Customer Reviews

Ww II:Color Archives

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an astonishing set of videos. First there is the jaw-dropping, almost hallucinogenic experiance of seeing WWII events in technicolor. It reminds one of how much black-and-white film aestheticizes and abstracts events. Admittedly our eyes don't see in technicolor either, but the color makes you feel far more psychologically "there" so to speak. The second thing is the amazing quality of most of this footage. It hardly seems to have aged at all in 55-60 years! When you consider that film from the 1960's sometimes looks atrociously degraded and washed out, the almost pristine look of this footage is remarkable to say the least. It must have been stored well and never projected. (Of course, the producers could choose the best-looking bits from what was reputedly hundreds of hours of rediscovered film.) Watching this film is a tremendously emotional experiance, sometimes frightening, sometimes grueling, sometimes stomach-turning. The voice-over narration makes heavy use of contemporary letters and diaries of soldiers and civilians, and is often touching. The cumulative impact of all this----the island fighting, Nazi rallies, shipyard workers, civilians hanged by Nazis, radiation victims, Pearl Harbor wreckage, air war footage, death camps, and on and on----is almost overwhelming. Like having your nose shoved into the sheer mess and folly of mass war.

Now that I hear that the UK version of this documentary was narrated by the redoubtable John Thaw I'd love to see THAT version, but otherwise I unreservedly recommend this to anyone and everyone. Too many people think of documentaries as boring but this demonstrates how mesmerizing they can be. For anyone too young to have first-hand memories of it (which is most of the population now) this makes WWII far more visceral than you ever thought possible.

It is fascinating and exciting to see World War II not in black and white, as we are used to seeing it, but in color. Its kind of like how it was for theater audiences of the day. Most movies of the day were in black and white, but those that were in Technicolor were absolutely stunning, and still are. Unfortunately, that's what the problem with these tapes are. Even though the colors are realistic, the picture is quite grainy and the image suffers from poor contrast, muddy blacks and blurred colors; it is very slow and sometimes fringing becomes apparent. The reason for this was because it was shot on nonprofessional 16mm film, separated into negatives and then blown up onto 35mm. The best examples of color film remain the old Technicolor movies from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s, not Kodachrome films like these. Unfortunately, we can't see World War II in Technicolor, because it would have been way too expensive and out of bounds to shoot in it, but nevertheless the picture would have been much better.

Apart from the obvious important issue of color, "Lost Color Archives" is different from many other documentaries dealing with World War II. The emphasis is much less on causes and facts than it is on the impact of the war on society and individuals. Its use of personal observances is remeniscent of the way Ken Burns used eye witness accounts in "The Civil War" to make more of an impact on the viewer.

Evenso, from a historical perspective, "Lost Color Archives" does deserve high praise as a solid explanation of the war as a whole. Because it is told largely from the eye witness point of view, the viewer has a sense of the impending conflict, then the endurance through the war, and finally, the exhausted conclusion. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the war was over, but that much of the world had been destroyed and that the effects and rememberance of the war would linger on.

Add color to all this and the documentary clearly stands above anything else I've ever seen about the war. Some of the images are average, some are stunning, some are beautiful, some are horrifying, but all are in color.

The combination of the color video and the first person narratives often sent chills down my spine.

A good overall look at the available color footage during the war. The commentary is quite good as well. Unfortunately, much of the footage is not as good as it could be. The first program on the first disc has a disappointing black level, and as a result, much of the footage looks too bright and washed out. While the next two programs improve on this, other DVDs such as "The Third Reich in Color" have presented color European theatre and Third Reich footage more carefully. However, none can compete all at once with this two disc set.

The color footage shot during actual battles and preperation for D-Day are high points, as well as the seven minutes or so of Eva Braun home movies on the end of the disc. Pacific theatre buffs will feel shortchanged; I'd say 80 to 85% of the material concerns Europe. This DVD set is certainly worthwhile if you wish to see a large quantity of period color footage with informative commentary. It succeeds in bringing the war and the period to life.

Having read dozens of books on World War Two and having seen many documentaries in the classroom or on my own, I was a little skeptical that simply seeing this footage in color would bring it even more to life. But I certainly was wrong. This is amazing footage from a 3-part History Channel program that presents World War II in color, and there's no way you're going to forget it. Most haunting is the bonus footage of Adolf Hitler hanging out with friends, playing with a dog, petting the animal, playing with children. Seeing a monster in this sort of setting only makes more horrific the Holocaust and Hitler's grand vision of Liebenstraum. Then the footage of Auschwitz and Dachau is enough to haunt you forever. Seeing it in black and white was powerful enough. Seeing it in color, the blank stares of corpses piled up one on top of another in the back of a truck is something that you will never forget. And when you see the kamikaze attack on Okinawa, you'll sit there stunned.
In all, the entire 3-DVD series makes for some unforgettable viewing, strung together with historically accurate narration, most of it from diary entries or letters from the average person. For it was roughly 40 million average persons whose lives were lost in this event. As Roger Mudd ends the series, he talks about how Steven Ambrose' D-Day center now houses the color footage of the Normandy Invasion, so, as Ambrose said, future generations would realize that seeing this in color would show that World War Two was not ancient history. Once you see this, you'll never forget that.

My husband loves these DVDs. He can't stop talking about them. I guess I need to watch them too.

Just to correct a pervious review, the color footage in this documentary was not shot on Technicolor, a trade mark for a type of 35mm color process that would have been much too elaborate and expensive for military photographers in the field. Most of the color footage shot by U.S. military photographers was done on 16mm Kodachrome.

Much has been said already making the quality of this dvd obvious, but I think another person listed as completely satisfied is in order here. I cannot explain how completely eerie it is to see some of these events recorded in color. You will never forget the scenes from the concentration camps, and how you are assured with color that these things were allowed to happen not that long ago. The complete and utter destruction of 'modern' cities in color is so very strange to see. Should be in every history class. Nice to see Canadians getting recognition for their contribution too!

Incredible, eerie, mesmorizing, well-edited and educational.

This is the most astonishing, complete and concise documentary I have EVER had the pleasure of viewing. Worth twice the price. I am a WWII collector and I can say without a doubt that this set is a MUST for any WWII collector!

If you weren't alive during WWII (and that means a lot of you) then you should see this. It has the clarity and appearance of the color footage from the Vietnam War. I'm 30 years old, and this DVD made me realize just how recently these events took place, and how swiftly they escalated. Color brings a humanity and reality to film that strikes home. Some of the scenes are quite disturbing because they're real images of real events involving real people just like us.

They did a fantastic job cleaning up the footage.