeable.

     A perfectly acceptable print of a TV series with archival footage.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
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Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded at 224 Kbps.

     The narration, interviews and comments by experimenters are clear and easy to understand. The gunshots lacked much depth, not surprisingly, but my system placed some music in the rears but otherwise the surrounds and sub-woofer were not used.

     The music by Planet X was little used.

     Lip synchronisation is not a problem.

     The audio is acceptable.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing.

     I cannot find a similar release in other regions to our Region All release.

     Machines of War is an interesting look at the history and development of three weapons that have changed the face of modern warfare. The episodes are informative and some of the archival footage is fascinating. As such Machines of War is certainly well worth a look for anyone interested in the subject.

     The DVD has acceptable video and audio. No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
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Overall