Apocalypse: World War II

Whenever I watch the 6 part series on the Smithsonian channel and I usually DVR it. It has a lot of commercials that I have to skip. I thought I would just buy the 2 disc blu-ray disc. The series I watched on the Smithsonian channel has Martin Sheen narrating. The blu-ray has another person who narration sounds familiar on other history programs. The words are the same but the man on the blu-ray is a bit more monotone than Martin Sheen's delivery. The pictures are the same though. For the price of the 2 blu-ray disc, I can't complain though. Just don't expect to hear Martin Sheen narrating if you buy the 2 blu-ray discs.

I saw this on cable and had to have it. It's seeing WWII from a whole different angle. This documentary seems to use newly-found footage from French, German, and Russian sources. The French side is emphasized more than in most documentaries, but it is entirely justified. Some reviewers are unhappy because it's not "here's how America won the war". But there are hundreds of those already, often sharing the same footage. Here's a chance to see something different. There are so many facets to WWII, no single series can do it justice.The narrator is not as good as Martin Sheen (on the TV version), but he does a decent job. Perhaps it is a lesson in how a great narrator can make a good documentary even better. Frankly, I'm here for the images, not the narration.Also worth noting is the quality of the images. They are not as crisp as I had hoped, but they are not full of scratches, dirt, and jumping around, either. The making-of featurette shows how some of the restoration work was done.Ordinarily, I am not a fan of colorization, but most of it was very well done. Some footage looks off (like a B&W scene with a spash of color here and there). But when done well, it makes history more realistic.

Fantastic! Finally some new and original documentary footage of World War II from all sides. About the narration...No, it's not Martin Sheen. But to call the narration "terrible," "boring" and "weak" is absolutely false. It's just that it is not awarding winning actor Martin Sheen and some people are disappointed. The narration takes away nothing from the film. It is delivered in a more academic style like almost all documentaries. not in the breathless, overly dramatic, voice-over found on so many of cable's pseudo-documentaries. It is articulate, professional and very well done. Yes, there are a few mispronounced words, but it is a French production translated into English and surely done with a very tiny budget.

I strongly recommend this to all World War II history buffs. The visuals are truly unforgettable and the narrative is very nicely done. I am withholding a star because the French team that produced it emphasizes the British, French and Russian roles in winning the war and deemphasizes, sometimes shamefully so, the American role. To cite one example, the voice-over makes it seem that it was primarily British paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines on the night before D-Day. The sources I've checked indicate there were approximately 13, 000 American paratroopers and 7,000 British. Moreover the British tried to persuade Ike not to order the jump believing the paratroopers would be slaughtered. Also the film comes down firmly on the side of those who maintain that the fire bombing of Dresden, which burned more than 20,000 civilians alive, was justified by the city's military importance. It would have been better to say that the bombing remains controversial today. Understandably and appropriately the French team makes it clear that the French soldiers fought bravely during the German invasion despite being disastrously outmaneuvered . And they remedy the failure of the many accounts of Dunkirk to mention the French soldiers who held off the Germans to permit the evacuation.

Do not buy. This is in French with no way to change it. Fraudulent seller as nothing is said on the cover, the discs or the description.

BUYER BEWARE...!!!! This is not what I expected. It is in French, with not much English subtitles. It is not Martin Sheen narrating. I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED

as some others have stated - the narration is the weak point in this set - as this IS NOT the same version as has been running on Smithsonian Channel - it has some unknown bland person who reads the script with all of the pizzaz of a wet noodle. I am still enjoying the video - but will replace it once the Martin Sheen narration version becomes available - and I would advise you to wait

This series is amazing. It was originally produced for French television. Before you jump to any conclusions remember that the French people lived through World War II. It was fought in the towns and cities. This series illustrates what that was like. The first one I have seen that includes the experience of the civilians as well as the militaries involved. Well rounded and includes many never before seen (by me at least) events. You will not regret getting this series.

I love history and documentaries, especially documentaries about WWII. I have seen many rubbish and boring documentaries, presenting footage that has been shown over and over again before or that were filled with too many interviews and reenacted scenes. This one is pretty different. The BluRay features 2 discs with all 6 episodes of the Channel 5 series. The footage is very interesting and I have never seen them before. Despite I dislike colorization of B/W material they did it very well, bringing lot's of additional atmosphere. Very positive, no boring interviews and no reenacted szenes in between the amazing footage. Why just 4 stars? The narrator presents the events from a 'very French perspective' (well, it is a French production). Sometimes it lacks some historical correctness, but that is no a big problem to me. I do not know what 'Apocalypse' products Amazon includes into these feedbacks apart from the DVD and the BluRay versions. I just sold the 'Apocalypse The Second World War' BluRay and bought the French BluRay Box Set 'Apocalypse Le Coffret' from Amazon UK featuring the 'Apocalypse Hitler' BluRay with a documentary about Hitler (2 more episodes of the Channel 5 Apocalypse series, this time concentrating on Hitler, the person) for just 9£. Enjoy it!

This boxset it's an amazing documentary with an outstanding narrative,very graphic and it really makes you feel tension as a action/thriller movie would it's raw without been grouse I've seen it at least 10 times and still makes my soul shake to see what atrocities humanity had to endure in the past making me aware of how lucky and privileged I am of living in times of peace and value every good thing in my life.

despite some negative reviews I've found this collection well worth a watch some of the images are disturbing and shocking but there is information new to me contained in the discs and I've watched a lot of war documentary DVD's the coloring is a nice touch and the information is easily digested but not enough information if you are studying the subject for a degree but it's entertaining and a pleasant way to spend six hours and you will certainly learn something new

Great series

Fantastic footage and well told