Readers, history aficionados and collectors who order directly from ShoutfactoryStore.com (http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257429) will receive the official soundtrack to “The Unknown War,” newly re-mastered by its composer, the legendary Rod McKuen. This limited-edition gift-with-purchase soundtrack CD includes the sweeping themes, memorable marches and poignant songs composed for this unforgettable documentary series. Features performances by the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the USSR Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, the Soviet Army Choir and Rod McKuen.
The Unknown War was a landmark television documentary series about the Soviet struggle against, and ultimate victory over, the Nazi war machine. Hosted and narrated by Academy Award winner Burt Lancaster, this sprawling series features rare and stunning footage recorded by Soviet camera crews on the front lines, most of it unseen since its original broadcast 30 years ago. From the June 22, 1941, invasion of the Soviet Union to the Russians’ victorious march into Berlin in 1945, the devastating battles in the air, at sea and on land are detailed with astonishing images. These stories of heroism, savagery and suffering from what the Russians call The Great Patriotic War will shed new light on the Red Army’s massive contribution to the Allies’ defeat of Hitler in World War II.
THE PLOT THUS FAR
The Unknown War, like so many documentaries prior to the fall of Communism, suffers from the discovery and release of new information. When the Unknown War was originally aired, the Soviet Union controlled virtually all the resource materials available on this important subject. This is obvious from the biased and inaccurate commentary of the host, Burt Lancaster. The commentary fails discuss the atrocities that Stalin ordered on his own people and soldiers as well as captured German soldiers and civilians during and after the war. The documentary also incorrectly interrupts many important events such as the subject of Poland, the atrocities committed by the Partisans and Stalin’s involvement of the Katyn massacre to name a few.
However, the footage contained in the documentary is the only reason why it should be re released. Even with all the documentaries that have been released today, they do not contain anywhere near the amount of archival footage available in this documentary series. Most notable would be footage from the Eastern European and Manchurian campaigns. This would be the only reason I would recommend watching this documentary.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
The Unknown War TV series is one of the few documentary accounts of the war on the Eastern Front from the Soviet side. The interviews of many leading Soviet generals commanding some of the most decisive battles on the Eastern front, along with the Russian participation in the editorial staff of the series, compose an alternative (to Western) view of the gigantic clash between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Because the series was written from the Soviet perspective, it ignores or glosses-over Stalin’s pre-war purges of his senior officer corps, the pre-war famines that decimated the peasant class, the non-aggression pact with Germany, the Soviet invasion of Poland and the Soviet invasion of Finland. It often praises the valor of the Soviet soldiers, without ever mentioning that deserters and even those who failed to advance with sufficient speed were summarily shot.
The DVD comes with interviews from the original series creator and a Professor at the University of Cincinnati. Outside of that, you have a show from the 1970s that looks like it hasn’t really been cleaned up. The audio is thin and puts all of the material in the front channels. Still, it’s one of those interesting side pieces to help compliment our understanding of Soviet History. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 05/24/2011
