Product Description

The attack on Pearl Harbor was supposed to obviate the need for the grinding attritional battle that was the hallmark for the bloody fighting of Guadalcanal. The capture of this strategically crucial island in the Solomans - during which more than 25,000 Japanese lost their lives - was the key to the US victory in the Philippines and paved the way for the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the final defeat of Japan. This is a brand new episode from the landmark television series 'Battlefield'. Featuring fascinating archive footage from all over the world the programme includes a review of the political and military situation before the battle, portraits of leaders and commanders, an explanation of weapons and tactics and the story of the battle itself. Vivid graphics place the battle into the context of the war as a whole.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41554 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-16
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Synopsis
On August 7, 1942, the U.S. Marines invaded Guadalcanal and fought the Japanese army in the first land battle of WWII. Six months of battles ensued, with the dark, evil forces of the jungle taking their toll on both sides but ultimately the battle proved to be a turning point for the U.S forces in the Pacific Theatre.

Customer Reviews

excellent documentry for all you ww2 buffs
The battlefield series of which there are 12 titles in all on dvd, are a fine example of indepth documentation about various battles of ww2.If you love your ww2 docos like i do then these are well worth every penny of your hard earned cash.The pic quality is just fine and in a 4.3 aspect ratio the sound is in dd.2 and gets the job done nicely. The narration on at least 6 of these titles is commanded by british actor tim pigot smith,
and he does a 100% excellent job of conveying the attitudes and all of the intresting facts and figures of these battles. There are also lots of diagrams and maps done in a graphic manner to help you understand the ins and outs of the various militry campaigns.Go buy it you wont regret it i didnt.

Not what it claims to be!
The coverage of the Guadalcanal campaign is brief and cursory, for this show is primarily about summarizing the US Pacific war beginning with Guadalcanal. Changing the title to something like "From Guadalcanal to Hiroshima" would be a better description of what you'll see when you watch it.

One feature in particular irked me throughout - the extremely careless selections of the videos which accompanied the narration. The anachronisms I spotted were so annoying that I nearly rated this a "2", despite the generally good coverage after they'd breezed past Guadalcanal.

Guadalcanal 1942
The DVD is more about the US Marines beginning their invasion on Guadalcanal, in the Solomons, to conquer the Japanese airfield by Honiara and continuing on to the Phillippines, than the naval battels by Guadalcanal. I had hoped it would give more detailed information about the terrible naval night battles where the Australian, New Zealand and American fleets were met by superiour Japanese forces, coming down 'the Slot' as it was named to deal with the 77 ships of the allied fleet. The result, in a few months, was 43 vessels sunk so the sound by Guadalcanal would be named Ironbottom Sound. Lack of coordination and very bad leadership of the united fleet resulted in a disastrous defeat when the allied forces began to move from Australia towards the north. The Battle of Savo Island has been dogged with controversy. The Japanese naval area commander, Vice-Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, decided to make a night attack and on 8 August 1942 his force sailed south from the northern Solomons into the sound and round Savo island.