Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violent docuseries shows WWII in color; has nudity, smoking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
World War II: From the Frontlines
What's the Story?
Narrated by John Boyega, WORLD WAR II: FROM THE FRONTLINES is a documentary series that features colorized World War II footage while witnesses from all sides share their personal experiences throughout. From Poland to the Phillippines, the enhanced archival footage offers an immersive look at the events that took place throughout. Audio recordings of survivor accounts, including former U.S., German, and Japanese soldiers, as well as concentration camp and atomic bomb survivors, are played while restored film footage offers a vivid look at what they are describing looks like. On occasion, footage of interviews, some pulled from other documentaries, are also shown.
Is It Any Good?
This straightforward historical series uses colorized archival footage to offer a very intense visual chronicle of events that transpired during World War II. Like most documentaries on the subject, it features extremely violent and disturbing scenes, ranging a Polish child being removed from his/her mother by a Nazi soldier, to kamakazi planes fliying into ships. While it stops short of showing people being executed, the scenes that lead up to, and after, the murders are still disturbing to watch, especially when the audio accounts "fill in" the gaps of what happened, and describe other (often unseen) horrors that took place during those years. Granted, World War II: From the Frontlines doesn't offer much that's new by way of information, but the colored footage creates a more dimensional viewing experience. If you're interested in this sort of thing, you might find it worth the watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about World War II. Why did it break out? Was there anything positive that came of it?
What is it that World War II: From the Frontlines is tryng to achieve by featuring archive footage that has been colorized? Is it to give more context to what happened during the Second World War? Or is it simply trying to present old information in a new way to encourage audiences to watch?
TV Details
- Premiere date : December 7, 2023
- Cast : John Boyega
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Reality TV
- Topics : Activism , Friendship , History
- Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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