WWII in HD (DVD)

WWII in HD (DVD)
by Frederic Lumiere, Matthew Ginsburg

WWII in HD (DVD)
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DVD details

Actor: Gary Sinise, Josh Lucas, Justin Bartha, Rob Lowe, Steve Zahn
Director: Frederic Lumiere, Matthew Ginsburg
Brand: A and E Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 455 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-01-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
Product features:
  • Seventy years in the making. Three thousand hours of color footage no one knew existed. The first documentary to show World War II from the perspective of both sides in full, immersive HD color, the world premiere HISTORY series WWII In HD uses the diaries of soldiers who fought in the war s biggest battles to create a personal, introspective and detailed look at life on and of the front lines.Wha

DVD Reviews of WWII in HD (DVD)

DVD Review: Middle of the Pack WW II Series
Summary: 3 Stars

'Word War II in HD' is a noteworthy attempt to chronicle the Second World War. With excellent narration by Gary Sinese, and additional narrative by some of the 12 surviving veterans and their voice actor substitutes, 'WWII in HD' is probably the best series ever produced by the History Channel. Unfortunately, that isn't saying very much. Although I appreciate the effort made by the producers and the work made to find this footage, this is still a typical History Channel production orientated more towards entertaining than documenting. Ken Burns 'War' or the BBC's 'World at War' it is not. Nor is it better than several docudramas made over the past years such as 'Band of Brothers' and 'The Pacific'. 'World War II in HD' stands in the middle of the pack of available WW II documentaries. The series at the least deserves kudos for the attempt of producing something new, and if any fault is to made, the discredit must squarely be given to the History Channel for so obviously restricting this production to its own set of documentary rules. I rated this series 3 stars for the valiant attempt at chronicling WW II, but DVD packaging faults necessarily reducing my real score to 2 1/2 stars.

Much is made about this series made in HD. Not true. All it really means is that the found footage had been transferred and cleaned up by computer for digital restoration and editing. Do not be disappointed that the footage is not really HD however. HD did not exist in the 1940's and the editors did a good job making the existing footage presentable for modern television screens.

Much is also made that the producers spend 2 years searching for color footage never before seen on TV. No big deal here either. Most of what was not generally seen before is archived footage and home movies. The series makes great use of color footage, colorized footage (despite the Amazon note in the description, colorized film is used a lot), tinted black&white, and standard black&white. Most of the color footage is from the American war in the Pacific. This should be no surprise to anybody because it was primarily Navy and Marine combat photographers in the Pacific who used color during WW II. Color footage in Europe was rare and mostly taken during the last weeks of the war in Germany and Eastern Europe.

The History Channel is well know for producing lightweight history filled with over-dramatization, simplification of events, and repetition of material. Luckily, except for over-dramatization, 'World War II in HD' is an exception. The series is a decent production that truly shines in several of the 10 episodes. One wonders what could have been achieved if the producers had been given an adequate budget and plenty of time to pull it all together. But that is not how the History Channel operates. The History Channel is an entertainment channel. It is not a video documentary producer as is PBS or the BBC. 'World War II in HD' reflect this by being overly dramatic. Video clips used for the narration are obviously selected and edited for dramatic effect. Some clips do not fit at all. Added sound effects are plentiful (sound was rarely recorded in combat footage) and the music sound track often overwhelms the source material. Still, the compelling nature of the script often shines through the hype.

The series follows the course of the war from an American perspective, a fact not indicated anywhere in the production copy. No mention is made of the Eastern European theatre nor that of Southeast Asia. In fact any theatre of war that seems to have had limited American filming is given short rift. There is little on North Africa for example. It would have been nice to indicate somewhere in this series how 'worldwide' this world war really was. There is plenty of German, Russian, and British footage available, especially in color, that could have been used.

The series is basically bookmarked by the stories of 12 veterans of WW II. Some of the vets are given more exposure than others. The story of the war is told through the eyes of the vets via narration by some of the still living vets or by an actor's spoken words that I presume to be the written words of some of them (some of the vets were journalists). It is here that the series truly shines. Not up to Ken Burn standards, but a good attempt anyway, marred by spending not enough time with these still living survivors.

