I agree , and didn't watch. He's too big on dead bodies for my taste.

I agree, Dan. "The War" so far is a boring, unimaginative patchwork of things I've seen too often before. WW2 was a watershed experience for Americans, but the first episode did not show much promise of exploring that depth. I switched halfway through it to watch the season premieres of Cold Case and Shark.

Ken Burns should change his name to Ken Smolders. His approach to documentaries is so trite Apple has a "Ken Burns" effect in iMovie. This effect pans around, and between, still pictures. That's it; that's all it does. Feeling sleepy yet? That's another Ken Burns effect.

I feel that Mr. Burns brought out some new aspects of the facts of WWII. First, what is taught in schools is propaganda. They teach that the "Japs" attacked and we faught back and won. They don't explain that the same "Japs" had a premier navy that had never been defeated and the U.S. was resting with equipmnet from WWI.....including horses that could not help in the Pacific, Europe or Africa. I feel that Mr. Burns brought out facts that need to be discussed in today's times. Mainly, that there is a need for a strong military as a way to maintain peace, not a strong military as a way to fight for peace.

So sleep if you want to but the lessons are there for our children to learn from. The film is not fiction and it is not nice but war is not either.

and despite the stated approach of picking several small towns and looking at the impact of the war both in theater and at home, the failure to include anyone other than white folks in the series is kind of unforgivable in this day and age. hence, the people protesting in front of public television stations nationwide, which has received very little coverage in the mainstream media. and I agree with most of the previous comments - it's been done. isn't there anything else more relevant to do with all that money? if I had six years and millions and millions of dollars, I'm sure I could have come up with something more insightful about where we are today, and what might be done to make the world better, or focus on those people who are out there making the world better. yes they sacrificed; yes there's an unlimited number of piercing stories. but I agree it's time to find something new to do.

Yes, we've seen this information before. Some portrayed dramatically (Private Ryan), some in war propaganda movies, and others in :greatest Generation". But it still is history, OUR history, and if you watch and listen closely, you will learn things which you might not have know before. Will be watching each episode.

Twice, now, the little engine that powers comments has found fault with me and thrown away my comments. Perservering, I know I can, I know I can, I put my response in my blog at http://WingWriter.blogspot.com under the title "The War: Anything to learn?"

"Baltimore Sun columnist and blogger Dan Rodericks offers that the story being told by Ken Burns on Public Television is a story too often told and previously told better. Not everyone agrees on what the story is and what it might tell us.
Some saw the same production that Rodericks’ saw. Tried and true - or is it old hat and mundane - video techniques, music reminiscent of the most effective lullabies’, and a 150 minutes segment that need a fifteen minute break to avoid putting people soundly to sleep. However, some people saw something else in the project. Some saw a story too often told, while others, reminded of the recent state of public education, recognize the need to share facts about our history so that we might heed Santayana, and accept the reminder of what we might not remember.
My first impression was that I was not really watching public television. The messages I was seeing and hearing were inconsistent with the . . . "

it starts. i hope you time to consider it.