The World at War

[alexfardreamer@aol.com]

My favorite documentary series tend to be about military history in general but more or less specifically about World War II.

I enjoyed Ken Burns' The War, but found its America-only focus a bit limiting, even though Burns himself admits it was a deliberate choice.

For a more general look at the war, the best one I have on DVD is The World at War. It, too, has certain limitations and is a bit dated, but it's one of the best documentary series ever made for TV.

[FilmBuff33172]

My favorite documentary series tend to be about military history in general but more or less specifically about World War II.

I enjoyed Ken Burns' The War, but found its America-only focus a bit limiting, even though Burns himself admits it was a deliberate choice.

For a more general look at the war, the best one I have on DVD is The World at War. It, too, has certain limitations and is a bit dated, but it's one of the best documentary series ever made for TV.


Good, yes. Worth watching, yes.

I suppose its one flaw, in my view, is that it has a very Anglo-centric bent to it. Not saying it's necessarily wrong; because the series was made for British television, of course it has an Anglo-centric point of view. It affects mostly one episode ("Home Fires") and maybe if I had studied more about British politics during the war I'd have liked that segment more, but not knowing who was who (except for Churchill and a few others) made it the least accessible chapter of the 26 parts.

[skatss]

This was my father's choice of the first thing to watch. He must have seen all of the episodes five times. I am so glad to see it mentioned here.

I started to become interested in studying WW2 because I started to watch it with him

It was well done from the narration to the music. All powerful and all first rate.

[kevinator]

Definitely agree. I think The War is very good.