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100 Years of WWI: 2-Disc Anniversary Set
R1 - America - Lions Gate Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (22nd July 2014). |
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The Show
 On June 28, 1914, 19 year old Gavrilo Princip, a Yugoslav nationalist and member of what became the Young Bosnia movement, conspired with five others to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir-apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne. One shot of Princip’s pistol—two shots technically, with the second killing the archduke’s wife, Duchess Sophie von Hohenberg—forever altered the geopolitical landscape of Europe. The bullets, both fired at close range, might as well have been pointed directly at the Powder Keg, blowing apart the battle-bloodied Balkans and the rest of Europe with it. The assassination was merely more fuel pooling around a fuse long left burning; explosive declarations, first an ultimatum and then an act of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and eventually their various allies, inadvertently led the what many historians consider the first modern war. In short order, countries pledged their allegiances. What was initially an aggressive internal tiff between imperial and independent forces became a full-fledged fight for the continent. The German monarchy chose to support their closest, and equally monarchal neighbor, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, the British Empire, France, and Russia sided with the Serbs. As smaller and smaller city-states entered the fray on both sides, the world saw its first Total War in a 20th Century context; mechanized, merciless, and woefully murderous. The assassination of the Archduke may have been the inciting incident, but World War I, in its day called the Great War—and, in what proved to be a woefully optimistic labelling disproved not even two decades later, “the war to end war”—officially started one month later, on July 28, with the Austro-Hungarian advance on Serbia, and the mobilization of Russian forces to fend off that aggressive act. In the aftermath, just 4 years later, a quartet of towering empires had fallen; sections of Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the globe were dissected and economically devastated in such a way as to unknowingly set the the stage for an even deadlier, world-wrapping, dust-up. Although there are of course more than a handful of films and novels that place World War I either in the foreground or use it as a backdrop, the conflict seems somewhat underrepresented in media, at least compared to the compete saturation of subjects set during World War II and other succeeding military actions. World War I is decidedly not as “forgotten” a war as Korea, but even in most academic settings—some specialized, University-level courses aside—The First World War is most often discussed, briefly, as pretext to the Second World War. The few-and-far between nature of the First World War on film can be explained away by the fact that the stagnancy of tech warfare and lengthy stalemate is ostensibly less dramatic than the vast, dynamic nature of WWII, at least in the context of the actual conflict itself. In Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms", set on the Italian Front, the war is a backdrop to a greater love story of loss, and indeed represents not just World War I, but all wars. Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" (1957), and the Humphrey Cobb novel and stage play on which it is based, is again not really concerned with the war itself, but a blurring and suicidally cyclical battle in which the characters choose not to fight. Most of "Glory" takes place in a military courtroom and makeshift prison cells, while a few soldiers are tried for mutiny, their eventual execution an oppressive example of what happens when men do not follow orders. There's also the simple fact the politics behind WWI are much more muddled, and clear distinctions between heroes and villains not as easily compartmentalized when directly compared to the easily recognized, almost transparently evil, Axis powers of World War II. The smaller archive of reference film footage—certainly not as comprehensive a catalogue as is available for WWII, where film crews, and occasionally genuine Hollywood filmmakers, were embedded with troops, and soldiers often carried their own, compact 8mm and 16mm cameras to capture so much—makes documentaries more difficult to create without recreations, and the lack of surviving soldiers to sit down for interviews either overlooked before it was too late, or unwilling to speak. There are other reasons, surely; especially when it comes to academia. In American institutions, WWI is fleetingly covered, focused towards the years 1917-18, when the United States military was most actively involved, with usually only a passing reference to pervasive isolationism that preceded those years. And even then, coverage is mostly colored by the red-and-blue tinted glasses of prideful American patriotism, playing into the America-as-Savior stereotype that sprung up with the comparative collapse of many other world powers in the Post-War climate of the 1950s and beyond. On the eve of the centennial of the first battle of the First World War, Lionsgate and A&E Network’s “100 Years of WWI” 2-disc DVD collection attempts to right some past wrongs, and at least tries to contextualize the conflict to a