# Apocalypse: World War I (2014)

> A five-part documentary that restores century-old WWI footage in color and traces the war chronologically across its lesser-known fronts.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/54675

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 52 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, war
- Created by: Isabelle Clarke, Daniel Costelle
- Network: France 2
- Cast: Mathieu Kassovitz, Manfred von Richthofen, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Winston Churchill, Woodrow Wilson, Czar Nicholas II of Russia, Jean Jaurès, Grand Duchess Anastasia
- TMDB rating: 8.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3638584/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: sober, solemn, immersive, elegiac, haunting

## What critics say

Acclaimed by audiences for its colorized archival footage and its sweeping, lesser-known coverage of the First World War's many fronts.

## Synopsis

Apocalypse: World War I (2014) is a French national-television war documentary miniseries created by Isabelle Clarke and Daniel Costelle for France 2. Across five 52-minute episodes it assembles historical archive footage, colorized for modern viewers, into a chronological account of the First World War. Narration by Mathieu Kassovitz guides the viewer through the familiar Flanders and France battles and then widens the map to Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman and African colonial fronts. Archival appearances by figures such as Winston Churchill, Woodrow Wilson, Franz Ferdinand and Czar Nicholas II anchor the political story, while trench, artillery and home front images give the grim scale of the conflict a physical presence. The tone is sober, solemn and immersive, with an emphasis on human cost rather than heroics. Fans of The World at War, Apocalypse: The Second World War and They Shall Not Grow Old will find resonance in its restored footage and patient historical sweep. Each episode moves forward in time, so the series works as a single arc that reveals how the conflict spread across continents.

## Shows like Apocalypse: World War I

- [The World at War (1973)](https://ember.film/tv/712)
- [World War II with Tom Hanks (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105057)
- [Women at War (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/117951)
- [The Vietnam War (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/42089)
- [Five Came Back (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61653)
- [Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/60171)
- [Apocalypse: Stalin (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56956)
- [Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/168928)
- [Apocalypse: War of Worlds (1945-1991) (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/80410)
- [World War II: From the Frontlines (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/150708)

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