The Blitz-London's Firestorm (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	101:29 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (49:35)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Louise Osmond Jim Spencer Julian Ware
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Christopher Fox Abigail Davies Gerrard McArthur Matthew Day Sally Leonard Sebastian Harcombe Simon Armstrong Cathy Murphy Tracey Murphy
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	David Hewson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Battle of Britain began in July 1940 and continued until September of that year. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe turned their attention from RAF airfields towards strategic targets, like aircraft factories and dockyards. During one such raid on the 24th August 1940 German aircraft strayed over London and released their bombs. The British retaliated by bombing Berlin the following night, which acted as a trigger for the Luftwaffe to attack British cities day and night.

    The 29th of December 1940 was a terrible night that would be remembered as “The Second Great Fire of London”. On that night 136 Luftwaffe planes dropped 24,000 incendiary devices and 120 tonnes of high explosives, resulting in the deaths of 163 people and the destruction of most of the buildings within one square mile around St Paul’s Cathedral, the main target of the raid.

    Narrated by Dilly Barlow, The Blitz: London’s Firestorm is a 2 part series that looks at the events of that terrible night. Based on written records and eyewitness accounts this is the story of just one night of the London Blitz.

    The Dean of St Paul’s, Walter Matthews (Gerrard McArthur), was in charge of the fire wardens assigned to protect the Cathedral from the nightly bombing raids. While its impressive 140-foot dome might look like it is fashioned from stone it is actually a lead covered wooden frame and therefore susceptible to fire.

    On the night of the 29th of December 1940, Hitler targeted St Paul’s Cathedral in an attempt to reduce English morale. This fact was well understood by Churchill who ordered all resources to concentrate on saving St Paul’s, at the expense of the surrounding buildings.

    By Christmas 1940 many of the children were already evacuated from London. Ann Regan, who was 5 at the time, recounts the story of her father Bill Regan (Christopher Fox) and mother Vi (Abigail Davies). Bill was a rescue worker who kept a diary of his experiences as a means of dealing with everyday life during the blitz.

    Fred (Simon Armstrong) and Ethel Feldon (Cathy Murphy) sheltered in a government constructed brick and concrete bomb shelter with their three youngest children. The bomb shelters were designed to stop a bomb’s blast, not withstand a direct hit, which is what happened that night. Their eldest son, Sid Feldon, was stationed at a nearby Army Barracks that night and he recounts his experience.

    Other eyewitness accounts come from American war reporter William White (Matthew Day), and wartime Fire Wardens Richard Holsgrove and George Wheeler.

    Instead of covering the broader history of the blitz with hard facts and a documentary style format, The Blitz: London’s Firestorm uses dramatisation to present a personal account of this one night.

    One fact that surprised me was the way the rescue workers, fire fighters, reporters and film crews would risk their lives while the bombs were falling. Even more surprising was the fact that public transport would continue to operate - at the discretion of the driver.

Video

    The video transfer is very good.

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is sharp and the shadow detail is good, except for some of the CGI work which in contrast appears soft.

    With so many scenes depicting London burning by night, oranges and reds dominate the colour spectrum. Skin colours look natural.

    The transfer is very good and the only MPEG artefact I saw was some posterization on St Paul’s Cathedral in Part 2, at 30:11. Likewise, the film-to-video artefacts are kept to an absolute minimum and I only noticed some minor aliasing in Part 2, at 43:16. The archival footage is grainy and contains scratches, though this is both understandable and expected.

    The only subtitle stream is English for the Hearing Impaired. The subtitles are well placed and easy to read. They accurately reflect the spoken word and contain an appropriate amount of cues for the hearing impaired.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is very good.

    The only audio track available is English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s).

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. Unfortunately the audio sync was noticeably out during the interviews.

    David Hewson provides a musical score that is quite haunting and leaves an impression on the viewer.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The video transfer is very good.

    The audio transfer is very good.

    There are no extras on this disc.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall