The World at War (30th Anniversary Edition)
starring: Laurence Olivier, Sir Max Aitken, Stephen Ambrose, André Beaufre, David Belchem
directed by: Hugh Raggett, Ted Childs, David Elstein, Martin Smith (VII), John Pett
directed by: Hugh Raggett, Ted Childs, David Elstein, Martin Smith (VII), John Pett
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Sir Jeremy Isaacs highly deserves the numerous awards for documentaries he has earned: the Royal Television Society's Desmond Davis Award, l'Ordre National du Mérit, an Emmy, and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. His epic The World at War remains unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II.
The Second World War was different from other wars in thousands of ways, one of which was the unparalleled scope of visual documents kept by the Axis and Allies of all their activities. As a result, this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were particularly thorough in documenting even the most abhorrent of the atrocities they were committing--in a surprising amount of color footage. The World at War was one of the first television documentaries that exploited these resources so completely, giving viewers an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible narrative. Some highlights:
The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No serious historian should be missing The World at War in a collection, and no student should leave school without having seen at least some of its salient episodes. Rarely is film so essential. --Erik J. Macki
Sir Jeremy Isaacs highly deserves the numerous awards for documentaries he has earned: the Royal Television Society's Desmond Davis Award, l'Ordre National du Mérit, an Emmy, and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. His epic The World at War remains unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II.
The Second World War was different from other wars in thousands of ways, one of which was the unparalleled scope of visual documents kept by the Axis and Allies of all their activities. As a result, this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were particularly thorough in documenting even the most abhorrent of the atrocities they were committing--in a surprising amount of color footage. The World at War was one of the first television documentaries that exploited these resources so completely, giving viewers an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible narrative. Some highlights:
- A New Germany 1933-39: early German and Nazi documentation of Hitler's rise to power through the impending attack on Poland
- Whirlwind: the early British losses in the blitz in the skies over Britain and in North Africa
- Stalingrad: the turning point of the war and Germany's first defeat
- Inside the Reich--Germany 1940-44: one of the most fascinating documentaries that exists on life inside Nazi Germany, from Lebensborn to the Hitler Youth
- Morning: prior to Saving Private Ryan, one of the only unromanticized views of the Normandy invasion
- Genocide: this film is one of the most widely shown introductions to the Holocaust
- Japan 1941-45: although The World at War is decidedly focused more on the European theater, this is an important look into wartime Japan and its expansion--early 20th-century history that lead to Japan's role in World War II is superficial
- The bomb: another widely shown documentary of the Manhattan Project, the Enola Gay, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki
The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No serious historian should be missing The World at War in a collection, and no student should leave school without having seen at least some of its salient episodes. Rarely is film so essential. --Erik J. Macki
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- The Most definitive Series on WW2 I Have Ever Seen ... You Must Have This!
Jeremy Isaacs did an extraordinarily thorough and exhaustive series with this piece of work. I am a WW2 documentary collector and I am up to, easily, over 150 DVD's, but this remains my favorite, even though mazaingly-enough, it was produced over 30 years ago. In order to truly appreciate this work, one must appreciate the thorough nature of the series itself: For example, we see living interviews with Manteuffel, Kaye Sommers (Ike's driver), Doenitz, Karl Wolff, Albert Speer, etc ... as well, the ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent
Being for warned about the sound was fine and not a problem, I managed it by turning up the volume.A good concise video going over causes and political actions taken before and during the war.It touches the war from all viewpoints.I highly recommend adding this documentary to your video library.
Rating: - The World At Warr
The World At War is one of the best documentaries I have seen about World War II. I recommend anyone to watch it that is intersted in this war and Hitler's reign.
Rating: - The authoritative series on The Second World War
The World at War Series is the authoritative review of the Second World War to which all other series must measure up to.It is by far the best!
Rating: - The definitive account of the worst war in history
I mentioned to one of my friends when I ordered this series that I wanted to learn more about World War II. I had always known that World War II was terrible, but watching The World at War, I realised that I had not known the extent of how terrible it truly was. This experience has had a significant impact on me, and is not one that I will forget quickly.
The scale of World War II was staggering. 50 million people lost their lives, including 20 million Russians. Although the total figure ... Read More
- The Most definitive Series on WW2 I Have Ever Seen ... You Must Have This!Jeremy Isaacs did an extraordinarily thorough and exhaustive series with this piece of work. I am a WW2 documentary collector and I am up to, easily, over 150 DVD's, but this remains my favorite, even though mazaingly-enough, it was produced over 30 years ago. In order to truly appreciate this work, one must appreciate the thorough nature of the series itself: For example, we see living interviews with Manteuffel, Kaye Sommers (Ike's driver), Doenitz, Karl Wolff, Albert Speer, etc ... as well, the ... Read More
- ExcellentBeing for warned about the sound was fine and not a problem, I managed it by turning up the volume.A good concise video going over causes and political actions taken before and during the war.It touches the war from all viewpoints.I highly recommend adding this documentary to your video library.
- The World At WarrThe World At War is one of the best documentaries I have seen about World War II. I recommend anyone to watch it that is intersted in this war and Hitler's reign.
- The authoritative series on The Second World WarThe World at War Series is the authoritative review of the Second World War to which all other series must measure up to.It is by far the best!
- The definitive account of the worst war in historyI mentioned to one of my friends when I ordered this series that I wanted to learn more about World War II. I had always known that World War II was terrible, but watching The World at War, I realised that I had not known the extent of how terrible it truly was. This experience has had a significant impact on me, and is not one that I will forget quickly.
The scale of World War II was staggering. 50 million people lost their lives, including 20 million Russians. Although the total figure ... Read More
