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The original 26 part 1973 UK series, plus 12 other programmes. 5/26 episodes cover the Japanese campaign. The remaining 21 concentrate on the war with Germany. The programes consist of B&W wartime film archive, narration and interpretation voiced by Olivier, and 1973 colour interviews with survivors from all sides. The tone of the interpretation attempts some degree of impartiality. The interviewees are allowed to speak for themselves, and the war footage is sometimes truly harrowing. Viewers are mosty left to draw their own conclusions, without comment by the narrator. Early on, however, there is heavy criticism of the leadership of both Germany & France in the 1930s for creating the circumstances which led to the war and the defeat of France. In 1970s, tv news reports still showed unedited combat deaths and protest suicides. Here, too, we see dead women and children, the destruction of aircraft and inhabited buildings, and the victims of flame throwers. Such images require a strong stomach, and would not be broadcast today. Since 1973, new information has surfaced about Bletchley Park, Hitler's motives for staying his hand at Dunkirk, and the Duke of Windsor's possible treachery in Spring 1940. A modern programme would also be more prepared to accept Britain's share of the blame for Versailles and the appeasement of the interwar years, and to take a more critical view of Churchill's wartime leadership. However, the most stunning and unrepeatable aspect of the series is its access to the politicians, military leaders, common soldiers, and general public, on all sides. There are long interviews with the secretaries of both Churchill & Hitler, and the young aide de camps of many of the principal generals on all sides. In some cases, the leaders speak for themselves: UK Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden; Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Doenitz; German Minister of Munitions and Architect of Nuremberg, Albert Speer. A great series by any measure, but also a product of its time and country of origin.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I remember watching this series on TV back in the seventies, Laurence Olivier narrates, as ever poignant then as now, the struggles we face today, pale into insignificance to what what faced and endured back then, never feel sorry for yourself after watching this, sometimes solemn in content ,but profound in its objective, if you've never seen it, watch , listen and learn to man's sacrifices for all our freedom.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
An excellent saga both on educational and entertainment grounds,I find it to be a good source of historical information. For it's day (1973 production), it was & still is the bench mark for all documentary series. I would definitely recommend it to any one both on an individual viewing basis & as an educational source tool for teaching history Etc.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
argos will not stock it at castleford or pontefract, and argos being argos NEVER EVER CAN MAKE A DELIVERY TO EITHER OF THESE PLACES apparantly all there other stock somehow self replicates.... ITS an amazing documentary (it was a forgotten era ie also when the customer was always right , how far has this country fallen in this realm ,,yet argos leads the field shame on you i t might have been better if germany had won shocking attitude of neglect from argos appalling
Verified purchase: No
Repeatedly described as the greatest documentary of all time, this restored 2010 version is probably the best version of the best. Painstakingly remastered, “frame by frame” to 2k & new 5.1 audio for Blu-ray release in 2010. The purists didn’t like the 16:9 ‘crop’ of unique archive material. The 2016 release was exactly the same but with black bars either side to restore the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original TV series to please them and also without the extra restoration documentary explaining how carefully they had re-framed the original footage to 16:9! Ancient 16mm footage gained little if any detail from conversion to 2k but it at least extracted the maximum. Importantly the remastering benefitted from the removal of dust, scratches and also contrast/colour corrections. All reviewers agree that the 2010 remaster was a massive improvement visually and sonically on the original. The 2010 DVD release benefits from all of this work, retains the careful 16:9 re-framing and makes full use of the DVD bandwidth/frame. In essence the 2016 releases sacrifice available resolution for the 4:3 aspect ratio. There is some 35mm film footage that benefits from the Blu-ray versions - the 2010 release more than the 2016 - but very few and that footage is more in general circulation anyway. The real value of the World at War is the rare 16mm archive material and the interviews, also shot on 16mm which are just as good on (anamorphic) DVD at 1024 x 576 25fps PAL. To be clear, the 2016 Blu-ray 4:3 issue has a width of 1440 pixels. The 2010 DVD issue is 1024 pixels (anamorphic). Conclusion If you are an archival film purist go for the 2016 Blu-ray version with the original TV series 4:3 aspect ratio. For most, the 2010 DVD version nails the quality without wasting pixels on soft film footage but has all the benefits of the remaster. For extreme maximum viewing experience, it is the 2010 Blu-ray release but there are very few shots that benefit noticeably. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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