''Dogfights'' is a

military aviation Military aviation comprises military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift ( air cargo) capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a war thea ...

themed

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

depicting historical re-enactments of air-to-air combat that took place in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, as well as smaller conflicts such as the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and the

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. The program consists of former fighter pilots sharing their stories of actual

dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

s in which they took part, combined with

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The image ...

(CGI) to give the viewer a better perspective of what it is like to engage in aerial combat.

Historical documentary format

The show has simulated not only air combat, but also surface sea combat, as in the case of Taffy 3's stand against the Japanese Center Force, and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

's pursuit and destruction of the , which included the Bismarck being hit by torpedo bombers. These episodes have been cited as a source for several

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articles, such as the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fo ...

. Simulated models include views from the cockpit, pilots visible through canopies, and battle damage. Orders of battle, comparisons of aircraft, and dissections of particular maneuvers are also presented. Jet and prop powered aircraft and ships from various eras from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to the late 20th century are featured. The series often presents interviews of pilots and experts, so far mostly Americans or their allies such as a survivor of (as was a German survivor of ''Bismarck''), though the first episode of the second season showed interviews with Japanese and German pilots.

Creation of the series

The series was created after the airing of a one-time special called ''Dogfights: The Greatest Air Battles'' in September 2005. That program's combination of realistic-looking CGI dogfights, interviews, period documentary footage, and voice-over narration proved so successful, that the History Channel requested the production of an entire TV series, which became ''Dogfights''."Interview with Radical 3D about Visual Effects for ''Dogfights''", NewTek.com, June 1, 2006
The original special continues to air occasionally and has been recently updated to reflect the current series logo.

Overview

In each episode, true historical dogfights of a certain battle or war are played out. Pilots from the actual fights are brought in to re-tell their accounts of the battles. Along with the battle, there are occasional scenes that describe the pilot's living conditions or events that have happened outside the battle. Each battle is told by the pilot and a special narrator. CGI effects are used, providing a realistic simulation. The show also describes the aircraft, showing diagrams on screen and taking some time to describe the advantages and disadvantages of each plane. It also describes and illustrates the air maneuvers and tactics used by the pilots. Usually, the battles are told by pilots of the winning side of each war or battle. Occasionally, there are other variants brought into a battle besides the planes. For example, a pilot may recount their experience destroying ship fleets, bombing enemy air fields, or dealing with Anti Aircraft fire from the ground, but the process is interrupted by enemy planes. After each battle, the show usually features a short biography about the pilots and the conflicts they were involved in, and then the credits roll.

Episode list

Pilot episode

Season one

Season two

DVDs

From 2007 to 2009, The History Channel Home Entertainment released the series on Region 1 DVD. Dogfights - The Complete Season One DVD set was released on April 24, 2007. Featuring all eleven episodes, it also includes the original pilot episode and a behind-the-scenes featurette called "Dogfights: The Planes." The picture format is 4:3 (1.33:1) even though the series was produced in

anamorphic Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...

16:9 widescreen. Dogfights - The Complete Season Two 5 DVD set was released on June 24, 2008. Dogfights - The Complete Series All the episodes including Dogfights of the Future are included in a 10 DVD set, which was released on October 27, 2009.

The game

Starting with season 2, the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

produced, in conjunction with

Kuma Reality Games Kuma Games is an American video game developer, specializing in developing free episodic and first-person shooters (FPS) since 2004. The company has also created a number of machinima movies for their games, particularly The Dinohunters. Kuma ...

, a free PC video game based on the ''Dogfights'' series. Dogfights: The Game puts players in interactive recreations of actual episodes from the TV show. As of now the game primarily concentrates on the

episodes of the series. This can be found on History.com

References

External links

''Dogfights'' official website on the History Channel''Dogfights'' video clips on the History ChannelEpisodes for ''Dogfights'' on the History ChannelEpisodes for ''Dogfights'' on IMDB''Dogfights'' official video game on History.com
* {{History shows 2000s American documentary television series 2006 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Aerial warfare American military television series Aviation television series Documentary television series about aviation English-language television shows History (American TV channel) original programming