The Unknown War (1978– ) User Reviews

Highly recommend this documentary

[kahare-2 · 9/10 · 1 November 2005]

Watching many documentaries about WWII is like watching the Olympics on network TV, you usually are limited to watching the US in the games. When the best indoor volleyball game is Spain against Poland, you get to watch the US against any other country.

The 2nd world war was a "World War"! Lot's of prominent action did not involve the United States directly. Many other countries such as Canada, Australia and Iceland made significant contributions. Where are their stories? I'm sure that New Zealand's efforts are well known at home, but not told to those of us here in the US who are interested in the bigger picture.

This documentary brings an acute understanding of the Russian loss of life and property in comparison to that of the US. Are we so parochial that we cannot, after 60 years, offer sympathy and credit, where it is due, to the enormous effort of the Russian people?

I love it! Great documentary

[m_nrod · 9/10 · 1 May 2007]

This movie is pretty interesting and opens many facts hidden before. It is something totally different compared to what was shown through standard Hollywood prism. It might be a great series for the History Channel.

One of the reviewers said "the narrative was controlled by the Russian Government". Nothing would stop the movie director to rerecord the voice part once they had the films- like for the recent British captives from Iran such thing was very easy.

And yet this movie does not cover all WWII and only focuses on the Eastern front which was the most devastating to Hitler.

On Nonaggression Pact: UK and Poland did not want to become Soviet allies which left Stalin no other choice but to get into non-aggression agreement with Nazis. It gave the Soviets about 2 years to better prepare for war which lasted for almost 5 years and cost Soviet Union about 20 million of lives. No other country paid more in WWII than Russia.

Though filmed almost 40 years ago the movie still surprises with lots of unknown info - truly "Unknown War".

Available now on 5 dvds; not bad to pretty good history

[indy_go_blue44 · 8/10 · 7 March 2012]

While I won't dispute with anyone the propaganda nature of this series, I do have to say it doesn't disturb me that there's little mention of what was occurring elsewhere in 1941-45. After all, this is "The Unknown War" about the fighting between the Soviet Union and Germany and its allies on the Eastern Front.

I own numerous WWII documentaries and have watched these documentaries since I was a child in the '50s (The Big Picture; The 20th Century) and was delighted when I found this available on DVD. I'll admit I also found it disturbing that there was so much pro-Soviet propaganda in it, considering it was first aired in 1978, but I accept it in the same manner I accept the propaganda of the 1940's "Why We Fight" series. The films of Russian fighting, most of which I've never seen, definitely overcome the narration problems.

My only complaints about the series and DVD collection: 1. No subtitles; 2. The sound isn't the best. The sfx and music are pretty loud (and too much of it) while the narration (w/o subtitles) is sometimes very difficult to understand, especially when giving Russian names and locations; 3. (blame the series, I guess) those damn bells ringing at what must have originally been station/commercial breaks. Please, can't those be edited out.

The entire series is now available on YouTube.

if this ever comes out on DVD, i'm buying it

[jana-87 · 10/10 · 8 September 2006]

I remember our entire family watching the series diligently - on communist television in former Czechoslovakia. I must have been late seventies or early eighties, I don't know anymore.

I still remember the magical words 'Hello, I'm Burt Lancaster' that opened every episode.

It was amazing (to us) to see "such a famous American actor" talking about the evens between 1939-1945 we had been brainwashed about ever since we could remember (my parents were born right after the war ended.)

We had seen many, many movies about the WW II - the government made sure of it - but, of course, none of those movies was free of communist propaganda. The invincible Soviet Union lead the world (and some insignificant allies) to victory; D-Day was, pretty much, an obscure episode; and the end of war was celebrated on May 9th. And that was that.

The Unknown War was the first documentary that didn't stink of brainwashing and yet, it was showing the same basic facts and much more. For someone, who grew up under communism, it was absolutely refreshing and amazing to watch.

Even from an adult perspective, and with the Berlin Wall down, this TV series was very well produced and would be enjoyed by any intelligent person no matter where they were born. And they don't even have to be history geeks.