And lastly, The series set is cheaply produced which is why I downgrade this series to 2 1/2 stars. The set does not contain a printed information sheet. There is no list of episodes anywhere in the package. The bonus extras add nothing to understanding the production. Bonuses include 2 three minute videos that basically states that the footage was transferred to computer for digital cleanup and outtakes of 6 of the living veterans.There is no 'Making of ...' video.The DVD set does not have captions for the hearing impaired, alternate language selections, or episode scene indexing. This set is very bare bones.

In summary, this is a minor league edutainment set that is somewhat interesting and worth the asking price because it so low. If, however, you are interested in great video WW II history, buyers would be better served by DVD sets from the BBC, PBS, and other producers.

This review is for the standard DVD set. I have not seen the Blu-Ray version.
More WWII in HD (DVD) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Description of WWII in HD (DVD)

Product Description

Seventy years in the making. Three thousand hours of color footage few knew existed. The first documentary to show original color footage of World War II in immersive HD, the world premiere HISTORYTM series WWII IN HD uses the journals and accounts of those who served in the war s biggest battles to create a personal, introspective and detailed look at life on and off the front lines. Follow 12 unforgettable Americans, and experience the war through their eyes, in their own words, as it really looked and sounded. WWII IN HD transforms their stirring journey into a tangible piece of history. Culled from rare color film found in a two-year worldwide search and converted to HD with meticulous technique, WWII IN HD provides a picture of World War II as it has never been seen before.

DISC 1: Darkness Falls / Hard Way Back / Bloody Resolve / Battle Stations

DISC 2: Day of Days / Point of No Return / Striking Distance / Glory and Guts

DISC 3: Edge of the Abyss / End Game / Bonus

Disclaimer - Program shot and mastered in High Definition. Presented on standard definition DVD that will play in any standard definition DVD Player

Special Features

  • Character Profiles
  • Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes - Finding the Footage
  • Preserving the Footage

At first glance, the very concept of WWII in HD seems like an oxymoron. After all, isn't the footage from back then nothing more than grainy black-and-white newsreel? And really, how much definition can be added to film that was shot more than 60 years ago? The answers: no, and quite a lot, actually. The quality of much of what is seen in the course of these 10 episodes (each around 45 minutes long) is surprisingly good. Add to that the fact that most of it is in color (not colorized, but originally recorded in that medium, some at the behest of the United States government), and the result is nothing short of astonishing. It's not easy viewing; there are sequences that are shockingly graphic (vivid examples include the carnage on view after major battles and the shots of Japanese civilians on the Pacific island of Saipan hurling themselves off cliffs to avoid capture by American troops). But all of it has been put to good use in what is undoubtedly one of the most compelling accounts of World War II ever produced.

Other documentaries have chronicled the same events seen here, from the earliest days of the war (when Hitler was overrunning Europe and the ill-prepared Americans were still years away from becoming involved), through Pearl Harbor, the major confrontations with the Japanese in the Pacific theater (like Guadalcanal, Tarawa, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the incomparably bloody Iwo Jima) and with the Germans in Europe and North Africa (the invasion of Tunisia, D-day, the Battle of the Bulge), and straight on to victory in Europe and finally the Japanese surrender after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But what separates WWII in HD is the filmmakers' decision to view these events through the experiences of a dozen individuals who were actually there, including a couple of war correspondents (one of whom, Richard Tregaskis, was the author of the seminal Guadalcanal Diary); an Austrian immigrant who escaped the Nazis and almost immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army; a nurse with General George Patton's Third Army; an African-American pilot who was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen; a Japanese-American medic who fought heroically while his family was held in an internment camp; and others from the rank and file. All of them are voiced by such actors as Rob Lowe, Amy Smart, Steve Zahn, Josh Lucas, and LL Cool J; and with Gary Sinise providing voice-over narration, the whole piece comes off as a dramatic film as much as a straight documentary (an effect also enhanced by some brilliantly creative juxtapositions of words, images, and music). Not all of these men and women made it through the war (those still alive also appear in on-camera interviews), but none could ever forget the horrors they witnessed, and while those of us who did not serve will never really comprehend the sacrifices they made, this remarkable program may be as close as we can get. --Sam Graham

Stills from WWII in HD (Click for larger image)








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