The World at War - The Ultimate Restored Edition [2010]

I have binge-watched 20 of the 26 episodes and whilst much TV from the 70s - even what you remember fondly - has dated quite badly, this documentary remains masterful. You just keep wanting to see the next episode. The simple bringing together of archive footage, the key people who were there just being allowed to talk, and Olivier's considered but compelling narration, does not look its 43 years. The range - truly global - reflects and emphasises the global nature of the war. Plus the focus on the military reminds you how extraordinarily difficult a lot of it was to pull off (on both sides). And how cruel and random war can be. Meanwhile for those of us watching in 2016 when this is now really really history it's amazing to see so many of the key players talk - Doenitz and Speer and Himmler's chief of staff and Hitler's secretary, Eden, Harris, Mountbatten, Rab Butler. Not to mention ordinary people and Auschwitz survivors. Of all the people interviewed I think only one is still alive, Vera Lynn and she's 99. There are also innovations that you still see today - an introduction before the opening titles, freeze framing the last frame for the run out, the use of music generally. Ironically it was all harder to watch originally as it was first shown through the difficult winter of 1973-74 with the 3 day week and regular power cuts. In terms of quality, I have the DVD, it's a bit grainy but as good as it could be, a great restoration. As for the much debated cropping issue, maybe it's worse on the Bluray but I don't get it. I suppose having read the reviews there is a minor cropping at top and bottom but I don't see sections of heads cut off. Watching it full screen on my 42" screen is an immersive experience that it just wouldn't be if in original format with sides in black (like Brideshead that I rewatched recently) and even though I'd read the reviews before I bought I just haven't noticed it as I've watched. Maybe it would be different if I could remember watching it originally when it came out (when I was 9) but I don't think I saw much of it then. One final note - for anyone who grew up with ITV in the 70s the start of each episode with the Thames TV logo and short jingle is a little kick of nostalgia every time. I keep expecting the Magpie theme tune to come next.

This is fantastic. Records what happened in the war in a detailed way.

Fabulous history of WWII. Great narration by Lawrence Olivier (for those of use old enough to remember him). Recommend this item.

I bought this product at the recommendation of former college tutor after discussing the lack of quality documentation on television (this was the pre-BBC Blue Planet days). The World at War begins at the circumstances leading to the outbreak of the Second World War, and takes you right to the very end. Explaining in detail (as much as a TV documentary can) not only the events of the time, but the causes and effects of the actions, and how with very little movement either way the world could be a much different place today. As well as the hours of core documentary, there are several other feature episodes on the discs covering events such as the Holocaust, and the lead up to Germany re-arming for war. There are also many bonus features on each episode to look through if you're a bit of a geek for these things like me. Other points: - The people that are interviewed in the series are the one thing that makes this series. 95% of the interviewees will be now pass away, so compared to modern documentary, its a real eye opener. Cabinet ministers from both sides, famous figures such as Karl Donitz and so forth. It really helps to immerse you in the footage. - What you get with this product, are hours, and hours of quality documentary narrated by the superb Laurence Olivier. In my opinion his narration really helps to make the series what it is. I somehow found myself more enthralled listening to his voice over the action on screen. - One negative in my view, is the menu system on the DVD navigation. Compared to more modern box sets its not easy to get around and looks dated. Saying that, this isnt a new series and if you can live with it thats only a minor issue. All in all, an epic series, and I think one which in the future will still continue to be held up as a definitive documentary.

