F4F WILDCAT

Starring:F4f Wildcat
Studio: Aircraft Films
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
This 2-DVD set, focused on the development and combat history of the Grumman F4F Wildcat, and was created from holdings at the National Archives, the National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Naval Historical Center, and the Marine Corps Historical Center. The F4F Wildcat was the front-line carrier fighter in the first days of the pacific war - flying off legendary ships like the Lexington, Saratoga, Hornet, Yorktown and Enterprise - the Wildcat held the line as America built for victory.

Aircraft Films returned to the film preservation masters and commissioned new digital transfers - keeping the material digital from capture, through production - all the way to disc. The result brings the viewer as close as possible to the original images captured by combat cameramen.

Description

This 2-DVD set, focused on the development and combat history of the Grumman F4F Wildcat, and was created from holdings at the National Archives, the National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Naval Historical Center, and the Marine Corps Historical Center. The F4F Wildcat was the front-line carrier fighter in the first days of the pacific war - flying off legendary ships like the Lexington, Saratoga, Hornet, Yorktown and Enterprise - the Wildcat held the line as America built for victory.

In addition to an original 43-minute overview of the F4F, the 2-disc DVD set contains over 2 additional hours of rare footage.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding production and background!.......2006-12-17

What a great watch! Usually, I get something like this because it's interesting to me (WWII aviation is a common "hook" for me)...but then through sloppy inaccuracies or repetitive footage or dry voiceover, I lose interest.

Not so here! I was truly amazed when I looked up and realized I'd just watched the ENTIRE THING including all the raw footage of F3Fs and F4Fs in evaluations and on duty stations! It was also cool how they got into the original words of the Naval Aviators who evaluated the F2A Buffaloes and the F4F Wildcats to explain why it is that the Wildcat went on to serve our country with distinction! They also take time to show how, despite having some glaring deficiencies in peformance (compared to the Type Zero), the know-how and teamwork of the pilots paired with the forgiving handling and sheer ruggedness of the 'Cat led to it having a 4-1 kill ratio by the end of WWII! Amazing!

Definitely worth a look if you're an aviation buff!

You HAVE to get this DVD!.......2006-12-13

I love naval aviation and this Wildcat DVD is just awesome! It's great to see footage of planes flying, landing after landing. If you like carrier landings, this DVD is for you!

And the best thing is the battle footage! You actually see the Enterprise take a couple of bomb hits on the flight deck right in front of the camera!!! Simply amazing wartime footage...also includes John Ford's Midway documentary.

Two disc set that is well worth the money. I just wish they did this for every plane out there...

Really nice Wildcat DVD.......2004-12-14

I find myself always watching shows and programs concerning
WW II aircraft. It has gotten to the point where it is hard to
find something new that I have not seen. This DVD is great and
contains some really great new stuff. I had the DVD on the F4U
sent to my Dad who is a retired military pilot. He said it is
really great as well. Lots of stuff he had not seen.
Overall, the Wildcat DVD is great. Enjoy

Tired of seeing the WRONG planes?.......2003-11-10

I'm an aviation buff and I thought I'd never see a DVD like this one. I watch documentaries and movies about WW II and have never understood why they get so many things WRONG. I can't stand to see HELLCATS at the Battle of Midway ... or SBDs bomb Pearl Harbor! Well this DVD didn't show me ANY of that. The title is what you get, F4F Wildcats and lots of 'em. The documentary sticks to the subject and even throws in some earlier Grumman aircraft for context. I think the real hook for me is the "added" footage. It's just Wildcat after Wildcat, most of which I've NEVER seen before. And there's plenty of pictures in the slideshow. I give these guys 5 stars just for the effort to get it right! I'll be interested to see what they come up with next.

Never seen the Wildcat like this before..........2003-11-06

I've always been a fan of Grumman's WWII carrier fighters... both the Wildcat and the Hellcat. There's just something about the coming of age of carrier warfare in the Pacific that I find fascinating.

So I thought I would give this set a chance. I'm glad I did. Disc one contains a nicely done documentary about the Wildcat, documenting the technical details of its birth, with some interesting shots of the pre-Wildcat era of carrier fighters. Then the show moves through battles the Wildcat fought, along with stories of Wildcat aces. Disc one also contains a bunch of photos of the Wildcat, many of which I have not seen before, in excellent quality. In fact, all of the footage and the photos are in consistently higher quality than I have ever seen for WWII material

Disc two contains a variety of raw footage, some of it silent, but all of it extraordinary. There's stunning footage of the Enterprise and Hornet taking bomb hits, color footage from the Doolitle raid, footage of Thach and O'hare flying over Hawaii... simply excellent stuff presented in nice quantity and completely documented.

The presentation is something of a new genre, by giving the viewer the chance to see all the raw material on the aircraft from the archives. If you like the Wildcat or even just the Pacific theater carrier war, you'll love this set. Highly recommended.

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