World War II: From the Frontlines

Most of the negative reviews have mistakenly thought something as complex as world war 2 can be covered in 6 episodes. They seem to compare this to The World at War which is detailed and 26 episodes long. This is 6. It's emotive with the interviews of people who experienced the war and the black and white footage restored with color adds to that emotion. Some complain of the narration. It's no Laurence Olivier. I would say to those who have marked it low, manage your expectations of what can be showed and explored in 6 episodes of a Netflix documentary for a war spanning years. I don't think the intention was to condense the accuracy of The World at War into 6 episodes.

At the first episode we watch the really amazing captures of the expansion of the Axis in Europe and Asia. What is really frustrating is the description of the Italian invasion of Greece and the presumably "soft" resistance of Greece. That never actually happened. The invasion of Greece failed and the resistance was relentless resulting to the first win against Axis Powers on land. The invasion of Greece happened many months later after the German involvement. Colouring films is not sufficient if you don't know facts. The WWII is studied well enough and if you just Google it you can learn some things. Such a shame.

Basic and inaccurate Netflix series, which hides historical facts of great importance. Its greatest merit is the sound and colorization of scenes. There is a vast amount of filmed material presented here and, therefore, it was worth watching this series. In historical terms, there is a minimalism in information that is very uncomfortable. Little is said (or not even said at all) about the infamous agreement between Stalin and Hitler, the non-aggression pact. There is no mention of the siege of Leningrad. Another inaccurate fact is the terrible situation in which Great Britain found itself at a certain point, alone fighting against Hitler. It is unacceptable not to highlight this fact and this great courage to continue fighting. The definitive documentary of the Second World War already exists. It's French and called Apocalypse and was produced in 2009.

If you feel that this series insults your intelligence, maybe you are not the target audience. This series is an engaging way to familiarize students and non-WWII buffs with some of the events and emotions of one of the most influential eras in modern history - without making it feel like ancient history. If you are somehow offended by its simplicity, or the fact that there is nothing you didn't already know, or that the narrator doesn't sound like all of the other WWII documentary narrators you've heard, maybe reframe your expectations and try watching it through a different lens - or don't watch it at all. I'm going to recommend it to everyone I know.

I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this. Now that I have finished, I can say that the video has been beautifully restored and colorized. This is perhaps some of the best WW2 video I've ever seen. That's probably my favorite part of the series.

John Boyega does a good job with the narration, but unfortunately there were a lot of inaccuracies in the storytelling itself. I wouldn't watch this series in a classroom setting.

One thing that really bothered me is how the entire series glosses over Japanese atrocities, especially in China and Korea. I don't recall anything being mentioned. The Japanese killed far more people than the Germans, but a huge segment of the video covers the genocide of the Jews, which is important, but nothing about the rape of Nanking.

I give this a six out of 10.