Everyone who recognises great documentary film making and acknowledges landmark TV productions should have ‘The World at War’ in their DVD collection. It’s unfortunate that Amazon has chosen to lump together all reviews of the various releases of this seminal 1970s Thames TV documentary series, as it’s now more difficult for prospective buyers to sort wheat from chaff and compare the often radically different editions. The 2010 ‘Ultimate restored 40th Anniversary’ blu-ray release from Fremantle is the subject of this review. Great claims are made about the improvements in image and sound quality. At the same time the decision to change the aspect ratio from the original 4:3 (the shape of 1970s TV screens) to 16:9 (to fit 21st century widescreen TVs) is widely slated by purists, and they definitely have a point - more on this later. Fremantle invested a lot of time and expertise in the restoration, and if you watch the original TV series and compare it with this new edition then you have to say the effort was worth it. The decision to return to the original archive film and work from that, rather than from the 1970s TV tapes was the right one. Most of the 1940s colour film – where used – looks spectacularly better after the skilful 21st century restoration than in the series as broadcast in the 1970s. Brightness is improved, scratches on the archive film have disappeared, flicker smoothed out. The numerous interviews with people such as Karl Donitz, Albert Speer and other luminaries from Germany, Britain, France, Russia, Japan and the US which brought such authority to the series - as well as those ordinary citizens involved in these events - have also been refreshed with skilled use of modern digital technology and are all the better for it. The sound is also improved on the blu-ray: even without external speakers to exploit the excellent 5.1 DTS surround sound, the difference is noticeable. The menus may be brought up at any time whilst the disks are running, the graphics easy-on-the-eye and navigation even when you drill down to the sub-menus is effortless. Moreover the disks may be paused for hours or even switched off if your viewing is interrupted, and pick up right where you left off. As extras you get the three 1-hour programs about Germany under Hitler rarely broadcast or seen after the original TV screening in the 1970s, and a 2-part documentary telling the story of ‘The Final Solution’ including some illuminating insights into the cult of the SS, and an extensive face-to-camera interview with Himmler’s deputy Karl Wolf. You get the full-length interviews with Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, historian Stephen Ambrose, Vannevar Bush and others of which only snippets were used in the 26 episodes. There are long features on the making of the series by Jeremy Isaacs and his team, on the theme music by Carl Davis, on the precise techniques used by the restoration team. There’s also some astounding combat footage excluded from the 26 episodes; all absorbing stuff and well worth watching, though most of this material does not include Laurence Olivier’s epic voiceover-narration. On the subject of the much criticised 16:9 aspect ratio, I would make the following observations. Most of what is cropped from the top and bottom of the images to reduce the 4:3 film to the more letterbox-shaped 16:9 you don’t miss: empty sky or ground cropped from the battle images, for example, actually improves the result as it focuses the eyes more on the important stuff going on in the middle, and particularly where the film has been restored and improved the result is great. Where the cropped images irritate most is during the interviews: the ID of the interviewee was permanently scored onto the original film in white lettering at the foot of the frame so must be visible to the viewer, which leaves only the top to suffer the cropping. I frankly think Fremantle might have done a better job with this: the number of interviewees with the top part of the head cropped off really is annoying, and one can’t help but feel the overall result might have been better if the interviews had been in some cases retained in their 4:3 format, with black borders to the side of the screen just for the interview segment. The restorers claim the entire original 4:3 films were restored first and edit-cropped to 16:9 later, so is it too much to ask for a release offering each episode in both aspect ratios? With blu-ray surely this would be possible, and at little extra cost. So in summary, Fremantle has done a fine job with this enduring and important epic. Leaving the minor irritant of the cropping of talking-head interviewees to one side, overall this is probably the best edition of TWaW you can buy. Almost everything is significantly improved and if the restored episodes were also made available in their original 4:3 aspect in the same package, it would be perfect.

IMO Excellent purchase, every home should have one

There is no better TV documentary telling the extraordinary story of the Second World War like this Thames Television production from 1973. It has for so long been a regular feature on our TV screens that surely just about everybody in Britain with access to a television must have least watched a couple of episodes in their lifetimes. In time I bought `The World at War' with its stunning musical introduction feature, all on DVD. However, the clumsy menu was so off-putting when trying to find a particular episode on its particular disc that I tended to put it all to one side, and watch the broadcasts instead. Seeing that this prized compilation had been revivified and Blu-rayed at a reasonable price, I thought I should send for it. I read a number of reviews that were mostly favourable with some concerns expressed about the film clips being cropped from 4:3 to match the current video aspect of the 16:9 of our flat screen TV's. Personally, I don't find this too off-putting: Close-ups become really close up, but distance shots of battles etc. are quite acceptable to this viewer. More positively, the images are much sharper, the colours more vibrant, and the sounds vastly improved. The menu is much more logical and user friendlier than before, as a welcome bonus. I'm glad I bought this wonderful series in this updated form, and would heartily recommend it to history buffs and army barmy nuts everywhere.

FAB DVD BOX SET. REALLY GOOD DVDS OF THE 2ND WORLD WAR. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ARRIVED SAFELY AND ON TIME.THANK YOU.

Fascinating and detailed account of the war.

Best WW2 documentary ever produced!

always loved this series from the time I watched it with my dad when it 1st aired on TV, so just had to have the complete set for myself to show in part {to my kids} what their grand-dad / great-grand-dad did during the war. This is a series I think the schools boards should be showing to todays youth since it is actual footage and interviews with the people who lived this horrible tragedy and it can't PROPERLY be described in any text book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

brilliant series - excellent update . compulsive viewing

Documento histórico imprescindible, uno de los mejores documentales sobre la II Guerra Mundial jamás creados. Audio en inglés y subtítulos solo en inglés. Una lástima la decisión de la distribuidora en aumentar el tamaño del encuadre para convertirlo en panorámico.