The Liberator

I decided to leave a review to help address the style choices made in this series, namely the "filter" everyone is referring to.

First off, the series is very well done. Acting, writing, progression and pacing. It feels like a Band of Brothers without feeling like it is copying Band of Brothers.

There's a few things to note. First, it isn't a "filter." It isn't like the show was shot completely live action and then just layered on with ray-tracing-like animations. It is a hybrid of live action and animation, yes, but that is different than what saying "filter" implies. Make no mistake, this is an animated movie.

The reason this was done was out of necessity. You can look up this series and see its been in production for years and was originally an 8-part live action series on History Channel. The issue was the cost. No one wanted to spend what would have been $150+ Million on a History channel series so it never got made. The writer, Jeb Stuart (Die Hard) did not give up on the project. One of their options was animation.

The team responsible for the series demo'd multiple types of animation and due to the stereotype of animation in America (that it is a largely comedic forum, e.g. simpsons, family guy) they went with this type of live action animation hybrid to keep the animation technique as serious as the subject matter demands.

Thank god for that. Because it would've been a shame to not have this series made. I understand some are upset by the animation, I get it, but I feel most are upset because they think it was an "artistic" choice. In reality, it was animate the series or don't create the series at all. This makes the animation more palatable.

Like many "based on a true story" accounts, there are compromises that have to be made. I just finished reading The Liberator by Alex Kershaw, and I can see where events were compressed or characters were combined to synthesize a new character, which is fine for the purpose of telling a story. The story of Felix Sparks contains tragedy and loss, yet his will to not only survive but lead has made the leap to the screen. The graphic novel style still allows for nuanced performances, especially by Bradley James. Battle sequences and the hushed silences benefit equally from this style as well. Nothing would likely capture the horror of the liberation of Dachau, yet this production does it justice. Released on Veteran's Day, The Liberator is well worth watching and remembering the sacrifices of others.

This is a great story. I would have preferred it wasn't cell shaded, but perhaps that allowed them to tell this important story with a reduced budget. In any case, if you can see past the animation style this is a story everyone should watch, especially on our days of thanks for those that sacrificed all so we could be free.

I don't see what the big deal is with the filter. It doesn't take away from the story. I guess some people just have to complain, no matter how petty the reason. I'm a history buff, and it tells an interesting story about an interesting group of men.

Anyone who commented about the filter being the reason they bailed 10-15 minutes into the first of a four episode series, is a simpleton, full-stop. It's like someone bailing on Team America, because they used puppets.

Does it take getting used to? Sure. It takes approximately 5-10 minutes, to do so-as you can see from those reviewers who aren't basic AF

The (true) story is great-and one I hadn't heard about, before. That's enough reason to watch.

So, in summary:

• great story
• interesting approach to the war-genre
• four episodes isn't a huge time investment
• don't listen to simpletons