I do agree with the (insuradj02) about the Soviet government controlling all the resource material at the time the series was produced; naturally - many important and atrocious events are not mentioned here, but I wouldn't go as far as dismissing the commentary as biased and inaccurate. (I mean, please, how many Americans knew of the Japanese internment camps or were even aware of what exactly was holocaust? To many of my educated and smart American friends Spielbergs Schindler's list was a revelation!)

I moved to Seattle form Prague in 2001 and have been scouting local video stores for the Unknow War without success. If it ever comes out on DVD somewhere, please let me know.

a very good series

[logs46 · 10/10 · 4 November 2006]

Speaking as an American veteran of Vietnam and longtime amateur military historian, I think this is an excellent series. I taped it from a broadcast by a Los Angeles station in late 1987, and I'm glad I did. I wish I could get a copy on DVD.

The Soviet-German struggle was by far the biggest and most important component of World War II, and has long been overlooked by us Americans, who like to think WE won the war, more or less by ourselves.

We did, of course, in the Pacific theater, but in Europe we helped the Soviets crush Adolf Hitler. It's telling that an estimated 88% of German military fatalities in the war were caused by the Soviets.

wonderful series

[Maria-Arbouzova · 10/10 · 30 May 2007]

It's wonderful series about war against Nazis in Russia. We call this war - Great Patriotic War. Then all people went against Nazis, they enlisted the Soviet Army and were ready to fight and protect their motherland till the last drop of blood. One of the commanders who defended Moscow at the beginning of this war in 1941 said: "Russia is great but there is no place to retreat as Moscow is behind us". This war took 27,000,000 of lives (and this figure is inexact). In the last film of the series "The Soldier of Unknown War" Burt Lancaster says "There is no such family in Russia which wouldn't lose its member during the war". He is really right. Fathers, brothers, daughter, husbands who were only 16-25 years old by the beginning of the war wanted to protect the country and they came from all cities, towns and the deepest corners of the country to become soldiers, fighters, defenders.... They died for their motherland... They didn't come back to their mothers, children, wives.... But they knew what they were dying for.... Concerning my family... My great-grandfather died in 1943, my grandfather became soldier when he was only 14 years old, he survived and met the news about Victory in Austria. This war is very sacred for us because in 1940's it touched every family and every person even till now. We thank our veterans. Unfortunately they died every year because of their age, but still they are very beautiful, full of good thoughts, still brave.... I am very glad as Russian and as the part of the generation of Russian people whose aim is to pass the story about this war to the next generation (as our parents and grandparents passed it to us) that this series is very truly and full of respect to the veterans of ALL armies who fought against Nazis.... Even I, who was born 37 years after the end of the war, still can't stop crying when I watch the series "Unknown war" as I can't stop crying when I see any other military chronicles of 1939-1945 period....

An Overlooked, and Excellent documentary about WWII

[Eagle1280 · 10/10 · 22 October 2005]

I remember well this TV miniseries that ran in 1978 and 1979. My Grandparents and I would watch every episode and they would share WWII memories with me. This miniseries is highly detailed with excellent interviews with surviving field commanders, veterans and leaders from both sides. The episode about the Battle of Stalingrad where "the irresistible force met the immovable object," was unforgettable. This series was pulled from TV when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980. When I saw another recent movie entitled "Enemy at the Gates," starring Jude Law and Bob Hoskiss, I remembered this TV series and am surprised that it has not been released on DVD or VHS yet. I highly recommend this TV miniseries for anyone seriously interested in World War II and it would be perfect also for classroom usage. Let's all hope that this classic miniseries becomes available soon.

I am glad I got this series when I did!

[rickman-4 · 10/10 · 30 August 2006]

What a great series! Film footage I have never seen before and hosted and narrated by one of my favorite actors Burt Lancaster. The entire series is 20 episodes. There are a few interviews but it is mostly actual footage. If you want to get deep into the Rusian front then this series is for you! The episodes are as follows:

June 22 1941, The battle for Moscow, The siege of Leningrad, To the east, The defense of Stalingrad,Survival at Stalingrad, The world's greatest tank battle, War in the Arctic, War in the air,The partisans, The battle of the seas,The battle of the Caucasus, Liberation of the Ukraine, The Balkans to Vienna, The liberation of Poland, The Allies, The battle of Berlin,The last battle of the Unknown war, A soldier of the Unknown war.

