The World at War: The Ultimate Restored Edition

Rarely does a documentary hold a viewer enthralled from start to finish, a feat which The World at War accomplishes from the opening sequence through the closing credits. The definitive film documentary of the second great global conflict, this production is first rate in every aspect. Archival footage, insightful interviews, intelligent editing and the classic narration of Sir Laurence Olivier are welded into a powerful video production focussed on presenting a visual record of the war as opposed to an editorial commentary.Obviously, this is a British production which leans somewhat sympathetically toward the English view of the struggle and concentrates on the European Theater of Operations. However, interviewees include representatives of all the major powers, and even relatively minor theaters of operation (such as Burma, India and others) are covered.The full range of expected topics are included; the period leading to war, Blitzkrieg in Poland, the Battles of Britain and the Atlantic, the Holocaust, Barbarrosa and the Atomic Bomb, naming only a few.The individual episodes are taut and compact, covering well-defined topics and timeframes, and work well as individual programs or, as they were intended, components in a larger picture. Much of the footage is actual combat photography; therefore much is black and white and some has less than perfect production value. However, this only adds to the overall impact of the presentation.There is no attempt to glorify the combat, lionize or villify any of the participants, or to second-guess leaders. Events are depicted as they developed and, where tactical or strategic misjudgements are indicated, they are usually pointed out by persons actually involved in the planning or execution to the operations.The World at War is a straight-forward, sobering examination of the central event of the twentieth century. No serious student of history should miss seeing it, and no student of military history should fail to include it in his or her video library.

