The BBC used the tried & tested formula to engage a Shakespearean actor as a focal point to deliver a colorful, (hopefully) gripping narration to the same sad old story. That worked out well in 1964 with "The Great War", and not so well with Kenneth Branagh in "World War I in Colour". I'm quite disappointed with this series - it has no proper time line, there's hardly anything new for someone who has watched some decent documentaries over the years, Olivier sounds bored (and bores me, too), factual narrative is left out in favor of adding "mood" to the film - an overflow of redundancy (and artsy pretensions?) is what kills the thing for me. Each episode on DVD has a superfluous introduction by the producer about what that particular episode meant to him - which I mostly skipped. If some of this time had been properly used, it might have been fascinating. Alas...
Still, it's long, it's extensive - worth watching. War documentary buffs, please provide some recommendations to fill in the details. I'm still looking for a comprehensive WWII documentary in English - the German side has been pretty well covered, most recently by Guido Knopp.
Still, it's long, it's extensive - worth watching. War documentary buffs, please provide some recommendations to fill in the details. I'm still looking for a comprehensive WWII documentary in English - the German side has been pretty well covered, most recently by Guido Knopp.