Apocalypse - World War I

This is certainly the best documentary on WWI that I have ever personally seen. The quality is similar to Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old," but with an international perspective on the narrative, and much more thorough on the timeline of events. All of the gritty and horrific detail of this part of history are here. There were many times while viewing that I was just stunned from hearing the details of what these men went through. I've heard historians on the subject of "The Great War," when asked to describe it with one word, and their response was, "stupid," or "unnecessary," and you certainly can see that when examining it in detail.Another very important part of the story that is shown in the documentary is that, many of these European "monarchs," "emperors," "czars," etc., were all very closely related. It makes it even more difficult to stomach that all of these millions of men were sent to be slaughtered for what could be characterized as "family squabbles" within an arcane and outdated concept of rule by blood. I know this may seem like an oversimplification, but there's no denying who these people were, and their relation to each other.Nevertheless, this an absolutely superb documentary for history buffs, and I could not recommend it more. And yes, there is an English 5.1 audio track that is narrated extremely well.

Does anyone remember a Gary Busey line from "Under Siege," when he yells at a submarine crewman "WHY CAN'T YOU TALK ENGLISH!?" That's how I felt on my 1st attempt to watch this wonderful set. I put it on the shelf and walked away from it, to try again another day. And on another day, a calmer me managed to get it to "talk English" and have English subtitles, too. (My late husband was the technological one of us.) Around Veteran's Day, it occurred to me that I knew a great deal about WWII, because my Dad served in the South Pacific - it's a wonder I'm even HERE to type this review - but very little about WWI. So I got to looking on Amazon for information about WWI. The reviews warned me about some people's difficulties changing the audio and subtitles to English, but the content seemed to be exactly what I'd wanted - an insight into World War I. Those review were correct - in both instances. The reality of World War I has invaded my living room. Last night, I looked at my comfortable home with new eyes, thinking what those poor wretches in the trenches would've given to be here. This set doesn't pull any punches, and the horrors of war are graphically displayed. I am grateful for the knowledge of World War I, and also for the vintage footage that lets the viewer know that it's all real. On a more frivolous level, I liked seeing the vintage costumes, and hats of the ladies. It's always good to learn!

OUT AND AWAY THE BEST DOC ON THIS WAR. I wish there WERE a way to give it more stars. Okay, is it a pain to set up in English? Yes, that takes all of FIVE MINUTES to figure out -- patience, people, patience! And is it as detailed as some others, like "The First World War"? Not quite, but then, it's not quite so monstrously prejudicial and pro-British, either. It takes the point of view of NO side, but rather of that of the soldiers and peoples of ALL sides, and concludes, quite correctly, that this war was not only NOT "the war to end all wars," but the prelude to another, greater one; a triumph of idiotic generals who threw millions of lives away, leaving only bitter survivors who ALL demanded vengeance: some, like the French and British, got it in the short term, and some, like the Germans...later, and far more severely. WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY: it has NO axe to grind, it's not French, it's French-Canadian: some of the people who fought hardest for the least reason with the most casualties. It's brilliant, and is the best available.

First off, contrary to a recent review, this DVD set CAN be played in either French (the default language) or English so don't be deterred by thinking it is a French only DVD set. As for the series itself, I was surprised by the amount of available footage from this war and the colorization really brings this period of time to life. The causes of the war, and the viewpoints of all sides is provided. It was sad to see so many men needlessly sacrificed regardless of ideology, political affiliations, personal hate, etc., etc., and the resulting sufferings of millions of people around the globe. The fact that the Treaty of Versailles was in large part responsible for the beginning for the second world war is ample proof that we, all people, of all countries, lands, and faiths, continually fail to learn from the past and are bent on slaughtering ourselves out of existence. Will we never learn? Sadly, I believe the answer is no, we never will...

First thing, whomever designed the Menu has to have been on some kind of Trippin' on hallucinogenics..Once you figure it out then you can enjoy the DVD. Instead of highlighting the item on the menu it has to be shaded and need the small Retangle next to the mode you want. Anyway if you buy you just have to work on it. Other than that the quality is perfect. I watched this on PBS many times but so much better and more that on TV.Highly recommend..

