Customer Reviews
AWE INSPIRING TV - By: G. D. Belton, 28 Jul 2008 
I remember watching this as a kid & recently saw parts of it again on the History channel & have found it incredibly moving - just the theme music with a series of shocking pictures culminatingin the gaunt face of a young girl at the end, is truly chilling. The series examines every aspect & angle of the warin great detail. It does not shy away from some shocking footage & yet never feels like it is revellingin it. It is a serious historical work & yet it never drags. Watching it again I was struck by how many of those interviewed are long dead now, & how lucky I have been to never experience anything like the suffering they endured, & how future generations should never forget the price of their freedom.
The Greatest History Series Ever made even if it misses a big bit - By: Mr. R. S. Hutton Mckee, 23 Jul 2008 The World at War should be shown to all childrenin School it is that good. It showsus how the world came to be after WW2 & offers the chance to see through the eyes of those who were there. Some episodes are brilliant for the drama others are the stuff of nightmares. A note to the clearing up of the concentration camps the plant drivers were issued a Bottle of Whisky a day that is the only way they could do that. i have relatives who were there (British army).
The only problem with the World at war is that it was made before Station X was revealed to the world. The story of Enigma, Colossus, Alan Turine, ?Tommy Flowers, etc were hidden till after the world at war was made though some hints are shown only other sources such as the extra features tell the Story of the broken codes that took a year or two off WW2.
Incomparable... - By: tendermercies, 18 Feb 2008 Incomparable. Moving. Poignant. Horrific. There are not enough superlatives for this series. If it was up to me, I'd make every teenagerin the Uk watch it - just to make them realise what sacrifices our ancestors had to make so that they can enjoy their much taken for granted freedom.
The Best Visual History Of The Period That You Can Possilbly Own - By: pjr, 08 Feb 2008 In excess of 30 years on this sprawling documentary series still thoroughly deserves watching. Put simply there is no better visual history of this period. Not only does this tell the story but does so through first hand accounts of people who were involved at all levels. The testaments are revealing & give this series a real visceral power.
The story itself is told with some sense of chronology but also gives background too. So the story of the American intervention is told by giving you the view from before the war despite appearingin the narrative only at the point when Pearl Harbour has been bombed. It's a clever device which helps to focus each seperate part clearly on its subject.
There are some who will site the presentation as rather old fashioned but this documentary avoids summarising itself every 10 minutes, assuming instead that we have a decent attention span. Laurence Olivier's narration may also detract as he uses his naturally stagey voice throughout although this somehow provides just the right level of gravitas to my ears.
Finally there's the images. Many were taken from the enormous archive held by The Imperial War Museum & never before screened, or seen, since they were captured. At times shocking & unsettling they help tell the story with a powerful clarity.
A moving, informative, & lasting testament this has lost none of its impact & probably never will. It is deserving of a place amoungst the finest documentaries ever produced. There are few which deserve the epithet "definitive" but this is one.
WWII DVD Bible - By: Mr B W B, 02 Feb 2008 There is little else that I can say than "this is the DVD boxset Bible for the Second World War". Absolutely genius series.
