The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb - 2-DVD Set ( Kampen om tungtvannet ) ( The Saboteurs ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

The Germans needed heavy water for their atomic reactor and bomb projects. The sole source of supply was Norsk Hydro in occupied Norway. Preventing the supply was a critical undertaking for the Allies.This is all carried over in the series, but there is too much dross. It starts well, but the ending is excessively sentimental. Furthermore, as someone who knows a fair bit about the real events, I was fairly unimpressed with the fictionalisation into docudrama.One crucial issue was the local Norwegian casualty rate. This could (and should) have been dealt with calmly and in detail. Instead we get an American yelling that they would bomb the place so flat that nobody would know that a factory had ever been there. As for the much storied ferry sabotage, the drama is short on analysis. There is simply one side saying (and occasionally yelling) that it shouldn't be done and the other replying that it was necessary.There is some pretty good landscape filming. The bitterly cold conditions on the ground are very well conveyed.The acting is generally quite good, except for Anna Friel who overacts as a fictitious army captain: starting off in the series as a cold-hearted bitch, but becoming inappropriately sentimental as the campaign develops. I suspect that the blame for this should be attached to the director.I persevered until the end, but I don't imagine I shall be watching this again any time soon.

A great mini-series on some of the history behind the Nazi race to develop a nuclear bomb toward the end of WW2. Great acting and epic scenes in this six-part series. The downside is that this DVD set is only available in PAL format and won't play in most US DVD players.. The language is native to those speaking it in most scenes, but subtitles handle the translation from Scandinavian and German to English where applicable.

The one that plays in DVD Region 1 is titled the "Heavy Water War",The one that plays in DVD Region 2 is titled the "The Saboteurs".No dubbed english, and if you select english subtitles,you won't get them for the parts where english is spoken,no matter how peculiar an accent is being spoken in a noisy scene.But it's a good story!

close to historically correct.

Top adventure series, if you have a region-free DVD player.

This was a well done production of WWII from several viewpoints. There is the Norwegian viewpoint. That country is occupied by the Nazis. It is supplying the heavy water that is needed by physicists to produce an atomic bomb. There is the German viewpoint, which is Heisenberg trying to build the bomb in Germany despite constant hurdles thrown in his way by the Nazis. This was the race to produce the atomic bomb, which the Germans ultimately lost.There is resistance to the Nazis getting the heavy water from Norway yet also the building of a huge company which did that and would diversify and prosper after the War. For those into action adventure, there are some thrilling chase scenes done on skis of Nazis pursuing Norwegians who are trying to sabotage the heavy water efforts.However, I think the makers of this series pursued the weaker story. The strong story was Heisenberg's, not the Norwegians. There was a terrific actor playing him too and he's not even shown on the box. Here was a man who primarily existed in his head with calculations. He was not a political person. He was entirely caught up in his lab trying to produce the bomb and tuned out everything else as much as he could. The Nazis and he butted heads consistently. The fascinating reason was that he wanted to produce the bomb whereas they were overly concerned that only Aryans make the bomb. He would protest, saying that Einstein and Oppenheimer were Jews and were making great headway in America and then he rattled off other Jewish scientists in England and elsewhere. He was told never to bring up that subject again. The Nazis then proceeded to saddle him with all inferior scientists but who fit their definition of being Aryans. The Nazis are always unhappy with him too because he has no goal other than producing the bomb to win the war. Hitler, the Jewish purging, and so forth barely cross his mind. I am sure this is a very realistic portrait of how the genius scientist functions.So yes, some Norwegians slowed Heisenberg down by their sabotage efforts with heavy water. But I think the people who really sabotaged Heisenberg every step of the way were the Nazis themselves. Because of all of their mad ideas, they had him building the bomb on his own. As we know, it was a huge collaborative effort of brilliant scientists at Los Alamos who ultimately succeeded. They were able to pick the best scientists for the job without any other concerns.I personally would have liked to explore Heisenberg's entire journey on trying to build the bomb, while being thwarted by the Nazis at every turn, rather than get the small pieces of his story that I got here.

This is a very good portrayal of a fairly unknown event from WW2. (unless you take a special interest in war events or ww2 in particular). I found the pacing to be really good. It is not non-stop action but pretty of tension throughout. The cinematography, direction and soundtrack is superb. I found the actors to be overall very good as well. This includes most of the Norwegian cast, the Danish lady, the British cast and the German cast. I enjoyed the British portion a lot, with the chemistry between the Norwegian team-leader and the British office lady - though this is entirely fictional, as there was never any reports of any British female officers working on this operation. There are also some liberties taken to improve the tension throughout the series, and in some cases I think the creators had to make some educated guesses, as not everything from this period was fully documented. Still, it gets the important stuff right, and done very well, so I highly recommend it. I was just flicking through N.e.t.flix and saw it was highly rated and figured I'd give it a try. I was fully expecting to stop half-way through the first episode (I do this a lot, as I am quite picky), but found myself captivated from the first few minutes.

