For the past 2 weeks I've been tearing through the blu ray reissue of The World at War. Holy shit, this series is incredible, utterly compulsive. Forget the internet whingers banging on about a tiny amount of missing picture, it looks incredible - I watched the Normandy footage last night and it was more terrifying than any horror I've ever seen, so pin sharp you'd swear it was a recreation, but it's all too real. The thing about this series - and I feel guilty saying it - is that the war is presented almost like a sequential thriller, with a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. One hour you're in the sweltering Burmese jungle, then to frozen Russia, the deserts of North Africa etc - it's tragic, of course it is, but it's also gripping and an incredible story. Laurence Olivier's narration is flawless and that music... If you've never seen this show, give it a go, could be the best 25 quid you'll ever spend.
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