The Third Reich

History Channel docs tend to have their own patented style: stark, intimidating graphics, that same announcer seemingly on every show, and somber Philip Glass-inspired scores. The Third Reich --broken into two discs: "The Rise" and "The Fall"--is almost exactly like every other History Channel "made-for-tv" doc, but there are key differences. The script's source material is a book, "The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer; the video footage comes from German home movies, Olympic footage from 1936 (the one where Jesse Owens showed Hitler a thing or two about inferiority), and propaganda films like "Triumph of the Will." Both discs display the gruesomeness and horror of Nazism; though the doc decides to start off the rise in 1932 the real seed of the Nazi movement was the German loss of WWI. And, obviously the fall finally wrapped in 1945 when Hitler killed himself and the Allied forces overtook Germany and all Nazi colonies.

Footage of a Nazi flag is enough to chill your bones on a warm day, but where "The Third Reich" really succeeds in devastating the viewer is its focus on the Hitler youth movement. The psychology of the Nazi party forcing children to worship Adolf Hitler above even their parents is brain-washing on a scale that echoes today in African child-armies. Thinking too much about the mechanisms employed in creating those mindsets is wretched, but then again, so was the extermination of over 6 million Jewish people.

"The Third Reich" is not for the faint of heart. Its transparent display works to great effect, making it a must-watch for those seeking knowledge about the atrocities and vileness of Nazism, and it is also helpful to history buffs who want to brush up on the exact timeline of Hitler's Germany.

The Third Reich
DVD
$24.95
www.historychannel.com