the audience applauded

Highly Overrated But Still Good

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A decent documentary series covering the combat of the Second World War (mainly in Europe), but not a detailed work; if you are looking for a great depth and point discussing all aspects of the war, nothing can compare to 'The World at War.' Saying that though, I did find it interesting and enjoyed watching a different series from the usual.However, the titles of the episodes I found deceptive. I recently watched episode three (on the DVD box titled 'Origins of the Holocaust'). The episode neglected the origins of the Holocaust entirely. Simply a narrative primarily of the invasion of the USSR, with a minor part about the SS Einsatzgruppen. I felt severely mislead by the episode's title. Nevertheless, the episode was interesting though.I would recommend the series for a casual watch, but lacks the depth perhaps sought after by the note-taking student.

The second world war ensured tons of documentaries. The information about this topic is overwhelming, but of course you don't want to watch every documentary ever made. But if you don't have a clue where to start, or if you just want a very nice summery of the second world war, then this documentary is a must see in my opinion.The documentary shows the development of the second world war in a chronological and interesting way. It is narrated from a very objective point of view and therefore the educational level is very high. And the amount of topics is very broad, so you get introduced with every aspect of this heinous period. Due this fact you can orientate what you find interesting and you can search for more documentaries about specific topics later.The capture my opinion in a short sentence: "Please watch this amazing documentary"!

Maybe the story is not 100% complete, and maybe it gets a little confusing because so many things happen simultaneously throughout the world, so it's understandable that they didn't cover every single aspect and that it's a little too much "French biased", after all it is a French documentary. For example they didn't cover the Balkans at all, and there was one of the most complicated situations in the whole WW2. Maybe not the most important, but certainly interesting, especially in Yugoslavia, where there was in effect a three-way civil war under Nazi occupation, between royalists, communists and quislings going on simultaneously with the armed resistance to Nazis. So that in itself is a situation that would require it's own documentary, and I can see that the authors maybe did not wan't to get into explaining those difficult circumstances when it may take too much time. But the sheer amount of film material shown, that I've never seen before, is astonishing to say the least. I watched every episode eyes wide open. And it's that WW2 video material itself that makes this documentary worth having in one's collection.

It is a France 2 documentary and as such very french biased.Many french sensitive issues (Vichy.. only the top a disgrace, or whole french populations under Vichy a disgrace ?! ), liberation of France by active troops in terms of men, material..how much (or rather how little) was french, etc. are left under the carpet.All the world-war issues are looked upon with french interest/viewpoint..if there isn't one, then there is no attention to it or only as a 5 second footnote (Fights in Norway? Holland ? Belgium ? Convoy war at Atlantic ? Balkan fights Tito resistance, Soviet fights in Balkan countries ? MarketGarden ? Japan's fights and occupation in china,New Guinea,etc).However french issues which are marginal to the outside world are given broad attention (french ministers crisis 1940, negotiations Roosevelt with Gaulle en Vichy favoured representative in 1943, Bir Hakeim stand, LeClerc background (ahem Zjoekov's background ? Monty's Background? Alexander's background?), Indochine taken over by Japan, French resistance actions (no resistance elsewhere?), De Gaulle's return in France and focus on his political problems).Like before-mentioned text: Many films have been aired before..only a few are rare (from French sources). All are coloured in, which gives it a special touch-but not all are coloured in thoroughly (only face one colour, one colour for uniform, one colour for bushes, one colour for ground).It's nice to see, and it keeps you captivated...but it is not THE best documentary, and certainly not "neutral"(unbiased).