Tl;dr-Decent coverage of Europe, great footage, some serious, head- scratching errors made in the already sparse coverage of the PacificOverall, a decent coverage of the high points of the war, especially in Europe, though it is by no means unbiased as some have suggested. The footage is great, with a good deal of it either not ever seen or rarely seen before. The color, while it can be a bit jarring since the originals were black and white, I think adds a sense of realness, that this horrible thing we call World War II actually happened in our world, and not in some other, colorless alternate universe. I watched the English version narrated by Martin Sheen on Netflix.I did learn some interesting things about the war in Europe, especially about some of the events that happened in France and with the Free French Forces (which makes sense for a French documentary). But this is far from the best WWII documentary ever.My main complaint is it's treatment of the war in the Pacific. Not just because it is so short (though it is, nothing is mentioned of the Pacific until the end of episode three of a six part series), but because of blatant factual errors made in both the text appearing on screen and in the narrative (and also because I tend to gravitate towards the Pacific theater, being the son of a naval aviator). The two biggest that jumped out at me were first, when discussing the Battle of Midway, as the narrator begins talking about the Japanese launching their strike on Midway, on the screen "June 7th, 1942" flashes in big, white letters, while the actual assault on Midway began on June 3rd (Midway time). The episode also gets some of the sequence of events during the course of the battle wrong, but these errors are less noticeable.Second, was in discussing the Guadalcanal campaign, the narrator refers the the first planes to land on Henderson Field as "the Black Sheep Squadron," while the assortment of Allied aircraft operating from Henderson field during the early parts of the battle for Guadalcanal were actually known as the "Cactus Air Force." While the VMF-214 Black Sheep were indeed a squadron that fought in the Solomon's Campaign, and even flew out of Guadalcanal for a short time (though they mostly flew out of airfields on other islands), they were not even formed until over a year after the original landings on Guadalcanal. These are errors that could have been easily corrected by consulting with a historian of the Pacific war (or even with an amateur history buff with an interest in that theater). Why this simple step was not taken by an obviously professional group of documentary filmmakers is beyond me.

The Polish campaign of September 1939 counted fifteen significant cavalry actions Two were pure fast cavalry charges with spears and sabers, others were fought on foot. The Poles claimed twelve victories, including successful breakout attempts. The most striking Battle of Mokra pitted the Wołyńska Cavalry Brigade headlong against the 4th Panzer Division with 295 tanks. The Poles repelled waves of tank and infantry attacks for two days, giving the Germans "a bloody drubbing". although ,when in defensive position,polish cavalry,would fight dismounted,numerous charge where made against panzer,and,motorized unit,which themselves were taken by surprise,therefore ,fighting as infantry.

I take exception to the statements that this is the greatest WW2 documentary ever made. It's a fairly standard history from a French viewpoint, with the additional gimmick of being colorized. Yes, colorized, not "restored," as the original was never in color in the first place. Some of the footage is new, but most has appeared in previous documentaries.Black & white footage is not easily colorized, and can often appear fake, even surrealistic. So, while it sometimes works, making certain scenes more vivid and realistic, it often works counter to its purpose.Much of the new footage has not appeared previously for a reason: it is extremely disturbing. Dead and decaying bodies abound. This is a war documentary and so is perfectly appropriate, but I would not allow small children to watch.The commentary avoids controversy by being rather simplistic. WW2 Buffs will learn nothing new. I was impressed however, by the statement in one of the episodes, that the French communists didn't begin resisting the German occupation until after the invasion of the Soviet Union, a full year after the fall of France. This statement of course is absolutely true, but it couldn't have made the French leftists very happy.In all, I would recommend this to WW2 and modern history buffs, only for the new footage, and to see what can and can't be done with colorization. However, for general viewers looking for a solid introduction to the war, I would recommend "World at War." For those sad souls who cannot watch b&w footage, there are series for the US, Great Britain, Japan and the Anzacs, all showing original, not colorized, color footage.

"Perfection is rare to find" is the favourite phrase of an aesthetic surgeon. This is just it.The text is superb. Informative, NEUTRAL, without concessions for any party, and with a subtler enough message of hope. The images are really unbelievable. Also unusual. If you think you've seen them all and docus on wars bore you, think again. Kassovitz's voice is just what's needed for the job: enthusiastic and yet dry enough so you get "just the facts". If you ever look for a good music equipments, when you read reviews you'll find that one of the best compliments writers do is: "doesn't get in between you and the music". You don't "notice" the direction, editor, the "author" who made this monumental work. Even with touchy topics like the Holocaust, they just deliver the facts. Their involvement is obvious, but they always give us the facts first. Whether you are cramming for a general education examination or if you want to be a bit less ignorant on probably the most relevant topic of the XX century, you'll find no better documentary. Engaging, painful to watch at times, showing us the consequences on the peasants and the "little people" as well as the general's feats and whims, this saga strikes the right balance at everything. From the Blitzkreig to the V2, from Normandie to the unlikely allies the Nazis got from the dominated Slav countries (and how they mistreated them for "not being Aryan", everything is here, and more. Even Hitler's madness. Just one example: him calling Churchill and Roosevelt "jewizizing" after another military setback. Surely history is staggering enough: the Islamists were one of the unlikely willful allies of the Nazis, "combating the common Zionist enemy".Words are not enough to describe the "thirst for nothingness" Hitler saw on the world, Japanese's pride, American altruism, British flame, the French way of failing so much, for so long, Italian's mistrust of government, Soviet power and blindness, German efficiency in devising the cruelest weapon (i.e. the mines with a "click") as the Berliner. performing yet another perfect rehearsal. If there's just one thing I'd have liked is less bias for the tiniest "heroic French action" completely irrelevant for the course of the war, and absent from any history manuals. Time being a scarce resource, it'd been useful to cover a bit more of the Pacific front, barely mentioned. It's also a bit Eurocentric in scope, but I suppose that's the price to pay. Nobody is perfect after all :(.Whatever is to be learned from wars must be here. Whatever can be learned is never enough, never too late, never enough. Churchill's famous prose give this documentary two of the most memorable moments, in which it was difficult for me not to cry. People may not learn, again. Yes, a documentary on such hay-necked topic can still do that to you.