Rent The World at War: Series (1974)
4.6 of 5 from 52 ratings
22h 23min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
This is the definitive version of one of the greatest documentary series ever made. Each frame has been painstakingly restored and the audio enhanced and upgraded so that this is the best this award-winning series has ever looked and sounded. Narrated by Laurence Olivier and first broadcast in 1973 when memories of the Second World War were still clear in people's minds and the war's veterans numerous, over 26 episodes this unique series assembled these recollections, together with archive footage, to create one of the most powerful and successful historical documentaries ever seen. The voices of those that fought, worked or watched during the war gave each episode a vivid sense of what it was like to be there and was the hallmark of the series. - Actors:
- Anthony Eden, Averell Harriman, Albert Speer, Siegfried Westphal, J. Lawton Collins, Lawrence Durrell, Toshikazu Kase, Louis Mountbatten, Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, David Belchem, Christabel Bielenberg, Emmi Bonhoeffer, R.A. Butler, Lord Chandos, Francis de Guingand, Adolf Galland, Allan Francis Harding, Hans Kehrl, Koichi Kido, John J. McCloy
- Directors:
- Hugh Raggett, John Pett, David Elstein, Ted Childs, Michael Darlow, Martin Smith
- Producers:
- Jeremy Isaacs, Peter Batty, David Elstein, John Pett, Jerome Kuehl, Ted Childs, Michael Darlow, Martin Smith, Phillip Whitehead, Hugh Raggett, Ben Shepard
- Narrated By:
- Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Jeremy Isaacs
- Writers:
- Neal Ascherson, Peter Batty, Charles Bloomberg, Courtney Browne, Angus Calder, Charles Douglas Home, David Elstein, Anne Frank, Stuart Hood, Jeremy Isaacs, Jerome Kuehl, J.P.W. Mallalieu, Laurence Thompson, David Wheeler, John Williams
- Studio:
- Fremantle
- Genres:
- British TV, TV Documentaries
- Collections:
- Cinema and the First World War, Drama Films & TV
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 20/09/2010
- Run Time:
- 1408 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- Colour and B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- 'Restoring the World at War' - Narrated by Sir Jeremy Isaacs
- 11 Features Including the Making of the Original Series
- Photo Galleries
- Biographies
- Speeches and Songs
- Newsreels and Maps
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
1. A New Germany: 1933 - 1939
2. Distant War: September 1939 - May 1940
3. France Falls: May - June 1940
4. Alone: May 1940 - May 1941
- Special Features - Disc 2:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
5. Barbarossa: June - December 1941
6. Banzai: Japan Strikes: 1931 - 1942
7. On Our Way: USA 1939 - 1942
8. Desert: North Africa - 1940 - 1943
9. Stalingrad: June 1942 - February 1943 - Disc 3:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
10. Wolf Pack: U-Boats in the Atlantic 1939 - 1944
11. Red Star: The Soviet Union - 1941-1943
12. Whirlwind: Bombing Germany: September 1939 - April 1944
13. Tough Old Gut: Italy November 1942 - June 1944
14. It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow: Burma 1942 - 1944 - Disc 4:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
15. Home Fires: Britain 1940 - 1944
16. Inside the Reich: Germany 1940 - 1944
17. Morning: June - August 1944
18. Occupation: Holland 1940 - 1944
19. Pincers: August 1944 - March 1945 - Disc 5:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
20. Genocide: 1941 - 1945
21. Nemesis: Germany February - May 1945
22. Japan: 1941 - 1945
23. Pacific: February 1942 - July 1945
24. The Bomb: February - September 1945 - Disc 6:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
25. Reckoning: 1945 ...and After
26. Remember
27. Secretary to Hitler
28. From War To Peace
29. Warrior
- Special Features - Disc 7:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
30. Hitler's Germany: The People's Community 1933 - 1939
31. Hitler's Germany: Total War 1939 - 1945
32. The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler - Disc 8:
- This disc includes the following episodes:
- The Final Solution (Part 1)
- The Final Solution (Part 2) - Disc 9:
- This disc includes the following:
- Making of the Series
- Experiences of War
- Restoring the 'World at War'
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Reviews (1) of The World at War: Series
Better this than nothing but not the best version. - The World at War: Series review by Other Worlds
There are two versions of World at War that are available on Blu-ray. One that has been converted from the original 4:3 ratio to the now more common 16:9 ratio this has been done by a combination of clipping the original and/or panning and scanning. Whether you like this or not is a personal choice , personally I feel that if a TV series as old as this is still considered significant enough to be transferred to more modern media it should be respected enough to be left alone. This is the version that has been converted to 16:9.
My biggest problem though is with the audio , there are clearly elements to this new 5.1 soundtrack that has been added in the studio and would not have been on the video it accompanies.
The overwhelming majority of the footage taken in the field , or in the street, during WW2 would have been silent. Instead they have added the sounds of horses hooves on roads or truck engines , as appropriate, or most distractingly for me the sounds of peoples voices or snatches of song ( this during the street footage taken during the VE day celebrations in London ). This I do have a problem with.
The other Blu-Ray restoration ( known I believe as the 'Complete' version , rather than this the 'Ultimate' version ) includes the original soundtrack and the "restored 5.1" and retains I believe the original 4:3 picture (this picture has seen some digital restoration). It's a pity this isn't the version that is available here.
The series deserves more than 3 stars , but that audio really bothers me. Also the 'Ultimate' version is supposed to have 9 discs , CP's description says it has 9 discs but they only send out 8 ? Don't know why.
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