DVD Reviews

WWII in HD – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 3, 2010, 16:24 GMT

The only people to see the war like this were the ones who lived it. Until now… Seventy years in the making. Three thousand hours of color footage no one knew existed. The first documentary to show World War II from the perspective of both sides in full, immersive HD color, the world premiere HISTORY series WWII in HD uses the diaries of soldiers who fought in the war’s biggest ...more

When I tend to think of WWII, I think of it in Black and White. Must be because many of the movies I watched about it were shot in B&W. The goal of this series was to track down rare and unseen footage from the era. They succeed in making a fine series but their DVD presentation is a head scratcher.

Much of the footage that we’ve seen from the war the greatest generation fought, World War II, is in black and white. The conflict would begin in 1939, but the United States would not enter into the foray until Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. Even with the “sleeping giant” awakened the war would rage on till September 2, 1945.

Much blood was lost but most of the footage screened for wartime audiences lacked color. For two years, researchers scoured the globe for rare color footage chronicling the war. The resulting discoveries, in 8mm and 16mm, were brought together for this fine documentary series narrated by Gary Sinise.

The narrative would be chronicled by following 12 lives via their words, diaries, and reminiscences as they navigate through the conflict. Some lost their lives during the war, but others are still amongst us. These range from the grunt in the field to the Time/Life embedded correspondent.

A selection of actors are brought in to voice their stories: Justin Bartha, Rob Corddry, Tim DeKay, Mark Hefti, James Kyson Lee, Ron Livingston, LL Cool J, Rob Lowe, Josh Lucas, Jason Ritter, Steve Zahn, and Amy Smart.

The series would be made up of ten episodes (Darkness Falls, Hard Way Back, Bloody Reserve, Battle Stations, Day of Days, Point of No Return, Striking Distance, Glory and Guts, Edge of the Abyss, and End Game) that feature both the horrors and the victories of WWII.

The footage varies in quality but the rarity of it and the compelling stories make this an engaging show.

WWII in HD is presented in fullscreen, that’s what I’d call it. As with Pawn Stars, the set is presented in 1.78:1 but it’s not enhanced for 16x9 televisions. I just can’t understand why they did this. Luckily, they do have a Blu-ray release for this title that presents the show in a better light.

Alas they did not send that one to me, just the “low-def (LD?)” DVD. Special features include 15 minutes of “Character Profiles” of the soldiers highlighted in the series; the 2 minute “Finding the Footage” about tracking it down, and the 2 minute “Preserving the Footage” is about the preservation and digital transfer of it.

The quality of the show makes up for the technical blunders found in this DVD set. Those that are interested would be better served by picking up the Blu-ray set. It’s the only way that you’ll truly see the footage in HD.

This set would’ve been much better served if at least the discs were 16x9 enhanced. It’s a rarity to find such in this day and age. The rating below reflects the show itself, but if you want to see the best presentation you need to get the Blu-ray set.