Victory Films | The Fight for the Sky

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner, Jr.

If you are like me and love World War II aviation, then have I got a treat for you. I've recently watched what I thought was THE most exciting DVD related to the war. "The Fight for the Sky" is a World War II propaganda film. A propaganda film? How can that be exciting? Recently retrieved from the original 16mm and 35mm film, Victory Films has put together two hours of some of the best video shot during the war.

There are actually six chapters to this release. The first is dedicated to the RAF Eagle Squadron 1942. For those who know me, I am a 4th Fighter Group fan, so this is right up my alley. It is the change over ceremony for the Eagles to the USAAF. It offers a unique perspective of the time period. Filmed in black and white, the film shows some of the early heroes of the Eagles. It offers some pictures of the Spitfires both Mk. Vb and the Mk. IX in both RAF and USAAF markings. This is a nice warm up but it isn't exciting, just interesting.

Now the real fun begins. The actual "Fight for the Sky" film is the second offering. Some of this film that has been used before but I'm not aware of the whole film being available, until now. The propaganda people did an excellent job making this film. I was ready to join up. The DVD contains some of the best P-47, P-38 and P-51 videos that I can remember. The quality of the film is first rate and crystal clear. Well as crystal clear as 16mm and 35mm allows. It is nice to be able to stop and check out the aircraft. This is the perfect melding of DVD and historic video. The gun camera footage is priceless. It is obvious to me that it was a simpler time. Featured is 56th FG P-47s, with film of Shillings P-47 makes this a rare treat. You can see all types of Luftwaffe aircraft being shot up and down. Even a captured RAF Lancaster on the ground is strafed. One neat thing is some Ju-88s with "invasion stripes", something I've never heard of before but you can see them as they get strafed.

Part 3 is allocated to some of the best aces in the ETO. Names such as Gentile, Gabreski, London, Preddy, Johnson, England, and Christensen are the aces. Each ace is covered with a brief biography but what makes this section worth the price of admission is the level of detail that can be garnered from using the pause button. For instance, Gabreski's last P-47D, the one with the black outlines can now be laid to rest. It is plainly obvious that the black was painted on the top and bottom of the fuselage with the "black" outlines being overspray from masking the white stripes. How about different colored landing gear legs on Christensen's "Miss Fire/Rozzie Geth II"? This is the level of detail that you can pick up on this DVD. This section alone is like a mini-reference guide. Also included is gun camera film from each ace. Some of it clear and some shot through frozen over gun camera ports, however, what can be seen is awe-inspiring. It is quite obvious from Gabby's gun camera footage of why he crashed. That man flew so low he would have given a squirrel a haircut. Impressive flying especially considering people are shooting at you. No wonder he hit the ground on his last mission. It is also interesting in seeing the different shooting styles of the aces. Some get in real close and knock the living snot out of the enemy and some can do it from a longer distance. Now that you have a name to a gun camera film you can see it. One of the best films is by John England where he shoots down the Fw 190 and the pilot, with arms and legs flailing, falls right past the camera. If he got any closer you could see what color eyes he had.

If that isn't enough for you now comes what I found to be the most exciting and exhilarating part of the DVD, the 56th Fighter Group COLOR gun camera footage. Who would have ever guessed that World War II was fought in color? What is exciting is the level of detail that can be seen. There is one strafing run where you can see an overall RLM 76 Bf-109 on the ground and you can even read the codes on the side. The flak burst right in front of the camera gives you that, "Holy shit that was close" feel to this video. This is as close to being there as you can get. The targets and the level of detail makes you feel like you were in the cockpit. I actually felt my heart rate increase while watching this part of the video and crouching in my seat to make myself smaller to "avoid" the flak. One particular sequence has Gabby shooting up an Ar 195 seaplane and the water literally boils up in front of his airplane from other P-47s. Spectacular.

The next chapter isn't as thrilling as the color gun camera footage but it is a jewel. It covers Air/Sea Rescue. While a propaganda film, it is nicely done. The thing that sets this apart are the unique war weary P-47s and Catalinas. If you are looking for something different for your Tamiya Thunderbolt you need to look no further than this part of the video. There are lots of close ups of the unique equipment and armament. Great stuff and a good way to calm down after strafing Germany in the previous section.

Finally there are two news events taken at 8th Fighter Command. No airplanes, no shooting, but a different look at the war. The Boer War veterans resplendent in their bright red long jackets were quite dashing. Finally the use of an anti-fog airfield being lit is shown to finish everything up.

There are occasional scratches and dust in the film but I think this adds to the realism of the film. You could not get a better picture in 1944! The pictures are clear and if you use the pause button you can garner a lot of information. I recommend watching it all the way through and then with the pause button. You will be impressed first by the films quality and level of detail but mostly by the courage of the men that fought in that war. The only down side to the DVD is there is no way to do a scene selection not even between chapters. This really isn't a big problem just sometimes annoying.

This DVD is indicative of the quality of the rest of Victory Films. So if you like the World War II air war then you will love these films. Modelers and historians will absolutely love the historical significance of the represented films.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this title and the rest of the series. Great research material, exciting action and new film makes these DVDs a great value for the money. For less than the cost of a kit you will be motivated to build numerous kits.

You can get a copy from Wade Meyers Studios online at http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/, Don't forget to check out the wonderful artwork while your there.

The actual DVD, "Fight for the Sky" is online at http://wademeyersart.tripod.com/id70.php.

This is just one of many great DVDs that are available. Don't forget to use the coupon code at the bottom of the page to save postage. Let him know that you heard about it from here.

Thanks to Wade Meyers and Victory Films for the review copy.

Victory Films | The Fight for the Sky

Reviewed by Floyd S. Werner, Jr.

Related Content