Filed under: Film/Television
No, this post isn’t about how badly the exams went. Nor is it about my plans of world domination and annihilation. But it is about somebody else’s plans for world domination…
“Apocalypse: The Second World War”. It’s a 6-part documentary series about World War II, and it’s the best documentary I’ve watched all year. In fact, I’m so impressed by it, I’m gonna say it’s the best documentary I’ve ever watched. Period.
“Apocalypse” seems like any other World War II documentary. It illustrates the war using restored film footage, or in this case, “previously unseen, colourized footage”, and it chronicles all the major events in World War II, from Hitler’s rise to power, to the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Much of the footage is indeed “previously unseen”, with some of them being a bit graphic. There is an abundance of footage featuring the corpses of dead soldiers, or the lifeless bodies of some unfortunate civilians, which isn’t uncommon for a World War II documentary.
There is a marked focus on the European theater. But with sufficient footage to last a total running time of 4 and a half hours (or 6 hours if you count the commercials), “Apocalypse” is able to describe these events with so much more detail than anything I’ve seen. And it does so at a good pace too - you could get a really good picture of what was going on, instead of losing the plot after watching 10 minutes of some other documentary.
And then it goes one step further. What really sets “Apocalypse” apart from the other WWII documentaries for me, was that it didn’t merely lay down the facts with the help of colourized footage. I watched it, and perhaps the last round of exams have dislodged a couple of screws, but at times, you could actually get a good feel for some of the events and characters. For instance, the mysticism surrounding Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, the tactical billiance of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, and the determination and grit of the British people during the Battle of Britain.
The narrator’s lines are superbly written, with none of the gaudy “this footage of 2 dead hamsters has never been broadcasted, UNTIL NOW…” Also, Martin Sheen does a commendable job of executing the narration. He doesn’t sound like he’s struggling to stay awake – quite rare for a footage-based World War II documentary. The background music helps to convey the appropriate moods too, and the variety of footage is staggering. It makes you wonder how much more footage has been left on the cutting room floor. And despite of the variety of footage featured, the production is rock-solid. The whole package feels really well put-together, and there’s always continuity throughout the entire 4 and half hours.
So there you you have it. “Apocalypse: The Second World War”. It’s an old story that you think you already know. But they tell it so well, you’ll feel like you’ve never heard it before.
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment
