The World at War [Blu-ray]

I first saw this series when it was being broadcast for the first time by Thames Television/ITV. It has aged well though some of the edits to make it compatible with modern TV screen formats have been poorly done. The interviews with important people who were there and witnessed events at the highest levels of the government and military of major powers is something that will never be replicated since those people are all dead at this point. It is detailed and in depth and well worth watching.

The BBC in conjunction with the UK Imperial War Museum were primary driving forces behind this series. To that end, the role of Britain in almost every aspect of the war the British Empire was involved in are greatly stressed, yet certain aspects of British-Allied themes were largely ignored (the huge role of India in supplying troops to the cause, etc.)World War 2, in my mind, as well as those of many historians, was ultimately steered to its' inevitable end when 3 things happened. One of these even happened before what many considered the start of the war (the invasion of Poland by Germany in September of 1939.) I am speaking about the brutal Japanese invasion of China in the mid 30's. For example the rape of Nanking, when Japanese soldiers cruelly threw unarmed civilians into holes they had forced the people to dig themselves...and then either shot them and/or piled dirt on them while they were still alive. Many videos survive of the Japanese soldiers gleefully dancing on the dirt covering the holes and packing it down. It still is one of the worst war atrocities ever committed by an Army upon civilians.The other two events were: 1) Germany's invasion of Russia and the consequent pressure Germany put on Japan to attack the US and keep the US out of the European theatre....and 2) the US entrance into the war after Pearl Harbor.Japan had a mighty and massive war machine which forced nearly every able bodied man into military service. Even though the Chinese militarily were poorly organized, the country already had half a billion people and the efforts of the Chinese to resist the invaders forced the Japanese to divert much of its' might into holding onto the Chinese Mainland. At the Battle of Midway, in 1942 the more poorly manned Japanese sea efforts were fatally crippled and from then on it was forced to fight a holding action, gradually retreating back from the numerous gains it had made early in the war....until ultimately, after the fall of Okinawa all that was left was an invasion of Japan by US ground forces. This was avoided, of course, by two atomic blasts which brought the Japanese and their militaristic government to its' knees. The US and Chinese roles in the Pacific were given much briefer treatment in this series than they merited. The British efforts in Burma were stressed more.The War in the Far East was covered, but the coverage could have been more balanced than it was in this series.As far as Russia goes, when Operation Barbarossa was launched it was the beginning of the end for Germany in my mind. Held up first by the Winter in front of Moscow in 1941, and then ultimately seeing the 6th Army surrounded and cut to pieces in front of Stalingrad in the Winter of 1942-43 ......Germany went on a permanent defensive which ended in Berlin two years later with Hitler killing himself when the Russians were only blocks away.When the US invaded the West coast of Africa and combined with the British to wipe out what was left of the Afrika Corps, the African campaign was over. Then the US helped the British roll over the few remaining Italian forces and steam-rolled up the Italian boot. When the Germans attempted to make a stand with a line centered upon the centuries-old Monastery at Monte Casino ....the US Air Force bombed it to ashes. A short bypass at Palermo and and Italy was lost. At this point, most non-fanatical German Generals knew the War was lost.1944 saw the D Day Invasion using mainly US made war materials and seacraft. A subsequent broad sweeping-up of Western France led by US forces, a courageous stand at Bologne by Americans during the Battle of the Bulge, who were subsequently relieved by Patton's 3rd Army ..... and WW2 shifted to German soil. A spectacular and ill-conceived by the British "War Hero" Montgomery to invade Belgium and get into the Ruhr and end the war quickly (perhaps by the end of 1944) was touched on in the series, but make no mistake, it was one of the dumbest plans by an Allied General, and it was made by "Field Marshall" Montgomery, who managed to dodge the blame for this fiasco. The Bridge at Remagen was "A Bridge too far". It was an Allied disaster and the Germans who were getting beaten to a pulp nearly every place else actually took this success to heart. And ... it strengthened the resolve of many German soldiers and civilians to resist. (i.e "the enemy could still be beaten."). This action, may have actually EXTENDED the war through the build up of German morale, rather than shortening it.This series DOES contain MANY fascinating accounts/interviews with many persons, for example Hilter"s person secretary, yet it has virtually nothing with Generals Mark Clark, Omar Bradley and George Patton, Admiral Bull Halsey and only a trifling with Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur. Only British General Montgomery is ever shown talking to his troops at any length.It certainly is a good series, but you have to combine it with others (i.e the one Produced by Walter Cronkite of the CBS Evening News) to get a more complete, balanced account.P.S. I will say Sir Laurence Olivier's narration is superb, distinctive and moving.

I have this series on DVD from A&E. I've seen it twice since I bought it, the first time seeing it by myself, the second time with my brother who grew up watching the series on TV. I was very excited when I heard that The World at War was being restored and mastered for high definition release, but I was a bit apprehensive when I heard they were changing the aspect ratio from the square 1.33:1 to the widescreen 1.78:1. I would've thought that the classic British 1.66:1 aspect ratio would've been a better widescreen trade off than 1.78:1, but I guess the point was to make it so that the viewer would not have to use the zoom feature on their widescreen TV, that is if their TV has a zoom feature; many do not.After watching 10 episodes of the new blu-ray release, I must say that I am truly impressed. Although I disagree with the decision to alter the aspect ratio, the blu-ray is superior to the DVD in every respect. There is much more detail and clarity to the wartime footage than the DVD and sometimes it can have a "you are there" feeling. All of it has been cleaned up extensively and depending on the condition and quality of the footage, it can be absolutely breathtaking. Even the interview segments look quite good, though they can range from fair to great depending on the lighting, color scheme, film stock, etc., they still look better than ever. The only time the altered aspect ratio presents itself as awkward is during certain interviews, but it depends on how close up the camera operator focused on the individual and it usually only lasts a moment or two each time. There was never any consistency to their framing in the interviews in the first place, but unless you're adamant about seeing the interviewees hairstyle, it shouldn't be a problem. Absolutely none of the wartime footage looks awkward at all, and that goes the same for the photographs. Everything that is important within the frame of the image is present and unless you think that the camera operator was really trying to capture a bird or the tip of cloud in the very upper or lower portion of the frame while filming a battle in the air or on the ground, then you will never know anything is missing. It all looks far better than it has ever looked before and that is no understatement.I was expecting the audio to have added modern sound effects, but this is not the case. The original sound effects have been retained and are really quite effective in their newly remixed form. I applaud the producers efforts and the decision to have available the original 2 channel stereo LPCM track and a newly created 5.1 DTS Master mix. I like both, but I prefer the DTS mix. The clarity of the various voices heard throughout, especially Laurence Olivier's narration, is very much appreciated. I no longer have to strain to hear past the thick accents. The sound design now adds an extra dimension to the presentation, where as before it was only serviceable.The restoration performed on The World at War is nothing short of extraordinary. It looks and sounds superior to the previous A&E DVD set and I'm sure to every version before that. I can't help but be mesmerized by the quality of the presentations of each of the episodes, and now my brother is cheering the same. It's as though we are seeing and hearing it for the first time ever! Even though I haven't finished with the series yet, I'm already glad that I spent the $100 it cost to purchase this behemoth. It is worth every penny!

I recall watching The World at War back in the '70s. Now in Blu-ray the photography is even more vivid and realistic - simply amazing. Anyone interested in the reality of war should watch this - I know because, although I was only five years old at the time, the memories, some bad and some good, just don't fade away.

Still the best WW2 documentary.

Saw the ratings on IMDB. It did not dissapoint.