Given
the advances in visual technology, few networks
have benefited more than History. Although History,
formerly known as The History Channel, rose to
popularity on old black and white war footage
from World War I and World War II, the latest
in high definition visual technology allows History
fans to view the conflict of war as a new, more
realistic color experience like never before.
Premiering Sunday, November 15 at 9pm, the new
five night, 10 hour History documentary event,
WWII in HD, gives viewers a riveting, never before
seen showcase of World War II though the lives
of eleven soldiers and one nurse from cleaned
and digitally restored footage from all over the
world.
What's different about WWII in HD as a landmark
documentary series of the second world war is
that it covers the global conflict from all
angles and sides on all levels. However, at
the core of WWII in HD is an emotional heartbeat
that's sometimes warm and often raw. Most of
all WWII in HD is extremely personal since much
of the skillfully edited footage comes from
home movies hidden away in dusty basements or
museum archives and told by those who lived
through the horrors of war via unpublished diaries
and first hand accounts. Aside from the precisely
restored digital visuals, the stories and lives
take center stage amid astoundingly vibrant
restored footage. Although it may sound cliche
after so much previously aired footage of the
second world war, the recordings do put you
in the thick of the war like no other documentary
to date.
Unlike
other war documentaries, WWII in HD is also
brilliantly unique in that it covers the twelve
lives of those followed before each were drawn
into combat, with pre-war footage of life in
America to never before seen footage of basic
training and families preparing to send their
loved ones overseas. It traces the lives as
they enter the war through to promotions and
stations to combat and post battle. Viewers
feel WWII as the twelve experienced conflict
and the emotions that come with pain, suffering,
victory, and defeat.
Interestingly, the footage of life in the United
States within the 1930s and '40s is showcased
alongside similar recordings of the same moments
in time in Europe and Germany and the affects
of Nazi occupations in Belgium, Poland, Holland,
Yugoslavia, Italy, France and more. The detailed
digital footage gives viewers ground level glimpses
of WWII from perspectives on all levels, including
those close to Hitler and FDR, the soldiers
from both sides, the people affected by the
Nazi invasions, school children who were forced
to evacuate, those killed, the graphic carnage
of battle, the people at home, and many areas
you never thought a camera would have been.
As FDR touches down to visit troops overseas,
viewers are privy to what news reels didn’t
air to the public.
The
first two episodes of WWII in HD, Darkness Falls
and Hard Way Back, focus on four individuals
sent to combat: Jack Werner (voiced by Justin
Bartha), a Jewish Austrian who fled to the U.S.
to escape Nazi occupation and later became a
U.S. soldier in the Aleutian Islands, Archie
Sweeney (Mark Hefti), a farm boy from upstate
New York sent to Pearl Harbor and North Africa,
Charles Scheffel (Ron Livingston), an all-American
basketball player from Oklahoma sent to England
and North Africa, Richard Tregaskis (Tim Dekay),
a New Jersey reporter sent to Guadalcanal, and
nurse June Wandrey (Amy Smart) from Battle Creek,
MI who, introduced in episode two, was sent
overseas to care for the wounded.
The first two episodes center mainly around
the combat of Guadalcanal, the Pacific Theater
and Pearl Harbor, and North Africa while also
showcasing the more ambiguous U.S. presence
in Alaska during WWI to battle the Japanese
on the Aleutian Islands.
While viewers see the combat first hand in color, WWI
in HD also brings to life the harsh preparations
of combat, the consequences of strategy, and
the fallout of battle. One aspect of WWII in
HD highlight reporter Richard Tregaskis who
covered the beach invasion of Guadalcanal and
was stuck on the island with U.S. forces after
bring stranded for five weeks. Set to voice
narration by actor Ron Livingston, the time
of Tregaskis on Guadalcanal chronicles the excitement
and anticipation of war where we see footage
of soldiers below ship decks playing poker to
climbing down the sides of ships to landing
boats, the invasion, combat, and fallout.
With
restored, never before seen footage comes graphic
segments of battle carnage that punctuate the
horrors of war and the digital display of death.
WWII in HD doesn't hold back in giving viewers
the real and raw, sometimes uncomfortable bloody
consequences of combat. As unsympathetically
graphic as the Second World War was for soldiers
and innocent, unfortunate citizens, WWII in
HD doesn’t sugar coat the fatal mortality so
many were forced to confront. In contrast, the
story of nurse June Wandrey showcases the war
from a female perspective in the makeshift emergency
rooms and the candid medical footage most of
us never knew existed. There's an interesting
and awkward symbiotic relationship between dark
and light, despair and hope through home movies
on the streets and front lines of battle.
