Les Grandes Batailles de la 2ᵉ Guerre mondiale

From the beginning I was hooked. The way the show details the events, the strategies, the beautiful footage, interviews, etc was gripping and I binge watched the show over 2 days. It goes into the psychology of the most important people and what led to their decisions. It takes into account the culture of the individual countries at the time and is filled with suspense and twists. It was also very informative, I knew a little bit about WWII from high school classes, but this really helped fill in the gaps in a satisfying way. I feel like I've learned more than in the 2 days of watching this show than I would in a year of study. If you are slightly interested in the events of WWII and want a dramatic narrative of the most important events, this show is for you!

I stumbled across this late on a Friday night. The last war documentary that I'd seen was Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" and I had been yearning for a similar experience ever since. Well, safe to say-- I found it. This is an enthralling watch. The colorization of such massively historical events allows us viewers 70+ years later to empathize in an unimaginable way, and is careful enough to give us fresh insight into perspectives from both sides. Well done to all involved. Netflix in my opinion is hit or miss but this is without a doubt as good as it gets. Top class. A real tribute to the heroic men and women of that generation.

Side note: Pay no heed to the so-called political connotations suggested by other reviewers. Having watched the entire series through, my mind never once went there, I was too enraptured by the images and the quality on display. It in no way detracts from the documentary itself, if you're reading this prior to watching don't let such comments dismay you. I couldn't recommend this film highly enough.

Its so sad listening to so many butthurt complainers nitpicking at everything in this documentary. Honestly you could make a 30 or 40 part documentary series on ww2 and not even scratch the surface of the entire war and do every aspect and every service person justice. Those who complain that their country isn't mentioned... so what. You can't mention every damn country in detail.

I think this documentary series does a splendid job as acting as an introductory series to perhaps children/teenagers learning about ww2 for the first time. (then move on to books) Personally I knew most of the information but I enjoyed hearing it again with some coloured footage. The narrator is really easy to listen to and his commentary is mixed in with some war authors and some vetrans (who are becoming very very few, so these documentations of their experiences are essential)

If you're someone who'd like to better understand WWII in a thoughtful, comprehensive, well-paced film... this is it.

And here are 3 reasons why:

It is totally captivating. I've seen countless films on WWII, but this moves with a pace that allows you to absorb the key events while gaining insight on why things happened the way they did. Although I've seen so many accounts of the war, this summarized it better than any other film in my opinion.

It's binge-worthy. I stayed up all night long watching this - much more engaging than the typical war documentaries that put us all to sleep. I will watch it again with my wife and I know she will like it because you're compelled to watch the next episode.

It's relevant. The approach they've taken - beautifully restored and colorized film combined with thoughtful accounts by historians and veterans - is to be commended and treasured. But more importantly, it reminds us of what people with bad ideas can accomplish when the rest of us stay silent. A timeless and painful lesson.

Whilst there are no startling revelations within this series, as the WW2 conflict has been covered by countless other documentaries, the colouring of the footage does bring the subject matter home in a far more relatable manner.

In fact some of the colouring is so good, you feel like you're watching something that could have been filmed in the last decade.

A must see for any modern history enthusiasts!