Editor Reviews:

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Sir Jeremy Isaacs highly deserves the numerous awards for documentaries he has earned: the Royal Television Society's Desmond Davis Award, l'Ordre National du Mérit, an Emmy, and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. His epic The World at War remains unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II.

The Second World War was different from other wars in thousands of ways, one of which was the unparalleled scope of visual documents kept by the Axis and Allies of all their activities. As a result, this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were particularly thorough in documenting even the most abhorrent of the atrocities they were committing--in a surprising amount of color footage. The World at War was one of the first television documentaries that exploited these resources so completely, giving viewers an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible narrative. Some highlights:

• A New Germany 1933-39: early German and Nazi documentation of Hitler's rise to power through the impending attack on Poland
• Whirlwind: the early British losses in the blitz in the skies over Britain and in North Africa
• Stalingrad: the turning point of the war and Germany's first defeat
• Inside the Reich--Germany 1940-44: one of the most fascinating documentaries that exists on life inside Nazi Germany, from Lebensborn to the Hitler Youth
• Morning: prior to Saving Private Ryan, one of the only unromanticized views of the Normandy invasion
• Genocide: this film is one of the most widely shown introductions to the Holocaust
• Japan 1941-45: although The World at War is decidedly focused more on the European theater, this is an important look into wartime Japan and its expansion--early 20th-century history that lead to Japan's role in World War II is superficial
• The bomb: another widely shown documentary of the Manhattan Project, the Enola Gay, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki

The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No serious historian should be missing The World at War in a collection, and no student should leave school without having seen at least some of its salient episodes. Rarely is film so essential. --Erik J. Macki

Rating : - The World at War 30th Anniversary Edition
I first knew of "The World at War" in re-runs through cable TV. I had seen bits and pieces but never watched any one episode. When I became interested in studying the Second World War, I decided to purchase this DVD set.

To me, what is important in any documentary, is not only the footage of the war itself but also the interviews from people who lived during that particular period. At the time that this documentary was made, many who lived through the events of the Second World War were still alive in 1974. The World at War contains a wealth of information through personal interviews given by the politicians of the U.S., and Great Brittan, soldiers from the U.S., Japan, Great Brittan and Germany and the citizens of these countries. A few who lived through the holocaust were also present to tell their stories. Even former members of Hitler's S.S. were interviewed as well as Hitler's personal valet and his 22 year old secretary, Traudl Junge.

This documentary covers all areas of World War II and contains extensive footage of battles both at home and abroad.

The DVD set contained all 26 regular - 50 minute long episodes and 12 hours of bonus material.

The bonus material contained two 90 minute programs of "Hitler's Final Solution", one 90 Minute program of "Hitler's Germany" and a 45 Minute Interview of Hitler's secretary. Extended footage of German citizens, soldiers and high ranking officials was also included. One episode entitled, "The Two Deaths of Adolph Hitler" interviewed people who were trying to determine if the charred remains that they examined was really that of Adolph Hitler.

Many of the interviews in the bonus material, as well as war footage, is repeated from the original episodes but contained additional footage not seen in the regular episodes. Sir Laurence Olivier narrated the 26 episodes. Eric Porter narrated some of the bonus material.

2 additional programs covering the making of The World at War were also included.

For someone wanting a complete and thorough look at all sides of WWII, this DVD set is a must and is suitable for most audiences.