The World at War (1973) 8 x Blu-Ray Original Aspect Ratio Version Restored, download for free

Nov16

The World at War (1973) 8 x Blu-Ray Original Aspect Ratio Version Restored

by movieworld on November 16th, 2016 at 15:06

Posted In: .Other movies, Documentary, History, War

The late 1960s to early 1970s may have been the perfectly propitious time period to undertake a mammoth documentary recounting the history of World War II. Enough time had passed that a certain level of objectivity had crept into historical analysis, however slowly at first, but the events were still recent enough that many participants (and victims) of the epochal conflict were still around to reminisce about it. Producer Jeremy Isaacs had been impressed by The Great War, a previous British extravaganza devoted to World War I, and he ultimately became Executive Producer of The World at War, Thames Television's brilliant 26 part exegesis of the causes, conflicts and personal stories of the 20th century's most defining few years. So daunting was this task that it actually took several years of research, compilation, and interviewing before the final product was finally ready for broadcast in 1973. Narrated by Laurence Olivier, and containing an iconic theme by Carl Davis (eerily redolent of Prokofiev's wartime Symphony No. 5), The World at War quickly became the authoritative effort on the conflict. Filled to the brim with haunting first person stories by both combatants and civilians, and with an interesting, not always strictly chronological, take on the epic battle, the series had both a grand scope and an intimate emphasis that made it unforgettable to several generations of viewers.

A brand-new High Definition restoration, this is The World at War as it is meant to be seen – in its original fullscreen format with the maximum picture area from the original film materials now visible onscreen.

The World at War sought to tell a story, from beginning to end, with as much possible detail, in pictures and a reserved amount of narration, but without passing judgment on any of the participants. The neutrality of the narrative is what makes The World at War, arguably, the greatest documentary on World War II ever produced. The creators speak to high-ranking officers as well as get eyewitness accounts from civilians, enlisted men, and politicians from all the major countries, Germany, Japan, England, The United States and The Soviet Union. Each side gets to tell the story of the war from their own perspective.

Each of the 26-episodes focuses on a specific aspect of the war such as the conditions leading to Hitler coming to power or how Japan became a warring nation invading the Asian continent. One episode may focus intensely on The United State’s initial unwillingness to join the war, while another will shift to Russia’s uneasy alliance with Germany before the war between Germany and the Soviets broke out. The series is extremely detailed and rarely misses a social, political, or religious point involved in the wide scope of things that lead to the war or the outcomes of certain battles.

Episodes list:

1. A New Germany: 1933-1939
2. Distant War: September 1939 - May 1940
3. France Falls: May - June 1940
4. Alone: May 1940 - May 1941
5. Barbarossa: June - December 1941
6. Banzai - Japan: 1931 - 1942
7. On Our Way: USA 1939 - 1942
8. The Desert - North Africa: 1940 - 1943
9. Stalingrad: June 1942 - February 1943
10. Wolf Pack - U-boats in the Atlantic: 1939 - 1944
11. Red Star - The Soviet Union: 1941 - 1943
12. Whirlwind - Bombing Germany September: 1939 - April 1944
13. Tough Old Gut - Italy: November 1942 - June 1944
14. It`s A Lovely Day Tomorrow - Burma: 1942 - 1943
15. Home Fires - Britain: 1940 - 1944
16. Inside The Reich - Germany: 1940 - 1944
17. Morning: June - August 1944
18. Occupation - Holland: 1940 - 1944
19. Pincers: August 1944 - March 1945
20. Genocide: 1941 - 1945
21. Nemesis - Germany: February - May 1945
22. Japan: 1941 - 1945
23. Pacific: February 1942 - July 1945
24. The Bomb: February - September 1945
25. Reckoning: 1945...and after
26. Remember

Extras:

Disc 6:

• "Hitler's Germany" is a two part affair that really covers much of the same ground as other episodes. "The People's Community" (1933-1939) and "Total War" (1939-1945) chart the course of post-World War I trauma paving the way for Hitler's rise and the tragic consequences that entailed.

• "The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler" discusses the then (mid 1970s) hotly debated topic of how Hitler died.

Disc 7:

• "The Final Solution: Auschwitz" is a heartbreaking and extremely disturbing two part look at Auschwitz. Part One describes Hitler's racial policies and how they led to the Holocaust. The opening segments might lead you to think you're listening to Holocaust deniers but, no, these are people who lived through it — as children — and who can't quite believe it ever happened. Part Two gets into the nuts and bolts of the "death factories"

• "Warrior" is a riveting first hand account by the "grunts" who did the actual fighting, describing what killing another human did to them on a personal level

Disc 8:

• "Secretary to Hitler" is a fascinating, in depth conversation with Trudl Junge, Hitler's secretary.

• "From War to Peace" is a somewhat dated look at post-war Germany and where the world stood in the mid 1970s.

• "The Making of the Series" (1989) details how The World at War came to be.

• "Making the Series: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective" (2003) is an exhaustive look back on this monumental undertaking.

• "Experiences of War" offers extended interview segments which were edited for the series itself.

• Photo Gallery

8 x BD50 | 1080i AVC | 2100 mins | 355 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Genre: Documentary, History, War