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 Post subject: The War
PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 12:51 am 
Has anyone else seen Ken Burns documentary on WW2?

What did you think?

I watched it last week and it was entertaining at points but mostly he seemed lost making it. I think he had a great idea - to take four US towns and show how they were effected by the war - but in the end he was unable to really pull it all together. I think he would have done better to have just taken on the subject much like he did with the ACW and broken each "episode" into a different campaign or topic. Instead he flipped between the US homefront and overseas and it hurt the continuity of the program. He had some wonderful interviews (as always) and I'd have loved to see him find more veterans and to hear their stories about their experiences. This generation is quickly fading away and the world is fortunate that such a massive effort has been made to record their stories already. I think Burns could have really made it a much more interesting documentary by focusing more on the campaigns as they were seen through the eyes of the veterans. Maybe a singular episode on the homefront would suffice but carving out 20 or so minutes in each episode to remind us what was going on in Mobile or Oakland seemed forced. He also had to pick and choose what to include and he took alot of heat for his decisions from numerous groups who felt unrepresented in the final cut. Adding an addition 4 - 6 hours (2 or 3 episodes) wouldnt have been a bad idea (after all his Baseball documentary has 10 episodes and the War just 7?) and could have helped expand on many campaigns and stories.

In the end I was disappointed. I wouldnt watch it again like I would his Baseball series, or The Civil War or his one on Jazz. I think he had an idea in his head but because he has set the bar so high with his past work this one just seemed to fail to reach it.

I understand his next project is on Vietnam.

Once again proving that veterans of the Korean War are the most overlooked people of the 20th Century!


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 Post subject: Re: The War
PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:31 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 22, 2001 8:05 pm
Posts: 887
Location: Panhandle of Texas
I think he had the concept right with the home towns and war stories but he really didn't devote enough time to either and it just seem fragmented. I didn't get to watch it all so I would like to sit and watch it all the way through once.

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