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War (The) (TV)
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (16th October 2007). |
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The Show
 Documentarian Ken Burns has produced many films in his 30+ year career; his series on "The Civil War" (1990), "Baseball" (1994) and "Jazz" (2001) remain as crowning achievements in his filmography. His style is very simple, yet his approach complicated and each series can stretch out to be 10-15 hour affairs. If anything, Burns is thorough and weaves his interviews and photographs into often moving and impacting moments. Burns manages to add life to archival photographs by zooming slowly within the frame, this technique would be coined "The Ken Burns Effect", this technique is now a staple of documentary film. Burns has an ability to select stories with universal themes and appeal but remaining truly American. "The War" is one such series that chronicles World War II from the American perspective, but more importantly focusing on how the war affected the citizens of four towns - Luverne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California and Waterbury, Connecticut. Starting from the attack on Pearl Harbor and leading up to the soldiers coming home to a world without war, the series takes us through the initial involvement in the war and the learning curve that American servicemen endured, the battles in North Africa, Europe and the costly and devastating Pacific front. From the home front the towns underwent a massive transition into booming war towns as factories and businesses all became involved in the war effort making munitions and parts, vehicles and helmets, almost everything a solider would need. The towns would burst at the seams as hordes of workers flocked to take up positions as carpenters, welders, riveters, factory workers and foremen, etc. While overseas the troops would battle their way through North Africa taking tolls and their first steps into fighting. The European front would open up in Italy with much ferocity and the now infamous invasion of France on D-Day which would propel the allies far into Europe and to victory. The road was never easy and millions would loose their lives, meanwhile in the Pacific theater of operations the battle were costlier, the Japanese were a staunch adversary, never giving up and fighting to the death for their emperor. Over the course of the war the stories of the surviving men from the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines would account their experiences of battle, the horrors and sheer effort of their tasks while family at home account how they lived their days awaiting their loved ones. One thing's for sure, at the start of the war they left as boys and upon return they were men, forever changed by what they had gone through. The documentary features often haunting, frank and open dialogue with the men that served and survived. Burns and co-director Lynn Novick have fabricated a typical PBS documentary series and its patriotism is unparalleled. In fact all too often the overt sense of ultimate good versus evil is a little too heavy handed, considering the millions of civilian casualties lost at the hands of either side. These issues are only glossed over; however keeping the focus is key, the four towns and their citizens. However their own parameters are never really adhered to and this leads to tangents taken throughout the course of the 15 hours of this series. This of course isn't always a bad thing as key events and battles are broken down and presented in all their shocking and horrific detail as accounted by these men. Over the years there have been thousands of documentaries that have covered the war from almost every perspective, from individual battles to the women's lib movement back home in taking up factory jobs etc. Before watching the series I couldn't help but think if this was going to be another in a line of 'been-there-done-that' documentaries. I was happily proven wrong, the personalized accounts of the participants are unique, the series feels like a fresh look at the war and doesn't ever seem like a tiresome effort (especially considering the runtime), a commendable feat by the filmmakers. The film features carefully selected photographs and incredible archival footage shot from the front lines and at home, the editing is simply a work of a talented craftsman weaving the combination of photos, archival footage, new interviews, news reels all strung together from narration by Keith David and also featuring additional narration from the likes of Adam Arkin, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Lucas and Eli Wallach among others reading out newspaper clips and letters. Another interesting to note is that unlike most documentaries the filmmakers here did not use historians or even re-enactments to get their stories across it was simply focused on the men and women that lived and fought through the war. Some might find the occasional narrowness of limiting the perspective to just four American towns limiting considering the global nature of the war, but this is the angle in which Burns and crew have aimed for and offers up a more personal accounting of the events. Despite some of the shortcomings this series is a brilliant and remarkable achievement. "The War" is a must see event. There are seven episodes in this series and they include: Episode One: "A Necessary War" December 1941 - December 1942 The tranquil lives of the citizens of Luverne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California and Waterbury, Connecticut are shattered on December 7, 1941, as they, along with the rest of America, are thrust into the greatest cataclysm in history. Episode Two: "When Things Get Tough" January 1943 : December 1943 Americans mobilize for total war at home and overseas. Factories hum around the clock, while in North Africa and then Italy, inexperienced GI's learn how to fight. Meanwhile in the skies over Europe, thousands of American airmen gamble their lives against preposterous odds on daylight bombing missions. Episode Three: "A Deadly Calling" November 1943 : June 1944 Americans are shocked by the terrible losses on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, while in Italy allied forces are stalled for months at Monte Casino, and a risky landing at Anzio fails utterly. At home, as overcrowded "war towns" boom, economic transformation leads to confrontation and ugly racial violence. Episode Four: "Pride Of Our Nation" June 1944 : August 1944 On June 6, 1944, D-Day, 1.5 million allied troops take part in the greatest invasion in history, but then bog down in the Norman hedgerows for weeks, Saipan proves the costliest Pacific battle to date, while back home dreaded telegrams from the war department begin arriving at an inconceivable rate. Episode Five: "Fubar" September 1944 : December 1944 Victory in Europe seems imminent, but Holland, the Vosges Mountains and the Hurtgen Forest, GI's learn painful lesions as old as war itself : that Generals make plans, plans go wrong and soldiers die. Meanwhile, on the island of Peleliu, the Marines fight one of the most brutal and unnecessary battles of the Pacific. Episode Six: "The Ghost Front" December 1944 : March 1945 American's are shocked by Hitler's counterattack in the Ardennes Forest : but by mid March, 1945, they are across the Rhine, While Russians are 50 miles from Berlin. In the Pacific, after weeks of desperate fighting, Iwo Jima is secured and America bombers begin full-fledged air assault on Japan. Episode Seven: "A World Without War" March 1945 : December 1945 A few weeks after the death of President Roosevelt shocks the county, Germany surrenders. Meanwhile, American soldiers and Marines endure the worst battle of the Pacific : Okinawa. In August, American planes drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese, too, surrender. Millions return home : to try to learn how to live in a world without war.
