Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #198 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-25
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 11
• Running time: 999 minutes

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. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
* PRIDE IN BATTLE – CITY’S GREATEST DERBIES 1969 -2005 The World at War was first broadcast 31st October 1973. This television series was able to assemble these recollections, together with archive footage.

Special Features
* DVD EXTRAS - * Original 26 episodes * 8 Special Presentations * 3 hour 30th Anniversary Disc containing previously unseen interviews and retrospective interviews with the original production team * Imperial War Museum Photo Gallery * Biographies, Brief History of The World at War * Episode Summaries * Speeches/Songs * Newsreels/Maps

Customer Reviews

Cannot be repeated
When first made many of the people directly involved at high level were still alive and their views, with hindsight, are fascinating. Many ordinary people, from all the countries involved (except USSR - behind the Iron Curtain at the time) give personal accounts. Not a boring history, this wonderful programme gives a clear view of the build up to, the progress of and the problems after the War that had a huge impact on my parents generation. Look at the "men" involved. 19 - 20 year olds - its unimaginable today. For any one who has only a limited idea of what went on, this is very revealing and instructive without being in any way like a school lesson. To be able to watch an episode whenever you want to is a joy and this quality of production goes to show what drivel we are now being fed.
It also gives an intriguing insight into why post war Europe has become what it now is and the whole film is, in my view, probably the most unbiased account you will get of such an event.
It stands, shoulder to shoulder, with "The Great War" which is another epic production this time covering World War 1 and produced by the BBC. Both should be compulsory viewing for schools.

Indispensible
The World at War never looked better. Digital re-mastering has made archive footage and colour interviews appear freshly-minted, and certainly justifies the upgrade if you already own the series on video. The sheer, moving quality of this documentary continues to deliver a powerful message over 30 years after it was made. The extra material is more than enough for the die-hard war documentary watcher. And it all takes up less room than one of those old plastic double video packs. Every world leader should be given a copy of this magnificent, essential series, and made to watch it before deciding on launching the world into another conflict.

THE ESSENTIAL SERIES
Will you ever be able to forget those haunting first bars of the theme song and the main title in flames? Or the various people (including the, it looks like, gaunt Jewish girl) immediately after the first credits?

I saw it first in the late seventies/early eighties when it was broadcasted in South Africa, and the unpretentious, though sometimes somewhat biaised views of the real people featured in the series struck a sensive chord within me. I've never been able to forget, and having the opportunity to actually own the whole series filled me with excitement - now able to watch it over and over again, making the whole series a part of my "general knowledge".

If it was possible to give the series six stars for excellence, I would have considered seven stars. As it is, I believe it is the best series on the Second World War ever developed and I cannot recommend it enough to all prospective buyers.