I found that one person who was looking for this series did a Google search and they got it! They entered "Unknown war narrated Burt Lancaster". They read about a lady's search for the series and a recommendation of where to get it. There is a companion book that compliments this series also. I have also found that a double album was made about this classic series. The footage is from Russian cameras as well as German cameras. This is the end of the rainbow as far as the Russian front. It does not get any better than this. It really goes into detail but since the Russians made this series it is slanted toward the Russian point of view. All in all if you get a hold of this series you will not regret it. The actual footage with Burt Lancasters voice narrating is fabulous! This series is the "crown jewel" of my collection!

Excellent Series!!!

[omelette-567-92656 · 10/10 · 16 January 2014]

Having just watched this, I thought it was an incredible series. Burt Lancaster did a great job narrating throughout. The Soviet producers could have been a little more forthcoming regarding casualty-statistics I thought - for instance, we are always given a figure of what the German casualties were after each major battle, but hardly ever one for their Soviet counterpart. Understandable, but a little frustrating if you are a bean-counter like me! I thought the musical-score to be merely adequate. What I really liked were the 2 music-tracks that are triggered by the DVD menus, superb!

What struck me though as a 'Westerner' was how little I knew about this titanic struggle to begin with. The pro-western school systems certainly seem to have done a great job marginalizing the Soviet's role in World War II, where in reality, they practically destroyed the entire Nazi war-machine single-handedly - as one commenter mentioned, they were responsible for 88% of all Nazi-casualties during the war - but at an incredible cost! The "World At War" series also seems to just gloss over these facts as well, much to it's shame - which is why I suppose most of the 'great-unwashed' (not just Americans) believe that the USA had a much bigger hand in the European war than they actually did. Another reviewer's comment here about a recent American Poll revealing that a considerable number of Americans though that the US fought WITH the Germans AGAINST the Soviets had me LOL'ing though - if that's true, well, the mind boggles...

I was however amazed and bemused by some of the reviewer's comments here. Most that are critical appear to be using the word "Propaganda" completely out of context - there is almost no evangelizing of Communist Ideals anywhere in the entire series!!! But then the 'anti-propagandists' reveal their hand - the real problem is that it doesn't contain material that THEY almost insist, should have been included - mainly involving Stalin and his purges! This is about the Great Patriotic War, not an overview of Soviet History in the 20th century. Yes, Stalin was a monster, but as the documentary clearly states, Stalin was not a military man so gave his generals free reign in running the war, and as a result is barely seen in the whole series. More to the point, most of the world at the time in question (1941-1945) had no inklings of any of this, so why include it - again, this documentary was about the USSR's GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR!

So overall, very well made and well worth watching.

The Pros and Cons

[gulag · 7/10 · 17 October 2014]

Having just finished watching this epic telling of what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War I was struck by several things. In the interest of letting others make an informed decision about the recent DVD set I've decided to jot a few things down as Pros and Cons.

First the Pros... The number one reason to get this is for footage not found anywhere else, and lots of it. This covers aspects of World War 2 not even covered in other documentaries that feature the Eastern Front. A small sampling: The Russian attack on Manchuria/Manchuoko (not the small last minute attack western documentaries hint at), Yugoslavia (where over a million people died and yet this material isn't covered anywhere else), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (is there another documentary that covers the Czech uprising AFTER the fall of Berlin?), Hungary and the battle for Budapest, the Caucasus Mountain war, the Baltic states, Byelorussia (truly heart-breaking), Romania, and much more about Poland, Ukraine, the big Russian battles and sieges. This material itself would be worth 5 stars were it not for some of the Cons.

Another Pro: It is helpful in understanding a basic Russian perspective of the war (even as the propaganda has seeped into that viewpoint as our own has ours). It becomes clear that from a Russian perspective that the West promised help, it gave a bit, opened up little skirmishes in North Africa and Italy, dithered a lot and didn't really enter the war until June of 1944, when essentially the Russians had it largely sewn up on the Eastern Front. I'm not saying that that is what happened, but I believe I'm correct in stating that it's the Russian point of view even today. But I'm grateful to be able to crawl into that perspective.

