The endeavour to cover this country's entire war history in just 8 episodes was an ambitious one to say the least. Really, 8 hours would have barely been enough to cover World War I in full detail, let alone World War II and Vietnam inclusive. Add to this the Boer War at the turn of the last century, the war in Korea and our various other military operations, then you would be hard pressed to fit all of the information even on ten DVD's.
The program basically acts as a 100 year summary of our war history, putting forth that despite still being such a young country, along with Britain and America we have been one the most involved nations in these dreaded times of conflict. At first, it was for Britain and no one else. A proving grounds for our abilities and the spirit of our people if you will. But as we grew in confidence under the arms of another, we soon realised with the Japanese advancing towards our waters, that we would have to stand largely on our own feet in defence for a cause many of whom thought we would never see.
Indeed, it seems that with each conflict outcome we had become a stronger nation, but was this a result of the conflict itself? Exactly what did we learn about ourselves in these times of war? Have we, as a nation truly earned the life that these men and women fought for us to have? Many of these questions are presented within the program, and while some are answered, many are left to your discretion. There are no clear opinions about wether these conflicts were right or wrong, simply that they were a largely harrowing experience for all who served and a truly grim memory for those who survived.
The majority of the program is broken up into two distinct sections, archival footage and interviews. The archival footage is incredible and has been put together in a very coherent manner. It is all over the place in terms of quality, but is fascinating nonetheless. The interviews are the real meat of this program however. For each program, there are several interviews with survivors from each respective conflict, even including some much older footage shot with veterans of the Boer War. Every single interview is an intense experience and has been shot and recorded in a manner that is extremely personal. This is no easy situation considering many of the stories that they have to tell you, and as many of them choke back tears in remembrance, the silence becomes deafening.
| "...and as I turned to him, one of them had shot him dead between the eyes... the buggers..." |
The episodes run as following:
We're On a Long Trek Now
After arriving too late for the succinct war in Sudan, Australia finally had a chance to prove themselves on the plains of South Africa in the Boer War. Soon enough, our naivety was stripped away in this 3-year war, which gave way to a conflict none of us could have foreseen. Disease claimed half of the casualties.
Who'll Come a Fighting the Kaiser With Me?
Probably the most well known of our involvements was that of Gallipoli, 1915. The legend of the ANZAC was born on these beaches in World War I. An 8-month occupation in this area of Turkey delivered unimaginable horrors for our forces. The troops displayed loyalty and courage to the end and will evermore be remembered by these traits.
Mateship was the Greatest Thing
As the First World War continued, our troops were taking part in some of the biggest battles the world had yet seen. While our Lighthorsemen were fighting a desert war with the Turks in Palestine, the rest of our forces were sent to France. Back home, the issue of conscription had divided the nation. Every Australian was feeling the effects of this war.
Here We Go Again
World War II had begun, and were we keen to serve? We were still loyal to the Empire and had been hardened by our previous experiences, so... for Britain then. We fought hard and long for their cause, but soon enough we discovered that we were going to have to do it for ourselves. The Japanese were coming...
The Thin Khaki Line
Our troops were scattered all over and we were severely ill prepared for this invasion. We were suffering heavy casualties to the Germans, especially in the air. Our troops endured the harrowing Kokoda Trail in South East Asia and fought the Japanese until the Americans dropped the bomb. An incredibly emotional recollection by Sargent Jack Sims will break you apart.
The Forgotten War
The least well known of all conflicts was probably the war on communism in Korea. Our troops went by request of the United Nations. This time, we were on a roll in terms of success, that is, until the Chinese became involved. A POW's account of solitary confinement will chill you to the bone.
Trying Not To Remember
The most controversial conflict of our time. The war of 'lies and politics', the undeclared war in Vietnam. Conscription was passed and a nation was divided. Civilians were disgusted to the point of protest and our troops faced an extremely cunning and dangerous enemy, the likes of which they had never seen. Despite the relatively low number of casualties, all of these survivors have a ten-year scar that will never heal.
Faith Enough for All of Us
Now, we are looking back. What have we achieved and how has our history affected us? Our peacekeeping involvements are detailed and Anzac Day is discussed. Many of the artists and cameramen involved in these conflicts are profiled. We are left with one question, "What have we done with the peace that was won for us?"
As one has come to expect from ABC documentary series', the majority of the presentation here looks just excellent. For such an extensive program, the majority of work put into the transfer has not been in vein, even with a large amount of the footage and photographs pre-dating the middle of the century.
The newly shot footage of interviews and location specific landscapes are very sharp and solid, almost entirely free of any grain or noise whatsoever. There is an obvious line between the footage shot for the program and the archival footage used to fill it, but rest assured that when the footage is good, it is great. While the landscape and re-enactment/dramatisation shots have excellent colour and saturation levels, the interview footage is very crisp and detailed, showcasing very natural skin tones.
As you would expect from the rest of the footage though, it really does traverse the whole alphabet, so to speak, in terms of quality. The majority of the footage suffers largely from a distinct lack of clarity and an abundance of grain, scratches and differing shutter speeds. Be as it may, these problems are to be taken with a grain of salt, as much of the footage is so fascinating, you are really too engrossed to worry about its quality.
As far as I could tell -a hard thing whilst sitting through 8 hours of video really- there was only one instance of artifacting throughout the entire program. This problem occurs in episode 4 on disc 1 at about 6:35 and presents itself as the picture breaks apart for one second or less. It is hardly worth a recall, but if you are paying attention then you will notice it. However, I even had to rewind the program to double check that it was actually there. I have heard talk of another, much more severe glitch on the second disc, but I double, even triple checked this section for the supposed problem, but it most certainly didn't present itself on this copy.
So, one tiny, less than a second glitch within 8-hours of programming is not something I would dedicate a whole lot of concern toward. Really, I am yet to see a layer-change as unnoticeable as this glitch was.
Another television program, another stereo mix, although this is by no means a bad thing in this case. Having anything more available here would have been a pretty pointless waste of time. Because considering that when you are not listening to someone speak, then you are most likely watching the abundance of archival footage, re-enactments or film excerpts; the audio to which would have been pretty much non-existent or very limited and of average quality at the source.
The program does deliver some decent stereo effects in many of the fighting and atmospheric scenes, most, or all of which I am assuming must have been done in post-production by the studio themselves.
The only thing in this program that would have benefited from a broader audio mix would have been the magnificent score by Roger Mason. His work features heavily throughout the program, and after you have heard the opening theme music several times over, you will find that it has lodged itself in your brain quite steadfastly. He has created some truly moving themes here and they very much complement the already powerful imagery.
Having been recorded recently, the interview sections are pretty much flawless, and having a significant video production background myself, I know first hand how easy these sort of things can be to screw up. All of the dialogue is clear and natural, with a very close-up mix that makes all of the interviews an intensely personal experience, as if these people were sitting right next to you.
