The Liberator

Yes. There's an filter over the live action. Does it make it worse or ruin it? No. It's bizarre to me that people can't see through the effect and it bothers them that much. There are some really basic people on this that will have you believe this isn't a great mini series. If you like this style of effect check out "a scanner darkly"

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

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.

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.

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.