BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Rick Canada It's an absolute must-watch for anybody interested in military history, tactics, etc. Very well executed, it provides a very thorough introduction to the circumstances leading to the battle, explains the different phases of the battle itself and finally addresses briefly its consequences.Sure, there's a lot of information left out, but what can you expect? It's a documentary, not a complete academic study. It gives you as much info as reasonably possible for a 2 hr piece. And it does so keeping a good pace, in some cases almost as an action movie.Outstanding work.

damakuc If history were presented in the "Battlefield" series format, I would have undoubtedly like it much more...The series manages to strike a very good balance of introducing the key impacts in major battles of WW2. It does not want to reduce the battle to one single trigger, instead it focuses on the prelude, people, weaponry and tactics/strategy.The latter is a favorite part of mine, as this was usually the key ingredient missing in many other popular historic presentations. The series devotes a significant amount of time to this part, making much more sense of why did the great generals behave the way they did.As I grew up in the "computer game" generation, this series made me remember of the endless number of strategy games I've played, and in particular, of the game "Civilization".The graphics and music background are not high-tech, however, IMHO this only reduces any distractions and makes you enjoy this series even more.

dsnicol This series is an exceptionally superb telling of a history that still is often told with the same type of propagandistic bias found in newsreels of the 1940's and 1950's. The text of the series, and the wonderfully even-toned yet captivating narration, gives a mood of relaxed academic instruction without strident interjections. For those who like history presented in a thorough, balanced, and entertaining manner, this series is exactly what you are looking for.The series does what it says: a firm focus on those factors affecting the battlefield. Political events are ignored, except those which had a direct impact on tactical considerations. This limiting of scope allows an even greater detail of the battles themselves to be revealed. Instead of a rehash of broad details of battles such as Stalingrad, and how it was a German blunder; we get a complete account of WHY the battle occurred, WHO was involved, WHAT happened and with a full detail of the men, units, and equipment used by each side.Thankfully, there is a refreshing lack of bias in this series. There is no stupid narration talking about "Nazi tanks advancing". A respectful and accurate "German tanks advancing" is used instead. After all these men were, in the main, courageous and skilled soldiers just like those of any nation. They were fighting for their homes and nation just as surely as the British or the Soviets, and the fanatical excesses of the Nazi party were far from their minds and intentions. Similarly, we don't hear of any "Communist Hordes" repelling invasion. The Soviet armed forces, just like the German and British, and spoken of in factual, academic terms. In all cases, national tendencies and superiorities are detailed in a factual, detailed manner, almost as if a Martian were explaining true human history.This is a war documentary that is actually soothing in its sonic presentation. The historical film is not presented with blaring explosive noises. The soundtrack is a brilliantly composed piece that creates an ambient effect to background the film and narration, with well-timed moments of change and progression and the story unfolds. The overall effect is one of peering through a portal of time to see what happened, while a unbiased professor elaborates on all the fascinating things we see occurring. This is an ideal way to understand History.

verbusen I am a huge military history buff and I frequently watched "Battlefield" when it first aired on PBS in the 90's (I think this was PBS's last attempt to provide new programing for it's straight male audience). At first I was in heaven and would watch this series with relish; but than I noticed something significant. As ardent a fan I am of military history, I frequently would fall asleep while watching this program. The reason I think is the droning music used and the monotone British narration. Think about it, a 1 1/2 hour long program with only one soft voice speaking and very repetitious music softly in the background. Add on to that, they would do a very long pre-battle segment to the actual discussion of the battle and it would be well into 30 minutes into the show (going back 2 years in history before the battle!) and I would many times be asleep before the actual episodes topic! It's now on the channels that show commercials and in shorter segments so I doubt you would succumb to this effect because the commercials will break up the monotony, but I swear to G, I would absolutely have the hardest time staying awake while watching this show. I did like the Battlefield episodes concerning Vietnam because it made the military conflicts more coherent with its pretty computer graphics showing the forces involved. It's worth watching but just be aware of the sleep factor and do not play this show while driving.