Rating: 
Summary: regarding duplicated side 2 disc 1 on side 2 disc 2
Review: I purchased this boxed set a little while ago and one night I decided to have little The World at War marathon. After viewing side 2 of disc 2 I put side one of disc 3 into my dvd player when something odd struck me, I had felt a little deja vu after viewing side 2 of disk 2. I checked the disk with the case and the episode titles were completely different, but I had seen them before, and I knew where, on side 2 of disk 1. Side 2 of disk 1 one had been duplicated onto side 2 of disc 2. The set was missing side 2 disc 2. I did not have my receipt so I could not return it. So if you happen to have this boxed set check to make sure you have all the episodes, and if you are thinking of purchasing this set do not throw out your receipt until you check to make sure you have the entire series. Aside from this problem this is one of the best documentary series ever made for television and holds up well today, and will hold up well for many years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not the best
Review: Just got this for an early Christmas. It's good, with a lot of info on all fronts except very little on the Pacific theater. Interviews are fair, the film quality is from the 1970's because this was made in 1973. But other than that a fairly good piece of work.
Rating: 
Summary: perhaps the best wwII documantery
Review: i will never forget when pbs aired these segements every sunday night back in the 1960,s and early 1970,s. i would make it a point to be home to catch them. incredible footage and masterly narrated by the great sir laurence olivier it is the definitive documentary on the war in europe. i say europe because it comes up a little short on the war in the far east but im nitpicking here. i dont know how many times now that i have the 9 volume set that i review the episodes. i just picked up richard overys " russias war" and after reading it i looked at the footage of the world at war that pertained to the the war in russia. episodes like " barbarossa" and "red star rising" and the episode on " stalingrad" contain just incredible footage. you just sit there transfixed to the tv screen watching the history unfold. it is an absolute must for any history buff cojaysea
Rating:
Summary: One of the best documentaries ever made.
Review: I thought it would be a daunting task to view all the programs in The World at War series, but I was wrong. Like a good novel, it is easy to get hooked on this series and difficult to turn off the DVD player. The tremendous amount of time and effort that was invested in the making of The World at War is everywhere apparent. Each program is well written and the narration by Sir Lawrence Oliver is superb. Actual footage of the war itself is interspersed with commentary by various participants, from the man on the street to the generals and politicians who made the important decisions concerning the conduct of the war. Maps are used when appropriate to show us the geography involved and the movement of the various armies during the war. The narration explains cleary and succinctly what we are seeing on the maps and helps us to make sense of the war footage that almost always follows. Perhaps 75% of the story pertains to the European Theater of Operation. Some viewers, particularly us Americans, would like to see more of the Pacific Theater, particularly the war in China and Southeast Asia. It is hard for me to determine what might have been cut to allow for more of the War in the Pacific beyond the sometimes overlong interviews of the tremendous number of participants in the war. I am content to recommend the film exactly as is. The filmmakers never flinch at showing the horror of this war. Fifty-four million people lost their lives; most of these were civilians killed in the bombings of cities like Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Fourteeen million people were killed by the Germans in their various concentration camps and by the SS Action Squads who murdered people, mostly civilians, in the field. The additional footage on Auschwitz and the various concentration camps, is, perhaps, the most horrifying record ever put on film of man's inhumanity to man. Toward the end of the program a German major is interviewed extensively and he attempts to support the big lie that the methodical extermination of Jews, Poles, Russians, Gypsies, and other people the Germans considered to be sub-human, did not take place. It is impossible to watch this series and react with anyting but horror and dismay to such an attempt to disregard an enormous amount of documentary evidence to the Holocaust, much of it provided by the Germans themselves. The World at War gives us the big picture and the details. It is a history lesson without equal, at least in my opinion. Many viewers will want to fill in the gaps that can't be provided in thirty hours or so of viewing the DVD by reading books like Life World War 2, a history told in pictures, to mention only one of thousands of possiblilites. The transfer of the film to DVD is, I think, exceptionally good. In little more than the space taken by a history book we now have available to us as good a visual documentary history of World War II as has ever been made. Highest recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: Best documentary series ever
Review: This is the best documentary series I have ever watched - far better than the good but overrated Ken Burns' Civil War. The use of nothing but actually wartime footage is a masterstroke. The text is well-researched and written. And the filmmakers should be commended for treating all sides, even the Germans, with fairness. It must have been very difficult to gather this footage, especially from the Soviet Union. The series looks at the war from all sides, but it is missing one episode - China. There is some discussion of China when discussing Japanese aggression (Nanjing Massacre, etc), and a little bit when dealing with the British in Burma. But I feel that to make the series truely complete, an episode that explores the relationship between the Communists and Nationalists, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-Shek, as well as US support for Chiang, the Burma Road, and other issues in China is needed. The Chinese-Japanese war was huge in terms of loss of life, and I felt like it was ignored. Perhaps this is because of the difficulty of getting footage out of Communist China or Nationalist Taiwan in the 1970s when the series was made, or maybe there is not any footage of Mao or Chiang during the war. But really this is a small complaint. Considering that this is my only complaint, one should realize just how thorough this series truely is. It is very, very good.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is a very well made documentary. Lots of good footage and the sound work, etc. by the filmakers is outstanding. It has a very noticable English/European theatre slant to it, but I actually found some of the pacific episodes (the one on the Burma theatre in particular) to be the most interesting. Some of the naval battles in the pacific have outstanding color film as well! This is a must have for military history/ world war II buffs.
