# Five Came Back (2017)

> Five contemporary directors revisit how Hollywood's legendary filmmakers left studios to document World War II on camera.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/61653

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 67 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, history
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Lawrence Kasdan, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Greengrass, Guillermo del Toro, John Ford, John Huston
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6587094/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sober, reflective, moving, nostalgic

## What critics say

Critics and audiences broadly admire the miniseries for its archival richness and its moving account of Hollywood directors who went to war to document it.

## Synopsis

Five Came Back (2017) is an American documentary miniseries created for Netflix, a three-episode limited series of roughly 67 minutes each. Narrated by Meryl Streep, it follows five legendary Hollywood filmmakers, John Ford, William Wyler, Frank Capra, John Huston and George Stevens, who enlisted in the armed forces to document World War II on film. Contemporary directors Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Greengrass, Lawrence Kasdan and Guillermo del Toro reflect on their work, weaving archival footage with interviews and commentary. The engine of the story is how these men trade studio comfort for combat cameras, shooting the front lines, the Pacific, the liberation of concentration camps and the aftermath of battle, then carrying those images home. Each episode is built from real footage and the personal reckoning that followed. The tone is sober, reflective and occasionally moving, a historical record shaped by a love of cinema. Fans of The World at War, The War and documentary portraits of artists under fire will find resonance here, as will viewers drawn to war history told through the lens of filmmaking.

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