Best WWII documentaries

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Gus's comment that he hadn't seen either Victory at Sea or World at War got me thinking about different documentaries that are worth a watch.


World at War  (c'mon Gus.  This is the WWII documentary series.)

Victory at Sea.  (It's ridiculously jingoistic but that actually is part of the charm.)

Battlefield  (Also a little bombastic but I like how they break down each battle or campaign into constituent parts)

History's Raiders  (Lots of good episodes about small unit, commando type stuff)

Warriors of the Night (Not the best production values but probably the most in-depth look at Bomber Command out there.)

[Gusington]

Just bought World at War on Blu Ray.

[DoctorQuest]

I like the earlier Battlefield episodes. Some of the later seasons broke from the original format and seemed to have too much reused stock footage.

An interest take on WWII documentaries is one I picked up concerning Walt Disney's contribution to the war effort. I need to look at the actual title when I get home. Some of the films were for training, some were unabashed propaganda but they were all good.

[Gusington]

^I have the Warner Brothers version of that set. You know, the one with all the great '40s cartoons with all the racist stereotypes that they won't show on TV anymore. I loved those cartoons, even if they were a little 'over the top.'

[BanzaiCat]

I'd argue that the racism inherent in the wartime propaganda was meant to dehumanize the enemy in the eyes of the public. Obviously. The difference between that and overt racism is, it wasn't hatred for hatred's sake, but rather, because they were the enemy, they started a fight, and we aimed to finish it.

A good observation, Gus. I'd also make the same arguments for Speedy Gonzalez - no way in HELL that mouse (or his cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez) would ever be aired on TV.

I watched plenty of Looney Tunes in the 70s, back when none of it was edited, and pretty much memorized them. So much so that in the late 80s/early 90s when PC bullshit started rearing its ugly head in the media, I could tell when they edited a cartoon, and that really pissed me off.

[OJsDad]

I'd argue that the racism inherent in the wartime propaganda was meant to dehumanize the enemy in the eyes of the public. Obviously. The difference between that and overt racism is, it wasn't hatred for hatred's sake, but rather, because they were the enemy, they started a fight, and we aimed to finish it.

You never met my grandmother.  Her fiancé was killed on the Bataan Death March.  Hated the Japanese till the day she died. 

[Gusington]

My Grandfather also had a weird hatred for the Japanese until the day he died. I wonder if he lost a friend in the Pacific...otherwise it doesn't make much sense because he fought in North Africa and Italy...

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

My grandfather died when I was very young and my grandmother got re-married to a Brit who served as a tail gunner in the Royal Navy.  He started out in a Swordfish fighting around Norway and then doing convoy runs to the USSR up around Finland.  He said he was convinced he'd die up there and so volunteered for Far East service because he'd rather die warm  (Japan was spanking the Brits very badly at the time).  He ended up in a Fairey Barracuda and then an Avenger and fought off Okinawa.  After the war, he settled in Australia for a time and was part of the repatriation effort of British POWs. While he didn't like the Japanese much at all, it was the Koreans that he absolutely hated.  They made up the bulk of the enlisted guards from Japanese run POW camps and they were the ones who usually carried out the more brutal atrocities.  Needless to say, he was less than pleased when I went to work in Korea and then Japan.

[BanzaiCat]

I was speaking more to the motivation of Hollywood and government sanctioning those cartoons (not to mention other wartime propaganda), not to what the normal everyday people thought. I'd have felt the exact same way about any enemy that I lose a loved one to fighting.

I guess 'hate for hatred's sake' could be seen as not just someone losing a loved one to the Bataan Death March, but anyone harboring a hate for a particular race because of a life-changing event involving someone from that race. I didn't mean to turn this into a discussion of racism; I just found it interesting is all.

[Shelldrake]

Not a WW2 documentary but I recently picked up WWI: The Complete Story which is 26 episodes and is supposed to have great archival photos and film footage.

[Gusington]

On that note I also got a WWI documentary called The Last Voices that includes inferviews with the last living participants.

[Gusington]

Just watched the first World at War episode posted above (on blu ray). It is shockingly good, if anyone else hasn't seen it.

[besilarius]

Not sure if this is any kind of anthology.  Walter Cronkite narrated a series, "The Twentieth Century" that aired in the 50s and 60s.  The military episodes were well done.  Cronkite's words really gave a great tone and lift to all the stories.

[BanzaiCat]

Just watched the first World at War episode posted above (on blu ray). It is shockingly good, if anyone else hasn't seen it.

The intro sequence to WaW is pretty much the most depressing thing ever, but the narration and production values are pretty good for such an older show. Good to know you like it.  O0

[Gusington]

Hard to beat Laurence Olivier for narration skillz, yo.