PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Ten Days to Victory (2005)

Ten Days to Victory (2005)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
Released 2-Jun-2005
Cover Art

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	100:02 (Case: 120)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (50:01)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Tim Conrad
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Tim Conrad Gareth Abel Jeanne Bowser Bill Corday Peter Defeo Sarah Finch Susan Glover Geoffrey Greenhill Tim Hewit Tim Hewitt Laurence Hobbs Kathleen Mackey Landon Montour
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip	Starring
RPI	$29.95	Music	Claude Milot Mathieu Vanasse

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

World War II was the largest and deadliest war in history, and by April 1945 the war in Europe was drawing towards its inevitable conclusion, the complete annihilation of the Nazi's war machine. Using a combination of archival footage, re-enactments and interviews, Ten Days To Victory recounts the experiences of ten diverse people and looks at the role they each played in the final days of the war.

Included are Rochus Misch - Hitler’s telephone operator in the Berlin bunker, Urbano Lazzaro - the Italian partisan who apprehended Benito Mussolini as he tried to flee Italy, Gerda Steinke - a 19-year-old German woman who feared for her life under Russian occupation, and Vasily Ustogov - one of the Russian soldiers who stormed the Reichstag to plant the Red flag.

Ten Days To Victory has two episodes that are loosely broken into the following topics:

Episode 1 (50:01) - Hitler’s Bunker, Soviet Bombardment, Italian Campaign, Entering Berlin, Mussolini’s Death and Brits In North Germany.

Episode 2 (50:01) - Hold On Holland, Search For Safety, End Of The War?, Fight For Europe, Mountain Showdown and Total Defeat.

As is often the case with war documentaries the re-enactments can at times feel stilted. One nice touch is the way in which the re-enactments transition from B&W to colour, providing the viewer with a feeling of continuity as the documentary moves from archival footage to re-enactment.

Ten Days To Victory starts on the 25 April 1945, with the Russian and American armies meeting 60 miles South West of Berlin, and finishes with the cessation of all hostilities, at 1 minute past 11PM on the 08 May 1945. As this covers a 14 day period, the DVD's title is rather curious.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

Apart from some issues with aliasing the video transfer is very good.

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.75:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

Along with archival footage, this disc contains re-enactments and interviews. Not surprisingly the quality of the video transfer differs from one to another, though all exhibit a sharp image with good shadow detail.

While the archival footage is in B&W the interviews are in full colour. The re-enactments are made to appear authentic by transitioning from B&W to colour. This effect is further enhanced by using a subdued colour palette. By contrast the colours of the interview footage are vibrant.

While much of the archival footage is very grainy and heavily scratched, the re-enactments and interviews are clean and free of film artefacts. I did not notice any MPEG artefacts throughout the documentary but film-to-video artefacts are a problem. Aliasing is evident on all sharp edges and when the camera pans. Some examples in Episode 1 are the desk and books at 15:40 and the truck at 18:28. The closing credits are also heavily affected by aliasing.

There are no subtitles available, not even English for the Hearing Impaired.

This is an RSDL disc with the layer change occurring between episodes.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio track is very good.

This disc contains a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s) audio track.

The dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. I did not notice any audio sync issues with this disc.

The musical score by Claude Milot and Mathieu Vanasse is well crafted, complementing both the archival footage and the dramatisation.

Being a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, the surround speakers and subwoofer are not utilised.

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

Extras

This disc contains no extras whatsoever.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

As far as I can tell, Ten Days To Victory has only received a Region 4 release.

Summary

Ten Days To Victory examines the events that took place during the final days of the war in Europe, at a time when the Russian assault on Berlin has begun and the Nazi war machine is in its death throes. Ten diverse people retell their stories of courage and survival with the assistance of archival footage and re-enactments.