greater degree than ever before, out of the shadow of WWII, perhaps trying to cast the later conflict in a different light. It’s fitfully successful, although equally flawed in concept and execution. The “Anniversary Set” compiles History Channel specials, including the all-new documentary miniseries “History of WWI: The First Modern War”, which makes its debut on DVD before the initial History Channel broadcast, an episode of “Modern Marvels”, an episode of “Dogfights”, and an episode of “Man Moment Machine”, respectively. The first disc is dedicated to the “First Modern War” miniseries, itself segmented into 4 parts, while a second disc houses the older specials that explore many of the same topics with less impressive production values. For the sake of clarity, I’ll discuss each special individually, below. The centerpiece of “100 Years of WWI” is the all-new “History of WWI: The First Modern War”. A 4-part miniseries produced in 2014, in many ways "The First Modern War" is a fascinating documentary, although not always for the reasons that it probably should be. Produced by a US cable network for an American audience, the series is decidedly US-centric, which is especially problematic for a predominantly European conflict. The nation’s isolationist policies are glossed over and a rather amusing, wrong-headed, case of savior complex closes out the final acts in some segments. Still, rough edges and all, there’s plenty of information regarding the technological breakthroughs that radically altered the landscape of modern warfare, and the impact many of these innovations had—for better or worse—on World War I and the new landscape, which had its map redrawn in the aftermath. Occasionally illuminating, but with the same caveats I’ve mentioned in many other reviews of History Channel—or similar—documentaries in that the presentation, designed to appeal to a not-necessarily-well-versed audience, is often merely cursory, without much depth. The constant fade out/fade ins and recaps at each regularly scheduled would-be ad-break are also quite annoying, as each one seems to come just as a topic begins to delve deeper into the subject. There’s not much that can be done, as basic cable is an advertising-driven business, but the restrictive confines of the format make viewing a little more repetitious than would be possible on a pay-cable or, donation-based, public access net free to air more cohesive series without commercial breaks. The 4 episodes of “History of WWI: The First Modern War” are as follows: - “Armored Beasts”—The first armored tanks put into use in a modern war context, the rhombus-shaped British Mark series—the steel-bellied beast seen in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989)—failed miserably in their first battle, at Somme, and were also death-traps, in which the engine, exposed to the occupants, pumped noxious exhaust directly into the cabin and nearly killed them. In this episode, various historians, military advisers, and tank enthusiasts discuss the flaws of the early tanks, and how later variants were more successful, especially as the maneuverability of tread-based-transport through barb-wired no-mans-land became easier, and almost ended the stalemate brought on by trench combat. Runtime: 44 minutes 13 seconds. - “Clouds of Death”—World War I is often cited as the first instance of chemical warfare; and one of the only times Western forces used such tactics against either other. The development of debilitating chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas is rather tellingly, in this throughly modern take on the topic, attempts to categorize the chemicals as the first WMD's, and rather downplays moral implications, almost excusing them with a mention that both sides were equally guilty and gases were not used on the battlefields of the Second World War. Runtime: 44 minutes 15 seconds. - “Massive Air Attacks”—The daily Zeppelin attacks on London in the latter days of World War I, and the British defences—anti-aircraft artillery and the dodgy dogfights in the skies—get the main focus of what might be the best, at the very least most interesting, episode in the series. The various examples of escalation, as the machine guns of the British planes improved and took down bigger and bigger airships, which eventually led to the development and deployment of the first dedicated bombers by Germans, are particularly fascinating. Runtime: 44 minutes 15 seconds. - “Underwater Killers”—the final episode is a submarine-centric segment. It focuses not just on how the introduction of modern, electric-diesel subs changed naval warfare forever, but how surprise German U-Boat attacks on the Allies seafaring vessels, both military and civilian alike, played into the reversal of American Isolationist policy. Runtime: 44 minutes 15 seconds. “History of WWI: The First Modern War” grade: B- The second disc of “100 Years of WWI” includes 3 additional, one-off, specials focused on various technological advances, battles, and key moments in the Great War. All 3 are limited by their low-def visuals, hokey production values, and frustratingly limited scope. - “Modern Marvels: World War I Tech”—This episode of the long-running History Channel series “Modern Marvels”, from 2004, is the best of the vintage specials. It explores the confluence of weaponry and other technology born out of the second industrial revolution, and how the armored tank, machine gun, chemical warfare, and the submarine shaped the