Search - The Russian Navy on DVD

Good, but could have been much better

JGA357 | Washington, DC | 09/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, maybe 3.5 stars. This documentary is not bad...as far as it goes. The first part focuses on the development of the Russian Navy and the enormous impact Peter the Great had on both ship design, construction and naval strategy that turned Russia into a sea power. Major milestones in Russian navy history are then chronicled, albeit in a broad-brush or cursory fashion so I was left wanting for more on the Russo-Japanese war, the revolution, and WW2. I concede, however, it's tough to cram 300+ years of history into a 90 minute video!



The program fell apart somewhat during the Cold War era by giving too much time to Russia's submarine fleet (no offense to the submariners out there) at the expense of the surface fleet. Admittedly, Russia's submarine fleet was/is huge, but very little was said about most major suface combatants except for abbreviated acknowledgement (and video footage) near the very end of the program of the "Peter the Great" cruiser and the "Kuznetsov" aircraft carrier. And virtually no mention is made of most other ship types or Russia's naval air arm.



My only other complaint is the lack of archival footage..particularly from the World War 2 and the Cold War. I would have gladly traded some of the re-enactor scenes used throughout (particularly in the early history phase) for more footage of the ships in action.



In short, not bad but not great and an OK purchase for anyone with an interest in the Russian/Soviet Navy. I think I liked Raising the Red Banner: The Pictoral History of Stalin's Fleet 1920-1945 better, though!



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