Plot: What’s it about?
Whenever you see footage from World War II, that footage is usually in black & white, which means the whole spectrum isn’t visible. So while some folks were satisfied with that black & white footage, some people wanted to see what the war would have looked like in glorious color. No, Ted Turner didn’t purchase all the reels and give them the color touch, someone just decided to track down whatever color footage could be found. The project began in 1982 and now, many years later we have this terrific series of visuals to show for all their efforts. This feature was originally aired on The History Channel as “World War II In Color” and while some of the footage has been ravaged by time, is it a welcome sight to see some of these events in living color. This feature shows almost all aspects of the war and even covers all the sides involved, which I thought was very cool. We see the land battles and the sea battles, in short we see it all on this documentary. You even get to see the nuclear bomb in color, what more can you want?
So now we know the documentary itself is worth the price of admission, but what the discs that house it, right? As usual, A&E has issued a fine release and while the price is a little higher than I’d like, the documentary is well worth the extra cash. World War II: The Lost Color Archives is presented in a two disc set by A&E and each disc is single sided, single layered. I am unsure why this approach of two single layered discs was used, but the image never suffers so I won’t complain much. As I mention later on in the technical section, this documentary looks and sounds very good and I am pleased such care was taken to make sure it did. This is no fluff piece either, as you’ll find over three hours of material on these discs. I include the fifteen minutes of bonus footage in that number, but still that’s a lot of bang for your buck, at least I think so. So all in all, this is a very solid release that packs a rather hefty price tag, but I think the material warrants a few extra bucks. So if you’re a World War II buff or just need a good documentary on the shelf to impress your friends, this one would make a terrific choice.
Video: How does it look?
World War II: The Lost Color Archives is presented in a full frame transfer, which retains the original aspect ratio of the materials. This is documentary footage so the quality isn’t polished like a feature film, but it does look quite good in the end. Age also plays a factor as some of this footage is over sixty years old, but again the image looks better than I expected and is certainly acceptable. The colors seem in order though some slight fading has occurred, but I think that’s to be expected from footage this old that has been lost for some time. I saw no color smears or bleeds and flesh tones seem sharp and normal also. I found no hiccups in the contrast either, as shadows were stark and detail very high at all times. Given the age and condition of these materials, I think A&E has delivered a terrific looking transfer on these discs.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is 2.0 stereo and sounds much like you’d expect from a program that aired on television in the first place. The music played at times comes through very well and sound great in this mix, while most audio is more background. The gunshots and such tend to spark the speakers a little, but again this is documentary footage so don’t expect a powerful experience. This is a terrific audio mix and though it doesn’t pack much of a punch, it is above average for a stereo track to be sure.
Supplements: What are the extras?
A bonus reel of footage has been included and it runs about fifteen minutes. The image on this reel is pretty badly aged, but I am still glad A&E has included it nonetheless.
