Why We Fight World War II - The Complete Series

Studio: Good Times Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Why We Fight...Even Today
A riveting series -- alas, unrestored
Best propaganda ever!!
Capra's well done (but mislabeled) propaganda series
TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS, PLEASE

Why We Fight World War II - The Complete Series

Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

World War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

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( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Battle of Midway - Documentary
Triumph of the Will
Why We Fight
The Fighting Lady
The First World War - The Complete Series

ASIN: B00005B1Z5
Release Date: 2001-05-29

Customer Reviews:

Why We Fight...Even Today.......2007-01-05

I remember watching this series when I was a teenager, and I didn't realize the value of this series until I was enlisted in the Army. Just as the Germans made films to boost and maintain national morale, the United States got one of the most brilliant directors of the time, Frank Capra, to unite the people of the Free World against the forces of aggression.

I think this is a wonderful series to own and collect for the years to come.

A riveting series -- alas, unrestored.......2006-09-08

Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" is one of the finest documentaries of the war period, not to mention one of the most historically significant. Watching these films today, sixty-five years after this series was produced, you find yourself wanting to pick up a machine gun and start hunting Germans and Japanese. The effect on wartime crowds must have been electric.

I suppose we have to deal with the usual criticism -- they aren't documentaries, they're propaganda. And well, so they were. The same can be said of any of the wartime documentaries put out by the Office of War Information, the Army, the Navy and the Marines. It doesn't obscure the fact that some of these films were works of art. Documentaries in that period had a sense of style we don't see much today; they often aimed to persuade and manipulate the emotions -- see Pare Lorenz' "The Plow that Broke the Plains," a depression-era documentary in the same vein, and you'll see what I mean. During the war the government financed dozens of films like these, and many of them are fascinating as pieces of entertainment, not just as compilations of combat footage. Capra's series aside, we might also include "The Battle of San Pietro," "Let There Be Light," "Report from the Aleutians," "The Memphis Belle," and a handful of others.

The main problem I have with this collection -- put out by Goodtimes Video -- is that there seems to have been absolutely nothing done in the way of restoration. The first film of the series, "Prelude to War," suffers considerably -- the film is "jumpy" for the first 20 minutes or so. I wouldn't put the producers to task too much for this: Every copy I've seen of this film, on videotape, has exactly the same problem. But you'd think that a series of this significance warrants some sort of restoration.

Later films in this package vary somewhat in transfer quality. "Divide and Conquer" and "The Nazis Strike" are perfectly adequate, though they use scratchy and well-worn prints. But "The Battle of Britain" is over-brightened, and some of the lighter portions of the picture are completely whited out.

I don't want to be too picky here. Goodtimes did something right: It didn't try to package all these films on one or two disks, and so we don't see any of the compression artifacts we often find in budget-priced public domain material. And I have to say the quality is still well above the awful videotapes that used to be the only source for this material. (Goodtimes used to be one of the worst, using EP mode for its tapes, and this DVD set is a significant improvement on the old standard.) Still, I wish someday that someone would take the next step and give these films the restoration treatment they deserve. Criterion Collection, are you listening?

Erik Smith

Best propaganda ever!!.......2006-06-29

I don't believe "propaganda" is a dirty word. It's depends on what the "propaganda" is out to accomplish and the techniques that are used in furthuring it's agenda. If the propaganda uses purposefully fabricated and deceiving information (lying) then it is bad. If it filters out vital information that would other wise cause the viewer to reach a different conclusion than the one advocated by the propaganda, then it is bad.

However, if the propaganda can use essentially factual information to motivate people to do the right thing, then it is good propaganda. The purpose of this series of films was to explain to the American public why we were fighting the Japanese and the Germans. It's purpose was to get everyone to back that effort using a very blunt and factual approach to showing the viewer the sheer evil that was threatening to engulf the world at that time. If this series really did build the moral of America and help defeat Facism and Japanese Imperialism, then perhaps it was the best propaganda ever.

It's also a very detailed history lesson, and I think the animation techniques were, although "dated", rather cool and fun to watch.

Capra's well done (but mislabeled) propaganda series.......2006-01-13

Capra's Why We fight series has been highly acclaimed and rightly so as his skill as producer-director shows through in every part of the series. That said there are two things wrong with the series:

1) the packaging describes the films as documentaries which they were and are not. These films are propaganda and like all propaganda there are distortions, half-truths, and outright lies.
"Battle of Russia" for example says nothing about the overthrow and murder of the Czar's family or the oppressive nature of Stalin's Russia (in fact it decribes them a 'free people').

2) The source material sadly was not in the best of shape. There are a few soundtrack skips due to improper spicing of the original films and because much of the the material was taken from the Axis' own newreal footage or old movies there are times when the picture quality varies.

That said there is still much that can be learned from the series. The seeds for Korea and Vietnam can be seen in 'Prelude to War' and in 'Divide and Conquer' when they repeatedly say that if somebody had stood up to Japan and Italy back in the early 30's this war might not be happening as Hitler would not have been so bold. The warning against isolation stated in 'Prelude to War' and again in "War comes to America' is as true now as it was in WWII.

Despite its flaws, problems, and age this series is still as entertaining as it was back then.

TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT IS, PLEASE.......2005-07-23

Please, this is nothing but 5 star material, it one of the most highly regarded films (set of films) made of this genre (motivational, propaganda); it was a brilliant move by the US government and Army Signal Corps to utilize the incredible Oscar winning talents of Frank Capra . It REALLY puts you in the place of the free world being threatened by three dictatorships and why the US needed to stay motivated to the bitter end of the war. Don't listen to the other reviews that are less than 5 stars, Capra was surprisingly accurate in the facts and timelines (his emphasis) he put in the movies; do what I tell you in the following paragraph and you will see. It is fascinating to see what the US did to motivate the public and fighting men during that era.

OK, let me say something that I have not heard and you might find even more useful. I recommend the "Why We Fight" and then compare notes to the BBC/Thames TV "World At War" series. VERY interesting and you see why Capra was so highly regarded as a filmmaker, he had it NAILED down and my parents VERY much remember those films as teens during the war (they felt motivated to defend the US when seeing these). Ah, now take "Triumph of the Will" and see how Leni Reifenstall used her skills to motivate the German people, amazingly skillful and eerie. Folks, there is some education going on there and if you have kids get them to watch the three together and talk to them about people, war, and why we all need to get along in the world.

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