Now the Cons... and there are quite a few. First and foremost, Burt Lancaster and Rod McKuen not withstanding, this was entirely an act of Soviet Propaganda, most of which could have been made in the 50s. Yet it does have the Detente flavor to it. The series was shelved for a while after the Soviet Afghanistan invasion. Nevertheless even though made in the late 70s not a word contradicts the essentially Stalinist interpretation, and not a word implicates Stalin in anything. Quite simply there were no Soviet mistakes. And we know far too much to swallow anything like that today. (To be fair, the Left in America hadn't really digested, or wanted to digest, Solzhenitsyn, the dissidents, or the evidence quite yet.) Fortunately Willard Sunderland's two part analysis (about an hour long) largely helps to correct that impression and I would add that as another Pro. Without that this would be an act of largely defused propaganda. And that's another reason why the propaganda isn't quite so bad, it's mostly been so unmasked and there are few old school leftists around anymore (at least in the West).

Other Cons... Sentimentality. There is a tendency sometimes to edit in such a way as to hammer a sort of Germans are Animals while Russians are Innocent Victims. And granted millions of innocent Russians did die, but who was sending all of these folks to the Gulags too? Who was starving Ukrainians? Who was purging the military before the war? Who was executing Polish officers at Katyn? Was it Stalin alone? For a much more balanced view check out Russia's War: Blood Upon the Snow made in the late 90s before Putin revived Russian Nationalism.

And, while there are other nit-picky Cons to observe, the last one I will mention is the music of Rod McKuen. He adds to the sentimentality in truly terrible ways. And at least five times he sings a cheap sentimental ditty over a montage near the end of an episode. Fortunately there are many episodes.

But even with those caveats the Pros win out. There are moments in the visual record that take the breath away. In a shorter and lesser documentary I would've knocked it down to four or five stars. But this is quite an epic. My feeling is that if you can take the Fifties Era pro-Americanism of Victory At Sea then you can surely find much to savor here. Dig in.

Great Archival Film Long Unseen - but propaganda to put it mildly

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 8 September 2006]

I have to give this series, broadcast in 1978, an "8" - almost a "9" because of it's remarkable televising of long unseen Russian newsreel and movie photography of the war effort on the Eastern Front from 1941 through 1945. In a sense the release of this material in 1978 was a kind of harbinger of the release of long secret Russian historical records and archives in the "Glastnost" period, until even today. The most notable effect of this tendency was the cooperation of the post 1985 governments to assist in finding and restoring the family remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his slaughtered wife Alexandra, and their children, to the Romanoff Family for proper burial. There are other examples, such as tracing the fates of millions of Stalin's purge victims. But the first feeble attempt at this was the photography released for this series on the Russian sacrifice (20 million dead!) in the Second World War.

But the film was released at a heavy price: The Russian Government of Leonid Brezhnev insisted that they control the narrative. Now, while nobody in their right minds would deny the terrible losses and trauma Russians and other Soviet Peoples suffered at the hands of the Nazis (example on a "small level, shown in the series: the destruction of the home of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikoswki by Nazi goons and the burning of original musical manuscripts to show their contempt for Slavic culture), the narrative went to the extent of almost denying the losses of Britain and Commonwealth, China (Communist and Kuomintang), the United States, France, and others (Jews, for example), as being on a large level too. The result was, at the least, annoying. In the opening episode the Western Viewer was told by the narrator (Burt Lancaster, managing to give a good accounting of his delivery - even when speaking the worst nonsense) that the so called "Winter War" of 1939 - 1944 between Finland under Marshall Mannerheim and Stalin's Russia was due to Finnish aggression.

I don't think I ever heard before about this theory of "Greater Finland" or the hitherto under-discussed "Finnish Baltic Supremacy Theory" that shook up the globe. Somehow it escaped most of us.