This five-part series is colorized and digitally restored to create a sense of modernity. Although films of the era were hand cranked, which resulted in uneven movement on screen, the restoration includes adjusted film speeds to counteract that effect. Difficult to remember that the images are over100 years old.

From the group that produced Apocalypse World War Two and Apocalypse Hitler, comes their finest work, Apocalypse World War One. This is quite simply the most outstanding documentary on World War One ever produced. Utilising over 500 hours of footage and then expertly colorising it, the producers have created a masterpiece and an enduring legacy to the mermory of all those who gave their lives in what was hell on earth for those who fought in World War One.This series shows how the world dealt with the events of 1914-1918. It shows the horror endured by the soldiers fighting on the Western Front, the hell in which they lived and their determination to survive against insurmountable odds. For me this series showed the stark reality of what it was like in the trenches and the appalling conditions the soldiers had to live in. There are some harrowing scenes, especially in the episode entitled 'Hell'. If we find these scenes uncomfortable 100 years later, just imagine what it was like for those that were there at the time and experiencing the horror first-hand.If you know very little about WW1 then this series is an excellent account of the events as experienced by soldiers and civilians. For those with a deeper knowledge of WW1, they too will also find much to admire in this series.The colorisation is realistic and enhances the whole production. There have been two other WW1 documentaries that have colorised the original footage; 'World War One in Colour' narrated by Kenneth Branagh and 'Doomsday World War One' which focused on several people who fought in WW1 and were directly involved in WW2. Those were excellent productions, but Apocalypse takes it to the next level. Special mention must be made of the narration by Francois Arnaud; it is eloqent, haunting and mesmerising, and he fully utilises the excellent script. It would have been a lesser production if he had not been the narrator.If you only buy one documentary on World War One, then this should be your choice. I have bought several WW1 DVDs over the years and many of them are excellent. Apocalypse WW1 is different to all of them. You will just have to watch the series to see for yourself. This is an outstanding production on all counts.

This 5 part series is very franco-centric but it's a French production so fair enough. However, that aside this is amazing. The colourisation is mostly excellent, the added audio appropriate, the narration not irritating and informative and the film quality mostly very impressive. The original footage has been cropped to 16:9 but with literally one fleeting exception it's been done skillfully and without ruining the composition. Most of the film is sub 1080 quality because of the film stock used in the field or at home at the birth of the technology but it's all watcheable. Just occasionally some good quality original film appears and WOW it's astonishing to suddenly be time warped over 100 years into the past. Regardless of the resolution, the speed correction of the film clips is SUPERB. The footage rolls like any modern film with none of the hand cranked under and over speed we're used to from that era. It's truly amazing to watch. There's very little artifaction and that must have required a lot of work. There are some remarkable historical scenes presented here, in good quality colour(ised) film AND it's a highly informative series too. Recommended highly.Note: this blu-ray is of Dutch (I think) origin but has the English language Canadian soundtrack. Just switch off the subtitles.

I was very skeptical at first regarding the colourization of original war footage, but having seen this on television I was won over and had to have this on DVD. The series is very comprehensive and covers aspects of the war that are often left out of average documentaries, namely the fighting in the Balkans, the Middle East and Russia. For the most part the images shown are clean and I expect this is what makes the idea of colourization more acceptable. Originally made in French, the English translation and narration is quite clear and compelling. I would highly recommend this series to anyone interested in all aspects of the war, including those often forgotten battlefields. A must for the history beginner and scholar.

Après une visite en France du mémorial de Verdun avec nos enfants. Nous avons voulu montrer à nos enfants un reportage sur la tragédie de la 1er guerre mondiale. Ce reportage est bien fait et illustré (attention par contre pour les très jeunes enfants; certaines images violentes de la triste réalité de cette période). À voir par tous le monde afin de ne pas oublier le sacrifice de nos ancêtres pour notre liberté. Déjà 100 ans que la fin de la guerre a eu lieu.

My Grandfather fought in this conflict from 1916 to his capture in March 1918 and luckily survived.Unfortunately he died before I was old enough to talk to him about his experiences, but fortunatelyover 200 letters that he sent home to his wife have survived so I have always been very interestedin any material about that conflict and do have the BBC DVD series of The Great War.I must totally agree with other reviews in that this BD is an incredible production with superb audioand colourised video presentation complete with graphics which help one understand the way theconflict unfolded. Superb value!