Best WWII documentaries

Started by Silent Disapproval Robot, April 13, 2015, 03:18:49 PM

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Centurion40

#15
April 29, 2015, 09:09:04 AM
Quote from: Gusington on April 27, 2015, 08:04:26 AM
Hard to beat Laurence Olivier for narration skillz, yo.

Yup.

Been re-watching it on YouTube.
Any time is a good time for pie.

JasonPratt

#16
May 02, 2015, 04:49:50 PM
World At War is definitely the bomb, and especially helpful in being more globally focused than the majority of docs which are usually US focused.

Personally I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively un-jingostic Victory at Sea was. Especially in its treatment of the start of the Japanese/US side of the fight.

Crusade In Europe and its sequel Crusade in the Pacific are pretty good, too, as an alternative short-episode documentary (like Vic) with naturally more focus on the land operations. CIE is naturally better since it's based on Eisenhower's autobiography (from which it quotes with a sound-alike on a regular basis.) Both suffer (and VaS to a lesser extent) from a narrower focus on the US than WaW, but the archive footage either way dates close to the war.

For an East Front focused documentary, it's going to be hard to beat Russia's War: Blood on the Snow. Worth noting due to its subject matter, it's also radically depressing -- and yet the utter gutsy (and sometimes barbarous) heroism of its people shine through like sunbeams in a thunderstorm, doing their best to survive being ground to dust between the wheels of the two most murderous tyrants in human history.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Atilla60

#17
May 03, 2015, 03:14:57 PM
On Youtube there is an 18 episode series called Soviet Storm. It's originally produced for Russian television in 2011.

It covers the eastern front 41-45, and based on the few episodes I've seen so far. I find it pretty good. Although not up there with the best ww2 documentaries I've seen.

Anybody else seen this?



It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
- Sir Winston Churchill -

Gusington

#18
May 03, 2015, 03:24:55 PM
No...is the subtitling OK? I would watch it if the captions are not too distracting and if it's not to jingoistic...
✡

слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Atilla60

#19
May 03, 2015, 03:29:57 PM
Quote from: Gusington on May 03, 2015, 03:24:55 PM
No...is the subtitling OK? I would watch it if the captions are not too distracting and if it's not to jingoistic...

No subtitles, it's in English
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
- Sir Winston Churchill -

Gusington

#20
May 03, 2015, 05:05:59 PM
Inconceivable!!! StarMedia...hmm
✡

слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Atilla60

#21
May 03, 2015, 05:47:00 PM
He he, Yeah
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
- Sir Winston Churchill -

Gusington

#22
May 03, 2015, 07:57:35 PM
Watched the second episode of World at War this afternoon, concentrating on the Phoney War (fall 1939 - spring 1940) - lots of Churchill in it, lots of Norway, lots of Poland. Another great episode. It's eerie to see so many of the actual political participants (MPs, etc.) being interviewed so matter of factly. Most if not all of them have to be dead by now :( The show itself does not feel dated though. Weirdly well done.
✡

слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

JasonPratt

#23
May 04, 2015, 02:00:53 PM
The First World War has been compared in quality to WaW (possibly many of the same creators behind it). Not as long, and focuses more on the big picture than 'little things' like tank, sub, and plane innovations, but I liked it. The color film footage from France was a revelation.  :o It's easy to forget that color film already existed in France, and had for about 20 years. Movie studios, including in France, used b/w because it was cheaper. Obviously not a problem for government entities like the Army. ;)

(Afterward there was a huge artistic backblast from the North American film market propagandizing in favor of b/w film against color film, mainly because studios couldn't keep up, which shut down that option in the film industry for a few decades.)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

besilarius

#24
May 05, 2015, 06:25:35 AM
Although it is not a documentary, Tom Selleck's Countdown to DDay is very good.
Quite accurate, and Selleck's willingness to play homely makes it a good time.
My one quibble is DeGaulle should have been given more time.  Portraying his self-centered egotism more clearly - and the headaches Ike had to go through, would add a lot.
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

Tallulah Bankhead: "I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

"When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman." — Abraham Lincoln.

"I have enjoyed very warm relations with my two husbands."
"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

Martok

#25
May 05, 2015, 07:25:24 AM
Quote from: besilarius on May 05, 2015, 06:25:35 AM
Although it is not a documentary, Tom Selleck's Countdown to DDay is very good.
Quite accurate, and Selleck's willingness to play homely makes it a good time.
My one quibble is DeGaulle should have been given more time.  Portraying his self-centered egotism more clearly - and the headaches Ike had to go through, would add a lot.
Agreed, on all counts.  Selleck's portrayal of Ike was surprisingly good (or perhaps not -- he can shine when given the opportunity). 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

airboy

#26
May 05, 2015, 04:19:03 PM
I have Victory at Sea on DVD.  It is excellent and well worth owning.  Not very expensive from Amazon -$5
http://www.amazon.com/Victory-at-Sea-Leonard-Graves/dp/B008XJM7T2/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1430860660&sr=1-2&keywords=victory+at+sea

It also has an excellent musical score.

I watched World at War as a kid on PBS.
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