Search - D-Day to Berlin on DVD

Great Series

Graham J. Gomez | San Jose, CA USA | 09/12/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Excellent, except I got the impression that Montgomery would have won the war by himself. This expisode is very pro pro pro British!!! The British won the war with Americans holding them back!!! If we would have listened to The Field Marshall we would of won 6 months before. The Slowness of the British in the Falaise pocket delay after Normandy was not mentioned and the Market Garden was Eisenhower's fault (not giving Montgomery troops promised and not agreeing to the operation sooner). The producers made a point that Eisenhower bet "Monty" that the war would be over by Christmas but Monty won but failed to mention it was according to Monty's plan. Also what do you expect the actors to do, look like the real guys. For what it is worth they did ok, what do you expect. All in all the episode was Good but I still recommend the World at War series, it is also pro British but does give respect to the American leadership during that time.
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Outstanding Series!!

Jim Horvath | Homewood, IL United States | 11/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just borrowed the entire series from my library system, and all 12 discs are excellent, but D-day to Berlin is especially gripping. Superb footage coupled to well done re-enactments offers the best of both worlds, a great documentary and an epic film. Another disc on Dunkirk also gets the same treatment. Superb!!! Also, the two discs on Auschwitz is incredible!! These three are essential, but the whole set is very tempting.
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Avoid this DVD if you are interested in actual period film f

K. Brubaker | 02/05/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD does an OK job covering the final year of the war in Europe, but has a minimum of actual film footage shot by combat cameramen. Instead there are loads of dramatized shots of modern actors portraying GIs and Tommys, interspersed with wooden recreations of meetings between generals. If you find that you just can't bear to watch black and white footage, this may be great, but for me it sucks the life out of the DVD. One of the great dramas of the Second World War was that so many common people were participants. Watching actual films of these people is part of what makes the story so dramatic. The grime, fatigue, blood, tragedy and heroism are real. Combat footage of a soldier falling is very moving. Watching actors feign death in slow motion as the color film changes to black and white is embarrassing. Instead of enhancing the story, it cheapens it, reducing an epic conflict to the status of a TV movie.

Unfortunately, while the box boasts that the DVD uses "a testimony-driven format, as well as archive footage", there is no hint that it contains any re-creations. So be warned, while there is some original film, it is secondary to the dramatized contemporary reenactments that do little to further the story.
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