1994
6.5
19.3K
views
saved
Trailers/Videos
World War II: When Lions Roared
1994
6.5
19.3K
views
saved
A 1994 war television miniseries which portrays Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin as they maneuver their countries through several of the major events of World War II - such events include the Blitz, Operation Barbarossa, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the North African Campaign, the Allied invasion of Italy, and concluding with the Tehran Conference.
Countries:
Languages:
English
Runtime:
1hrs 37min
Status:
Ended
First air date:
1994-04-19
The good part is that this show covers important and interesting historical events that are rarely (or if ever) covered.
Unfortunately there are a lot of negatives to it, including really weird split screen scenes where Churchill would be in London and Roosevelt in Washington and they’d be talking directly to each other. I didn’t know whether it was supposed to be a stand in for casual chit chat over the phone, something like what FaceTime would be 70 years later, or if the film makers were actually trying to make it appear as if they were in the same room for some reason.
Also having documentary footage with Churchill/Roosevelt/Stalin in front of it was a weird stylistic idea. Were they supposed to be also watching the footage as the audience watched it? Or was it happening in their minds as they made the big decisions?
It’s extremely wordy, every single time I saw Stalin I just saw Michael Caine with a horrible accent, some scenes had a soap opera feel to them (weird lighting or poor set design or something), the supporting cast was basically non-existent, and FDRs death scene was very odd (“I have a bad headache”, then he dies in his chair).
It’s hilarious that this was the first TV show to be broadcast HD when it probably should have been SD to partially mask the odd stylistic choices, not to mention there was not a single outdoor scene, everything was in a room.
I really really really want to give it a better rating for trying to bite off an interesting part of history, but I can’t because it was way too much talking, poorly cast, and just kooky AF.
3/10