Rating: 
Summary: Without a doubt...the best...
Review: Assuming that a filmmaker can't go on indefinately, let's say making a history of World War II in hundred or more hours of videotape, Jeremy Isaacs has done a masterful job of capturing the essense of World War II, including its causes and the Cold War that evolved out of its conclusion.Please note, "The World At War" was produced between 1971 and 1974, which means the interviews with veterans and other war survivors were filmed close to thirty years after the conclusion of World War II. I watched much of this series when it was first telecasted in the 1970s, and continued to view reruns of programs over the last 25+ years. I had thought that I had seen every episode two or three times, but after finishing the complete DVD collection, I'm pretty sure I completely missed some programs and saw only bits-and-pieces of others. What a tremendous production. Beautiful reproduced on DVD, with excellent color and superb graphics (maps). I especially appreciated the opening special, "The Making of..." with producer Jeremy Isaacs, as well as Isaacs' brief introductions to each of the 26 programs. I only wish he had prepared similar introductions to the supplementary material on Discs 4 and 5, but you can't have everything. "The World At War" is hundred times better than the typical fare found on A&E, The History Channel, and even PBS. That's not to say that quality productions are not being made today, but Jeremy Isaacs' production is just plain better than most things regularly scheduled documentaries on cable and broadcast television. Special mention must be made of the music by Carl Davis and the writers, who are too numerous to mention. Everyone familiar with this series knows the contribution of Sir Laurence Olivier, definitely the finest documentary narration I've ever heard. As an American, I particularly appreciate the British perspective, which offers a different view of the breath, scope and horror of the war. The series really puts the current War on Terrorism in perspective. The supplementary material begins with an extended interview/commentary by Traudl Junge who served as Hitler's secretary. She's a fascinating person, speaking calmly and thoughtfully about her former employer, especially the events leading up to his suicide. There is an equally interesting interview with historian Stephen Ambrose, filmed in the early 1970s. While looking 25+ years younger, Ambrose sounds almost the same as he does today during his numerous C-Span and PBS appearances. The most fascinating of the eight hours of supplementary material are the programs dealing with the Death of Adolf Hitler and the extended two part examination of the Final Solution. Thank you, Amazon, for making this wonderful documentary so accessible. For those of you contemplating this major expediture, you won't regret purchasing this landmark visual/aural history of World War II. And remember, this DVD collection will be available for your children and grandchildren.
Rating:
Summary: Not an attempt to explain the war, but to narrate its horror
Review: Television documentaries are notoriously quick to date - the assumptions and methodologies of one generation are rejected as inadequate by the next. In any case, the trend has moved from sweeping panoramas, to small-scale, small-focus micro-histories. So, after 30 years, how does the massive 'World at War' hold up? Surprsingly well, actually. There are a number of reasons for this. Although it is a single documentary with an overall coherence, drive and tone, it is also a series of 26 discrete hour-long documentaries, each written and directed by different talents. As a whole, these documentaries create a totality, exploring all the connecting elements of the war: the pre-history of all the major countries; detailed accounts, analyses and reminiscnces of the major events, battles, leaders, tactics; memories of 'ordinary' civilians and combatants, as well as the big names (although the former aren't named). But individually, the leisurely detailed studies of each topic anticipates the methods of the future micro-historians, giving each part requisite dignity within the whole. Another reason for the programme's success is its still astonishing footage, much of it recently released from Germany and Japan, giving fresh visual evidence to old stories. For me, the programme's continuing validity lies in the fact that it is not really a documentary at all. 'The World at war' is an epic, tragic poem in 26 cantos, narrating the decline of European civilisation, a momento mori for the valiant dead. The narrative is constructed like a Homeric epic, an account of leaders, enmities, inevitable battles, warriors, desruction, death, aftermath. Laurence Olivier's narration, possibly the best thing he's ever done, is a remarkable misture of storyteller, poet, witness, disbelieving guide; the scripts ring with metre and poetry rather than grey fact. Carl Davis' continually inventive score unites and underlines the entire work; the sound-effets dramatising the footage, unforgivable in a usual context, are perfectly acceptable here. The image of the destroyed French village, its entire population murdered one afternoon by the Germans, stands as a grimly articulate symbol, not just for the war, but for this documentary, in a genre designed to record and uncover the truth, faced with questions it can never answer - how? Why?
Rating:
Summary: Still The Definitive Documentary after almost 30 Yrs.
