The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century [VHS]

most people who have seen this ask why it hasn't been re-released on dvd. the short answer is "money." if you want a more complete answer, punch up the kcet website. there is an email address for public inquiry. if you are lucky, as i was, the person who will answer you actually worked on the original production and will tell you, in detail, why this will never be on dvd in america; it would cost too much.this was a joint production between kcet and bbc. there is a bbc version on dvd (quite expensive) available from amazon uk in pal / region 2. it is substantially different and much shorter, so those who saw the original kcet production might be disappointed.if you really like this series, just bite the bullet & pay for the expensive tapes. that's all there is. when the last tape breaks, it will be extinct.

I had read the book, was greatly impressed by it's humanity, frustrated by the difficulty by finding it (VHS or DVD, and was determined to eventually be able to buy it. Even by the cost involved. I feel blessed that I finally found it from a library releasing it for sale. The book and the VHS is unique in following the war documentary in the way it did. My only unhappiness is that it left out other aspects that are important, such as information on 'shell shock' effects and some other details which you see via u-tube. But of course there cannot possibly include virtually everything in a documentary.

Good video of World War I. Focus is mainly on the British war effort.

i saw this when broadcast on pbs a few years back it is fascinating informative and harrowing to watch at times.given the brainless trash on tv these days it is beyond me why it has not been seen again and even worse that it has not been made available on dvd as of yet!i hope it is rereleased at some point soon.tony plowden richmond b.c.canada

I have never seen a more courageous portrayal of human-kind's tendency to hate and destroy in titanic, catastrophic proportion. It is an easy and expected thing for war documentaries to show and describe the physical horrors of war in the fake attempt to bare its darkest aspects; but, we have become immune to violence and frankly most of us enjoy it. The bloodier the battle, the higher the body-count the more entertaining the story. So the experience becomes just that - a story, an abstraction where the lives portrayed have no connection to the viewer. "The Great War" doesn't hide the shocking facts of war. The death toll and the acts of depravity are depicted in great detail, but where this film stands apart is in its near complete failure to portray war as a necessary evil where boys become men, where heroes are made, where evil is conquered, where it all turns out all-right in the end. No, I believe this film is out of print because it is a danger to those who need wars to be started and fought with ignorant enthusiasm and for the terrible aftermath to be viewed in a delusional fog. The good people at PBS need to honor the bravery it took to make this film by re-releasing it on DVD.

This is easily one of my favorite documentaries of all time. If you can, by hook or crook, get a look at it without laying out about $500, by all means, do so. (Fortunatley I liked it so much when it originally aired that I taped it and kept the tapes) That being said, I am absolutely flummoxed by some of the negative reviews of this documentary. Most of the complaints seem to say that the "basics" are not covered or that the history is "cursory". Seriously? Before we even get to the fighting, the first hour goes in depth into the personalities, alliances, and events that triggered the war. There's absolutely nothing cursory about it. Throughout the documentary the strategy (The Von Schlieffen Plan, etc.) is all covered, the battles (Gallipoli, etc.) are all covered, the personalities are all covered, the politics are all covered, the technology is all covered. There are more maps explaining the War than you can shake a stick at. There's hours of archival footage. I guarentee you, watch this documentary from start to finish and you'll know more about the history of WWI than 99.999% of the people you will ever meet. The fact that this documentary also brings home the human side of the conflagration should not be seen a fault. The beauty of this documentary is that it informs and enlightens. That is a rare thing in a documentary.