Volkomen briljant. Krachtig en aangrijpend. De meest meeslepende documentaireserie die ooit over de oorlog is gemaakt. De toon van de serie vormt een scherp contrast met de vaak enthousiaste houding die de media ten opzichte van de Tweede Wereldoorlog hebben. In plaats van te schreeuwen over de gruwelen van de oorlog, zorgt de rustige stem van Sir Laurence Olivier ervoor dat de ware beelden van de oorlog op de achtergrond raken: overal lijken, explosies, doodsbange burgers en soldaten, gebroken mannen, onverschillige politici, fouten die duizenden levens hebben gekost, het lijden van de onschuldigen. Maar het meest van alles brengt het waarachtig tot uitdrukking waartoe de mensheid in staat is wanneer alle normale 'burgerlijke' regels worden afgeschaft.
Utterly brilliant. Powerful and evocative. The most compelling documentary series ever made concerning war. It's tone offers a stark contrast to the often gung-ho attitude towards World War 2 that the media exhibits. Rather than opting for screaming about the horror of war, it allows Sir Laurence Olivier's quiet voice to take a back seat to the true images of war: corpses everywhere, explosions, terrified citizens and soldiers, broken men, indifferent politicians, mistakes that cost thousands of lives, the suffering of the innocents. Most of all it truly brings home that mankind is capable of when all normal rules of "civility" are removed. There is something distinctly Hobbesian about man in a true state of nature, he will return to a more beastly form capable of crimes that will still shock and fascinate 60 years on. Perhaps there could be a follow up series called "The century at war" for the twentieth century was truly the century of horrors. I feel it is an irony of immense magnitude that it took an event which caused the death of 50 million people to produce such a compelling and excellent series such as this.