8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.3 |
WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Culled from
thousands of hours of lost and rare color archival footage gathered from a worldwide search through
basements and archives, WWII in HD will change the way the world sees this defining conflict. Using footage
never before seen by most Americans--converted to HD for unprecedented clarity--viewers will experience
the war as if they were actually there, surrounded by the real sights and sounds of the battlefields. Along the
way they'll meet a diverse group of soldiers whose wartime diaries and journals show in visceral detail what
the war was really like.
This visually astonishing landmark series presents the story of World War II through the eyes of 12 Americans
who experienced the war firsthand. Viewers will hear the story of Army nurse June Wandrey, who served from
the beginning of the war in North Africa to the liberation of the camps in Germany. They will meet Shelby
Westbrook, a young African American from Toledo, who became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen;
Jimmie Kanaya, the son of Japanese immigrants, who served in the U.S. Army and was imprisoned in
Europe; and Jack Werner, a Jewish émigré who escaped from Austria before the war and wound up fighting
not against Hitler and the hated Nazis, but in the Pacific Theater.
War | 100% |
History | 91% |
Documentary | 57% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
It's almost alarming to hear one of the elderly vets whose reminiscences make up the often gut wrenching first-person accounts which are at the heart of WWII in HD say quite nonchalantly while discussing a buddy of his who was killed early in the war, "He wasn't 'great.' He was just an everyday, normal guy who didn't know what he was getting into." That somewhat amazing revisionism vis a vis "The Greatest Generation" may strike some as cold hearted, but it in fact helps to pinpoint one of the great strengths of the often visceral impact of this splendid ten part documentary--its unflinching emphasis on what twelve people of disparate backgrounds and temperaments experienced in the four years of United States involvement in World War II. I frankly didn't know quite what to expect from WWII in HD. Its somewhat breathless accompanying PR hype touted the restored and very rare archival color footage the documentary contained, and so I thought, mistakenly, that I was in for several hours of "home movies" of a sort, all in semi-magnificent high definition. While that is certainly part of this piece, it's really somewhat tangential to the major thrust of what is in actuality a remarkable array of "I was there" memories, illustrated with an extremely well chosen variety of archival images, some of which have never been broadcast before. It all adds up to one of the best relatively "short form" documentaries covering the breadth and depth of World War II. It's perhaps not as exhaustive as The World at War, but WWII in HD certainly delivers the goods as it recounts the horrors and triumphs of a dozen veterans in all branches of the armed services and in most of the major theaters of the global conflict.
"...gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."
WWII in HD arrives on Blu-ray with a good 1080i VC-1 encoded transfer that is of course sharpest and cleanest in its contemporary interview segments, as well as the interstitials which feature photographs of our twelve subjects as well as maps and, occasionally, CGI illustrated moments with a visual tip of the hat toward global positioning technology. The archival source material is an extremely varied lot, as you may imagine, mostly culled from what looks to be 8mm or 16mm handheld shots. (All of this footage was obviously originally 1.33:1, and it is blown up and cropped at 1.78:1 for this presentation). Some of it is surprisingly sharp, with really excellent color, while other footage is very badly damaged, with scrapes, scratches, dirt, debris and emulsion damage, as well as being desaturated to the point that you may think you're watching one of the early experiments in "colorizing." Overall, though, the historical importance of this footage far outweigh the technical limitations which are at times all too apparent here. It's rare enough to see color footage from this era, and to see so much of it here, with as much of it as there is in at least decent shape, that the less than stellar shape of some of the rest of it really isn't that much of a hindrance.
What WWII in HD may at least partially lack in image quality, due to its variegated source material, it at least partially compensates for by an incredibly bombastic DTS HD-MA 5.1 mix. This is one of the most literally assaultive sound mixes in recent memory, with shots zinging to and fro between surrounds, and at times an almost overwhelming amount of LFE in terms of explosions and other thundering noises. As off putting as that may sound, it in fact only helps to make the battle footage that much more visceral, helping the viewer to understand the emotionally devastating day to day existence these brave souls endured. Dialogue is crisp and clean, with Sinise's narration always front and center and mixed extremely well into the overall soundfield, so that foley effects never overwhelm him. Some of the archival sound material, as in some of President Roosevelt's speeches, for example, do sound somewhat compressed, with obviously lower fidelity, but it's not really that bothersome in the long run. As mentioned in the body of the review above, this series is an absolute marvel of sound effects editing, and for those of you attuned to such things, you'll be consistently impressed with the care the sound effects editors have taken with this project.
The second disc of this two Blu-ray set contains a few interesting HD supplements:
I've mentioned in some other review that I'm the son of one of "The Greatest Generation," and in fact WWII in HD spends quite a bit of time on various campaigns where my father fought as a battalion commander. My interest, therefore, may have been a bit more personal than the casual viewer. Even with that caveat, I can't imagine many people not being moved and, yes, even occasionally mortified by the stories and footage provided in WWII in HD. This is one of the most outstanding World War II documentaries in recent memory, and it comes very highly recommended.
2011
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Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
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Deluxe Edition
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