Liftoff! Success and Failure on the Launch Pad

Description

Designed as an overview to the history of launch vehicles in the United States, this 2-DVD set presents over 6 hours of material on everything from Goddard to the V-2 to Vanguard and Explorer I, to Atlas and Titan, even the Saturns and Space Shuttle. The set also contains rare Air Force documentaries, newly restored, on Vandenberg, the X-17, SAC, and the Thor. The set features multi-angle footage of many launches and explosions, with expert commentary by propulsion engineer Dave Mohr. Future DVDs in this line will present individual vehicles in more detail (such as Atlas, Titan, Delta). An incredible collection of rare footage and material.

Customer Reviews:

A Mixed Bag for Most...Unless You Really Love This Stuff.......2007-07-09

This compilation can be a mixed bag for even rocket enthusiasts. It depends on what you really like watching. It consists of several old USAF documentaries and a lot of footage that was never edited. It has been edited now with a view towards completeness rather than drama. Along with the footage, the series editor adds some commentary which is sometimes quite good.

Individual programs are listed below:

Thor - An Air Force documentary about the development and testing of the Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile; a fairly interesting program from the 50s

The Ballistic Missile and SAC - Another AF documentary detailing the integration of the ballistic missile forces with the strategic bomber forces; another fairly interesting program from the 50s

Vandenberg - Another AF documentary detailing the purchase and building of Vandenberg Air Force Base; a mediocre program unless you are really interested in Vandenberg.

The X-17 Story - Another AF documentary from the 50s detailing the development of the X-17. It was intended to test re-entry vehicles. This one too is interesting.

Goddard - A mixed bag. This is a large collection of Goddard's silent footage. A lot of it is frankly boring. It is useful from a historical perspective, though, and does demonstrate the development of his work. Although the footage is silent, the editor does provide some minimal commentary.

Vengeance - This is another hodgepodge of footage of the German V-1s and V-2s. It is silent with some minimal commentary by the editors. Most is German footage but some is taken of captured V-2s in New Mexico.

Humiliation - The infamous footage of the failed first Vanguard launch.

Early Years - A collection of old footage from the Explorer program along with a variety of the launch platforms actually used. Almost all of this footage is silent but a running commentary continues throughout from the editor. This is not the most exciting stuff but does have its place for buffs.

Sounding - A look at sounding rockets, primarily the Aerobee family. Most of the footage comes from White Sands but some comes from Wallops Island. Again, the editor provides commentary for the silent footage.

Atlas - Very much like the others, this consists of a series of mostly silent footage, this time of the Atlas ICBM series. Running commentary is provided.

I Really Enjoyed It.......2006-05-17

After reading the other reviews I was pleasently surprised with this video. I was expecting the worse but it was very well done. The afore mentioned review on the commentary being substandard made me pay close attention to it. I agree it is not "History Channel Documentary" quality but I found it to be just fine, no distracting breathing or other noise.

All in all it's well worth the time and money to watch it. Lots of video I've never seen, mostly about the earliest rockets.

Rick

Rocket Buff.......2006-02-25

You have to be a real freak, i suppose like me, to enjoy a title like this.
Could have been better though.

A disappointment . . . but still good.......2005-06-14

This one is not up to the usual Spacecraft Films standard (I own many of these sets, I love the Apollo 15 & 17 6 six disc sets, particularly. Not to mention the Saturn series, the Gemini, etc). I was disappointed in this one but still it was ok, I mean there is not much of an alternative is there? Looking forward the the X-15 discs. I hope they are more comprehensive then this set.

A very nice apetizer for further releases.......2005-04-13

Spacecraftfilms managed to put very good material together, 2 DVD set can bring just a taste of each of many US launchers, there is no space to go into great details. Historical materials are excellent, you can compare them to the Quarterly Management Reports from Saturn V DVD, where I find these MSFC films the best part of the set. The members of each important rocket family are introduced with the Spacraftfilms intent to release further more detailed materials dedicated to each launcher family, according to their catalogue they plan to start with Titan family.
The set is nicely and logically composed with really impresive footages. I personally like best the Delta launch with nine strap-ons creating a beautiful firework circle around the main launcher body after separation maneuver. It's really a piece of art and poetry in the skies ...
Regarding the added commentary I can say I did not find it disturbing. The fact is the commentator not always knew what he saw (and honestly admitted the fact),but this mainly in case of technical details in early launchers, and,he most probably commented "online" seeing the footage for the first time,at least it made this impression on me. On the other hand there are definitely useful and interesting informations given and without these informations we would just watch rockets climbing or exploding. With the general overview material like this the silent, i.e.no commentary footage would be of low value.

Who's got the Spacecraftfilms Gemini set would remember there is a silent footage of Gemini instrument panel. I would love to have there any commentary added - to watch something you have no clue about for 15 minutes in silence is very depressing.

I like this material, it's of a very good quality and I hope the follow-up releases will bring more detail in engineering ,development and tests similar to Saturn family DVDs.

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