Rating:
Summary: The finest visual history of WW2 ever made!
Review: This comprehensive visual history of WW2 covers the entire conflict, from prewar Germany, Japan and US, to the postwar recovery. Narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier, newsreels and one of a kind interviews with now-deceased personalities make this a unique treasure. Imagine hearing the words of Hitler's personal secretary and valet; Generals on the German staff; British and American government staff, and more. The opening and closing theme for each episode is particularly touching. This is a have-to-have, for any serious student of history. And I would further recommend that history teachers devote time to showing one or more of these episodes. They illustrate the invasion of the Soviet Union and the Fall of France better than any history book.
Rating:
Summary: The Alpha and Omega of WWII Documentaries
Review: I'll be simple and brief: this superb documentary is nothing more than a must own for any and every person interested in the history of World War II. Expertly written, painstakingly researched, dramatically narrated by Laurence Olivier (giving perhaps his finest performance), and, the greatest aspect- countless invaluable interviews from survivors and veterans. Besided the miles of riveting newsreel and battle footage, World At War captures living history by preserving the oral histories of men and women from all sides of the war. Russians, Japanese, British, German, Dutch, Jewish, French civilians, soldiers alike all share their harrowing personal experiences. I've known several history instructors on both the high school and college campuses who have used this magnficent document as an effective basis for their World War II curriculm. I cannot be too effusive in praising this documentary. Hard hitting and throughouly entertaining this excellent series of DVD's is well worth every red cent.
Rating:
Summary: Almost complete
Review: Omitted from this collection is the poignant plea from Sir Lawrence Olivier to watch the episode, "Genocide." However, the extra bonus material, probably not shown on television since the original series was aired in the 1970s, ALMOST makes up for this omission. Even though I already own the entire set on tape, I purchaed this set for the bonus material. Fans of the late Stephen Ambrose may enjoy viewing his young long-haired countenance as he expertly dissects the causes and effects of the Second World War. My favorite quotes of him include his analysis of the Potsdam Conference and his describing the end of World War II as the culmination of a "European Civil War." Many of the interviewees appeared in later documentaries, but "World At War's" presentations are by far their best. Some negatives:
While it may become tiresome to hear Jeremy Isaacs repeating his "Welcome to the World At War" greeting at the start of each episode, his short explanations of the processes and difficulties encountered in the production of the series are fascinating. The disks ara all double-sided, which may be irritating to viewers with DVD changers, i.e., one must constantly turn over the disks in order to maintain the continuity of the series. I wish there was a CD of the series' score.
Rating:
Summary: This set is why we got a DVD player
Review: The British, for some reason, make the most wonderful documentaries -- and this is one of the best. And DVD brings this series to the screen in crystal clarity (we already had it on VHS from when we lived in England). You will never in a lifetime see anything as good as this on the History Channel. It's way more engaging than anything by Ken Burns (sorry Ken). What makes this series so good, then? Well, it has a broad span of subjects. Britain is well covered, naturally, but the war in the pacific, north africa and other theatres is treated properly. Olivier's voice is well suited to the material (and includes some dry british humour, eg when he describes what the soldiers could do in cairo). But best of all, the interviews are with people who were, or were directly connected to, the powerful players in the war. So for example we have interviews with generals in the afrika korps, and one with the planner of the attack on pearl harbor. Some reviewers have expressed concern that the series has a socialist/pacifist slant. My family is split between democrat and republican viewers (you can imagine what happens during hannity and colmes!) and we don't see it that way. There is a sense of the madness of war; but also the imperative. I don't think that is socialism or pacifism. War means your sons coming back in body bags, but sometimes a nation simply has to do it to preserve freedom and liberty for all. The World at War points out both and lets the viewer draw their own conclusions. Finally, I should point out that our version of the DVD set, purchased in Feb 2003, was perfect and did not exhibit any of the disk errors reported by other reviewers.
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