TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : Videocasettes

“Crusade in the Pacific.” Embassy. Six volumes, $24.95 each. This 1951 series may lack some subsequently learned facts in later TV histories about World War II, but as a detailed visual record of the war between America and Japan it may be unsurpassed. The 26 half-hour, black-and-white episodes superbly use footage from both sides; there are the battle scenes we’ve seen in other programs, but there’s also fascinating material that has seldom been shown elsewhere--including a great deal on prewar situations in the ‘30s. Narrator Westbrook Van Voorhis is a bit bombastic and some of the perspective is dated, but in general the gift pack ($150) would almost certainly please your favorite history buff (with a VCR). Information: (213) 553-3600. 1/2