"The World at War" box set (1 Viewer)

[Mike Mallory]

Pardon me if this has been covered before, but I think this is one of the best, if not THE best, documentary on WWII ever produced. HBO Home Video is slated to release this 5 disc set of all 26 original episodes, plus the following features, on November 6:
Individual Episode Introductions by Producer Jeremy Isaacs
Episode Summaries
Episode Links to Specific Footage: Songs, Speeches, Maps
World War II Timeline
Photo Gallery of Images from The Imperial War Museum, London
Brief History of World War II
DVD-ROM Links to The Imperial War Museum Website and More
17 Biographies of Leading Figures Including Eisenhower, Goering, Churchill, Hitler, Himmler, MacArthur, Mussolini, Rommel, Roosevelt, Stalin, Tojo, Zhukov and More.
Producer Bonus Features:
1. "The Third Reich"
2. "The Final Solution"
3. "The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler"
4. "Warrior"
5. "Hitler"
6. "From War to Peace"
Featurette "The Making of THE WORLD AT WAR"
Not to mention that it's narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier, who has such a somber tone to his voice throughout that it's barely recognizable.
This box set looks like a must have for anyone who likes this kind of stuff. I have all the episodes taped off PBS back in the eighties and I've been waiting for something like this.
- Mike

 

[Tino]

Great news. Any idea how much this set will cost?
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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

 

[Mike Mallory]

Yup. It's about $85-90US for preorder.
- Mike

 

[Brian O]

I also recommend WW2 in color if you are interested in this genre. It can be had for around $20.
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[James D S]

Thanks for the heads-up Mike.

 

[Larry Schneider]

Another series that's worthwhile is "The Big Battles." VCI home video is releasing it, according to DVD Empire, on September 25. They have it for preorder. TBS used to show this years ago. I think it's French.
Be forewarned, though. I have the VHS version, and I hope they cleaned up the source material for the DVD. The VHS was obviously recorder OTA, complete with the commercial intros.
WW2 fans ,ight like the "Timeline" series. They are excerpts from newsreels, about 60 minutes per year, supplemented with popular music, trailers from major filem, and major speeches from that year. 1937-43 are available, with 1944 and 1945 on the way. The quality is excellent.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

The World At War is currently being shown on UK terrestrial TV (they dig it out every few years). I agree on the point of Olivier's narration. In fact the tone of the whole thing is dark and sombre and very heavy going in places. Not surprising, considering the subject matter.

 

[JamesCS]

Thanks for the heads up, Mike. This really was a great WWII documentary. The best so far in my opinion. I'm definitely going to buy this DVD set when released.

 

[Mike Mallory]

For anyone interested in WWII who doesn't want to wade through 26 hours, I was going to suggest "From Blitzkrieg to the Bomb", narrated by Martin Sheen, produced by Blaine Baggett, and shown on PBS in the eighties (running time: about 70 minutes). Even though some footage doesn't hold up under scrutiny (i.e.: stock footage used in many places) the battle sound effects are first rate, and overall it's a great introduction to the history of WWII.
However, when I did a search on the Web, I couldn't find it. Evidently it's out of print and has been for years. Anyone else have any info?
- Mike

 

[Mike Mallory]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, even though "From Blitzkrieg to the Bomb" uses a lot of stock footage, it also has a lot of good gun camera footage. There is one scene, shot from a U.S.Navy ship camera, where the entire sea seems to erupt from a barrage of enemy plane fire, Navy fire and shrapnel. I've never seen this footage in any other video. Intense.
- Mike

 

[Richard Hardbattle]

The World At War box set has been out in the UK for a while. At £100 per box it costs a pretty penny, but the set is fantastic.
It comes on 10 DVDS that have all 26 original episodes on, plus the other 7 or so that Eric Porter narated - picture is 4:3 and excellent - way better than I have seen on TV.
The sound, although still mono, has been cleaned up, and is very clear.
The menus, although slightly confusing, are very pretty.
Issacs doesn't introduce each any every episode, but he does present a 55 minute documentry (on the first disc) showing how they made the series, and why certain choices were made.
All the maps and songs business, mentioned on a previous post, are not really what they seem. Rather than present a still from the episode with the map, or just the music, we actually jump to the place in the episode where the music or map was.
The box is very nice, black with silver foil.
A required purchase.
Enjoy.
Rich

 

[Mike Mallory]

Rich,
Well first, sorry I haven't been back here for a while, and second, are we getting shortchanged here in the states? The boxed set I'm referring to has only 5 discs and is due for release here in November. I know that the dual layer DVD technology has been finally mastered, but do you think we're getting the same set that you have? I know there was extra footage shown at the start of some episodes on PBS, but it didn't amount to 7 hours. Please advise, and thank you in advance.
- Mike

 

[Richard Hardbattle]

32 episodes i think......
This is a brief review from Amazon:
Amazon.co.uk Review
When this epic series was first broadcast in 1973 it redefined the gold standard for television documentary; it remains the benchmark by which all factual programming must judge itself. Originally shown as 26 one-hour programmes, The World at War set out to tell the story of the Second World War through the testimony of key participants. The result is a unique and unrepeatable event, since many of the eyewitnesses captured on film did not have long left to live. Each hour-long programme is carefully structured to focus on a key theme or campaign, from the rise of Nazi Germany to Hitler's downfall and the onset of the Cold War. There are no academic "talking heads" here to spell out an official version of history; the narration, delivered with wonderful gravitas by Sir Laurence Olivier, is kept to a minimum. The show's great coup was to allow the participants to speak for themselves. Painstaking research in the archives of the Imperial War Museum also unearthed a vast quantity of newsreel footage, including on occasion the cameraman's original raw rushes which present an unvarnished and never-before-seen picture of important events. Carl Davis' portentous main title theme and score underlines the grand scale of the enterprise. The original 26 episodes were supplemented three years later by six special programmes (narrated by Eric Porter), bringing the total running-time to a truly epic 32 hours.
Now digitally remastered The World at War looks even more of an impressive achievement on DVD. Each disc set comes with a detailed menu that places the individual programmes along a chronological timeline. Better yet, chapter access is laid out to allow you to select key speeches or maps or newsreel footage. The World at War was a landmark television event; its DVD incarnation underlines its importance as an historical document. --Mark Walker
Hope this helps!
You can get more details of the Region 2 discs at the following link:
http://www.theworldatwar.com/

 

[Mike Mallory]

Rich, thank you so much for the link. It never occurred to me to look for a "TheWorldAtWar.com" site. I preordered the set even before my first post, and I can't tell you how eager I am to see the additional episodes. All the information in my first post was gleaned from retailer's sites.
Thanks again,
- Mike