Apocalypse: World War II / Apocalypse: The Second World War / Apocalypse - La 2ème guerre mondiale (2009)

Stars: Mathieu Kassovitz, Martin Sheen

Apocalypse: The Second World War(2009) is a six-part French documentary about the Second World War. The documentary is composed exclusively of actual footage of the war as filmed by war correspondents, soldiers, resistance fighters and private citizens. The series is shown in color, with the black and white footage being fully colorized, save for some original color footage. The only exception to the treatment are most Holocaust scenes, which are presented in the original black and white.

Episodes:

Ep1: Agression
After Hitler installed the Nazi system, he started the war against France and Great Britain. Persecutions of Jews and Gypsies began…

Ep2: Crushing Defeat
After the "Blitzkrieg- lightning war" in 1940, Hitler failed to defeat United Kingdom and decided instead to turn against his Soviet "ally".

Ep3: Shock
Journey back to events of WWII - Churchill refused to make peace. Hitler attacked the USSR.

Ep4: The World Ablaze
Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt declared war on Japan. The war became global.

Ep5: The Great Landings
In 1942, Hilter attacked the Red Army at Kursk. The Allies were landing in Sicily and the vice was tightening in Europe around the Axis troops.

Ep6: Inferno (aka The End Of The Nightmare)
In 1944, the Allies landed in Italy but are stopped in their progression. Hitler commits suicide. The Americans launch the atomic weapon.


Extras DVD1 and DVD2 (in French, no subs): Original ECPAD Documentaries
Spread over the first two discs of this set are an interesting assemblage of original wartime documentaries made by the French Army Film Unit, which are heavily excerpted for the series itself. These cover major battles and give a really interesting insight into the French take on the war.

Extras DVD3 (in French, no subs): Making of Featurette
This featurette does give some interesting background into the two and a half year production process, and it includes a wealth of behind the scenes footage.