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Those were excellent. The use of real footage showed it in terms of human cost quite well. I wish Dish would give us another free month of the military channel where they moved all the good shows and rerun it since the dvr ate some of them when I filled it up.
There is also a marvelous Ken Burns documentary called "The War" which follows the boys of three small towns as their citizens went to war. It has interviews and film and letters of survivors, but of those who didn't come back and those who didn't have their loved ones return. The descriptions, especially of the island fighting, is especially graphic. There is an interesting tidbit where the one man from the Minnesota town at the end of the war caputred some Germans in US uniforms. One, in perfect American accent, asked where he was from, and could describe where all the small details around the town were. No, he'd not ever been there, but has been trained as "occupation" troops for the area when Hiter conqured it. It shook them up quite a bit that the German's had such definitive, if unlikely, plans. Ultimately, its not a comprehensive documentary, but it does caputure what "the war" did to us and our parents and why some of our fathers would never talk about it.
As for comprehensive, World at War has to be the best I've ever seen. It didn't have all the film that later was found and released, but it dealt with it as it was seen in the time. The narration is stark and to the point and the essence of it is the pictures. "Genocide", the episode about the Holocaust, is one of the most telling short documentaries I've ever seen of the scope and intent, and "Occupation" lets you into the lives of those living under one in terms sparce but quite personal.
A recent documentary on the History channel I'd reccomend to everyone who wants to see how things like Nazi German can happen if Third Reich:the Rise and Third Reich:the Fall. Its how the German people gave their culture and government to the paranoia and how it crumbled in the end. It, however, has sobering moments for those who like to think in absolute terms where it adds "If you were a German citizen in xxxx, and ... about the perception of the world for the average person as a balance. This has been discussed elsewhere and teachers frequently comment how most documentaries put the class to sleep but this one keeps them glued. It's not just how one dictator took power but how dictators can when people don't notice or don't want to before the day its too late.
I haven't checked out WW2 in HD yet. But I will. Thanks.
But it's hard to beat "World at War" as the poster above indicates, and I would say that's the definitive WW2 documentary. The only fault I would say is, because it's a BBC documentary, it has a slight british slant to it and although it does a pretty well job of covering the eastern front and the pacific theather, it could be improved in that regards.
I just finished the last volume of the Ken Burns series noted above and though that was also excellent although it's purely a documentery from only the US perspective of the war (as was intended by the creator).
The more I am watching it ( again) the more I'd say that
"The Unknown War" is one of the best documentaries ever.
The unforgettable images, the human acpect of the war plus wonderful narration.
A great story told with the help of war footage - as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
These are some episodes from the movie, in no particular order
WW2 in HD is great to watch for anyone who has seen a lot of other documentaries as there is so much never before seen footage in it. Same thing goes for WW2 in Color that is similar.
Another excellent piece that was already mentioned is the Third Reich: Rise and Fall that also included a ton of information on what was happening within the Third Reich as well as a lot of previously unseen footage.
Unless you are quite elderly or else a serious WWII history buff the series will not be familiar to you, but at the time "Victory at Sea" was quite noteworthy. Now almost 60 years old, it was broadcast in 26 30 minute episodes and won several awards. The musical score and Leonard Graves narration is memorable.
Unless you are quite elderly or else a serious WWII history buff the series will not be familiar to you, but at the time "Victory at Sea" was quite noteworthy. Now almost 60 years old, it was broadcast in 26 30 minute episodes and won several awards. The musical score and Leonard Graves narration is memorable.
Ah, Victory at Sea. My dad is a major history buff, particularly WW2 and we used to watch the Victory at Sea marathons when they were on. The opening score is unmistakable. I honestly don't think it is as well done as more recent documentaries on the war, but anyone who likes WW2 should check it out.
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