Review: When I was young I used to wait up late until the local CBC affiliate put aired the weekly version of World at War. Although I had watched many WWII documentaries (old footage and reels of the war were something that I just could not get enough of), this clearly stood out as something different. Gone was the entire Hollywood idea of allies smashing the hapless Germans in battles where you never saw the dead of the good guys. Here were bodies floating on the beaches of Tarawa, and Normandy. Here were hardbitten 8th Army Troops Battling their way up the boot of Italy. Here was an assessment of what 20th Century Mechanised war entailed --- the complete extermination or subjugation of your enemy. The ability to resort to any means to persue the end of the war, however just or vile such ends may be. It was a real shocker. Cold shower of reflection that the war WAS different. That those who rid the world of the twin enenmies of Naziism and Japanese Militarism never served humanity better. That in their necessary, and bloody sacrifices, that they were far from perfect. Whole one hour segments could be used for teaching aspects of the war. The one "Genocide" is particularly distressing. But it is presented with just exactly the gravity and honesty that it should be presented. Sir Lawrence Olivier appears at the beginning to solemnly announce that what we see we will find shocking, but that these events happenned in Europe and that "they must never happen again." Such events sound interesting in light of the medieval aspects of the breakup of the former Yugoslav republic in the 90s. Like everything else even with 26 hour-long segments you can still miss a lot. Only 3 hours in total is spent on the war with Japan + one hour on the Burma Front (which is a very good segment). But the events come fast and furious and there are a lot of events missing including the initial Japanese aggression towards China, and some aspects of the American Island hoping campaign. In addition the Campaign in New Guinea is lacking as well as an accurate appreciation of the contributions of the Commonwealth Allies (Australian efforts in the Western Desert are not prominent and the New Guniea Campaign is given a small spot; the fact that Canada did the dress reheasal for Normandy at Dieppe and then found itself with its own beach at DDay -- Juno is not mentioned). In addition there is no mention on the fighting in China. I bought this documentary series in order that my daughter would have some sense of understanding of the 20th Century and the events that anchor that century, and our present one, in the events of those dark days. When I watch events like "Genocide," "Britain Alone" "The Development of the Bomb" and "The Air War over Europe," I remember the importance of humanity and the importance of stopping early those who would threaten the stability of the world order by insisting on their version of what constitutes the "truth." That such people and societies are the bane of humanity and need to controlled and stopped at an early time lest they take advantage of our weakness.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate World War II History!
Review: I gave my husband this set for Christmas 2002. Being of a certain age, we both had seen this series on television. It's a privilege now to own it. Twenty-six hour-long episodes, each covering a distinct aspect of WW-II, of both the European and Pacific theatres. For students of documentary film making, the Introduction alone is worth the price. It's an entire course, all in the space of one hour. The series begins with a visit to the ruins of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, 16 miles NW of Limoges, where in June 1944 the entire population (men, women and children) were rounded up and gunned down. The Nazi soldiers then torched and bombarded the village. After the war, Charles de Gaulle ordered that the destroyed village be maintained as it stood. And it remains to this day. Along with Laurence Olivier as narrator, the BBC team interspersed actual footage with interviews of witnesses who related their personal experiences of the war. Overall, very powerful and very thorough, as one might expect from the BBC. If you want to understand the history of WW-II, this one is worth raiding the piggy bank to buy.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: History enthusiasts, think about a war or period in history, and summarize the major events on a piece of paper. Now write some questions on those events. Now gather researchers to provide film, eyewitness, music, and literary accounts, and professors and historians to provide commentary and insight to your questions. Although many of us do not have the resources to follow this tact, Jeremy Isaacs and his researchers have done this for "The World at War" produced in the early 1970's. Most observers of World War II know summaries of the major events and battles: the Rise of the Third Reich, the Fall of France, the Battle of Britain, Barbarossa, Pearl Harbor, Stalingrad, Midway, D-Day, the Holocaust, the Atomic Bomb. However, this film series gives the basic summary of World War II plus much much more. Although there are many great one hour summaries of the major events above, I particularly find the lesser known topics very interesting. The "Distant War" episode tells of the fumbling and bunglings of the early war against Germany. The "Alone" episode describes the relocation of children and the preparations for war. "Burma" and "Japan" tell of the early war battles of east Asia. "Occupation Holland" tells many fascinating underground resistance stories. All these in depth episodes not only tell of the battle sacrifice, but the total-war, planet-engulfing nature of World War II, something not witnessed before or since that conflict. In addition, the DVD provides 6 bonus episodes that provide more depth to the regular "The World At War" series. Although some of this is repeatedly replayed on the History Channel, episodes such as "Warrior", "The Third Reich", and "The Final Solution" help nail down why this was such an important conflict. No, this was not a war over territory or barons testing their skills, for the most part this war was fought over simmering hatred and imposing ideological will. I wish there were more history programs which examined a period and dissected the participants and the results more carefully. This series, "The World at War," summarizes this conflict and truly deserves the title of "the definitive story of World War II".
Rating:
Summary: "Remember"
Review: This is an excellent, extensive, British-made documentary about events leading up to, and including, World War II. With 26 episodes, there is quite a bit of material covered. Excellent narration by Laurence Olivier, and a memorable score. If you are a war buff, particularly WW2, this is the set to have. Can't say enough good things about it.
Rating:
Summary: World at War
Review: Made at a time when War time emotions still affected the commentary - never the less - the stills and motion pictures themselves don't lie. So until a Ken Burns comes along and re does this with lots of facts - we won't be able to do better. In other words - this is worth looking at - just for the images - but take the commentary with a grain of salt.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good but missing disc 2
Review: Wish I could watch this highly acclaimed series but DVD 2 is missing and instead I received 2 copies of disk 1. Another reader review had this same problem so why the heck has Amazon.com not addressed this problem?
Rating:
Summary: Missing Episode
Review: This is a great series about WWII. However, the boxed set came with a missing volume 2. The set contained a second volume 1 DVD instead of volume 2. This was very disappointing. Since I had to open the "plastic wrapper" and start watching the series to discover this defect I'm not sure if Amazon's return policies will allow me to get my money back. Beware.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate WWII review
Review: I consider myself a novice history buff in regards to WWII. However this set covered details that I had not been aware of including the politics of the war and the aftermath. There is a multitude of movie clips that can be seen in this set that likely cannot be seen anywhere else.
Also included is a lengthy interview with Stephen Ambrose who wrote 'Band of Brothers' and consulted on 'Saving Private Ryan'. Note the seventys hairdo.
Although 26 hour-long episodes may seem like a lot, the content is well worth it.
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