Apocalipse: Redescobrindo a Segunda Guerra Mundial

"Perfection is rare to find" is the favourite phrase of an aesthetic surgeon. This is just it.

The text is superb. Informative, NEUTRAL, without concessions for any party, and with a subtler enough message of hope. The images are really unbelievable. Also unusual. If you think you've seen them all and docus on wars bore you, think again. Kassovitz's voice is just what's needed for the job: enthusiastic and yet dry enough so you get "just the facts". If you ever look for a good music equipments, when you read reviews you'll find that one of the best compliments writers do is: "doesn't get in between you and the music". You don't "notice" the direction, editor, the "author" who made this monumental work. Even with touchy topics like the Holocaust, they just deliver the facts. Their involvement is obvious, but they always give us the facts first. Whether you are cramming for a general education examination or if you want to be a bit less ignorant on probably the most relevant topic of the XX century, you'll find no better documentary. Engaging, painful to watch at times, showing us the consequences on the peasants and the "little people" as well as the general's feats and whims, this saga strikes the right balance at everything. From the Blitzkreig to the V2, from Normandie to the unlikely allies the Nazis got from the dominated Slav countries (and how they mistreated them for "not being Aryan", everything is here, and more. Even Hitler's madness. Just one example: him calling Churchill and Roosevelt "jewizizing" after another military setback. Surely history is staggering enough: the Islamists were one of the unlikely willful allies of the Nazis, "combating the common Zionist enemy".

Words are not enough to describe the "thirst for nothingness" Hitler saw on the world, Japanese's pride, American altruism, British flame, the French way of failing so much, for so long, Italian's mistrust of government, Soviet power and blindness, German efficiency in devising the cruelest weapon (i.e. the mines with a "click") as the Berliner. performing yet another perfect rehearsal. If there's just one thing I'd have liked is less bias for the tiniest "heroic French action" completely irrelevant for the course of the war, and absent from any history manuals. Time being a scarce resource, it'd been useful to cover a bit more of the Pacific front, barely mentioned. It's also a bit Eurocentric in scope, but I suppose that's the price to pay. Nobody is perfect after all :(.

Whatever is to be learned from wars must be here. Whatever can be learned is never enough, never too late, never enough. Churchill's famous prose give this documentary two of the most memorable moments, in which it was difficult for me not to cry. People may not learn, again. Yes, a documentary on such hay-necked topic can still do that to you.

I recently viewed this 6 part series on WWII and I was literally captivated. It aired on TV5 (French speaking network) twice and I finally managed to view all 6 episodes. The war is explained in detail with actual footage filmed by all sides in the conflict. The films are enhanced (coloured) and restored making them even more actual. The conflicts In North Africa, in the Pacific and in Europe are all explained with maps and troop movements. The hardship and suffering of the populations and soldiers are seen and felt by the viewer.

From the beginning of the German-Russian Nonaggression Pact to the surrender of Japan, all steps of the war are explained and shown with unbelievable detail. The complete DVD set is available but only in Europe for Zone 2 and Pal TV. However I think it should be made available everywhere, and all school children old enough to understand, should be shown this documentary.

This series followed "Apocalypse: Hitler", and explains with sometimes very crude and brutal images, the events of World War II.

Narrated by Mathieu Kassovitz in French, it truly brings the war up to its exploits and its horrors. Some excerpts were shot by American directors John Ford and John Huston, right on the spot.

Thus maybe one flaw was the fact that it showed mostly the war on the European front, Hitler's wanting to rule the world, the Soviets fighting back with strong forces. Only the fourth episode shows the Pacific War with the Japanese using "Bushido" to stand up to its enemies, mostly the Americans. It took atomic bombs to end it all...

And in Europe, the crush on three sides: the Normandy Raid, the African defeats and the Soviet eastern push did end Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy dominations.

This is a documentary not to be missed. Warning: some images can be disturbing...

A documentary series on World War 2, from its earliest origins to Japan's surrender and covering the major battles, events and turning points.

An excellent documentary series on WW2. At only six episodes and 4½ hours, a fairly concise telling. However, the main events and takeaways are in there, making it quite edifying for someone who knows very little about the history of WW2.

Even for us with extensive WW2 knowledge it's well worth the watch. There's some very rare footage - quite a lot of stuff I'd never seen before and in some cases so seemingly unobtainable I'm surprised it exists. All this has in many cases been colourised and the resolution sharpened, making for quite an engaging experience.

Not the best documentary on WW2 though. That honour goes to the World at War, the 1973-74 series narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. Much more detailed and complete, it covers just about every aspect of WW2, including areas that you wouldn't usually think about but that, ultimately, are no less important than the main events.

Apocalypse: WW2 suffers due to its compactness, skimming over some important events and missing some entirely. There's also an element of oversimplification and even outright inaccuracy at times to suit a narrative or to keep things quick and simple. Thankfully, cases of these are quite limited.

As an introduction to the history of WW2 though, it can't be beaten. Watch this first then move onto The World at War for the more detailed history.

This is a world war 2 documentary like no other. It contains a brilliant musical overture, often haunting but superbly executed. The narration is good, but the biggest plays is the colour footage which brings the war alive like no other documentary.

Inevitably, comparisons will be drawn with the masterpiece "The World at War". These are unfair comparisons. This documentary had its own angle and story and special way of telling it.