"The War" by Ken Burns

[TRK]

I think I know the answer, but is anybody here watching The War, and how are you liking it?

I taped the first four episodes and finally got around to watching a half hour of the first one tonight. So far it looks pretty good. Looks like it has a lot in common with Burns' The Civil War formula: emphasis on the human factor. I like having Sam Hynes among the commentators; I really admired his WWII memoir, Flights of Passage.

[sloanrodgers]

In my opinion "THE WAR" is the best WW II documentry that I have seen
and it's hard to believe that some folks are casting stones at it. When is
a documentary or historical film ever perfect? Being that I wear glasses,
I was disapointed that more bespectacled soldiers didn't appear in the
old war footage. I'm sure it wasn't a conspiracy of exclusion though.

[Jim Boylston]

I wish I'd seen more of this one, I didn't realize it was already on. I caught part of one episode the other night, and what I saw I thought was up to the usual Ken Burns high standard.
Hopefully I can catch the series on a re-run.
Jim

[Allen Wiener]

They are re-running it on the PBS stations around here all the time. On the weekends they have been running marathon screenings of all 15 hours in a row, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of chances to see it.

I taped it all and am watching it piecemeal now. I've seen the first 2 hours and I am very impressed. I didn't think that much of Burns's stuff after the Civil War, but this is back up to that standard. You have to remember that he is essentially trying to capture the American war experience and not telling the story of the war from A to Z, although he seems to be hitting all the high notes and key battles. I think he really has captured something that no other WWII documentary has by focusing on the individual perspective -- what it was like for a small number of humans at war and at home who lived through that. I don't think it's easy for us to appreciate what everyone was willing to sacrifice during that crisis. We live in a different country today, where greed, selfishness and unconcern far outweigh responsibility and obligation.

I also like that he has not included any experts, historians and scholars and is featuring only veterans and their families, as well as others who live through it, especially the Japanese Americans.

I still think the best "war" documentary on WWII is "The World at War" series, which I finally got on DVD and watched all the way through. An amazing series and a real bargain at $99, especially considering the many hours of addtional documentaries they added to the DVD set. This one gets my highest rating and I think it will remain a companion piece to the Burns film.

AW

[TRK]

I saw an ad for PBS in a nationwide publication yesterday, stating that they are now re-running episodes of "The War" Wednesday nights, so this will give those of us who missed certain episodes another chance to watch or tape them.

[Allen Wiener]

I'm into the 3rd or 4th hour and honestly think every American should watch this. The price of that war was higher than I ever imagined, and I have a good imagination.

AW