The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick
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Director: Ken Burns, Lynn NovickBrand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 900 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
DVD Reviews of The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
DVD Review: Evocative, emotional, honest and gripping series
Summary: 5 Stars
Given the focus is on the USA and the involvement of a number of individuals from small towns in the USA, and the facts are substantiated, this series packs an emotional wallop that must resonate with every parent. The use of music contemporary to the time plus much classical music underpinning events, the words of individuals who were involved speaking to the viewer, correspondence by the likes of Babe, a 20 year old Italian American who never wrote home a letter that was not encouraging and positive to his mother but who was living through hell and who died two days before his 21st birthday, is powerful stuff. Don't be mistaken. There is a huge amount of gripping film, including colour, of the battles fought. Cassio, North Africa, Bataan, D Day etc etc I also appreciated the honesty of the series in not shying away from the racism that dogged the times - Mobile, Alabama being the focus in the series and the bizarre circumstance of a segregated military. Although we have to remind ourselves, that the parents of all participants of all countries suffered, one can't help feeling that the Old World created this horror and now the New - including USA, Australia, NZ, Canada, were charged with putting it right. It didn't seem quite fair. I'm also convinced, it was President Roosevelt and his policies of the New Deal and his leadership that led to the manufacturing miracle that was the main contributing factor to victory. What a man. My god.DVD Review: It's Not as if Ken Burns Owned It, You Know
Summary: 4 Stars
It hardly seems necessary for Ken Burns to attach his name so prominently to this film, because it is so immediately obvious to anyone who has watched any of his other documentaries, especially "The Civil War". He has a distinctive "look" to his productions, which is obvious to the point of being easily parodied; erudite and ponderously earnest narration, gorgeously restored vintage photography and film footage, all garnished by period music alternating with a plonkingly solemn piano. That being said, I watched it wondering why "The War" did not engage me to quite the same degree as did his look at the Civil War The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns, or even the British documentary series which also dealt with World War 2 The World at War (30th Anniversary Edition)which I watched as a college student when it was broadcast in the mid 1970s.
I think that Mr. Burns' focus on the reminiscing veterans and their families, and on recreating the lives of four American towns during that war - while successful on those terms, in that anyone who watches all seven episodes will have an excellent idea of what wartime America was like. Who knew that there were color home movies being made, in 1944? (Beautiful sequence in episode 3 of an outdoor wedding reception) Viewers will become acquainted with the various experiences of war veterans; not all of them male, and not all of them adult at the time by any means, as the reminiscences of a woman interned as a child with her family at Santo Tomas in the Philippines will attest.
You will be left with the impressions of the war in various theaters and in various years by the Americans who experienced it; interesting and moving to be sure, but a somewhat limited view. I felt the lack of some sober historian stepping in occasionally, and making strategic sense out of it all; it was all who, where and what, but disappointingly little "why".
The six disc set is tastefully boxed, and includes a long feature on production of the series - always interesting, how these things are assembled, a commentary from Ken Burns on Disc 3, and a massive and generous collection of deleted scenes and interviews, as well as biographies - from which last, I fled screaming. I would advise anyone purchasing the series to not try and watch it all at once.
DVD Review: Gut wrenching
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Burns' The War is a fifteen hour gut wrenching masterpiece of a history lesson. Difficult to watch, and best taken in small doses, this was absolutely captivating TV. Always the military history buff, I remember being impressed by his Civil War documentary, but I really loved this one. You don't watch this series so much as you feel it. As usual, Burn's exclusive use of primary visual sources and first person accounts sets him apart from all other historical documentary film makers. But what really elevates this offering above even his own previous best work is the brutal honesty and sensitivity with which he treats the multitude of personal stories that made up the American experience of World War Two. His plot device of boxing the compass to select four typical American towns (North, South, East, and West) as representative samples of the entire nation was a stroke of genius. Then by following one or two families from each of these towns through the entirety of the war, both at home and on the front lines, Mr. Burns has made a vast and complicated story very direct and very personal. This series is not a traditional treatment of military history. There is little or no discussion of strategy, weapons, or commanding officers. Instead it is an unvarnished look at the human experience of war as seen through the eyes of a representative sampling of average Americans. Were I a history teacher, this series, especially the last two chapters, would be required viewing in my class.DVD Review: Best overall history of the America experience during WWII
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Burns has done what few have done before him, which is to take in the broad story of the WWII period across gender, party and racial lines. He does this by focusing on four US towns -- Waterbury, CT, Mobile, AL, Luverne, MN and Sacramento, CA. Less well discussed is his repeated interviews with participants throughout the documentary. Daniel Inouye, for instance, touches on several aspects of the war. A Japanese American living in Hawaii, he helped wounded servicemen immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His later service in the military brings to light a little-told story of the war -- Japanese Americas, some with relatives in resettlement camps in the western US, fighting for the country that mistreated their families. "The War" brings home the cost of the war to families. Airmen destined to take part in D-Day say loving goodbyes to their families, all but certain they will not return. Soldiers in the South Pacific a little too gleefully about shooting Japanese soldiers swimming for their lives out to sea.