Video
Presented in 1.78:1 this anamorphic widescreen image is rather good, however includes the usual amount of damaged and dirty archival footage. The interviews and camera pans of photographs are sharp and detailed, the warm lighting of the interviewees comes across well with some mild softness at time, colors are well rendered and skin atones appear natural. The archival footage are an occasional mess, the films are scratched and dirty but that adds to the overall feel of the film, layering the documentary with a depth and texture. Otherwise this is a suitable transfer for this series.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the series with its 5.1 sound track, although this is a documentary series that focuses on talking head interviews the series as mentioned does include a lot of archival footage and the sound is exceptionally mixed adding depth and range to the explosions and battle sounds of gun fire and action. Planes hover overhead and layered with the score adds another demotion in depth while the dialogue is crisp, clean and distortion free. As far as a documentary series goes this is a wonderfully solid surround effort. Optional subtitles are included in English only.
Extras
DISC ONE: First up we've got an audio commentary on the first episode from directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. This is a screen-specific look at the first episode in the series as the two share their experiences in making the series and what the photographs, footage and interviews evoked and what they add to the overall film. Burns comments on his techniques especially opening the films on a central character and then interweaving the stories as the series progresses amid the grand narrative. Also they talk about the 'happy accidents' that happened during the production process as well as provide some background on the people and places featured in the series and touch on their favorite moments, scenes and photographs collected for the project as well as what they hoped to achieve by making this series. Following that is the "Making The War" featurette that runs for 36 minutes 22 seconds, this clip takes a closer look at the genesis of the project and how the filmmakers wanted to make a film about the war but based it in four American towns rather than look at the whole grand scale of the war from many perspectives. They take us through the process of finding the archival footage and photographs as well as selecting the four towns, finding the veterans that were willing to share their stories, shooting in the various towns as well as creating era-correct music for the score and the daunting process of piecing this series together into a 15 hour 7-part event. Next up are a collection of 28 images in a photo gallery these are images of soldiers in various parts of the world taken during combat, all the images are in black and white. A complete collection of biographies is also included that features every person that was interviewed or referenced from the four towns plus other participants who were interviewed, they are broken down into five sections and include: Mobile, Alabama: - Maurice Bell, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Glenn Frazier, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Tom Galloway, which includes 2 text pages of information. - John Gray, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Herndon Inge, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Dwain Luce, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Clyde Odum, which includes 1 text page of information. - Emma Belle Petcher, which includes 1 text page of information. - Katherine Phillips, which includes 1 text page of information. - Sidney Phillips, which includes 1 text page of information. - Ray Pittman, which includes 1 text page of information. - Willie Rushton, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Eugene B. Sledge, which includes 2 text pages of information. Sacramento, California: - Earl Burke, which includes 1 text page of information. - Barbara Covington, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Jeroline Green, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Robert Kashiwagi, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Burnett Miller, which includes 1 text page of information. - William Perkins, which includes 1 text page of information. - Susumu Satow, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Harry Schmid, which includes 1 text page of information. - Dolores Silva, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Walter Thompson, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Asako Tokuno, which includes 1 text page of information. - Tim Tokuno, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Sascha Weinzheimer, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Burt Wilson, which includes 1 text page of information. Waterbury, Connecticut: - Tom & Olga Ciarlo, which includes 1 text page of information. - Anne DeVico, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Leo Goldberg, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Raymond Leopold, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Joesph Vaghi, which includes 2 text pages of information. Luverne, Minnesota: - Quentin Aanenson, which includes 1 text page of information. - Charles Mann, which includes 1 text page of information. - Al McIntosh, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Jim Sherman, which includes 1 text page of information. Others: - Peter Arias, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Ward Chamberlin, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Joe Medicine Crow, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Walter Ehlers, which includes 2 text pages of information. - John Hope Franklin, which includes 1 text page of information. - Paul Fussell, which includes 1 text page of information. - Jackie Greer, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Sam