Hahahaha! Watched all these in Russian with English subtitles, not knowing that there was an English version. Sounds more epic in the original version, though, I have to say. It's an artfully done documentary series, far better than what the Military Channel/History Channel put on these days, unfortunately...
here's the original (with subtitles):
Great War. Series 1 - Barbarossa. part 1 of 5 - YouTube
my post in the comments section 5 days ago:
The adaptation of this excellent documentary for the History Channel is outrageous. Twice so far (I'm currently about 8 minutes into it) they referred to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as an alliance. It was a non-aggression pact, you dimwits! Learn the damn difference! Allies don't need a non-aggression pact.
hc (between two scenes in the original, 1:15-1:30): "in the spring of 1941 nazi germany and the soviet union were allies. but everyone knew this couldn't last."
and again at 8:15:
hc: "in 1939 nazi germany and the soviet union have signed an alliance. but stalin harbored no illusions."
original: "despite the signing of the molotov-ribbentrop pact, the soviet leadership [didn't have] illusions."
wouldn't you say there's a substantial divergence here?
also, here at 3:03:
Great War. Series 1 - Barbarossa. part 3 of 5 - YouTube
hc: "the poor design of the soviet shells meant that many simply shattered on contact with german armor."
original: "using the wrong technology, the shells simply shattered upon impact with the high-hardened german armor."
in contrast with hc's derogatory portrayal of "poor soviet manufacturing", the original implies the simple fact that the (light) tanks in question were becoming obsolete. there was nothing wrong with the design or production quality of the shells they were using. light tanks in general proved too vulnerable and underpowered during ww2, regardless of the reliability of their weapons and the country of their origin. i never heard anyone saying, not even on history channel, that there was something wrong with the shells that were being produced for the newer and heavier t-34 and kv-1 tanks. the reason why they were so much more effective in comparison lies simply in their superior technological characteristics (shortly, better armor and bigger cannons).