Operation Weserübung was launched by the Nazis in the early morning hours of 9 April 1940, its objective the invasion and occupation of both Norway and Denmark. It succeeded. Denmark was viewed as a sort of strategic buffer to the main prize of Norway.Why was Norway so important to the Germans? For many reasons, though three in particular stand out.First, Norway’s long coastline faces to the west. Beyond the North Sea was Germany’s last important European enemy — Great Britain. In April 1940 the British were still stubbornly holding out, defying Hitler, despite their cities being bombed by the Luftwaffe. Were they suicidal? That was the view from Berlin. But the view from London was different, as British intelligence was a step or two ahead of German intelligence. The British were rushing to build radar relay stations (a new top secret technology) all along the southern coast of Britain, and it seemed they were making heroic progress toward cracking the German enigma code, one of the most fiendishly complex codes ever devised by human ingenuity. If Britain may be seen to be succeeding in these endeavours and one compares the war to a series of penalty kicks in football, the English are up two saves already and leading 2-0. So it’s reasonable to think in hindsight that Germany was already in the process of losing the war as early as 1940, although nobody at the time (including the British) would have thought or said so.Second, The German war machine was voracious and insatiable. It needed natural resources to carry on. Norway is rich in iron ore. This would be plundered by the Nazis, as everything valuable to them was. They were expert thieves.Third, Norway had the best hydro-electric plant in existence for producing heavy water, a key element in uranium enrichment that could be used to develop and build an atomic bomb. Peaceful, neutral Norway was therefore at the centre of Nazi nuclear ambitions, irony as ever eager to have its say.This film is ambitious too, a six-part production made jointly (and lavishly) for Norwegian television by Norway, Denmark and Britain. It tells many stories. For instance:• The German invasion and occupation of Norway.• The work in Berlin of Werner Heisenberg and other German physicists to devise plans for nuclear development in Germany.• The relationship of Heisenberg and Nils Bohr, the Danish physicist in Copenhagen (who is secretly advising the British, which Heisenberg suspects).• The Norwegian resistance in Britain, including a top-notch Norwegian commando unit of paratroopers training in Scotland.• The Hydro plant in the town of Rjukan in the province of Telemark. Location: mountainous region of southern Norway west of Oslo. It’s here that heavy water is being produced. The facility is called Hydro in the series (real name in history: Vermork Power Station).• The lives of ordinary Norwegians in Rjukan and elsewhere, affected directly by German rule.The editing is such that most of these elements are woven together in each episode, immersing the viewer in the drama.A major highlight of the programme, naturally enough, is the famous sabotage of the Hydro plant carried out by a half dozen Norwegian commandos in February 1943. Not only did they succeed in blowing up the heavy water facilities of the plant, they all escaped to safety thereafter and lived to tell the tale, one of the great heroic episodes of the war.Normally one would think this daring deed would be saved for last, appearing in the final episode. It does not. It occurs in Episode Three, only halfway through the series. The choice in fact is dramatically clever, because the act of sabotage is far from the end of the story. The raid was successful but did not destroy Germany’s nuclear plans. It merely delayed them, giving the Allies an extra three months in which to devise another strategic plan of attack. The war would go on despite the heroics of the Norwegian commandos.Although there are many noteworthy characters in a drama as complex as this one, three in particular stand out:• Leif Tronstad — Norwegian commando leader based in Scotland, his job to train men for one of the most important espionage missions of the war.• Erik Henriksen — Norwegian director of the Hydro plant at Rjukan.• Werner Heisenberg — German nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner.Tronstad is young, perhaps only 27, but a born leader, the sort who inspires respect, even from men older than himself. The Scottish commander of special forces is one of these older men. He defers to Tronstad’s ideas about how to mount a successful attack on the plant.Henriksen (a fictitious character based on a real one) is fraught and compromised. He knows the Nazis are evil and his collaboration with them to produce heavy water will rightly be judged as treasonous. He knows, too, the so-called Quisling government in Oslo is a front for German ambition. There is no government in Norway, its legitimate government having fled to London to regroup. The Norwegian king is there too, as is his son Olav, heir to the throne. They are referred to in the story but do not appear. Henriksen’s position on the chess board is near check-mate (he’s about to lose). He has nowhere to move. The Quisling government is false but he must obey its laws. The Nazis are illegitimate overlords but he must bend to their power. The best he can do is appear to serve both while subtly working to undermine both. It’s tricky. And dangerous. He smokes heavily, drinks too much, won’t talk to his wife. He loves her and she him but he can’t tell her anything. It’s all bottled up inside him.Heisenberg, no doubt a genius, comes across as vain, self-serving, ambitious, caring more about his career and reputation than his family and, crucially, the moral implications of his work. Like so many Germans of the time, he operates in denial, in a vacuum emptied of morality. He doesn’t want to know the details of what’s going on around him. When information reaches him by 1944 that the Nazi death camps are a reality, he dismisses the information as wartime rumour or Allied propaganda. He can’t allow himself to admit he’s working for homicidal maniacs. Ego therefore trumps reasoned thought and morality. He isn’t sinister by design; he becomes corrupt and dangerous through his Faustian pact with the devil. To be frank, he’s a detestable man. I could find no redeeming qualities in him and it amazes me that he wasn’t prosecuted after the war.The series is special for many reasons.First, the level of detail. I thought I knew quite a bit about the commando raid on the plant at Rjukan, but the series disabused me of this thought, its rich detail quite salutary. Thus the series is, among other things, a brilliant history lesson.Second, the amazing landscapes of mountainous Norway in winter. There’s a reason why Norwegians are world-class skiers and ski jumpers. Parts of their nation are one vast ski jump. The wintry scenes are breathtaking, no CGI (or little) needed here, the locations themselves exceeding what CGI might attempt.Third, the raid itself. Utterly magnificent. Even knowing the outcome, my heart was racing throughout it. Where does such daring courage come from? I have no idea, actually. They flew across the North Sea from Scotland in rough weather. They parachuted into a remote location lacking logistical support apart from a few basic wooden hunters’ cabins. They had little food. They skied over rough terrain for two or three days to reach their target. Then they had to negotiate a steep ravine, gain entrance to the plant, evade the German guards, stifle the Norwegian plant workers they encountered (two), rig up the explosives, light the fuses, and run (and ski) for dear life. It’s amazing they all escaped. It’s a miracle. They went their separate ways in Norway after the raid, some of them going to Sweden, but all regrouped eventually in Scotland. What a feat! The entire series is worth it just for Episode Three (but all six episodes are riveting). The producers have gone all out, creating a believable world that looks authentic. Five stars are not enough.In Norwegian, German and English with subtitles, each of the six episodes 45 mins. in length. No extras, which is a great pity.

