Rise & Fall of Third Reich

clear video of the war

Finally, the DVD edition of the superb version of the TNT special that was aired in the early 90s. I did video tape it at the time, but the tape bit the dust a decade ago. This is what I consider to be the granddaddy of the WWII documentaries. Everything about it is outstanding: the narration, the music, the editing. In particular, the music does an excellent job of getting the intended emotion across. I also like the interviews of actual participants scattered throughout. We see former world leaders recounting their experiences, what they felt and what they were thinking, and we also see middle-aged former Nazis repeating their justifications for voting for Hitler and ushering in the Nazi party. We also see interviews with Holocaust survivors regarding their experiences. To me, this DVD was worth every penny. It's head and shoulders above some of the modern "exploitation" knock-off DVDs that are in the $5 bargain bin today.One minor note is that this DVD must be played on a dedicated DVD player. I have a DVD recorder/player, and it won't work on this. It also won't work on some computers. This is a security measure, I suppose, to prevent bootlegging. So you have to have a DVD play-only machine to view this. I haven't tried it on a Blu-ray player, because I don't have one.

Based on the William Shirer's classic book of the same title. And it was my official introduction into Hitler and his nazis when I was a teenager back in the late 1960s. Of course we have many more very good documentaries of this historical period like "The World in Flames" from Thames television, "The Goebbels Experiment" from German television, and the BBC's World War II series, all good. And many more minor ones, but good, like "The Big Battles" from British and Canadian television of the early 1970s. But this one is quite personal for me, and good. There are those who claimed "Hitler and his Nazis" weren't that bad, or try to deny the ugliness of the Holocaust. But the verdict of history is right there for all of us to see. Only blind idiot, or a neonazi, can deny the truth. But they can't. And no, it is not a case of "Allies being bad firebombing Nazi Germany or loving Jews". It is a case of not tolerating evil, wars and genocide in this world. And as George Santayana once said, "those who don't remember the past, are condemned to repeat it". A good documentary, and wish it was in dvd.

The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, a 1968 TV documentary narrated by actor Richard Basehart (who, oddly enough, portrayed the infamous dictator of the Reich in the 1962 film Hitler), is a compelling study of the life of one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century. It is accurate both for it's time and today. Any documentary involving the Nazis or Nazism worth its proverbial salt can only be brutal and Frank. The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich lives up to that standard and thus is not for the faint of heart. If you want some straight goods on one of the most nefarious times in human history, purchase a copy of The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich on DVD today... but ONLY if you have a stomach for brutal, unvarnished truth.

This is the 1968 TV Special narrated by Richard Basehart based on the book of the same name. Another reviewer said this DVD was not this version but a newer British TV show by the same name. He also says he watched it on a network not purchase the DVD, so that review should be deleted as its wrong and people are taking it seriously. I have watched both shows by this name and both are good. The newer show I dont think is based on the book though, it just used that name. The newer show has some pretty good sequences with dramatic music, I enjoyed both shows. This DVD is the 1968 version narrated by Richard Basehart. It's a historic 3 part production, especially for the lowly ABC network of the 1960s. I'm surprised its in B&W for 1968 but I guess they wanted to keep it in one type of film instead or alternating between color and black and white. Narrated by Richard Basehart who also played Hitler in a 1962 American film called "Hitler," which is pretty good but kind of salacious to be taken for real, the ending of that is very different from all the other "Bunker" films.. My only regret on this DVD is there is no closed captioning, too bad Warner didn't provide that. No extras on this disc. 4 of 5 stars, if you want to watch this its available online at a bad resolution or this DVD and no place else.

I remember watching this program in the late 1970s--a (then) independent TV station in St. Louis aired it. I didn't have a video tape recorder then, so I never got to record it. I had never seen it air since, but I was so glad when I found out it was now available on DVD. "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is one of my all-time favorite history books--in fact, one of the books I read when younger that encouraged my interest in history. The documentary series is real interesting. I saw a lot of footage I have not seen in later documentaries on this time, and seeing the interviews (with the likes of Putzi Hanfschtangel and Otto Strasser, plus William L. Shirer's commentary) makes this precious on that count alone. I always liked Richard Basehart's voice in narrating documentaries of this ilk--he really seemed to have a vocal gravitas that worked so well. (The fact Basehart played Adolf Hitler in a 1962 movie didn't hurt.) Thanks, Amazon, for making this program available for purchase.

I thought this was the 2 part series of the same name, which is a much better show, I did however give it a chance. While technically correct, with just a few snippets of wrong information, the main problem with this narrative is it too often explains the rise and fall of the NAZI Third Reich too quickly and very vague terms while spending too much time on irrelevant aspects. Like I said earlier, the 2 part series "The Rise" and then "The Fall of the Third Reich" is a much better program to watch.

A great review of the rise of the third reichBy williamL shirer

Historically accurate! Original film footage, excellent!

The documentary film adaptation of William Shirer's epic history of Nazi Germany. Of course the film doesn't cover anywhere near the detail in the original book. But it includes rare film footage of Hitler and the Nazi's from the early twenties. And Shirer introduces and comments throughout, with Richard Basehart masterfully narrating. If there is a regret, it is that this film needs to be fully digitally restored and remastered, as some of the footage was clearly old when originally inserted into the production and the film print itself is now well past its best. But this is really a great film for Historians and fans of 20th century history.

First seen on Freeview, worth keeping.

Interesting to see how nobodys become ruthless dictators.