Ken Burns: The War

Star Review

Ken Burns’ approach to the formidable subject of the most widespread military confrontation in history is designed, characteristically, to get to the heart of matters. The film focuses on World War II in a bottom -up fashion that sees the conflict through the experiences of four “quintessentially American towns” – Luverne in Minnesota, Mobile in Alabama, Sacramento in California, and Waterbury in Connecticut. The film recounts the experiences of a number of individuals from these communities as they move through the war in the Pacific, African and European theatres, and focuses on the effect the war had on them, their families and their communities.

In seven parts, Burns takes the viewer from America’s entry into the war through to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrender. Notable actors such as Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson and Eli Wallach bring emotional clout by reading contemporary newspaper articles, telegrams, and letters from the front that involve the viewer in the reality of wartime.

Anne Biggs on 10th September 2008

View all 7 of Anne Biggs’s reviews

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Film Description

The complete seven-part series focusing on the many ways in which the Second World War impacted on the lives of American families.

Features the episodes A Necessary War: December 1941 - December 1942, When Things Get Tough: January 1943 - December 1943, A Deadly Calling: November 1943 - June 1944, Pride of Our Nation: June 1944 - August 1944, FUBAR: September 1944 - December 1944, The Ghost Front: December 1944 - March 1945 and A World Without War: March 1945 - September 1945.

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DVD Extras

• 6 discs
• Making The war feature
• War Town documentary
• Additional interviews and deleted scenes.

Film Details

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