Television series

The Great War

Name: The Great War
Genre: Documentary, War, History
Released: 1964
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Emlyn Williams

Other titles called The Great War: the 1959 film.

Very dark

The Great War is a landmark 1964 BBC documentary series that reconstructs the First World War through archive footage, photographs, and the voices of actual veterans. Narrated by Michael Redgrave with performances by Richardson and others, it's a sprawling, authoritative account made while survivors could still speak. Gripping, immersive, and essential viewing for anyone wanting to understand how the war actually felt.

If you liked this

They Shall Not Grow Old2018

Peter Jackson restored and colorized front-line footage from the Imperial War Museum, set to interviews with actual soldiers. The effect is visceral—suddenly the war doesn't feel historical, it feels immediate and human.

But Ninety minutes, so it can't be comprehensive. Some find the colorization jarring; others find the realism almost too much to bear.

Summer of '421971

A short film that assembles archival footage of the Battle of the Somme with devastating effect. No narration, no music until near the end—just the images. Haunting and unforgettable.

But Very short (65 minutes), very bleak, no context provided. More of an experience than an explanation. Can feel repetitive.

37 Days2014

BBC drama about the diplomatic crisis that triggered the war. Superb cast (Judi Dench, Tim Pigott-Smith), authentic period detail, and it reminds you the war wasn't inevitable—choices and miscalculations led there.

But Dramatized for effect. If you want pure fact, you'll be frustrated by the invented conversations and emotional beats.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Great War

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Cruel Sea1953

Both explore how military systems grind on regardless of individual courage or morality.

A naval film released thirty-five years after the Great War, but made by someone (Jack Hawkins) who served in it. The connection: both are obsessed with how institutions organize and consume individual lives. Here it's convoy protection instead of trenches, but the machinery of war and the small decisions that kill are the same.

But A naval story, not a land war story, so if you want to understand Gallipoli or the Somme directly, this doesn't help. Long and procedural.

The Trench1999

Low-budget film that focuses on a single day in the trenches with real claustrophobia and mess. Doesn't attempt epic scope, just tries to show what it was like in the mud and dark and waiting.

But The budget shows. Acting is uneven. Some historical details are wrong. Doesn't compare to the source material (All Quiet on the Western Front).

Millions Like Us1943

Not about the war itself but made during it, about how Britain changed on the home front. Shows you the texture of rationing, community, and sacrifice that context The Great War assumes you understand.

But It's a drama with a love story, so if you want military history you're in the wrong place. Feels very 1943 in its attitudes now.

Johnny Got His Gun1971

The Great War includes interviews with damaged survivors; this film enters what their silence might contain.

Dalton Trumbo's fever dream adaptation of his own pacifist novel—a soldier who loses all his limbs and senses, rendered in surrealism and hallucination. A necessary counterweight to any linear war history: what happens to the mind when the body is gone.

But Deeply disturbing. Black-and-white, experimental, sometimes incoherent by design. Not edifying or comfortable. Some will find it exploitative.

Oh! What a Lovely War1969

Sees the Great War as a systemic horror rather than a story of heroism or tragedy—an alternative reckoning with the same facts.

Richard Attenborough's musical satire—soldiers perform vaudeville routines while the generals play the war like a board game. Made five years after The Great War, but it looks at the same events and decides the whole thing was obscene farce. A palate cleanser.

But Tonal whiplash if you're watching seriously. The song-and-dance numbers annoy people looking for gravitas. Dismissive of military experience in ways that feel cheap.