To be fair Mannerheim did get aid from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, but he was not a puppet of the former (say like Vidkun Quistling of Norway) nor a collaborator like Pierre Laval of France. In fact, Mannerheim threatened to make peace with Stalin, and even join forces with Russia against Germany, if any attempt was made to deport Finland's small Jewish population.

It is instructive that in the general "clensing" of neo-Nazi stooges in Europe following 1945, like Franco in Spain, Mannerheim was not bothered. But unlike Franco Mannerheim was honored as a great hero - even getting on an American postage stamp in the 1960s.

Similar twisting of history distort the good of the series. Little is said of such off stage incidents as the blitz or the later V2 campaign against London. While aerial warfare is given good treatment (particularly showing the loosening of sexual role playing in the war - like America's "Rosie the Riveter", Russia's women played an active role in the war machine, even as pilots of the Russian air force), the Russian's willingness to sacrifice anything for victory is underplayed. Stalin is not shown as the monster he was - his Nonaggression Pact with Hitler is barely touched on. Nothing is said of the Gulags or the Purges, except to extol certain public works projects that were valuable (that we now know were built by slave laborers from the Gulags.

The series was not fully shown. Russia invaded Afghanistan, and the U.S. public lost interest. It has not been brought back with a fixed narrative, but it probably could be now. Russia did sacrifice on an unprecedented scale. But the story of that hard, terribly hard and bloody victory of the Russian People still needs to be told without propagandistic lies for the West and the rest of the World to know of, and appreciate. Those lies prevent this from being a "10".

Interesting But Not Good

[moondog-8 · 6/10 · 28 November 2017]

I started following this series because it was so rare to see archival documentary footage from the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, both of whom were known as creating consummately well-crafted film (and film technology) to be used for propaganda. So the visuals are absolutely stunning. But the short-comings with this series are two-fold: 1) there is the obvious ego-stroking of the Soviet Union in the tone and delivery of information here; and 2) the English-language team that brought this to TV in the USA accomplished their task in a very amateurish way.

To elaborate on the second part, the script was crafted for the written page, not for voice-over, with no sense that the information would be absorbed by listening instead of reading. Many times, the message is lost or becomes muddied -- for instance -- by repeatedly hearing the word "they" while watching footage of two armies fighting each other. Which "they" are they referring to? Sitting down and reading the script, there would be no difficulty following the thread, but the text needed much more work before being used for voice-over. This is not helped by the fact the graphics and maps are badly done, and that frequently the voice-over and image don't match up (e.g., an image of a crying mother while the voice-over is talking about tanks on the move). And when the voice-over and image *do* match up, it is usually (as has been noted in other reviews) in a condescending, knock-you-on-the-head way (as in showing a shot of a tearful granny and telling you this is a tearful granny).

And despite my admiration for Burt Lancaster as an actor, there are certain techniques to voice-over that were not relayed to him. In voice work, one frequently has to make unnatural breaks in a sentence, and unnaturally stress certain words, yet make it sound natural. Lancaster reads well and is in fine voice, but no one outside the audio booth would stop and tell him to read the text in a different way. (Again, I think this is because the English-language creative team which included Rod McKuen couldn't change their points of view to realize this wasn't a written work but a work of audio montage to be comprehended with the audience's ears.) And speaking of audio, some of the music is dreadful, especially some tunes Mr. McKuen "sings."

Fabulous Footage - Cautious Commentary

[petrujr · 5/10 · 12 June 2011]

I'm a bit of a Sovietologist and have not seen an English language documentary that contains better film footage than this one. It is unfortunate that the commentary was controlled by the late 1970's era Soviet Communist party apparatus (others say Brezhnev, but he was too far gone to have really personally controlled the script). Obviously it's easier to know now - post Soviet Union - what the real history was compared to the 70's, but even then, it's hard to see how a western TV production could accept the "facts" as stated in the script.

Be aware, the footage is very graphic and you will be shocked at the carnage and amazed at the amount of punishment and pain the Soviet peoples went thru to recover from the Nazi's surprise invasion to their heroic victory.

Para los amantes de los documentales bélicos.

