The War: A Ken Burns Film, Ep. 1 "A Necessary War: December 1941 - December 1942"

3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
The tranquil lives of the citizens of Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota are shattered on December 7, 1941, as they, along with the rest of America, are thrust into the greatest cataclysm in history.
  • Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
  • Original air date: September 23, 2007
  • Network: PBS
 
  
 
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The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
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  Episode   Original Air Date
Synopsis
       Price  
►
1. A Necessary War: December 1941 - December 1942
  September 23, 2007
The tranquil lives of the citizens of Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota are shattered on December 7, 1941, as they, along with the rest of America, are thrust into the greatest cataclysm in history.
 
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2. When Things Get Tough: January 1943 - December 1943
  September 24, 2007
Americans mobilize for total war at home and overseas. Factories hum around the clock, while in North Africa and then Italy, inexperienced GIs learn how to fight. Meanwhile, in the skies over Europe, thousands of American airmen gamble their lives against preposterous odds on daylight bombing missions.
 
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3. A Deadly Calling: November 1943 - June 1944
  September 25, 2007
Americans are shocked by terrible losses on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa, while in Italy Allied forces are stalled for months at Monte Cassino and a risky landing at Anzio fails utterly. At home, as overcrowded "war towns" boom, economic transformation leads to confrontation and ugly racial violence.
 
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4. Pride of Our Nation: June 1944 - August 1944
  September 26, 2007
On June 6, 1944, D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops take part in the greatest invasion in history, but then bog down in the Norman hedgerows for weeks. Saipan proves the costliest Pacific battle to date, while back home dreaded telegrams from the War Department begin arriving at an inconceivable rate.
 
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5. FUBAR: September 1944 - December 1944
  September 30, 2007
Victory in Europe seems imminent, but in Holland, the Vosges Mountains, and the Hurtgen Forest, GIs learn painful lessons as old as war itself--that generals make plans, plans go wrong and soldiers die. Meanwhile, on the island of Peleliu, the Marines fight one of the most brutal, and unnecessary, battles of the Pacific.
 
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6. The Ghost Front: December 1944 - March 1945
  October 1, 2007
Americans are shocked by Hitler's massive counterattack in the Ardennes Forest--but by mid March, 1945, they are across the Rhine, while the Russians are 50 miles from Berlin. In the Pacific, after weeks of desperate fighting, Iwo Jima is secured, and American bombers begin a full-fledged air assault on Japan.
 
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7. A World Without War: March 1945 - September 1945
  October 2, 2007
A few weeks after the death of President Roosevelt shocks the country, Germany surrenders. Meanwhile, American sailors, soldiers and Marines endure the worst battle of the Pacific--Okinawa. In August, American planes drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese, too, surrender. Millions return home--to try to learn how to live in a world without war.
 
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Product Details
Episode 1, "A Necessary War: December 1941 - December 1942"
Synopsis: The tranquil lives of the citizens of Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota are shattered on December 7, 1941, as they, along with the rest of America, are thrust into the greatest cataclysm in history.
Original air date: September 23, 2007
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
ASIN: B002W63LWE
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,660 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
The War: A Ken Burns Film Season 1
Synopsis: THE WAR, a seven-part documentary series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of the Second World War from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who become caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history.
Season year: 2007
Network: PBS
ASIN: B002W65HIA
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4 Reviews
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3.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Burns Flim, January 6, 2012
By 
e.val. (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The War: A Ken Burns Film (Amazon Instant Video)
I had to review this film after seeing that another reviewer gave it just One Star, turning it off after watching for only one hour. It was brilliant of Burns and Company to choose service men and women along with civilians from 4 American cities and follow them throughout the program. Given the scope of the war, it's the only logical way to break it down and try to convey a sense of what it was like here at home or "over there." And just like the people, we see the way the war changes the cities too. It may seem a little slow to start to some, but give it the time and long before the first episode is over, you'll be hooked. I ended up watching the series again a week later because it was so deeply on my mind and I wanted to see this part and that again. Emotional, educational, deeply moving, even surprisingly funny in a few places - I wish this film was required viewing for every American - along with "The Fog of War."

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5.0 out of 5 stars Unique Look at WW2, January 23, 2012
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This review is from: The War: A Ken Burns Film (Amazon Instant Video)
Okay first off, I had to write a review because some of these short sighted reviewers were giving 1 star ratings. This is at LEAST a 4-5 star Doc depending on your metric. I give it 5 stars because of the unique view this series affords us of small town america's contribution to WW2. The narration, the archival footage and the music are all top notch. If you want to gain a fresh view of the sacrifices made at home and abroad to save the free world please, please watch this.

Also as a side note, I think this series probably rates around pg-13 or R depending on the episode, as there is some material of a graphic nature. That said, the series is not overly focused on shocking the viewer and probably most of the segments are not extreme in nature, but are rather focused on presenting a clear view of what actually happened.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Ken Burns takes on more than he should..., January 21, 2012
By 
Katharine Hyde (Central New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The War: A Ken Burns Film (Amazon Instant Video)
I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but I found myself unimpressed overall with this series. I'm highly interested in WWII history and have read about it extensively in addition to watching numerous documentaries about it. After visiting Pearl Harbor a few years ago I became particularly interested in the Pacific Theater of war. It's fairly accurate from a factual basis, but it lacks some extremely important iconic images and information. For example, how can he leave out the iconic flag raising at Iwo Jima captured by Joe Rosenthal and how only 3 of those men survived Iwo Jima (and the rest of the war since they were sent home on a PR tour). Then there's war correspondent Ernie Pyle - he is mentioned a couple times in the series, yet there's no mention of him being killed at Okinawa by a sniper's bullet. I was fully expecting to see the formal Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri with the iconic picture of General MacArthur and General Wainright, who had been a prisoner of war in Japan, on Sept. 2, 1945. How in the world could Ken Burns leave something so important out of this production?!?! It absolutely baffles me! From the European aspect how is it that he doesn't somehow discuss what became of Mussolini? The liberation of Paris? How about the trials at Nuremburg, even if he doesn't go into great detail? How is it that he left out how the Allied occupation of Europe after the war led to the eventual separation of Germany which in turn lends itself to the development of the Cold War?

What is the educational background of Ken Burns? Who works with Ken Burns? Do these people have any idea of how to wrap up a series with some historical explanation of how the events of WWII lent itself to the events that would follow in the years to come?

The only actual redeeming part of this series was hearing the experiences of those who served and those they cared about back at home, but that's about it.

I absolutely love the National Parks and visit many of them, but there's absolutely no way I'm going to waste my time watching his series on the National Parks - I'm confident that it will leave me unsatisfied as well. I don't know if I'd ever watch a Ken Burns production again since he seems to think he's some expert on a wide variety of aspects of American history - I beg to differ.
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