Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Leofwine_draca THE WAR is another exemplary documentary miniseries from filmmaker Ken Burns. Despite the lengthy running time (seven two hour episodes), this is never less than completely moving, engaging, and thoroughly insightful. I've already seen plenty of WW2 documentaries but it turns out that Burns still had plenty of say about the topic and plenty to teach. I like the way that the focus of the film is on four American towns, following the fortunes of various soldiers and pilots who enlisted for a hellish journey. The interviews are spellbinding, the unseen footage quite incredible, and Keith David's narration (along with that of uncredited Hollywood stars) the icing on the cake.

Charles Reinderhoff I have now watched this series of films twice. Its just tremendous. I don't have any other word for it. The amount of detail, the supporting cast of interviews, the music, the massive amount of images, it's all so incredibly well done, words do not suffice. If there ever has been one truly brilliant documentary on the meaning of total war, this has to be the one. As a European I realize that the story focuses on the American soldier and the American experience, which I fully understand. As a European, 'we' have of course that other masterpiece, 'The World at War'. Together, they complete the story on this black hole in human misery and history. I was sometimes moved to tears watching 'The War'. Again, the amount of detail is stunning. Watching this series of films leaves you wishing that there will never again be such a human catastrophe. In my view this film crowns the unbelievable effort Americans made to restore freedom and civilization to the world. Whatever anybody thinks or says, it's only thanks to the United States of America and it's people, that we today can walk the earth (or most part of it) a free human being. I'm glad (and lucky) that I belong to a generation (born 1956) that have been able to cherish freedom and peace without having to put my life on the line, like all these millions of men and women. This film is a Big thank you.

Blazer21 As a Canadian I found that "The War", as told through the eyes and lives of people from four USA cities, is nonetheless every bit as important a documentary,and should be required viewing, regardless of nationality. The approach taken by Ken Burns was perfect. This film gives the viewer, not only an intense and important history lesson of WWII, but provides the backdrop of American society during those times. The stories re-lived and told by veterans, their families, and of course, Al McIntosh, Rock County Star-Herald, are deeply moving and quite simply, so very interesting. The archival footage - film, photography, and print is an amazing collection that will bring you to tears. Thank you Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and all the other collaborators. Outstanding work to be shared,hopefully, for generations to come.

gizmo61 Ken Burns has done it again. "The Civil War" was a masterpiece. "Baseball" was absolutely superb. And "The War" is another A+ piece of work. Why? Let me count the ways.1) All wars are hell. This time Burns was able to show what little he felt most humans could suffer without vomiting, some of which was filmed on the spot. Sure, some of the editing was a little choppy. Sure, vast areas of what happened in 1939-1946 had to be omitted by nature of the immensity and complexity of what happened. But most of the younger kids who thinks wars are only fought in the Middle East and who knew nobody in their families who died, or for that matter don't even know the dates of WWII, haven't a clue. So what if they didn't like the music? Hell, they didn't have Ipods or plasma tvs or cable then. Do some reading. Try to envision what absolute hell war is. Burns showed us.2) For the first time, we were able to hear it - extensively - from people who lived through it. How many wouldn't give a lot to sit down with the folks from those 4 towns who spent hours in interviews, to hear more about it? WWII affected, almost as much as the Civil War, everyone in the country. Go talk to them, kids. Hear what they have to say. You and your generation have never submitted to anything that meant a total effort by your country to remain free. You can't conceive what it means to say that dropping 2 A-bombs of necessity to end the war saved over 500,000 American lives. People today froth at the mouth when they read the media touting the nearly 4,000 dead in Iraq. How about saving 500,000 lives? This war was so immense and affected everything and everyone that every generation of Americans should be made to really study it. Never since have we faced what these people faced. And Burns shows it. All of it.3) We - you - can't view this documentary in terms you are comfortable with: instant gratification, burning the flag, anti-war demonstrations, cell phones and emails, and the whole plethora of me-me-me that exists today. You need to read what life was really like then, who did what and how they did it, what they believed in, what manners they had, what they were willing to die for. Burns gives you continuous examples of people from 4 American towns for 15 hours to try to tell you what Americans were willing to do to save their way of life from seriously evil sickos who were hell bent on destroying us. Those psychos in the Middle East have the same sort of plan to destroy anything in the west; similar to plans Hitler had to literally own the world and kill off those he felt were in the way and the plans that the Japanese had of making every western country a subservient fiefdom. Read about it. Read a lot about it (if you know how to read) and then watch the Burns doc. See what it took to stop them. Oh, Hitler and Tojo and Stalin, eventually, weren't that bad? They were only comic-book characters? If you believe that, you need a serious education.4) What happened in 1941-1945 happened. As in all wars throughout history, there were morons in charge of some, heroes in charge of others, misguided attempts, spectacularly successful attempts, incredibly unlucky attempts. But nothing ever so large, on such a scale of planning, training, executing, supplying, and staffing h as ever occurred in the history of man, and probably never will. And Burns eloquently captured some of its essence. Nobody could EVER capture all of it, or even parts of it, on the scale in which it happened. WWII was the last of the romantic wars. During WWII there were still espionage, undergrounds, passwords, night parachutings, spy chains, radio broadcasts, a whole litany of danger that stopped with the Cold War. After that, Korea and Vietnam and now the butchery in Iraq turned into cold, mechanical, medieval barbarism. Burns had to pick and choose the parts that brought the personalities of those from four American towns into view. And he did that very well.