A journalist colleague and history buff, big fan of Ken Burns, had this to say about The War: "First episode was flat, dull and ponderous. Very, very disappointing." Yeah, and no George Will waxing poetic about major league baseball during the war years.

From Diane Holloway, writing in the American Statesman: "It's too long, too slow and too ponderous. Burns needs an editor in the worst possible way. His latest offering, which he has described grandly as 'an epic poem,' could have been a deeply moving, thought-provoking film at about four to six hours in length.  . . . Instead, he wanders off into hours and hours of retelling history, bouncing between the Pacific and the European fronts and getting bogged down in details that have little to do with the vets or their hometowns. He gets sidetracked covering ground that's already been covered (and covered better in some cases) in films such as 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'The Thin Red Line,' 'Band of Brothers,' 'Flags of Our Fathers,' 'Letters from Iwo Jima' and 'Schindler's List' and Tom Brokaw's seminal book, 'The Greatest Generation.'' If Burns had maintained his focus, 'The War' could have been brilliant."

From another blog: "Basically another greatest generation pledge drive bonanza for PBS."