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WWII In HD

Big History Channel event, two hours a night, Nov. 15-19, “WWII in HD” promises to ”change the way the world sees this defining conflict.” Previews* and details at History.com, where they say they combed the archives for a lot of largely unseen footage and digitally cranked it up to HD standards.

“WWII in HD” (listed for pre-order via Amazon, where your purchases support the site) follows the stories of 12 Americans, including war correspondent Richard Tregaskis of “Guadalcanal Diary” fame, as well as “Tarawa” author and war correspondent Robert Sherrod.

The experiences of average Americans include an Army nurse from North Africa to Germany; a Tuskegee airman; a Japanese-American medic in the 442nd taken POW; an Austrian Jew who ended up fighting with the US Army in the Pacific. That’s my kind of diversity. There is also a B-17 pilot; a Marine; several more Army infantrymen and a sailor in service from the Battle of the Atlantic to Leyte Gulf. Sounds like the Navy and Marines could use some affirmative action in this series. A tad underrepresented, though the contributions of my people, Scribbler-Americans Tregaskis and Sherrod, presumably will act as a major shoutout to the United States Marine Corps and maybe the Navy, too.  

* The lower left preview link at History.com, below the main vid screen, is the best. This program, for the footage alone, looks worth penciling in. In fact, it sounds like, with Unapologetic-American Gary Sinise’s involvement in the project, it could be the great counterbalance to that wretched Ken Burns dirge, “The War,” that I thought would never happen again in our lifetimes. I’m less encouraged by the fact that producer/director Frederic Lumiere is apparently a hook-line-and-sinker Obamist, which might tend to suggest he faces a challenge in grasping some of the relevant lessons even a good war in the distant past holds for us in this dirty present: That the fight for freedom in this world is bloody, requires sacrifice, is never easy, may be daunting, grim and discouraging when you’re in the middle of it, and never ends. 

By the way, World War II remains relevant not only to our understanding of the world as it presents itself today, but as a matter of interest to American youth. I know two 12-year-olds who made a diorama of “The Atlantic Wall” as seen being breached on June 6, 1944, for their 7th grade history assignment, “Famous Landmarks in Europe.”

To go above and beyond compliance with pending FTC regulations re blogger conflict of interest, I’d like to disclose that I have received no compensation from the History.com for this review. Though I’d be more than happy to host an ad if they want to shell out for it.

(Care to comment? Use the “contact” link to assure me you are a real human being interested in commenting on the topics at hand. Include your preferred screenname and temporary password. Lefty Kumbayah singers, moderate handwringers, meanspirited rightwingers all welcome. This is a free speech zone as long as you keep it clean and make an effort to be accurate.)

Topics: TV, history, military

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:55 am Comments (3) on Saturday, October 24, 2009

3 Responses to “WWII In HD”

1. MikeHu Says:
   October 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm

   I think a lot of the footage, judging from the clip, is not really new, and has been shown before on the History Channel in their series “The Color of War” or “The Lost Color Archives” (narrated by John Thaw/Ed Hermann), or in the PBS special, “The Perilous Fight” (with our good buddy, Martin Sheen). It will be interesting to see what new has shown up since those were aired.

   I wish somebody would do the digital restoration/clean-up of the actual “original” WWII color films like “Combat USA”, “Report from the Aleutians”, “Battle of Midway”, “Memphis Belle” or “The Fighting Lady” (about the Yorktown).

   I expect we’ll get to see a lot of color film of P-47s laying waste to Germany in 1945, previously shown in the History Channel’s “Thunderbolts, Conquest of the Reich.” Now there was some pretty serious retribution caught on film.

2. MikeHu Says:
   October 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

   (follow-up) Good “clean” version of “Battle of Midway” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi4HwxOZDJw&feature=player_embedded#
   (ht: Leo Grin at Big Hollywood

3. MikeHu Says:
   October 26th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

   …And also from the Doc Channel: “With the Marines at Tarawa”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY9NZYR2f94&feature=channel

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