Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

screenman It is easy to exhaust one's stock of superlatives in describing this - now ancient - documentary. Indeed, it is half the age of the war itself. But nothing has ever come as close, either before or since, to such a comprehensive telling of a true story. Back in 1964, when I was a young teenager, this programme utterly gripped my attention. Like the Great War itself, the series seemed to go on for ever, and formed something of a backdrop to my life. I just had to watch - every gripping and frightful episode.There were times when it seemed surreal. At other times it resembled a science-fiction movie into which the Keystone cops had strayed. Quirky little manikin figures strutted and struggles across some alien landscape like a waterlogged moon, stippled with broken and skeletal trees and heaps of bloated horses. There were close-ups with forced smiles composed for a moment, and haggard scowls seamed by such unbelievable suffering that no levity remained to express. By the time of its broadcast, the War To End All Wars, had already assumed a mythical obscurity fought out under conditions that could only be imagined by its largely silent survivors. The rats, the lice, the mud and filth, the smell, the barrages, machine-guns and unremitting slaughter were things only to be experienced. Making breakfast of biscuits and cold water in the company of decaying, disembowelled colleagues, to whom one had been speaking only the night before, and for whom nothing could be done because of the endlessly falling shells, tireless snipers, and ever-busy vermin; these things had no place in official truth or strategic planning.And the narrative by Sir Micheal Redgrave perfectly interpreted the futile despairing failure. Episode after episode, theatre after theatre; his voice described the arrogant self-belief, the foolhardy assumptions and the telephone-number casualties that were their only outcome. The Somme, Ypres, Bapaume, Verdun and many more: names that will forever mean 'suffering'.No other war and no other programme demonstrated the truth that in war; it is war that is the enemy.This programme left an indelible print in my life. Many years later, armed with H Jones's excellent 'The War Walk' I visited the scenes of carnage, often in rain as, perhaps, it should be done. Many of the military places are still there today. Trenches meander through what is now wood and forest. Pill-boxes and gun-emplacements litter the edges of agricultural land. Cemeteries stretch away like fields of white corn. There were places where so much ordnance fell that even today great tracts are fenced-off with danger warnings to discourage the curious. This documentary couldn't be made today. For one thing; the survivors have all gone. In any case it is too good. too well done. The research too detailed and costly. It is not dumbed down with coloured charts or enhanced with computer-generation or 'docu-drama' for the appeal of simpletons raised in a peacetime life of computer games.Incredibly; 'The Daily Mail' issued the whole series for free with its newspaper during a 3-week spree. I have 'em all.Everyone should watch this programme. It's not very nice viewing. It's a tragedy from beginning to end. But it is also a testament to the astonishing endurance of the human will.

Theo Robertson The title sequence of THE GREAT WAR opens with an allied soldier leaning over a cross . The camera quickly pans down a pile of dead bodies then slowly pans left onto a British Tommy , the horrors of war plain to see in his eyes , and all the while doom laden music music plays in the foreground. It`s impossible through words to describe how effective this is , it`s shocking , disturbing and heart wrenching and if this is the title sequence just think how brutal the rest of the documentary is ? I first saw THE GREAT WAR in 1974 when it was broadcast on Sunday afternoons but for some reason the BBC decided not to broadcast it again until 2003 almost 30 years later . Everyone talks about how great THE WORLD AT WAR ( Which often turns up on British network TV every few years ) is as a documentary but I can`t help thinking this is actually the greatest documentary involving war . Perhaps its greatest strength is that it shows the effect of the conflict throughout the entire world . There is a tendancy for British and Commonwealth historians ( Most notably John Laffin ) to lapse into accusations of incompetence on the part of the British military leaders or even into self sorrow as to the needless slaughter of young British men but as THE GREAT WAR shows this needless slaughter isn`t unique to Douglas Haig . Britain lost 800,000 servicemen while the French lost 1,200,000 while the Germans lost even more while the Russians lost 2,000,000 dead . Would anyone consider the German offensive at Verdun in 1916 as a success for Germany? So the strategic disasters by the British at the Somme and Ypres were in no way unique and the documentary does point out that proportionaly the British suffered higher casualties during the March 1918 offensive by the Germans than they had on the first day of the Somme If there`s a problem with the documentary then it`s maybe just too informative , it`s impossible to take in all the facts and figures at first showing . Thank gawd for the video recorder where you can tape each episode and slowly assimilate the information ( And the horror ) on screen . There are one or two other flaws like as has been mentioned clips being shown out of context with someone mentioning the day American troops arrived in Britain but instead of American Doughboys on screen it`s clearly British Tommies , but this would be unforgivably pedantic if I described it as a criticism since this is probably the greatest documentary made about any war I`m afraid I must finish this review with a criticism of the BBC: Their scheduling of this masterwork on BBC 2 was disgraceful with breaks in transmission lasting several weeks whenever it clashed with its sports coverage . Something this superb should have been shown at peak time on BBC 1 at the same time every week

filmnoirfilms-1 As a great fan of THE WORLD AT WAR series, THE GREAT WAR was not a disappointment. Essential the same layout, THE GREAT WAR is the best series on WWI. Leave it to the Brits to make a fantastic documentary on this subject, vastly superior to later efforts like the the Robert Ryan / CBS series, the 1990's THE GREAT WAR series and film THE GUNS OF AUGUST.If there is a fault, it's that is it doesn't move at the quick pace of the THE WORLD AT WAR, but hey, WWII is a much more exciting war. Also, if you live in the states only PAL versions are available. I picked mine up on EBAY, the Chinese version with subtitles. Other than that it makes a must bookend for TWAW.

frankiehudson This series is a PRICELESS exercise in archive footage - make no bones about it. The series is over 10 hours long yet consists almost entirely of archive footage from all the major battles of the war, particularly the Western Front. There is the odd interview with the veterans, well and alive and indeed quite young in 1964, yet the amazing sight is the reel after reel of archive footage. Where did they get it all from? (and why is it NEVER used in any WWI film before or since? - they all use the same few stills and films over and over again). Countless shots of the Somme battlefields, Belgium, Verdun, and everywhere! I only chanced upon it in the library, for a cheap rental; but watch this urgently. Another surprising impression is the sheer modernity of the whole thing - great guns, brilliant filming, great troop movements, even aeroplanes and dog fights. Footage shot from old Sopwith Camels of bomb-drops and stuff like that. It shows the Middle East fronts, Italy vs. Austria, Romanian fronts, Russian, the whole shebang! Also has a fantastic classical score to accompany it and brilliant narration by Sir Michael Redgrave.