The World At War, one of the finest TV documentaries ever made, is being released for the first time on Blu-Ray on September 20th and it has never looked better.
The series, originally shown in 1973 on British TV, has been available on DVD but the most recent version is now five years old. This new version, released on the anniversary of the Battle Of Britain, has been digitally cleaned up, the sound has been dramatically improved and it carries for the first time ever subtitles.
MovieMusers Mike Martin sat in on an exclusive demonstration of the new version, which was compared to the five year old DVD discs, and the difference is remarkable. Fremantle Media, who own the Thames TV catalogue, have employed a digital post production company called EyeFrame to clean up the picture and remix the sound. They use a machine called an Archangel to clean up the old black and white images, getting rid of any flecks, hair in the gate or crackles. The machine is one of only two in the world, and the only one in the UK.
The EyeFrame staff are keen to stress that the machine can in theory get rid of every flaw on an image, but if it is over-used the film wont look like its from the 1930s or 40s at all, so they leave a certain amount of scratches in to ensure it still looks of the period. Now, however, it can be viewed in 16.9 aspect ratio, with no loss of picture quality, and there have been around 140,000 fixes per episode, if each tiny fleck counts as a fix thats more than 3.5 million fixes across the entire series.
 The World At War restoration has involved 3.5 million fixes across 26 episodes |
The biggest difference here is the sound before it was straight mono, now the new Blu-Ray discs have stereo 2.0 and 5.1 HD Master Audio. This means that the sound has been split, so with the right stereo equipment a Stuka Bomber comes screaming from behind, veers left and goes right across the screen to the right a terrifyingly real experience. Even Neville Chamberlains famous radio words We are at war with Germany sound better than before.
The menus have been dramatically improved, with great graphics, an easier to use menu and four episodes per disc on the Blu-Ray rather than the three on normal DVD. The total number of discs is nine for Blu-Ray, 11 for DVD.
What is also clear from the test screening is not only the improved picture, dramatically improved sound and better menu layout, but that irrespective of commercial concerns, the quality and importance of the programme ensures that it deserves to be restored. The World At War is one of the most vital historical documents British TV ever made, and five minutes into it you are completely hooked its brilliantly made TV.
The first episode begins with colour footage of a deserted town in France. Laurence Oliviers booming voice explains that the Nazis invaded, took all of the townsmen into a barn and killed them. The women and children were marched up the high street to a church where they too were murdered. No-one lives here any more Oliviers voice explains, the town was never rebuilt. Its a stunning, powerhouse moment to start the series, which ran over 26 episodes of just under an hour each. The first episode looks at the economic and social situation in Germany in the 1930s, with massive unemployment and unrest, which led to the Nazi party gaining power in the German parliament. There are interviews with German businessmen explaining how Hitlers ideas seemed so appealing, and plenty of devastating footage of marches through Berlin and windows being smashed. One of the great strengths of the programme was Oliviers voice-over on film especially he could be hammy and mannered, here he keeps it turned down yet serious, letting the often appalling images do most of the talking. It has never been bettered on British TV, and The World At War stands as one of the most exhaustive visual looks at the entirety of World War II ever created.
Since 1973 it has endlessly been repeated on British and international TV, and released on video, DVD and now Blu-Ray. For previous DVD owners the only actual extra material is a one-hour documentary on the restoration process for this new version, for video owners of which there are still a few diehards in the UK the26 hours is beefed up with six special programmes narrated by Eric Porter, plus additional material. Apparently it was when Tesco started taking the five year old DVD version as a box set and sales were still strong that persuaded Fremantle to undertake this new very expensive process. And much kudos should go them then, as not only is it very worthwhile – with incredibly impressive results but is one of the biggest restoration projects ever undertaken for a TV series.
The process also means Fremantle will have a new high-definition set of masters for the series, meaning it can also be broadcast on HD channels across the world. So while the original film stock continues to degrade, this cleaned, restored and remastered version should ensure that in years to come, when people want to look back at the Second World War, this important exploration of the events, made less than 30 years after they took place, will still exist in a version that looks better than when it was first made.
Obviously the next big step is 3D, which can be produced even with footage as old as this. The company claims it could happen in the next five to 10 years.
For now though lets sit back and remind ourselves of the terrible sacrifices millions made just 65 years ago so that we can all live in relative peace. This brilliant TV series has never looked better, and you can never see it enough times.
MIKE MARTIN
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Click on the images from the restored World At War for larger versions
IMAGES: (c) 1973 Thames Television Ltd. Courtesy of FremantleMedia Enterprises