The War: A Film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick English Subtitles

Ken Burns and company may never truly understand the depth of their discovery and presentation. Saw The War in its entirety before Dad died, though he did not see it. He was wounded at Guadalcanal. His dear friend was wounded at Okinawa. An uncle lost an eye in the Battle of Pelelui. We, growing up in the 50's and 60's, knew that they had been at war. No one knew the depth of the bravery and the despair. They never spoke of it. Having lived it, they didn’t need ever to speak of it, even amongst themselves. Before Burns' film, we could say that we were robbed of this history. As I thanked my dad for his service, I apologized for all of us—that we did not know. The history was in a thousand places, historians knew. It took the magic of the computer and the master storyteller and prophet, Ken Burns, to bring it together, for our study. Burns' mastery, further, is his informative delivery of another cruelty, the American cruelty of prejudice against African Americans who faced discrimination when they came home. We never knew, but should have known. Ken Burns' film is a magnificent monument as surely as the WWII Monument in Washington. The film is a testament to the enormity of that war and the men who fought it, and the families who waited for their return. As I said to my dad....he and his friends...you thought you were defending your country. You were not defending your country. You saved the world. You saved Our World.

Although I'm disappointed to see that there's no HD version of this amazing documentary, I have to say that I am enamored with The War. I grew up with this documentary back when I was about 12 years old and let me tell you, it was one of the most moving experiences in media I've ever had. The documentary talks about the stories of people from America be it white, black, hispanic, or asian and it goes into how each of these different people lived the second world war. There was one quote from the documentary I remember to this day and it was from a hispanic gentleman who fought in Japan during the war. He said "one night we were trying to sleep and one guy kept yelling for his momma. I got so frustrated and mad that I told him to go die. The next morning I found out that soldier was one of my buddies who was injured from shrapnel. He died that night." Chilling isn't it? Buy this documentary if you're new to the history of WW2, are a WW2 know it all, or if you're a parent who wants to educate their pre-teenager on the war. Definitely worth buying.

I thought i knew a lot about WWII… then i saw this and realized i hadn't had seen it from the proper perspective. The people interviewed and featured in this program are among the most impressive human beings that have walked the face of this earth. Hearing their views on life, death injury and war is life changing. This should be shown in all high school history courses, there is no way a teacher or book can deliver this type of information.

The documentary is AMAZING (5 STARS)!!!! 1 star is for iTunes not having HD! All the others are offered in HD and it is free on netflix (in HD). Wish I would have known this before I bought it on here!

They were there with the rockets red glare, they were on that beach where we saw all those boys die in that video game. Yes they shot the guns and flew the planes, trudged thru the mud in the pouring rain. Bled and died so we could all live free here. Oh thank God they were there.

An exelent documentary on the War and the soundtrack is just so fitting, if they release the score I must buy it.

After a barrage of WWII movies I was hesitant to watch yet another series of the same genre, however, Ken Burns comes through again showing the place and time through the eyes of those who experienced each episode. I highly recommend this series for any history buff.

All PBS shows are ridiculously over priced. I do not mean to discredit Ken Burns or this documenary, however I think Americans have ahd enough with greedy companies robbing from the public to fill their fat pocket books. PBS needs to stop complaining about not getting enough money because they arleady get our tax dollars and now they are over charging us for TV? Absurd. Do not buy this product unless PBS, iTunes, and/or Ken Burns agrees to lower the price. Otherwise this is theft of our hard earned dollars.

The only word I can think of is "sublime." After the final episode I cried hard for a while. I'm not ashamed to admit that. So many people gave us so much and we take it for granted and waste it. I don't usually go in for the jingoistic stuff... but this is the real deal. This isn't about nation states or maps. This is the legacy for every human lviing on Earth. My only complaint is that it wasn't presented from the viewpoints of the Axis soldiers as well. Their governments made really bad decisions. Their fighting men and their families endured all of the same things ours did... perhaps even worse. They hurled themselves at each other because that's what their homelands asked of them and in doing so they worked out a bunch of important stuff for all of us. I would love to see this remade by Ken Burns from the other side's perspective. Also, coverage of the Russian contribution was lacking. Thanks to the dead soldier half-burried in the sand on some island in the Pacific... We remember you.