Demonstrating Why "The World at War" is the Gold Standard of World War II Documentaries in 3 Minutes
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 09. 2023
- In a feeble attempt to disguise the lack of content in recent months due to other commitments, I offer this up. A random watching of an episode of World at War suggested this three minute snippet as a great example of just about everything that makes this the go-to for World War II documentaries despite its age. One major absence from this clip is an illustration of how willing the producers were to do interviews with high ranking men (and women), and including those who fought for the Axis. But overall, a nice clip demonstrating some of the other strengths of the series.
From Wikipedia: "The World at War is a 26-episode British documentary television series that chronicles the events of the Second World War. It was produced in 1973, at a cost of £900,000 (equivalent to £11,600,000 in 2021), the most expensive factual series ever produced. It was produced by Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Laurence Olivier and included music composed by Carl Davis. The book, The World at War, published the same year, was written by Mark Arnold-Forster to accompany the TV series.
"The World at War attracted widespread acclaim and now it is regarded as a landmark in British television history. The series focused on a portrayal of the experience of the conflict: of how life and death throughout the war years affected soldiers, sailors and airmen, civilians, concentration camp inmates and other victims of the war."
Learn more about the series at the Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com/title/tt0071075/
Read more on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wor...
Read The Guardian's obituary of Noble Frankland, the decorated Bomber Command veteran who transformed the Imperial War Museum in the UK from a backwater for unhappy archivists to a world class tourist attraction and who served as adviser to the World at War series.
www.theguardian.com/culture/2...
In the early 2000's, before online shopping was really big, my Mother sent cash in the mail to a friend in the UK for them to buy the VHS box set of this and have it shipped to us in Australia. We still have it, and VHS player to play it.
W mother moment 🔥
I bought my father the DVD box set more than 5 years ago. I always thought Olivier used to specially enjoy narrating the fall of France. Unfortunately my father (84) has had a clearout and got rid of the set. And the full Seinfeld box set. Thank God I kept The Cruel Sea at my place.
Somehow, the Hand grenade Division returned
"World at War".... one of the GREATEST Openings for a T.V. show. Opening with a short, maybe 5-second video of the shows subject matter, THEN.... with the muffled, rising roll of a bass drum that EPIC score begins while simultaneously showing stillshots of visuals only a war can create and only a war can explain..... Unforgettable.
I remember watching this as a kid and thinking it was the greatest.
Never heard of it. Will be on my next watchlist :) thanks. Grüße
the whole of the first episode "new germany" is on youtube, but you didnt hear it from me
The greatest, most in-depth documentary ever. Something of this importance really may never be produced again.
I first watched World at War on television in 1972. I have been an amateur military historian ever since.
Shows how old I am, I remember watching this on TV as a kid when it first came out!
Most importantly though, it's great to see this channel back downloading content again.
THANKS
HANDGRENADE
DIVISION!👍
I used to get up early on Sunday mornings to watch the weekly episode on The History Channel, when it came out in a boxed DVD set I brought it...Best of all time...
Man, I really, really need to set aside a weekend to view this. I've heard nothing but praise.
Other prime example would be the "BBC Battlefield Series" beginning on 1994
Watched this series back in 1976 on a black and white 19 inch TV screen. It was presented on a weekly basis. Never missed an episode. The opening images, in particular the young boy in tears and the musical score always made me realize the horrors that this conflict had inflicted on the ordinary people of this planet. An incredible BBC documentary. Another great series by the BBC that came out shortly after this one was the three part series on the JFK assassination.
Way before the BBC went WOKE.
@@KevinSmith-yh6tlMonetarily, or Character wise?
me too! but my Dad wouldn't let me see the genocide episode. And he didnt sleep well that night
Loved this series.
And the theme music was haunting.
The format for The World at War was lifted wholesale from the BBC's 1964 documentary series The Great War, made to mark 50 years since the outbreak of WW1. If anything it's even better than the World at War. There was also a landmark series on the Treaty of Versailles called The Lost Peace but it hasn't been seen since it was originally broadcast.
The haunting score is so classic. All older media used to have this
Oh nostalgia! I miss Actual History Channel.
There something that hits you in the chest about this documentary. It homes in the reality of war so well.
Couldn't have said any better myself..... I still remember watching "World at War on Sat. and/or Sun. afternoon's on my local UHF Channel's. To this day, even with the MANY combat Docs I've watched since, I have not seen anything better!
Watched this many, many times. Love it. There are now better ones, but this still sets the standard!
Nice "Looking Out" Hand Grenade Division, giving respect and notoriety out to possibly The Grand Daddy of Them All. WELL DONE!
One of these days, I gotta finish up watching this series, and good to see you back HGD.
"Victory at Sea" set the standard for WWII documentaries.
Yes, you definitely have a point.
WatW was fantastic because the series still had the chance in the 1970's to interview the original commanders and other soldiers who had seen the action.
No rubbish modern CGI graphics.
No re-capping the story every 10minutes to allow for the short span of attention of Americans
No so called modern 'experts' stating the obvious.
1st hand accounts
Well said. Thanks for taking the time.
@@HandGrenadeDivision If you haven't already, take a look at 'The Secret War' series, made about the same time. All on CZcams
Yes, the interviews were excellent, being that many of those people weren't around very much longer, and for many, it was most likely their only interview, at least on video. Mind you, Americans Dont corner the market on attention difficulties, that is a problem that doesn't discriminate it's a worldwide epidemic like stupidity. Americans just seem to announce this shortcoming more than others.
Glad to see you back!
When I was in 3rd grade PBS would show this and Victory at Sea every Monday, so I would skip going to school to stay home and watch those, and Mysteries of the Unknown.. I did that for 10 Mondays in a row, until my dad found out and whooped my ass.. It was worth it though...
3rd Grade!!!!!.... Ha HAhA hA HaHA ha ha......... you've got Steel down there my friend. But hey, you learned just as much history at home then...... the other subjects took a vacation, but hey, you had YEARS to make that up.
An analysis of Russian military ranks during WWII would be cool I think.
I like the first season of Battlefield ww2. Mainly because of the maps and long length
I vaguely remember that this started and ended in Oradour-sur-Glane, which I always found quite moving.
Down this road, the soldiers came....
If you like this youll probably like ' the last tommy' on youtube. Some slight drama in it but it interviews the last ww1 british veterans
Peter Jackson's film would be hard to beat, but I'll look for this - I appreciate the recommendation.
@@HandGrenadeDivision was done in about 2005. I've watched it several times due to having around 8 members ofy family fight during the great war
Some of it is dated (no mention of Enigma for example / no real Russian involvement ) but the people they managed to get to interview was unsurpassed
Very good points. Such a shame the iron curtain was up, imagine if they had been able to interview surviving Red Army generals, and if they had felt free to speak honestly about their experiences.
@@HandGrenadeDivision Zhukov was still alive when they filmed.
@@guyk2260Uh, yeah, he was but I have a feeling that even after Stalins death and Zhukoz's worldwide notoriety, that "popularity" was still something the Soviet people felt more comfortable with "in house" a mindset that seems prevalent in most places that boast a "Worker's Paradise". None the less it would have been fantastic for the world to get some First Hand Video insight.
As far as ENIGMA was concerned, was enough of Bletchley Park open and available at that point to make enough information available?
I agree that it is unsurpassed but it was uneven. Some episodes notably Whirlwind and Inside the Reich were very good indeed. Others such as Red Star came close to repeating propaganda.
thanks for the recommendation. this channel is truly based