The World at War must rank as one of the best television documentaries ever produced. Thames Television devoted three years (1971-74) to making the series, which is perhaps the most expensive documentary of all time—the entire series cost £900,000 (equivalent to roughly $16,000,000 in 2019 US dollars). But it was conceived as a collection of separate stories, and not a comprehensive account of the conflict. In these stories, although the emphasis is on military developments, civilian life is not neglected; and attention is given to the situations of ordinary persons (soldiers and civilians) as well as the decisions of their leaders. The 23-hour main series includes the following episodes:Germany—3 episodes: (1933-39), (1940-44), (1945); Britain—2 episodes: (1939-40), (1940-44); France—1 episode (1940); Russia—3 episodes: (1941) (1942-43: Sralingrad), (1941-43); Japan—2 episodes: (1931-42), (1941-45); U.S.—1 episode (1939-42); North Africa—1 episode (1940-43); Battle of the Atlantic—1 episode (1939-44); Air War Against Germany—1 episode (1939-44); Italy—1 episode (1942-44); Burma—1 episode (1942-44); Normandy—1 episode (1944); Occupied Holland—1 episode (1940-44); Liberating Europe—1 episode (1944-45: Western Europe, Warsaw Uprising, Battle of the Bulge); War in the Pacific—1 episode (1942-45); Atomic Bomb—1 episode (1945); Genocide—1 episode (1941-45).The series includes 11 hours of bonus material that employs portions of film and interviews that are omitted from the main series. The bonus series includes: Making the Series (2 episodes); Genocide, 1941-45 (2 episodes); Germany, 1933-1945 (2 episodes); Retrospectives (2 episodes); Hitler’s Death (1945); 20-minute commentaries by Traudl Junge and Stephen Ambrose. There are also excerpts from various interviews, assorted still photographs, capsule biographies of major dramatis personae, and a brief textual account of how The World at War was produced.There is a certain lack of balance in the series. For example, there are five episodes dealing with Germany. The producers chose to deal with the resistance movement in Holland (perhaps because English-speaking interviewees were relatively easy to find, or because Holland’s experience was suggestive of what might have happened in Britain if it were occupied by the Germans). But the program neglects the more important resistance movement in Yugoslavia, and there is nothing about the wartime clash between Nationalist and Communist forces in China.Most of the film used in The World at War (which was collected from government and private collections around the world) was originally intended for newsreels. Most of it is black and white, although there is some color photography. The producers edited the film to fit the allotted time slots, and dubbed in appropriate sounds (explosions, gun fire, etc., since most of the film was silent), narrative (most by Laurence Olivier, but some by Eric Porter), commentary by participants, and music (some written by Carl Davis, but also some wartime music from Britain, France, the U.S., Germany, the Soviet Union, and Japan). The producers sought to minimize the narrative, preferring to let the pictures and the interviews tell the story.The producers were able to interview a wide assortment of persons. Among the British interviewees are J. R. Colville (Churchill’s secretary), Anthony Eden (who held various posts in wartime Britain), Arthur Harris (head of RAF Bomber Command), various RAF pilots, Army and Navy officers, and Louis Mountbatten. American interviewees include Vannevar Bush, Mark Clark, James Doolittle, J. Lawton Collins, John Kenneth Galbraith, Averell Harriman, Curtis LeMay, Bill Mauldin, John McCloy, Jimmie Stewart, Kate Summersby (Eisenhower’s British driver/personal secretary), and ordinary soldiers and civilians. Many Germans were interviewed for this series, among them Paul Schmidt (Hitler’s interpreter), Albert Speer (German production minister), Karl Dönitz (Commander of U-boats, then of German navy, and final leader of Third Reich), Wehrmacht officers Walter Warlimont and Siegfried Weshphal, Adolf Galland (fighter pilot and later Luftwaffe fighter commander) and other fighter pilots, Otto Kretschmer (U-boat captain) and other U-boat captains, Karl Wolff (Himmler’s adjutant), German civilians and resistance leaders, including Evald von Kleist-Schmenzin and Emmi Bonhoeffer (sister-in-law of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer). Japan is represented by Marquis Kido (the Emperor’s chief advisor), Tomohiko Ushiba (the Prime Minister’s private secretary), Toshikazu Kase (Foreign Minister Matsuoka’s private secretary), and various army and navy officers and civilians. Soviet interviewees include several high-ranking Soviet generals, a partisan, a housewife and a factory worker. The series also assembled commentary from Polish and Dutch civilians.The series obtained commentary on Pearl Harbor from Minoru Genda (who planned the attack), Mitsuo Fuchida (who led it), Masatake Okumiya (a participating pilot), George Elliott (radar operator whose warning of approaching aircraft was disregarded), and various U.S. sailors and journalists. For details about Hitler’s death, the producers drew on interviews with Traudl Junge (Hitler’s private secretary), Heinz Linge (Hitler’s valet), Faust Shkaransky (who led the Soviet autopsy of Hitler’s body), Yelena Reveshkaya (Soviet interpreter), Keith Simpson (British forensic surgeon), and Hugh Trevor-Roper (author of the British study of Hitler’s final hours)All of these interviews shed important light on the subject. On the other hand, it should be noted that among those interviewed there are, I believe, only two Frenchmen, one Italian, and no one from Scandinavia, or Asia (apart from Japan).The World at War is also available in Blu-ray, but, given the low quality of much of the original film, it is questionable whether it can significantly improve the on-screen appearance; and the Blu-ray version apparently cropped out part of the images.Due to obvious time constraints, the television documentary, even with the addition of the bonus episodes, could not make use of all the research and interviews conducted for the series. The companion volume, The World at War, by Mark Arnold-Forster (1973) covers the same ground, but in much greater detail. Similarly, additional material from the interviews is presented in The World at War: The Landmark Oral History, edited by Richard Holmes (2007).

This is the BEST series on WWII however, if you want the original version, do not buy the Blu-Ray version. It at least has changed episode titles and who knows what else. Edited to add: After watching the entire set of the Blu-Ray versions that had been posted as YouTube videos I discovered that it was the channel creator who had changed the titles. In addition, I purchased and original version set for my self only to find that it is in the old American TV aspect ratio and cuts he edges off all the images. I'm now returning that and have ordered a Blu-Ray set for myself. Apologies for the bad advice.