The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

An epic documentary by Ken Burns about four towns in America and the people that served in the armed forces as well as town folks that were effected by World War II. Actual photos and films of the time and events display the effects at home and abroad of this hugh world undertaking. The music is memorizing and emotional that blend with every scene that you'll never forget. A must see by all that should give one a aspect of what war is all about and how everyone pulled together to rid the world of oppression and tierney. Well done to Ken Burns and Lynn Novick for a very well done documentary.

I've watched Russian documentary on the war just days before watching this, and "THE WAR" is so uninformative, bleak and boring in comparison, that I can't give it anything more than one star, and even that I think is too much. I mean the movie is good if you want to pump yourself up on "I'm proud to be an American", but if you're looking for information about the events during the war and all behind the scene US-Britain plots "let them (Germany/USSR) destroy each other", how America helped build up German war machine, not realizing that it will be our future enemy (we Americans love to do that) or that US and Britain really got involved in the war when and only after it became clear that Germany has lost the war to USSR. Even our Lend-Lease program is laughable in a sense that USSR, which accounts for roughly over 3/4 of all German losses were given only 1/5th of the Lend-Lease help (which in today's money would roughly be the cost of 1 year of war in Iraq).
Bottom line, if you want to get information on the war, you'll have to look somewhere else, I was extremely disappointed by this film.

These movies are just amazing, the effort to document the war is just impressive, the stories are real, sad, happy at times, very educational. highly recommend, you need time to watch them, for 7 hours..

Too many times, historical documentaries of World War II (or any war for that matter) focus way too much on the technical aspects of the event, such as where battles took place, what the military strategies were, and how many were killed. Instead of taking this tact, master historian/filmmaker Ken Burns chooses to focus on the stories of a few individuals (and their families/friends) who participated in the war.

Now, don't get me wrong...Burns also does enough historical recapping to satisfy a viewer who has no idea what happened (trust me, these people do exist!). However, Burns masterfully blends that information with the touching stories of individuals who did the "dirty work" of the war.

As a result, this documentary works on both the micro and macro levels of filmmaking. On one hand, it chronicles the United States' participation in the war...it is especially interesting to see the blatant racism against blacks and Japanese citizens, as well as the helpful attitude U.S. citizens had towards the war effort (very much unlike contemporary wars). On the other hand, it probes the brittle human psyche that is created in the aftermath of war, as humans who are raised to never take a life must adopt an entirely new frame of mind while in combat.

Overall, this film was the best World War II documentary I have ever seen. By combining the "big picture" of the war effort (complete with simple graphics and illustrations) with the heartwarming (or heartbreaking) individual stories of its participants (I was close to tears on more than a few occasions), Ken Burns created a realistic tapestry of the effects the war had on every citizen. It is so genuine that I almost felt guilty sending it to my grandfather, a WW2 veteran, as I was afraid it would drudge up too many painful memories for him.

Thank You for sending the copy of "THE WAR" a PBS special. It was informative and well done. 5 stars