battlefields, tactics, and eventual outcome of World War I. Runtime: 44 minutes 33 seconds “Modern Marvels: World War I Tech” grade: B- - “Dogfights: The First Dogfighters”—This episode of “Dogfights”, a middling program often too reliant on absolutely awful, Microsoft Flight Simulator quality CGI, from 2007, focuses on the introduction of aerial combat in the modern military setting, namely the tactics developed by pilots of the dangerous rattletraps in use during the war, and the key conflicts between pilots on both sides which occasionally played a bigger role in the outcome of WWI. Runtime: 44 minutes 38 seconds “Dogfights: The First Dogfighters” grade: C - “Man Moment Machine: The Red Baron and the Wings of Death”—This episode of “Man Moment Machine”, from 2006, focuses on Baron Manfred von Richtofen, the infamous and ruthless ace pilot of the German army air service nicknamed The Red Baron. Equal focus is given to his Albatross aircraft alongside the development of the British Sopwith Triplane, and later the Sopwith Camel. Soap opera quality quality reenactments almost ruin an otherwise solid documentary. Runtime: 44 minutes 32 seconds. “Man Moment Machine: The Red Baron and the Wings of Death” grade: C+
Video
Aside from its HD-friendly framing, the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer of “History of WWI: The First Modern War” attempts to emulate essentially ancient reference films shot between 1914-1918. Almost everything is completely tinted sepia, with excessive vignetting and added damage and debris to even computer simulations. On the plus side, many of the recreations are so spectacularly processed that the sketchy CGI maps and iffy re-enactments of battles almost seamlessly integrate with the infrequent footage of the real thing. Modern interviews, with historians and military specialists, have more natural colors, without the sepia-tint, and are reasonably sharp, with nary an issue not relating back to the limitations of the DVD format. “History of WWI: The First Modern War” grade: B- The programs on disc two are much worse for wear, at the mercy of their surprising dated sources. “Modern Marvels: World War I Tech” is presented in 1.33:1; “Dogfights: The First Dogfighters” is encoded in non-anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen, picture-boxed within the center of the frame; “Man Moment Machine: The Red Baron and the Wings of Death” returns the vintage specials to 1.33:1. All 3 specials are of similar quality. Tattered black and white film contemporary to the war, now approaching its centennial, is pretty ragged looking. Newer, although now hardly “new”, interviews with historians and military experts shot a decade ago on standard def videotape are intermixed with recreations of battles, maps, and other visual cues reliant on absolutely atrocious turn-of-the-millennium cable-quality CG. The CG is plagued by aliasing, banding, blocking, and minimal texturing. All 3 specials looks pretty similar, and awful Vintage specials grade: C-
Audio
Across the board, all 4 programs feature serviceable, and quite similar, English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mixes. Clear and clean interviews with historians and military advisers are sporadically peppered with throaty, faux-movie-trailer-guy narration and some silly added foley effects to pump up the otherwise anemic soundtrack. There are no major issues, like hiss, pops or crackle, as the vintage footage was originally silent, and fake though it is, a thunderous tank or an exploding bomb occasionally adds a little oomph to an otherwise quiet, straightforward, affair. No subtitles are included. All grades: C
Extras
All press materials, including the key art and packaging of “100 Years of WWI” consider the three specials on disc two part of the package-proper and thus, technically, not extras. I’ll follow that logic. For the record, while the second disc is preview free, disc one includes the following pre-menu bonus trailers for: - “Big History” on Blu-ray and DVD (1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen; 1 minute 1 seconds). - “The Men Who Built America” on Blu-ray and DVD (1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen; 1 minute 2 seconds). - “Ancient Aliens” on DVD (1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen; 1 minute 1 seconds).
Packaging
Lionsgate Home Entertainment, distributing for A&E Networks and The History Channel, package the 2-disc anniversary set “100 Years of WWI" in an eco keep case.
Overall
“100 Years of WWI” is a mixed bag, although at the same time earns accolades for offering even a cursory history of a conflict largely overshadowed by an even greater, certainly more easily compartmentalized, war that erupted two decades later. Repletion is the real issue here, as the second disc, comprised of older, largely inferior, documentaries is made almost entirely superfluous by the “History of WWI: The First Modern War” miniseries on disc one, which covers many of the same topics with better production values. The video quality is erratic—the newer miniseries attempts to emulate ancient reference film, almost completely tinted sepia, while the older pieces are dated by iffy CG effects and low-def mastering. Stereo audio is serviceable across the board. The DVD is worth a look almost solely for the new “History of WWI” miniseries; otherwise, it's unimpressive. Where applicable, scores below are averages.
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