Naval History Forums

I would like to know if the two DVDs I saw on Amazon.DE entitled 'Schlachtschiff Bismarck' Teil 1 & 2 have English subtitles. The ones I saw had Copyright dates of 2004-- a little newer than the ones on the KBismarck.com site. I contacted Amazon.co.uk and they didn't know. I don't speak German and would appreciate any help.

Thanks, Cyberkirb

They are both excellent documentaries, but unfortunately with no English subtitles. However, if you know some German and are familiar with the history of the ship, it wouldn't be difficult to follow since the narrator talks very slowly. These documentaries were released in the year 2000 in VHS format. The DVDs were launched last year and include a lot of additional material such as the full original Prinz Eugen Rheinübung film, Kriegsmarine marches, photo stills, etc. Nothing about the wreck however, if that is what you are looking for. Both are available at amazon.de:

I'd be interested in the DVDs too...but I doubt their format would play on DVD players here in the US.
George G.

I think DVD formats are not dependent on the 50/60 Hz cycle differences as VCR players are. But the differences in the DVD players is a problem US reading 525 lines, European 625 linesis a problem. I think you can read European DVD's on your computer, however. Certainly CD's will work normally anywhere, and I have been told the same is true for DVD's. You can also have them converted just like they do for video tapes for about $10, I think.

It's mainly a difference between PAL (EU) and NTSC (US). Also, PAL is often region 2 coded, so you need a region free DVD player than can handle PAL but I think all DVD players are PAL/NTSC compatible.

George G. wrote:I'd be interested in the DVDs too...but I doubt their format would play on DVD players here in the US.

If the DVDs are encoded as Region 2, they won't play on a US Region 1 DVD player and you will need a region free DVD player. Check the instruction manual of your DVD player and see if it can play European region 2. However, I think both discs are encoded as PAL-All-Region (Region 0 Code) which means that these DVDs are "region free" and can be played on any DVD player. But I'm not 100% sure about it, all the back cover says is Bildformat 4:3 PAL.