WWII in HD

The series is absolutely compelling and moving. That said, it seems as if everything these days is 'high definition', including sunglasses. Perhaps we more have a situation of 1080p fuzzy-grainy footage than anything else. If the film had been restored more, I might not be sharing this quibble, but leaving blotched frames and long scratch marks is not so much 'verisimilitude' than it is plain old wet-gated film with minimal digital intervention. The title is true high definition, and whoever did it should get an award. Again, this series is absolutely must-see; nothing I have seen this year on television beats it. The lead sequence on each episode featuring the little shivering Asian boy and the tank emerging from smoke and mist must rank among the most stirring images anywhere.

The first thing many viewers tend to do, myself included, is compare this to the 2007 World War II series by Ken Burns. I won't rate the two except to say they are both exceptional works of film. The main difference is the amount of color and gruesome scenes in "WWII In HD" and the amount of time devoted to the home front in "Ken Burns' The War." Other than that, both offer a very emotional ride. The amount of amazing stories that come out of World War II seem limitless.

The most striking thing about this series (1) was all the color photography; (2) were all the gruesome scenes of mutilated, dead bodies and men clinging to life; (3) the emphasis on the Pacific Theater. I really appreciated the latter because this all the intense and brutal battles on those Pacific islands have never gotten "the play" the European Theater has received via movies, TV shows and documentaries. Far more people know all about Hilter and his Nazi regime than they do about exactly what went on in places like Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and other islands. The carnage and what happened in those places was unbelievable to me. This program did an amazing job of education us on that key element of World War II.

I received a PM from a man who worked on this project and he detailed some of the problems they had in bringing this to us, the public. I thank him, though, and all who worked on it for a memorable TV series, to say the least! Great stuff. I was very sorry to send it end, which is the highest compliment I can give it.

This was a superb History Channel documentary following the stories of 12 Americans, eleven men and one woman, through both theaters of World War Two. All ten one hour parts were very compelling.

When the first part started I was worried when I saw the credits listed that Rob Lowe, LL Cool J, etc. were going to be in it. I was afraid this was going to be a movie and not a documentary as advertised. I was quickly relieved to find out they were just lending their voices to the words of those that were there. Some of those featured are no longer with us, and needed a voice loan. Others are still with us and their own words flowed seamlessly from older to younger.

From Pearl Harbor to V-E and V-J days, and all the horrors of war in between, this documentary covered it all with first person accounts that were aided by a great deal of recently discovered color footage taken during the war. I can't give you any spoilers here. It's history, and everyone knows the basic tale, but the personal experiences of those that lived it are always dramatic, wrenching stories.

As is mentioned at the end of the conclusive part 10, over 16 million Americans served in WW II and only about 10 percent of them are alive today. The more of these individual stories that get recorded, the happier I'll be, because we shouldn't forget. There are no more stories coming from WW I vets, and not many of them were put to film. Let's grab the WW II stories while we still can.

Not to be missed.

The Series starts with an astonishing shot of New York Grand Central Station passing from 2009 to 1939. It also shows magnificent shots of the most famous WWII campaigns like the Attack on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, War at the Pacific. Really great shots. I think the main title maybe miss the point, but it is the second one is accurate. We do not really have high-definition quality of WWII footage, but the best I have ever seen. I think it is impossible to improve the quality of this kind of material to real HD, because of its source material, which of poorly quality itself. For me the creators of this series restored footage on WWII at a really high level. I think the color is its what this series makes successful. This type of documentary is a new look of WWII, because of color footage and lost and unseen films. Comparing to another good documentary "World at War" I prefer "WWII in HD" because of its original new style of showing WWII. The first one shows more details of the campaigns but the second one is the essence of the war. Series shows War simultaneously through interesting real-life stories and historical lessons with convincing, brutal footage supported by color. The stories are convincing and intensified by really interesting testimonies of the war veterans. From this series I found out lots of interesting things about Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the longest serving American President. I did not know this figure almost at all. I think he passed to history by becoming the greatest American president of all time. I highly recommend this series. It is a memorable and haunting series about WWII, so I gave it maximum rating.

WWII in HD is (in my opinion) one of the best series History has produced in the last few years. In it's storytelling style it is cohesive, which is surprising because most project such as this, with multiply narratives, skip around. However, WWII in HD flows smoothly, its transitions between characters and resolutions to every episode is clean cut without being dismissive.

It is unrelenting in its pace without loosing the core of the story or demeaning them. At times, it is horrifying (the opening episode to the series, Darkness Falls, comes to mind) and at other times, it is triumphant and then the next second, heartbreaking. The vast views of the war (from a combat nurse to infantry to war correspondents) to the amount of theaters included (North Africa to Europe, a mention of Mediterranean and to the Pacific) WWII in HD sets itself apart incredibly well.

Unlike a previous review said, this documentary wasn't meant to be an in depth view at the theaters of war, but rather an examination of what the characters experienced. If you want a general overview that rehashes the same Brass-oriented view of the war, then by all means, go watch World War II in Color. This program was about the people, what it was like for someone on the front lines - whether that meant caring for the wounded, or carrying a weapon - instead of hearing the same rehashed story from a General's view. The narration of each character is very distinct, all incredibly memorable and each bring something to the program. I'd definitely recommend this program to anyone and everyone.

I give an 8/10 just because I wish they had included more of the Mediterranean and the China-Burma-India theater.