One of the more striking images appears as
the second episode of WWII in HD comes to a
close, as viewers get an inside look at the
war from the cockpit of a plane as bombs fall
to exploding Pacific Theater below. It's awkwardly
beautiful, distant and detached, yet vibrantly
powerful given the tragic fireworks on the sea
below. Spread across five consecutive nights
on History, WWII in HD brings the war into modern
day with gripping realism like no other documentary
has been able to portray.
WWII in HD fills in the gaps of World War II in a way that viewers will never forget the war or the lives affected through personal human footage of those in the moments.
Subject: he Marine who gives water to this 3 year old little girl who is shaking because she is so afraid, covered in mud
Does anyone know what happened to this little girl? Did the Marines take her to safety and on to the US? I would just like to know any info simply because the image haunts me. The footage is incredible and I am glued to the TV set while watching. It's nice to know that in the presence of war our Military still has compassion for the innocent Again, any info would be greatly appreciated.
Reply to Eric
Howard – Hudson, NY
December 09, 2009 - 17:54
Subject: Re: he Marine who gives water to this 3 year old little girl who is shaking because she is so afraid, covered in mud
Eric,
My sentiments exactly. The image sticks in my mind. I have the same question, though after so long a time I wonder if anyone besides God knows. My hope is that she was carefully cared for and able to prosper in spite of the obvious horrors and terror she must have witnessed. I have 6 grand daughters and this kind of thing just really hits home. Thank God for the kind of compassion most of our war fighters have always been known for.
Jason Gottlieb – Los Angeles
November 16, 2009 - 23:22
Subject: WW II HD
Found the commercialas at times provided a welcome respite. Example: watching the bodies of American soldiers floating in the lagoon at Tarawa. Reading about the battle and knowing what occured is different and more poingant when you actually see the result. Also serving in the Army brings the event closer to one.
Thomas Donkin
November 16, 2009 - 20:21
Subject: WW II HD
Watched the first episode, photogarphy and presentation was excellent. However, by half way thru the frequency and duration of the comercials had increased to the point that it was too frustrating to continue. So I signed off. I'll try again tonight.
Given
the advances in visual technology, few networks
have benefited more than History. Although History,
formerly known as The History Channel, rose to
popularity on old black and white war footage
from World War I and World War II, the latest
in high definition visual technology allows History
fans to view the conflict of war as a new, more
realistic color experience like never before.
Premiering Sunday, November 15 at 9pm, the new
five night, 10 hour History documentary event,
WWII in HD, gives viewers a riveting, never before
seen showcase of World War II though the lives
of eleven soldiers and one nurse from cleaned
and digitally restored footage from all over the
world.
Unlike
other war documentaries, WWII in HD is also
brilliantly unique in that it covers the twelve
lives of those followed before each were drawn
into combat, with pre-war footage of life in
America to never before seen footage of basic
training and families preparing to send their
loved ones overseas. It traces the lives as
they enter the war through to promotions and
stations to combat and post battle. Viewers
feel WWII as the twelve experienced conflict
and the emotions that come with pain, suffering,
victory, and defeat.
The
first two episodes of WWII in HD, Darkness Falls
and Hard Way Back, focus on four individuals
sent to combat: Jack Werner (voiced by Justin
Bartha), a Jewish Austrian who fled to the U.S.
to escape Nazi occupation and later became a
U.S. soldier in the Aleutian Islands, Archie
Sweeney (Mark Hefti), a farm boy from upstate
New York sent to Pearl Harbor and North Africa,
Charles Scheffel (Ron Livingston), an all-American
basketball player from Oklahoma sent to England
and North Africa, Richard Tregaskis (Tim Dekay),
a New Jersey reporter sent to Guadalcanal, and
nurse June Wandrey (Amy Smart) from Battle Creek,
MI who, introduced in episode two, was sent
overseas to care for the wounded.
With
restored, never before seen footage comes graphic
segments of battle carnage that punctuate the
horrors of war and the digital display of death.
WWII in HD doesn't hold back in giving viewers
the real and raw, sometimes uncomfortable bloody
consequences of combat. As unsympathetically
graphic as the Second World War was for soldiers
and innocent, unfortunate citizens, WWII in
HD doesn’t sugar coat the fatal mortality so
many were forced to confront. In contrast, the
story of nurse June Wandrey showcases the war
from a female perspective in the makeshift emergency
rooms and the candid medical footage most of
us never knew existed. There's an interesting
and awkward symbiotic relationship between dark
and light, despair and hope through home movies
on the streets and front lines of battle.