Very, very good war drama. Thankfully in the original language. The Free Norwegians deserve this tribute. The Kirk Douglas film "Heroes of Telemarck"is to be referenced as more exciting but less accurate, . Watch both and despite their differences, you will enjoy them. This has the level of technical detail (down to the actual weapons Thompson M1928 not M1A1 or Sten MkIII and aircraft - Halifaxes - not Lancasters or Dakotas used) that edges it as history. The moral arguments and tragic end of so many of the participants bring the subject into focus. Recommended for its detail and for a well-overdue tribute.

I knew a lot about this WW2 mission before seeing this series. It follows the film Heroes of Telemark from the 1960s which was good but this is more involved and depicts actual events in a non-Hollywood kind of way. The acting is superb and locations as you would expect from Norway. If history is your thing then this is a really inspiring act of heroism and determination, brilliant.

Very good, atmospheric series that correctly pays tribute to those who fought for freedom, so that the modern generation can live in a free world. The acting throughout is top notch and the scenery is breath taking, especially the scenes set in the Norwegian snow. The beauty of a six-part series, such as this, shows itself with the character development, with the result that it has more emotional depth than the Heroes of Telemark movie. In addition, having actors speak their own language also gives the series a more authentic kick. As someone who has actively researched the German atomic plans for my latest book I enjoyed the historical setting of the series, even if it did allow for a little bit of artistic license. Overall this is solid entertainment that is certainly worth the cover price.

I would have given this a 5 star rating but it is let down by stupid errors. As a military history buff, certain points stand out. Anna Friel is miscast, she has no credibility whatever and her uniform looks daft. Her Captains pips are red buttons, she wears high heel shoes in uniform and her hair is all over the place . Plus bright red lipstickTo quote a certain RSM " I ave never seen anything like it in all my lifeThe first glider landing features a Horsa glider with invasion stripes and fitted wheels for a landing snow. Surely skis would be far more appropriateApart from that its a good storyline and obviously based on fact