Go to stage 3

Videos from the US Army on the evolution of modern warfare

 

While surfing through YouTube I came upon this terrific series of videos. They were created by the US Army's Combat Studies Institute to help instructors prepare themselves with additional information before they taught the evolution of modern warfare package. I have linked to the first of twelve videos above and you can then watch them in order as they appear on the right hand side of the page. Alternatively, you can go to the uploader's defence page, PublicResourceOrg, and watch them through that means. If you are very keen then it seems you can buy the supplementary reading package from Amazon as someone is selling a second-hand copy.

For a non-US national they do come across as very US centric but given the aim of the videos is to train US military personnel the focus is understandable. It is also interesting understanding how the lessons of military history are used to teach the current generation of leaders about the evolution of their vocation.

DVD Review: Reclaiming the blade 2 Disc Special Edition

Studio: Galatia Films

DVD Release Date: June 7, 2009

Run Time: 78 minutes

I recently watched Reclaiming the Blade, a documentary about swords and the romanticism that surrounds them. I had been tracking the progress of the film through its website, eagerly anticipating the release of the movie. I was very excited when it was released and I purchased it within days of it becoming available. I was very happy that the delivery was quick so that I could view it without waiting too long.

The Battle of Rocroi, 1643

I recently watched the Spanish movie Alatriste starring Viggo Mortensen about a Spanish soldier in the time of Spain's gradual demise from European military dominance. I watched it because of the fighting sequences, especially the sword fighting. What follows is a slight spoiler so skip to the next paragraph if you want to watch the film without getting hints about the conclusion. The final act of the movie is set on the battlefield of Rocroi in northern France. The Spanish had fought well but the French had them surrounded. The French commander, out of respect for the Spaniards' courage offered the remaining soldiers the chance to quit the battlefield with their flags flying as soldiers rather than go into captivity or be annihilated. The movie gave the impression that theSpanish soldiers did not take this offer. In reading about the battle, it was clear that the Spaniards took the offer. While the movie did not do justice to the battle in the actual outcome, nor in the scale portrayed on the screen, it did show an old, worn-out, badly equipped Spanish Army being trounced by a modern vibrant French Army, which was a nice metaphor for the impact of the battle that eventually saw Spain lose its pre-eminent military position in Europe.

Horror in the East documentary up on Youtube

The complete four films of the BBC's Horror in the East documentary (Wikipedia, IMDB pages) is up on YouTube. It is broken into 21 parts of about 9-10 minutes each.

Film Alert - Red Cliff by John Woo

The Japan Times recently ran an article about John Woo and his latest movie, Red Cliff, which is based on  a military campaign during the Three Kingdoms Period of China. John Woo said that it was a movie that he had wanted to make for a long time, ever since he was a boy. This was mainly because it as popularised in the Chinese classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. According to Wikipedia, there are two versions of the movie, one is an Asian version and will be in two parts (part one was released in July 2008 and part two will be released early next year) and a western version (to be released in January 2009). John Woo made it clear in the article that he wanted the movie to be appealing to both Asian and Western audiences.