The footage of "The War" is extraordinary. There is a surprising amount of color (not colorized) footage. Burns's team painstakingly added authentic battle sounds to the otherwise silent footage, bringing it to horrifying life. Burns also makes great (but restrained) use of maps, showing Allied progress in the Pacific and European theaters of war. But it's the stateside footage that surprises. There is plenty of footage of America going to work to win the war, and plenty of stories of Americans at each others throats. Southern shipyards needed talented labor, but insisted that blacks and whites enter through separate entrances, even if it was only a fence that kept them apart. Women went to work at "men's" jobs, and did them ably, but history shows that they would have to fight again to regain these privileges
I have read criticisms that "The War" focuses too much on internecine conflict and too little on the shared sense of purpose that Americans felt when confronted with two militaristic empires. I disagree. Imperfect people are capable of incredible achievement. Our parents and grandparents do not have to be depicted as infallible gods to be seen as honorable. American generals need not win every battle to be heroes. MacArthur's inability to get his planes off the ground on December 7, 1941 -- in spite of a 9-hour warning -- may be jarring, but it is truth, and led to the horrific Bataan Death March, in spite of his later victories. Omaha Beach bravery is not diminished because the bombers sent in to soften up the German defense mostly missed their marks.
Burns has done a signal job of depicting the war years in their complexity, horror and glory. An extraordinary achievement.
DVD Review: Wonderful slice of history
Summary: 5 Stars
The War - A Film by Ken Burns brings alive the experiences of my parents' generation. In common with many vets, my dad did not talk much about his experiences during the war. He indicated that he had seen some awful things, but I think he just wanted to go on with his life after the war ended. So this film was enlightening for me. Also, it was at least as much about people as it was about battles and included a good deal of information about what was happening on the home front -- a departure from the usual coverage of wars. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this period of history.
Description of The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
The War will be a seven - episode series, produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, that will examine the myriad ways in which the Second World War touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America. By telling the stories of ordinary people in four quintessentially American towns - Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and the tiny farming town of Luverne, Minnesota - the series will portray this enormous worldwide catastrophe on an intimate, human scale. The War will intertwine vivid eyewitness accounts of the harrowing realities of life on the front lines with reminiscences of Americans who never left their home towns, and who tried their best to carry on with the business of daily life while their fathers and brothers and sons were overseas. The film will honor and celebrate the bravery, endurance, and sacrifice, of the generation of Americans who lived through what will always be known simply as The War.Creating epic documentaries about war is nothing new for Ken Burns, nor is the subject of the Second World War, which never ceases to be a popular subject of films and TV shows. Yet with The War, Burns has definitely succeeded in breaking new ground, exploring in depth the effect of the war on common Americans, and not just the soldiers of The Greatest Generation that fought it. As the narration says at the beginning, "The war affected people in every house, on every street in every town in America." This is nothing less than an attempt to show how the war altered the lives of an entire nation through the portrayal of four individuals from four communities--Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alambama; Luverne, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California--that could represent any town in the country that went through the war. The result is another stunning achievement for Burns and co-director Lynn Novick. Together the filmmaking team succeeds in bringing the war home through the testimonies, letters, and footage of the people from these towns. The storytelling is compelling--Burns and Novick manage to find the most vivid, intimate, and personal dimensions of a global catastrophe--and brought to life with exceptional voice work from marquee stars like Tom Hanks, Alan Arkin, and Samuel L. Jackson. Much of the footage is brilliantly restored; even the most die-hard History Channel buff will see clips here that they've never viewed before. Many old grainy family films look almost as clean and bright as if they were just shot using a modern camera with black-and-white film (keeping in mind that most of the footage was shot without sound, the audio effects work on The War is particularly impressive and should bring attention to the underappreciated work of the foley artist). It took Burns and Novick six years to make this seven-part, 15-hour film--not surprising, really, considering the miles of footage they must have accumulated in the course of their research--and the time and effort shows in the results. The DVD also includes a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, extensive commentaries, and more, in addition to a companion book, The War: An Intimate History. --Daniel Vancini
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