Hynes, which includes 1 text page of information. - Daniel Inouye, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Bill Lansford, which includes 2 text pages of information. - Emily Lewis, which includes 1 text page of information. Also on the disc are some educational resources that include a video message from Ken Burns which runs for 1 minute 12 seconds telling us what resources can be found on these discs. By putting the disc into your PC you can access DVD-ROM content that includes: - Episode descriptions - The Veterans History Project Field Guide - PBS.org weblinks Rounding out the extras on this disc are some photo credits which run for 3 pages. DISC THREE: Included on this disc is an audio commentary on the fourth episode from directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. This is basically a continuation of the previous track in the sense that they do cover some of the same ground but specific to this episode, they look at the cinematography, story elements and the changing tone of the series as it progresses as well as the various interview participants and the helpful nature of the people of the towns in which they visited for filming among other things such as the composition of the music capturing the vibes of the different towns as well as production stories. Also on the disc are some educational resources that include a video message from Ken Burns which runs for 1 minute 12 seconds telling us what resources can be found on these discs. By putting the disc into your PC you can access DVD-ROM content that includes: - Episode descriptions - The Veterans History Project Field Guide - PBS.org weblinks Rounding out the extras on this disc are some photo credits which run for 3 pages. DISC SIX: The first extras on this disc are a collection of 17 deleted scenes which can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' function, they include: - "War Correspondents" which runs for 4 minutes 10 seconds and takes a look at the journalists covering the war and delivering patriotic upbeat accounts, which was not what was actually happening. - "Attacks on Aachen and Metz" runs for 57 seconds and takes a look at the 7th Army stalling and the 3rd Army taking Metz and the Northern assault. - "Flies" runs for 43 seconds, Eugene Sledge's letter on the gathering of flies and the intensity of them. - "Al McIntosh on Sacrifice" runs for 59 seconds, a newspaper segment on what Al McIntosh thought was sacrifice and the many casualties of war. - "Sid Phillips Writes Home" runs for 3 minutes 2 seconds, a couple of letters home are read. - "Order 9066" runs for 2 minutes 17 seconds, looks at the order in which interned a lot of Japanese from the West Coast. - "Breaking Out of the Hedgerows" runs for 1 minute 7 seconds, on the air corps helping the men on the ground and getting around the hedgerows which proved an obstacle to the Americans. - "War Town" runs for 10 minutes 36 seconds, the complete news reel clip of the various booming war towns. - "Wax Works" runs for 1 minute 2 seconds, a recounting of an explosion going of near a medic and what it resembled. - "Jim Thomas Dies" runs for 1 minute 40 seconds, on how Captain Thomas died in a daytime raid and how that affected Ray Leopold. - "Fussell Kills" runs for 1 minute 7 seconds, Fussell recounts the first time he killed someone on the front. - "The Old Country" runs for 57 seconds, a recounting of how the boys never thought of any danger coming to the United States and referring to Europe as 'the old country'. - "Operation Cobra" runs for 7 minutes 30 seconds, takes a look at the aerial attack on the French front at Saint Lo and its outcome. - "Sam Hynes on Okinawa" runs for 2 minutes 2 seconds, a look at the missions Sam undertook and the souvenir that a solider kept. - "Inouye's Lucky Dollar" runs for 51 seconds, on Daniel's lucky silver dollar and on the day it was lost he got shot. - "Returning Fathers" runs for 1 minute 14 seconds, on the returning fathers to kids they hadn't seen in many years or returning to kids they hadn't seen at all until that moment. - "Sascha Comes Home" runs for 3 minutes 36 seconds, Sascha recounts the journey home and being Stateside again after the grueling time spent in the Philippines. Following that are a series of 14 additional interviews, in these interviews the participants recount moments during the war, these clips were likely not used for time reason or they included material the filmmaker indented to communicate with narration, stock footage or photographs. These interviews can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' function and include: - Quentin Aanenson which runs for 3 minutes 48 seconds. - Asako Tokuno which runs for 2 minutes 10 seconds. - Barbara Covington which runs for 2 minutes 57 seconds. - Joe Medicine Crow which runs for 6 minutes 12 seconds. - Paul Fussell which runs for 4 minutes 55 seconds. - Tom Galloway which runs for 3 minutes 31 seconds. - John Gray which runs for 2 minutes 4 seconds. - Sam Hynes which runs for 9 minutes 53 seconds. - Daniel Inouye which runs for 3 minutes 18 seconds. - Sascha Weinzheimer which runs for 44 seconds. - Jim Sherman which runs for 6 minutes 14 seconds. - Burnett Miller which runs for 3 minutes 48 seconds. - Bill Lansford which runs for 2 minutes 48 seconds. - Katherine Phillips which runs for 3 minutes. Also on the disc are some educational resources that include a video message from Ken Burns which runs for 1 minute 12 seconds telling us what resources can be found on these discs. By putting the disc into your PC you can access DVD-ROM content that includes: - Episode descriptions - The Veterans History Project Field Guide - PBS.org weblinks Rounding out the extras on this disc are some photo credits which run for 3 pages.
Packaging
This 6-disc DVD box set is packaged in a digi-stack case that is housed in a deluxe heavy cardboard case.
Overall
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