World War II With Tom Hanks is a 20-part docuseries, narrated by Hanks (who is an executive producer along with Gary Goetzman and Jon Meacham), that examines the global conflagaration that lasted from 1939 to 1945 and is still considered the biggest global conflict to date.
Opening Shot: A shot of Tom Hanks, who says, “When I was a kid, every adult I knew shared one thing in common: A gap in their lives, when everything appeared uncertain and time itself seemed to stand still. When they talked about it, they simply called it ‘The War’.”
The Gist: Like one might expect, the story starts at the beginning, with Nazi Germany’s invasio of Poland on September 1, 1939. Via archival footage, radio broadcasts, photos and interviews with historians and other experts, the series takes a deliberate and granular approach to the events of this massive war, which was fought throughout most of the Eastern Hemisphere and involved shifting loyalties and uneasy alliances.
The invasion of Poland is taken almost day by day in the first episode, with interludes that describe the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in the wake of the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the first world war, in 1919, which combined with the global depression that came a decade later, left Germany’s economy in shambles. Hitler came to power in 1933, and it seemed that whatever sabre-rattling he did was mostly appeased by the leaders of England and France.
But the two countries promised to intervene if he invaded Poland, and ended up dragging their feet as the German army proceeded towards Warsaw. In addition, Hitler’s SS squad killed any civillian who was perceived to be in dissent. They also went after the Slavic population, which included thousands of Jews, who were already being heavily persecuted in Germany. Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Franklin D. Roosevelt kept a wary eye on what was going on in Europe, aligning himself not with British PM Neville Chamberlain but with war council chief Winston Churchill, who warned his government for years that Hitler was an existential threat.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? There have been so many World War II documentaries and docuseries, that it’s hard to compare World War II With Tom Hanks to any one of them in particular, so we’ll mention one at random: World War II: From the Frontlines. It certainly takes the in-depth approach of a Ken Burns docuseries like The American Revolution, though without the artistic touches Burns uses.
Our Take: The sheer volume of information that is going to be imparted by World War II With Tom Hanks would be enough to pay attention to the series. Given how many fronts the war had, how the Axis powers developed, how the Allies came into place, and all of the consequential battles in both the Eurpoean and Pacific theaters, there’s a lot to explore.
Of course, all of this has been explored already, given how History used to be known and “The Hitler Channel” due to its endless supply of World War II docuseries. But, given that Hanks and Meacham are among the EPs, there is certainly a sense that this series will be more compreshensive than most.
There is definitely time to take deep dives into the alliances that developed during the course of the war, something that tended to be taken more for granted in the past, and things will come up that will be a surprise to all but the most obssessive observers of the war’s history. For instance, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet army invaded Poland from the East not to fight the Germans but because they saw a chance to take back land that was ceded to Poland after WWI. How Stalin eventually aligned himself with the U.S. and the U.K. against Germany will be fascinating for the show’s experts to explore.
What we hope is that, like in Burns’ The U.S. And The Holocaust, Hanks and company will take the time to examine the hows and whys of why FDR stayed out of the war for over two years, and not until the Japanese directly attacked the naval installation at Pearl Harbor. During that time, they also refused to take in the large numbers of Jewish refugees who were fleeing countries like Germany and Poland because Hitler’s forces were rounding them up and sending them to concentration camps. Given the expansive scope of the documentary, there should definitely be time to stay away from the jingoistic cliches about the Allies in the war and go into more nuanced issues.
Performance Worth Watching: Hanks’ narration is definitely delivered with the confidence of someone who has extensively studied the war for decades, like he has.
Sex And Skin: None, though the series has no problem showing graphic photos of the war’s death and destruction.
Parting Shot: Footage of Hitler flying over and observing the wreckage of Germany’s bomardment of Warsaw, with Hanks quoting him saying to his officers, “This is the real meaning of war.”
Sleeper Star: All of the experts impart very useful information.
Most Pilot-y Line: None we could find, and we’re also happy that the docuseries uses absolutely no reenactments.
Our Call: STREAM IT. As comprehensive as World War II With Tom Hanks seems it will be, even people who consider themselves experts in World War II might learn some new information about the massive conflagaration during the show’s 20 episode.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.