Search - Thunderbolt on DVD

Good show about a great fighter plane in World War II

Rob Morris | Idaho Falls, ID United States | 07/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD has been taken from a early-forties era documentary film made with Stateside audiences in mind. It was probably shown in theaters before the main shows during the war years. One of the big pluses is that the film is in color, and that the color is strikingly good for a combat film. Directed by Academy Award winner William Wyler (best known for 'Ben-Hur' and the original documentary of 'The Memphis Belle'), the film depicts life--and death--in a P-47 Thunderbolt squadron based in Italy. It gives the viewer a good look at Italy, not just the base itself. The strafing runs are excellent, taken by a camera mounted in the planes on actual missions. For a wartime propaganda film, it is quite honest and deals with the suffering of noncombatants, showing bombed-out buildings, children playing near a burned corpse, and haggard, war-weary men and women. The aerial footage is excellent, the dialogue is good, and the quality of the picture is also good. The film also shows the tragic results of a Thunderbolt crash quite graphically, as if to remind the viewer that war is a dangerous game and that there is never any guarantee that the pilots will return from their missions. This color film runs around 45 minutes. It is well worth the price."

The "other" Classic WW2 Documentary in Color

Michael R. Lachance | Maine, USA | 06/11/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Along with "Memphis Belle" this fine film stands up there with the best documentary features of the era. Using wartime film equipment, (no fancy Hollywood gear!) William Wyler (Ben-Hur) did his part for the war effort, with style and class (and a little humor!). A combination of propaganda and straight up honest filmmaking, 'Thunderbolt' is a film worth buying. Shot on 16mm Kodachrome, You wont see ultrafine images or glorious sound. The color and contrast are sometimes harsh. But this was War, and filmmaking in a combat zone isn't easy, under harsh conditions Wyler's film survived to become the true classic it is today.Enjoy!"

This film has a personal family history

R. Richard | 11/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The opening shots of the airfield, show a Thunderbolt named "DOTTIE". Dottie is my mother, and the pilot was her husband, George Lovato. The scene in the bar with a pilot playing an accordian is George. He sang and recorded a couple of records prior to the war. On October 31st, 1944, George Lovato and his plane "Dottie" went Missing in Action."

Great old documentary but poor quality video

Randall Eicher | McKinney, TX | 01/31/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great documentary made during the latter days of WW II but the quality of the video leaves much to be desired, the original film that was used for making the DVD had obviously suffered significant deterioration. That or they just did a really lousy job of transferring it to DVD."