 |   Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC Publisher : New Line Home Video List Price: Our Price: $18.75 You Save: $1.23 (7%) Used Price : $11.47 |
Description
Produced and narrated by George Stevens, Jr. from his father's films, this documentary of Stevens' World War II combat photo unit includes his remarkable color footage of the War in Europe (the only color film of the ground war). This three-time Emmy Award-winning documentary provides a rare look at history as it happens, capturing the horrors of World War II as seen on the frontline. From the Normandy invasion to the liberation of Paris, Stevens' powerful, unforgettable documentary captures all these moments and more.Amazon.com
Some of the most vivid, indelible images of World War II can be found in George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin. Along with an Army-enlisted band of Hollywood veterans known as "The Stevens Irregulars" (including cameramen Joseph Biroc and William Mellor, screenwriter Ivan Moffat, novelist Irwin Shaw, and others), the great director of Gunga Din traveled from the shores of Normandy to the ruins of occupied Berlin, capturing pivotal episodes of history on home-movie magazines of Kodak color film, which his son later crafted into this riveting 46-minute documentary. The narration by Stevens Jr. is rather listless, and other voiceover contributors from the "Irregular" crew are not specifically identified, but their visual account speaks for itself, with unforgettable images of liberated Paris on August 25, 1944 ("the greatest day of my life," said Stevens Sr.); the surrender of 320,000 troops in Germany's Army Company B; the wretched aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge; the discovery of a gigantic underground V-1 bomb factory in Nordhausen, Germany; Hitler's mountain hideaway in Berchtesgaden; and, most horrifically, piles of corpses at the Dachau concentration camp. The color images remain crisp and remarkably lifelike, as if they were shot just yesterday, bringing even greater significance and poignant importance to footage that will surely stand forever as a testament to some of humanity's brightest and darkest hours. --Jeff ShannonSimilarProduct
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Customer reviews
One of the most extraordinary WW II documentaries... 
by .. Robert Shapiro (Tucson, Arizona United States)
I certainly concur with Mr.Meminger's highest rating for this extraordinary documentary. The idea of seeing World War II in color is really quite astounding since our sensibilities are firmly formed in black and white. Showing the horrors of war,and even its poignancy, George Stevens Jr.'s narration along with the musical score by Carl Davis, makes for quite a compelling document. Even after watching this film 25 times or more, I am affected deeply by it with each viewing. I also recommend another documentary comprised of mostly color combat footage (and includes the Pacific theater, which "D-Day..." does not cover),entitled "World War II In Color" (available from Amazon.com), which was released in 1998 (90 min.). Incidentally, another WW II documentary, for which I cannot vouch, is also entitled "D-Day to Berlin"--look for George Stevens Jr.'s name in association with the film in question. "D-Day to Berlin" is, quite simply, indispensable.
Outstanding by .. ()
I purchased this video for my father for Christmas 1999. He watched it three times just on Christmas night! A veteran, he considers it our obligation to educate today's youth about the war...he found this video an excellent means to accomplish this task.
World War II In Color by .. Marc Flanagan (Santa Monica, Ca.)
Director, producer George Stevens spent the war years in uniform. Along with a number of veteran Hollywood cameramen and screenwriters they formed a film unit dedicated to recording the events transpiring in Europe in 1944 and 45. Narrated by his son, we follow "The Stevens Irregulars",as they called themselves, from the landing on Normandy to the Allied Forces trek across enemy territory to Berlin. We see the liberation of Paris and the discovery of the camps at Aushwitz to the fortress in the Alps where Hitler spent much of his time. What is remarkable is that these movies were shot in color. To view the D-Day landings in technicolor makes that events so real, we are not watching grainy black and white film, we are seeing it as it was seen by those who were there those fateful and historic days.. I was stunned seeing them for the first time. It is a time capsule like no other.
A great D-Day documentary focusing on the souls of soldiers. by .. C. M. M. (Seattle, Wa USA)
George Stevens's inlook on the AEF from D-Day to Berlin presents an astonishing and macabre focus not on the battle, but the eternall journey to V-E day. Along this journey, Mr.Stevens brings into delight the horrifying death and exterminating camps of Dachau. The color sots are vivetting, careful not to turn our stomachs with "gross" scenes, he does show the reality of war and the wage of war on man's delicate souls, including death. A must see for all genertions, and why we need a memorium for the over 400,000 KIA, MIA men/women of all ethnic backgrounds of Americans in WWII. I am black, and realize that hatred is evil, the Holocaust justified that demeanour.
It's great to see these images in color by .. ()
I just wish it were longer. There is actually a fair amount of color film shot from the war (I believe Stevens himself shot far more than this tape shows), and what's been released so far is just the surface. I'd like to see the rest made available.