The War (documentary)

The War
Written by	Geoffrey C. Ward
Theme music composer	Wynton Marsalis "American Anthem" music and lyrics by Gene Scheer performed by Norah Jones
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Cinematography	Buddy Squires
Editor(s)	Paul Barnes
Running time	14 hours (total)
Distributor	Public Broadcasting Service

The War is a seven-part American documentary television mini-series about World War II from the perspective of the United States. The program was produced by American filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, written by Geoffrey Ward, and narrated primarily by Keith David. It premiered on September 23, 2007. The world premiere of the series took place at the Palace Theater in Luverne, Minnesota, one of the towns featured in the documentary.

The film focuses on World War II in a "bottom up" fashion through the lenses of four "quintessentially American towns":

The film recounts the experiences of a number of individuals from these communities as they move through the war in the Pacific, African and European theaters, and focuses on the effect of the war on them, their families and their communities.

A number of notable actors including Adam Arkin, Tom Hanks, Keith David, Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Lucas, and Eli Wallach are heard as voice actors reading contemporary newspaper articles, telegrams, letters from the front, etc. Notable persons including Daniel Inouye, Sidney Phillips, and Paul Fussell were interviewed.

The full documentary runs 14 hours and was broadcast in seven parts on PBS over two weeks, starting on Sunday, September 23, 2007 and continuing four nights the first week and three nights the second week, from 8 to 10 p.m. (8 to 10:30 p.m. on three nights). The documentary was provided to PBS affiliates in two versions: One with profanity generally prohibited by FCC regulations (including explanations of the acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU) and one without the expletives.

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