[duslanhanger · 10/10 · 25 April 2021]

One of the best series about the Second World War and about the Soviet Operation Barbarossa battle. It shows us the decision of its population with the courage not to allow itself to be bent, invaded or defeated by the enemy towards its great people. And presented by the well-known and good actor Burt Lancaster and with Averill Harriman. They make this series unique that should not be missing in any collection. / Una de las mejores series sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial y sobre la batalla de la Operación Barbarroja soviética. Nos muestra la decisión de su población con el coraje de no dejarse doblegar, invadir o derrotar por el enemigo hacia su gran pueblo. Y presentado por el conocido y buen actor Burt Lancaster y con Averill Harriman, hacen que esta serie sea única que no debe faltar en ninguna colección.

Useful Propaganda.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 18 August 2013]

It's propaganda but it's useful because when it was shown, in 1978, during the Cold War, nobody in the West was paying much attention to the Great Patriotic War that had been waged in the Soviet Union. Even today's high school kids are all confused about it. A poll a few years ago showed that a substantial number thought that we and the Germans had fought the Soviet Union. I swear.

Americans and the rest of the world really deserves to know more about the war in Russia than they do. Russia suffered the most in terms of human casualties in the Second World War. More than 27 million Russians, about 14% of the country's population, died fighting for their motherland. Britain lost 0.6% of its population. U.S. casualties were even lower - about 0.3% of its population. The Soviet war dead account for 40 per cent of all those killed in the War. In all, 8,66,800 Red Army officers and soldiers were killed in action. (The film doesn't tell us that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more Soviet officers than Hitler was.)

A recent opinion poll showed that 60% of the Russian people attributed the victory to Stalin's military genius. Those Russian people are wrong about that. Stalin was an utterly ruthless dictator but an ignoramus about the military. I can't run through the entire list of his blunders but he purged the military of its best officers in 1937 and treated the partisan leaders and other popular military figures as rivals after the war. When the fêtes died down and the decorations had been handed around, they wound up in the salt mines or disappeared altogether.

That's neither here nor there. The documentary doesn't mention Stalin very often. He'd been dead for more than twenty years and was out of favor in 1978. We see more of Brezhnev and a little bit of Khrushchev. Burt Lancaster, as the host, stands at famous Russian landmarks and makes laudatory comments. He's also the narrator.

The script, for my taste, is too general in its coverage of the war. Lancaster will tell us, for instance, that the Russians blocked the Nazi's escape routes (we watch Russian bombers flying and big explosions) but there is no map, so we don't know what escape routes are being blocked, or where they are. The script also overstates things. I get indignant when I'm watching a heartbreaking scene -- an old lady wailing over some dead bodies, or the decaying corpses of children -- and the narration tells me, "This is a heartbreaking scene of an old lady wailing over some dead bodies...."

It's always interesting to see how propaganda movies handle information that would be discordant with the message being purveyed. In Frank Capra's wartime series, "Why We Fight," the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (in which the two nations agreed not to fight one another while Hitler was attacking the West, though both cooperated in carving up Poland) is described something like this: "When the Nazis invaded Poland they ran into the Russians and said, 'We don't want to start any business with these tough guys.'" That's misleading at best, and an outright lie at worst. In "The Unknown War," however, it's not even mentioned. Needless to say, there was never any Katyn Forest Massacre in which 25,000 Poles were exterminated by the NKVD -- at least not until Gorbachev admitted it in 1989. I only mention this because propaganda is an interesting subject to someone like me, who minored in social psychology. "Why We Fight" lied. "The Unknown War" simply deletes in from history, like the government in Orwell's "1984."

I'm getting all riled up and I don't want to run out of space. The music is truly awful, though there are some listenable excerpts from folk songs and Shostakovitch. Most of the score, evidently, and a lovey theme song was written by the composer and poet Rod McKuen. Perhaps his best-known poem is "Listen to the Warm." Does any more need to be said? Much of the footage will be unfamiliar. Some of it is pretty raw. A Soviet soldier steps on a mine and is blown to bit while the camera rolls. Decaying corpses, like melting mannequins, abound.

