A groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.A groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.A groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlbert Speer's testimony in the series is now considered highly unreliable. Speer considerably downplayed his involvement in Nazi atrocities. After his death a letter he wrote in December 1971 proved he had full knowledge of the Holocaust throughout its course, despite his repeated public denials.
- ConnectionsEdited into Screenwipe: Episode #3.1 (2007)
Featured review
The war documentary to end all war documentaries
Utterly brilliant. Powerful and evocative. The most compelling documentary series ever made concerning war. It's tone offers a stark contrast to the often gung-ho attitude towards World War 2 that the media exhibits. Rather than opting for screaming about the horror of war, it allows Sir Laurence Olivier's quiet voice to take a back seat to the true images of war: corpses everywhere, explosions, terrified citizens and soldiers, broken men, indifferent politicians, mistakes that cost thousands of lives, the suffering of the innocents. Most of all it truly brings home that mankind is capable of when all normal rules of "civility" are removed. There is something distinctly Hobbesian about man in a true state of nature, he will return to a more beastly form capable of crimes that will still shock and fascinate 60 years on. Perhaps there could be a follow up series called "The century at war" for the twentieth century was truly the century of horrors. I feel it is an irony of immense magnitude that it took an event which caused the death of 50 million people to produce such a compelling and excellent series such as this.
helpful•13810
- Rich-315
- Apr 3, 2001
- How many seasons does The World at War have?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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