Anyone going to purchase the World at War box set? (1 Viewer)

[Larry Schneider]

You might also want to get "The Big Battles" DVD set from VCI Home Video. It's similar to WAW in scope, with a somewhat different point of view...for some reason I think it's French in origin. I originally taped it off the air years ago, then bought a previous VHS set. The DVD version is better, but the source material is poor.

 

[Garrett Adams]

The name " World at War" doesn't register with. Is it the series run a few years ago which had outstanding graphics that showed, in intricate detail,the order of battle between the opposing forces involved in the major battles and campaigns?

 

[BrianP]

cnl.com has the World at War series for $84.45 Canadian. Which works out to be around $56 US funds + shipping. I'm pretty sure they ship to the US.

I decided to cancel my Amazon order and purchase from a Canadian store since they are so much cheaper. I checked cnl.com but all their shipping information was for Canada only. I got the impression from their site they don't sell to the United States. I never contacted them to find out if they did ship orders outside Canada either. I also couldn't find a phone number listed on the site, and I hate doing business with sites that have no phone contact. I decided to get a copy from Totalactionuniverse.com for $65 shipped instead.
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My Movie Collection on DVD and Laser Disc

 

[andrew markworthy]

When you've finished with TWAW you guys may be interested to know that a documentary series on World War I is coming out (at least in R2) called 'The Great War'. This was broadcast in the 1960s on British TV and has entered television legend, because beyond brief clips, it's never been broadcast since. I've only seen excerpts, but it is arguably at least on a par with TWAW (and indeed, was said to have been a strong influence on it). It follows roughly the same format as TWAW, but (for obvious reasons) with less archival footage.

 

[James Landau]

The name "World at War" doesn't register with. Is it the series run a few years ago which had outstanding graphics that showed, in intricate detail,the order of battle between the opposing forces involved in the major battles and campaigns?

Garrett, it sounds like you're describing the series Battlefield which aired on PBS a few years ago. Each episode was two hours and went into intricate detail about a single battle of World War II. Part of this detail was graphics showing the front line and the positioning of the opposing forces (i.e., 5th Panzer division, etc.). I used to love that series. I've never seen World at War but, from what I gather, I believe it's an older series.

 

[Garrett Adams]

Thanks James! That's it, Battlefield was the series I was thinking of. And, like you, I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[Mike Mallory]

I could be wrong, but I think this set is 10 discs (single sided) in Europe, and 5 discs (double sided) in the Americas. This is to the best of my knowledge at this time, since the American version has yet to be seen.
- Mike

 

[Ian Wilson]

I could be wrong, but I think this set is 10 discs (single sided) in Europe, and 5 discs (double sided) in the Americas.

I wondered the same thing on pg 1 of this thread, but it would appear the run times are different to the tune of 9 hours in favour of the R2 version.
Ian

 

[Mark Lee]

Didn't Battlefield get released on VHS a few years back? There were only 3 or 4 tapes, if memory serves, so I guess the series wasn't too long....
The World at War will be worth the price of admission just to have the great Sir Laurence Olivier's narration coming from my speakers.
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Mark K. Lee
"Life is like a sewer -- what you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Tom Lehrer

 

[Larry Schneider]

I'm nearing the end of The Big Battles, all 750 minutes of it. In many ways it's equal to World At War; the combat footage is equal to or better than WAW and, because it was apparently made about 1970, the interviews with high-ranking individuals seem more plentiful than in WAW. Much of the material is damaged and grainy, but that's to be expected. Except for helicopter-sound in the 2d episode, which covers the fall of France the quality is acceptable.

 

[Tino]

Just picked up this fanatstic boxed set.
An amazing documentary and I am completely riveted. I saw bits and pieces years ago but nothing compares to the power of watching it in its entirety.
BTW, the Region 1 set is indeed 1920 minutes, 32 hours, the same as the region 2 set apparently.
Highly recommended!

 

[MarkPayton]

Got this as a gift last Christmas and just finished watching it. Fantastic series - I especially enjoyed watching the producer's introductions before each episode to get some perspective on how they were made and why certain themes were emphasized. My only issue with this set (aside from the fact that Region 1 customers seem to have been cheated out of the fuller version offered to Region 2) is that the images are often VERY dark, so much so that it is difficult to make out what was going on. However, for a transfer of a 1975 made for TV video, the image and sound quality is as good as I could ever imagine.

 

[Tino]

Mark
As I mentioned in the post above yours, I believe BOTH the Region 1 and Region 2 sets are the same.
Can anyone who has the Region 2 set confirm whether or not it has additional material?

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Contains one of the spookiest, most perfectly crafted title sequences ever made for a documentary.

The series itself is, of course, awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed the DVD set. Get it! You will learn much.