Well, I've pretty much thrown slop all over this series. Yet I'm extremely glad that it was made. Behind all the lousy music and the repetitive scenes of old ladies crying and happy peasant dancing, there lies the stark fact that in 1978 the USSR was a bitter enemy and no one was giving them much credit for having fought against Hitler and the Japanese in World War II. And too many of us didn't know -- and still don't -- that Russia suffered terrible losses. We knew less in 1978 than we do now. That may or may not be saying much.

Some extremely valuable and dispassionate points about the film are made by Willard Sunderland, an expert on Russian affairs.

Good only if you watch without the sound

[insuradj02 · 5/10 · 4 March 2006]

The Unknown War, like so many documentaries prior to the fall of Communism, suffers from the discovery and release of new information. When the Unknown War was originally aired, the Soviet Union controlled virtually all the resource materials available on this important subject. This is obvious from the biased and inaccurate commentary of the host, Burt Lancaster. The commentary fails discuss the atrocities that Stalin ordered on his own people and soldiers as well as captured German soldiers and civilians during and after the war. The documentary also incorrectly interrupts many important events such as the subject of Poland, the atrocities committed by the Partisans and Stalin's involvement of the Katyn massacre to name a few.

However, the footage contained in the documentary is the only reason why it should be re released. Even with all the documentaries that have been released today, they do not contain anywhere near the amount of archival footage available in this documentary series. Most notable would be footage from the Eastern European and Manchurian campaigns. This would be the only reason I would recommend watching this documentary.

If you want historical accuracy and good archive footage, watch the PBS produced "Russia's War" and the BBC produced "War of the Century". These documentaries were produced recently and give an unbiased account of the war on the Eastern Front. If you want to see good footage and hear Soviet propaganda, watch the Unknown War.

Lie from the Brezhnev Era

[praecept0r · 4/10 · 9 March 2009]

It's incredible what one can do with their own history. The creation of the myth takes a while to put together. Mass murders, purges, deportations, indoctrination, decades of fear and brain-washing, generation changes, and here we are, in the 21st century, and the history of the country in the 20th century is still on mass conscience and populist level is one grandiose Lie. By Brezhnev 70's, when the series were made, the Lie about the war had been perfected. Nobody denies the unprecedented heroism and sacrifice of the People. The myths and lies are in the presentation of details, of policy, in portraying the leadership and its role, in the whole narrative of the events in the war, etc. For example, who would be afraid now of the facts pointing to monumental incompetence of some generals. Does this belittle the valor of the heroes in the trenches? Of course, not. Nevertheless, this insane thinking is still alive and well in new Russia, and with no revisions still goes to the school textbooks. Result? Historical ignorance leads only to a new yearning for a new fuhrer inside the country that defeated another fuhrer sixty odd years ago. Movies like these don't help the truth a single bit. It's not the archival footage, one can make anything out of archival footage - look at German propaganda newsreels throughout the war. It's mainly what you say along with it... To listen to this Brezhnev propaganda now, after some glimpses of truths quietly have been coming out over the last couple of decades is to betray the memory of those who perished, and I don't care whether they were yelling "Stalin" or praying to god at that final moment. There is only one truth, and it still is largely buried in the secret archives or what is already known is ignored by general masses. In any case, there are far better series that as a historian i can recommend - both PBS and BBC did a fairly decent, although perhaps too simplified ("dummied down"?) versions of the action on the Eastern front. In Russian - there exists a 96-episode commendable effort called "World War II - Day by Day" (2005) ("Vtoraya Mirovaya - den za dnem"). It's a good account on a fairly limited budget.

If on the one hand the mass consciousness in modern Russia is still under heavy burden of happily inherited communist lies, the ignorance in the West, particularly in the USA is simply astounding, the understanding of war even among some fairly-well educated so limited, that there's really nothing to say. There's also yet another mythology, this time done by magicians of Hollywood. The makers of this culture simply bombard the masses with their garbage. There are some decent works on paper, informative and leading to thinking, but as usual they are simply buried and exist in the realm of few within the university system. Besides, how many people simply read and what do they read?..

Bottom line, history rarely teaches true lessons, that time it did. Before it's too late, it would be a great humanistic progress, if more people learn about those times in history, before it's too late. Go watch something better than this, please... 1 star for level of truth, 8 stars for the propagandist effort