Nazi Mega Weapons

6/1/18. This seems to be 6 episodes from the 24-episode documentary, Nazi Mega Weapons. The 6 episodes I saw were pretty good. Each episode dealt with an engineering project the Nazi regime spent time and money on building an infrastructure that would support it for a thousands years. So, they were planning for the long-term. If you are history buff, you will probably appreciate the coverage with archival footage and serious narrative.

Anyone interested in history, and especially World War 2, will find this compelling viewing. While we are aware of some of the mega weapons invented by the Nazis (e.g., the V2, the Bismarck, the Panzer) this show goes into great detail about each of the weapons and weapon systems. We learn not merely about the weapons, but their comparative value as well as their development, including costs, man power (often slave labor), and their priority within the political arena.

Even more interesting, there are on-site investigations of sunken ships (the Tripitz), abandoned manufacturing depots (the Panzers), re-modeled dry docks, etc. They have "battlefield archaeologists" and weapons experts and historians to bring you through every aspect of the show.

The only real fault is the guy who plays Hitler. Otherwise this is a great show.

This comes across exactly like a History Channel produced show, with a combination of history, CGI, and reality TV style fake drama.

A few years ago someone at the History Channel got a new computer. Suddenly all their history shows looked exactly the same, with phony computer generated tank battles, CGI plane battles, CGI ship battles, etc. This looks like it was done on the same computer. Same overly dramatic music, same need to create drama, same inability to just tell the viewers what happened and why. It's history. It has already happened. Just tell the viewers what happened, why it happened, and how it happened. If you have footage, include it. If I want to watch a fictional drama based on history I'll watch a movie.

Not worthy of PBS.

Well made.

Interestingly it appears the series was commissioned by a US Company but produced in by a UK crew (due to the nature of WWII being partly in Europe I imagine).

Consequently, this TV show actually has 2 names and 2 narrations.

In America I believe it is called Nazi Mega Weapons with a American narration.

In UK I believe it is called Nazi Mega Structures with a British narration.

It's nice to have a choice of narration.

The series aired on Channel 4 in the UK.

The first and second world wars are demonstrations of how a modern industrial state can commit enormous resources in the waging of war. There was no greater demonstration of this than when the German leadership engaged in World War II. The scale of some of the projects is amazing, the amounts of steel and concrete and human labor, which means lives, that were spent in bringing the projects to their state at the end of the war are difficult to grasp, even when you see them.

Using modern experts to describe the various projects, historical footage, CGI generated action and actors playing the major roles, all are interwoven to explain the project, its' origins, the goals of the German leadership and the end results. Fortunately for the outcome of World War II in Europe, some of the most effective weapons were under resourced, especially the German submarines.

The stories are well told, the specific weapons described are: *) The Atlantic Wall *) The German submarine program *) The V2 rocket program *) The ME262 jet fighter *) Fortress Berlin *) The German super tank program.

Watching these videos will give you insights into the sheer enormity of the projects as well as to the mistakes that the German leadership made that rendered what could have been difference makers. This is especially true of the submarine and jet fighter programs. If both of those projects had been prioritized, the outcome of the way would possibly have been different.