Although as of late the A&E Network's The History Channel has been undergoing an "extreme makeover" with a name change (it's now simply known as History) and a most unwelcome emphasis on reality shows (Axe Men, Ice Road Truckers), it once was so focused on World War II documentaries that wags nicknamed it "The Hitler Channel."
And although that unfortunate monicker is not funny, there is a grain of truth behind it, because after The History Channel absorbed most of its A&E parent network's cache of documentaries, it became the main resource for World War II buffs, at least on basic cable packages from Comcast or Time-Warner.

Because of its scale and global impact (it was fought on three continents and all the world's oceans; 50 to 60 million people were killed and millions more wounded), World War II is perhaps one of the most documented - and dramatic - events in history. Every major combatant dispatched newsreel camera crews, propagandists and combat photographers/cinematographers to every battlefield on the land, in the air and on the sea.  Not only did each nation want a visual record of the war, but - even on the Allied side - it also had to use newsreels and propaganda films to both villify the enemy and inspire the home front to contribute to the war effort.

This, of course, explains why so much footage of World War II exists today, and why so many documentarians have used it to churn out enough movies and TV programs to keep military history buffs watching for years to come.

The Last Days of World War II

Because the years 1999 through 2005 marked the 60th anniversary of the Second World War (Sept. 1, 1939-Sept. 2, 1945), A&E (and later, "History") aired many different programs about the war, the personalities involved, its causes and (of course) its aftermath.  Some focused on The Big Picture and covered major campaigns with broad strokes, while others were more interested in delving into little-known but interesting episodes or persons.

The Last Days of World War II: A Nation's Countdown to Victory  is a two-DVD set which is a mix of both approaches. 

The longest of the documentaries is 1995's The Last Days of World War II, which is divided into three major segements on DVD One. 

The first segment is a Big Picture account of the last six months of the fighting in Europe (the Pacific is totally ignored), starting with the Germans' "last gamble in the West" - the famous Battle of the Bulge - in December of 1944, then continuing on to the "pincers" movement of the Anglo-American forces driving to the Rhine River in the West and the Soviet armies driving on Berlin in the East.  The main events of the period - ranging from the capture of the Remagen Bridge by the Americans to the Battle of Berlin and Hitler's downfall in May of 1945 - are covered briskly, though some tidbits, such as Patton's ill-fated Raid on Hammelburg, are glossed over.

The second segment discusses the aftermath of Germany's defeat, with its main narrative centering on the International War Tribunals at Nuremberg and the fate of Hitler's main co-conspirators in Nazi Germany's scheme to conquer Europe and the infamous war crimes against "enemies of the state" and untermenschen (subhumans) - Gypsies, homosexuals, pacifists, Communists, and - primarily - Jews. 

There are also major subplots dealing with "war booty" (the theft of art and other treasures during the war, primarily by the Nazis during the war, but also by the Allies; the Soviets, particularly, felt justified in their looting because the Germans had destroyed hundreds of museums in Russia) and how Hermann Goering was able to "cheat the hangman" by committing suicide on the eve of his execution. 

Though it wasn't as in-depth as I would have liked, I found The Last Days of World War II to be a watchable if somewhat generalized overview of the final battles of World War II in Europe.  Narrator Bill Ratner (known best as the voice of "Flint" in the 1980s cartoon/toy commercial GI Joe) acquits himself pretty well in the voiceover, and the slickly-edited mix of stock footage and contemporary interviews with historians (John Keegan and the late Stephen E. Ambrose among them) and veterans from both sides is a hallmark of the prolific team of Craig Haffner and Donna E. Lusitana (Titanic: The Legend Lives On, Civil War Journal).

Disc 2 contains two separate documentaries, USS Eagle 56: Accident or Target? and Last Secrets of the Axis.

The first is an episode of The History Channel's History Undercover and aired in 2003. Written by Jaime Bernanke (Pearl Harbor: Beyond the Movie) and produced by Kevin Bachar (Alfred Kinsey: Talking About Sex), this short (on DVD it runs for 43 minutes) documentary examines the mysterious sinking of a small warship, USS Eagle 56, off the coast of Maine in the spring of 1945.  The Navy investigation officially said it was a boiler explosion, but some survivors and one dedicated lawyer thought it was a German U-boat lurking off the U.S. East Coast.

The second documentary, Last Secrets of the Axis, is a longer examination of the intricate connections between an influential German professor, Karl Haushofer, Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi-Japanese alliance which was, partly, conceived by Haushofer as part of his Geopolitik theories of international relations and Germany's central role in a post-World War I "new order."

The documentary, written by George Kerevan and narrated by Gavin MacFadyen (Battle for Korea) follows Haushofer's career as an officer in the Kaiser's Imperial Army at the turn of the 20th Century and his service in World War I, then delves deeply into his adherence to German revanchism after its defeat in that conflict.  He analyzed the Allies' strengths and weaknesses and came to the conclusion that British and American control of the seas could be overcome if Germany allied herself not only with Japan but with Russia to form a huge Eurasian superpower or alliance of major powers, with Germany as the leader.  He was one of the main proponents of the policy known as lebensraum (living space), which claimed that Germany had a right to expand eastward at her neighbors' expense.  Through one of his students, Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas became entwined with those of the Nazi Party and its leader, an Austrian-born former corporal named Hitler.

The documentary not only discusses Haushofer's life and philosophy, but also explores the links between Germany and Japan, the rise of secret societies in both countries, particularly the "Black Dragon" nationalists in Japan, and the various ways in which Haushofer influenced the German conquests of the immediate pre-war years (the absorption of Austria into Germany and the infamous Sudetenland Crisis of 1938 among them) and the contradictory alliance between Aryan Germany and "Asiatic" Nippon.

Of the three documentaries, this one is the one I most enjoy.  Sure, it covers territory any World War II "buff" has trod before (the Japanese infusion of its samurai traditions into its modern army is well-known), but until I saw this documentary a few years ago on TV I had no idea that Haushofer had existed, much less helped shape Nazi ideology or forge the German-Japanese alliance.

Overall, The Last Days of World War II  is a good, if sometimes general overview of the end of the European half of the conflict.  Ideally, it should have been a three-DVD set with a bit more on the Pacific War, especially the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, but I suppose that for $17.99, nearly three hours' worth of commentary and war footage should suffice.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older