Product Details

• Writers: Laurence Rees
• Producers: Laurence Rees
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (PCM Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: July 19, 2005
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00097DY6G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,023 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "War of the Century - When Hitler Fought Stalin" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

WAR OF THE CENTURY - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First-class documentary, August 28, 2005

By 

S. M. Nofal "gaturro007" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War of the Century - When Hitler Fought Stalin (DVD)

It war of the twentieth century was fought in the Eastern Front. In terms of scale of men involved and in casualities, the Western Front pales in comparison. The man who did the most to defeat Adolph Hitler was not F.D. Roosevelt or Winston Churchill but Joseph Stalin.

This BBC documentary is very valuable because, being developed only a few years ago, it incorporates new, unclassified material. Although his secret agents told Stalin about a massive invasion on June 1941, Stalin did not believe it. So he made no plan for a possible attack from Germany. When operation Barbarrossa was launched, it took the Red Army by surprise. This documentary, unlike any other that I know of, shows that Stalin tried to negociate peace with Hitler --although to no avail.

The interviews in this documentary are also very moving: a general urging his son to take his leave befor the declacle of Stalingrad, a woman from the secret organization of SMERSCH candidly telling she would be considered a mass murderer in the West after carrying out orders to assassinate prisoners of war, a partisan guerrilla leader admitting he and his men did not take prisoners, and so forth. Perhaps, the most shocking detail of the documentary was the revelation that, at Stalingrad, the average life expenctancy of a Soviet soldier was merely 24 hours.

The documentary is impeccably edited.

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From Barbarossa to the fall of Berlin, a very good summary., May 17, 2005

By 

Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: War of the Century - When Hitler Fought Stalin (DVD)

I first saw this on the History Channel several years ago and was quite impressed. There aren't enough WW2 documentaries on the eastern front and this one sheds new light on several areas of the conflict. For example, newly-declassified Soviet documents shown in this film prove that secret "peace talks" between Soviet and German officials did in fact take place and furthur more, evidence is shown that Stalin had refused to believe that Hitler would ever invade the Soviet Union after their peace pact was signed in 1939.

There is incredible footage shown of Barbarossa, including rare color scenes which I'd never scene before. Of course, famous battles like Stalingrad and Leningrad are covered, but I wish there'd been more coverage of lesser-known battles. But there's only so much you can show in 200 minutes. There are very interesting interviews with Russian and German soldiers and civilians, each one telling of their experiences in the brutal conflict in which millions lost their lives. Several of the veterans, both Russian and German, admit to killing innocent civilians and executing prisoners (one even says "What else could we do?").

The segment on the fall of Berlin was one of the most compelling in my opinion. One Russian veteran admitted that rival Russian units were competing to see who could take over the capitol first, and they even shot at each other! And of course, German civilians tell of the many rapes and murders committed by the Russian troops as they sought vengeance on the German population. On the other hand, Russian civilians tell of the many executions committed by the Germans, especially the feared SS units. Overall, I'd say that this documentary is one of the better ones on the eastern front and is recommended for both the novice and the historian.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Catastrophic Episode of Human History...., October 19, 2007

By 

A. Castillo "Tony_SPQR" (Long Beach, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: War of the Century - When Hitler Fought Stalin (DVD)

When I think of the War on the EASTERN FRONT--of the TOTAL war waged between the German and Russian peoples from 1941 to 1945--I draw up a fantastic image in my mind's eye:

I see a panoramic landscape of melancholic chaos. The dark winter sky, illuminated by roaring artillery fire, and the rolling Russian steppe lands, littered with the burning hulks of destroyed tanks, and the earth drenched in the cogealing blood of tens of millions of dead soldiers and civilians.

This is what Laurence Rees' WAR OF THE CENTURY brings to light for those interested in gaining a general but intriguing understanding of the Russo-German conflict during the Second World War. What this documentary may lack in breadth of subject (i.e., blow-by-blow logistical order of battle info for each facet of the Eastern Front), the BBC production certainly makes up for in presenting primary sources: actual first-hand accounts and interviews from those Germans and Russians who were there.

Having watched this fascinating documentary several times now, I still take some new bit of insight or knowledge away with me after each new viewing. And for me, the most important revelation to me thus far regarding the Eastern Front War would have to be this:

Such conflicts of high atrocity and cruelty will continue to arise so long as selfish individuals, or gangs of selfish individuals--in positions of power--perpetuate them.

The war between Russia and Germany was essentially a war waged between Adolf Hitler/Nazi Party and Josef Stalin/Communist Party in an effort for each entity to secure their own greedy ambitions. Reinforced by strongly established military/para-military states, and the fact that two directly opposite socio-political ideologies could not be allowed to exist together (Nazism versus Bolshevism), the Soviet Union and the Third Reich were pre-ordained to clash to the death with each other.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED DOCUMENTARY!! NOT TO BE MISSED!!!