The Color of War (2001– ) User Reviews

A valuable illustration of the horrors of war

[Raydio · 3 February 2003]

As someone with more than a passing interest in the history of WWII, I found this series to be a worthwhile addition to the vast(and growing) library of documentaries covering this dark period of man's history. Though "The Color of War" lacks the depth and breadth of "The World at War", which for me remains THE definitive documentary of the war, the valuable color film elements seen in this series certainly add a new dimension. There's little doubt that seeing the events of the war in the Pacific in gruesome detail makes it somehow more real than watching grainy black and white footage. Additionally during numerous sequences, letters from various servicemen and women who lived through the war are read over the accompanying footage. The anguish and sense of loss, grief and despair are inescapable, and give one a real sense of what it was like to cope with the situations these people found themselves in. It's important to note that this documentary is very graphic, and therefore should only be viewed by mature audiences. However, I for one think it's important that documentaries of this kind continue to be shown, lest future generations forget the sacrifices which were made by so many, and also to highlight the serious consequences of war. If you haven't seen "The Color of War", or it's U.S. namesake "WWII, The Lost Color Archives", then I thoroughly recommend you take the opportunity to do so. 8/10

The Finest Series To Deal With The Second World War

[ScarletPimpernel64 · 10/10 · 6 December 2011]

"The Color of War" is to film what Ernie Pyle's 'Brave Men' was to the written page. Both dealt with aspects of the war that no one else thought of covering, as show how those particular parts did their bit to win the war in their own way.

I have seen many documentaries dealing with this war, and this is far away the best. Each and every episode touches the heartstrings, showing us how the members of the military felt, what they were going through, and the films pull no punches.

This should be required viewing for all schools and households. It makes us grateful for The Greatest Generation.

Organized differently than other series

[phlbrq · 19 September 2011]

The prominent distinction for this series is the color footage and narration by Peter Coyote. The less prominent difference is how it's organized by topic. It's a little difficult to determine the topic by the cryptic titles but understand it's not chronological or even geographical. There seems to be more Pacific footage than European. I agree with an earlier reviewer the best series is still World At War, narrated by Lawrence Olivier, from 1971. This is a very good supplement if you know the timeline and major battle sequence. Production values, editing, music and writing are superior to anything produced by The History Channel. Add this to The War in HD as relatively new historical series that provide new perspectives on this era.

A toutching Documantary....

[kras25 · 21 November 2002]

Well it is a Documentary about WW 2 ,whit real fragments of films,diary's ,and letters ,of people who where in the war . But it is really touching to me ,it is hard to describe here,but if you get the change watch it....,you/we can see and learn what we not must do!

The best WWII documentary set I personally have ever seen.

[mactecdev · 16 June 2015]

Most every other documentary on WWII focuses more on the dates, places of battles with some personal accounts. This one however does that and talks about how soldiers dealt with combat as a whole from information gathered at the time by psychiatrists and various studies that were done by the military and others about the various aspects of war.

It does this in such a way that is unique to the genre that sets it way, way apart from the rest. My GF hates war documentaries but liked this set when I eventually wore her down enough to watch an episode. She watched almost all of them after that, and still can't stand other war documentaries.

It talks about the whole aspect of war not just the front lines but the logistics even down to what they ate, rates of pay, how they felt about their superiors or subordinates, it even explains why the fighting men wear their rank on their arms and why officers wear them on top of their shoulders (epaulets) and collars etc... Extremely informative the psychological symptoms and results of first combat through to the eventual breaking down of a soldier no matter how tough at first because of constant exposure to the real possibility of death. To how long a man spent in actual combat a day (under normal type conditions) and so much more. Stuff you won't see in other documentaries other than university lectures aka sleeping pills. Actually the only thing you will get sick of is the dang theme tune as you watch episode back to back. lol