Anyone else seen this 5-part series? I think it came out sometime last year, but I caught it on the Military Channel or American Heros or whatever it is now a few weeks ago. I’ve always had an interest in WWI and this series just blew me away. It’s a chronological telling of the events of WWI including what led up to it and what caused the major pivot points in the war. What makes it unique is that it is completely comprised of actual film footage that has been colorized, had the speed corrected, and had appropriate background sounds added. The effect of this is that you feel like the events and people are more relatable because it actually looks fairly modern.
I’ve always liked looking at colorized photos of WWI on the web, so this was like the holy grail for me.
They had a small section on the trench warfare in the alps, which I had never heard of before, and had film footage showing actual trenches being dug in the snow just like in the mud fields. Footage of soldiers heaving up heavy cannons tied to a rope up a mountainside. I can’t imagine being in that environment.
The problem with colorizing WWI is that it was a monochrome war, with everything eventually becoming mud colored. But that’s a good series, especially as a way to get people who won’t watch black and white. You can point out to them, “There, that dead guy’s pants are vaguely tan. Probably a Brit.”
I’ve caught it a couple times now on AHC and some of the WW II version. IMHO the writing/history presented for the WW I edition is a little better but both are damn good and worth the effort to see.
