BY DOUG OSWALD
The
folks at Mill Creek Entertainment have released the 10-part documentary “WWI:
The War to End All Wars†on DVD. The documentary is a detailed analysis of what
was known as The Great War until the outbreak of World War II. Each episode covers
a different aspect of the war, in mostly chronological order, from its origins
leading to the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 28 June 1914 to the armistice signed on 11
November 1918.
In
four years and four months, over 70 million men were mobilized on all sides and
in the end an estimated nine million died along with seven million civilians. Disease
and genocides resulted in an estimated additional 50 to 100 million deaths
making World War I one of the deadliest wars in history. Early research was
done during and after the war with men ravaged by what is known today as post-
traumatic stress or PTS (many veterans prefer excluding “disorderâ€). Back then
it was called “shell shock†and in World War II, “battle fatigue.†An entire
generation of men never returned from the war. Many others who did survive
suffered from a largely undiagnosed and rarely treated illness.
The
documentary was produced by Creation Films in 2008. Each episode runs between
40-47 minutes with title cards and five acts per episodes for a total running
time of just over 7 hours. It was produced,
co-written and directed by Edward Feuerherd and is narrated by Fred North. The
research is detailed, informative and interesting. Single episodes are devoted
to topics such as aviation, the war at sea and chemical warfare.
The
series ends rather abruptly with the signing of November 11th Armistice. An
episode on the aftermath of World War I and its impact would have added more
value to the series. While the well-researched information provided in the
narration is excellent, the major flaw is the poor quality of the 100 year-old film.
I doubt anything was done to restore the film for the series when it was produced
in 2008 or for this 2018 DVD release.
Interestingly,
the title of the documentary at the start of each episode is, “The War to End
War 1914-1918.†I’m not sure why the DVD title is different. Perhaps it was
changed in a subsequent television broadcast. According to IMDB, the
documentary was released on the Heroes Channel in the U.S. in September 2014,
presumably to tie in with the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.
IMDB lists the documentary as a co-production by Looksfilm and Les Films d’ici
Paris.
In
addition to the well-researched narration and film shot during the dawn of
movie making on the front lines of the conflict, there is the music both
contemporary of the era and original scoring included to add dramatic effect.
Highlights include “Shine on Harvest Moon†by Jack Norworth and Nora Bayer, “Adagio
for Strings†by Samuel Barber and “Adagio in G Minor†by Tomaso Albinoni. There
are scenes that are reused numerous times and the music becomes repetitious,
but both get the job done.
The
10-parts of the documentary are divided between two disks with five parts on
each disc. The movie looks adequate and is watchable, but the lack of a
restoration is a major liability. The DVD release includes a digital version of
the documentary, but there are no extras. Recommended for history buffs,
especially since it’s value-priced.
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