The Great War (Project Twenty/TV)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Episode: B-
You do
not hear much about World War One, though some great films have been made about
it and it is some very vital history.
NBC’s Emmy Award-winning series Project Twenty took a shot at the
subject in 1956 with The Great War, which is still effective and rich
with historical footage, despite the semi-newsreel approach.
Alexander
Scourby, the usual narrator of the series, covers everything he can squeeze
into the show that happened from 1914 to 1918, including how Sarajevo played a
big part in igniting the war (something you never hear on the news), the
infamous sinking of the ship Lusitania and how the United States finally
entered the war. It is a story that
more people need to know because it is still relevant to today, where world
politics and governments are trying to get back to their ideas of the world
prior to WWI. That was the war that was
supposed to end them all and did not.
Why do they think now will be any different?
The full
frame images, all in black and white, show their age. World War I was the first war filmed so extensively and specks of
dust, scratches and print damage are rampant.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio is better by default as all the WWI
footage is silent, so the audio is from the year of the episode’s
production. There are no extras, but
this is under-valued subject and the DVD is recommended.
- Nicholas Sheffo
