Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The war is WWI. Though two cousins are shown on the DVD package photo, Tzar Nicholas II and King George V, there are three cousins integral to the story. The third, of course, is Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia. His mother, Vicky, was Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, making Wilhelm Victoria's grandson. King George V of England was, of course, Queen Victoria's grandson, and his mother was Princess Alexandra from Denmark. Alexandra's sister, Dagmar, was the mother of Tzar Nicholas II, being the wife of his father Tzar Alexander III. And Nicholas married Alix, who was also a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, through her 2nd daughter, Alice. Got that? The family dynamics were probably no different than many other families, but all was magnified 10,000% because of who they were and the power they wielded. We may have a cousin whom no one really wants to invite to the reunion because he is bombastic and attention-seeking. But we don't have to worry about his country invading our wife's homeland, either, as is what happened to George and Nicholas when Prussia invaded Denmark (while Wilhelm's father was Kaiser). This documentary is not primarily about WWI itself. There is no description of battles fought, etc. The emphasis of this documentary is the personal. It excellently illustrates "what'ifs". War may have seemed unavoidable after Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated. But "what if" Wilhelm's disability had been accepted and supported by his mother? "What if" Bismark had left Denmark alone, and the two sisters didn't make it their mission to ostracize Prussia in the family. "What if" Edward VII (George's father, "Bertie", Victoria's son) had not had a surfeit of diplomatic magic - or maybe it's what if Victoria had lived even longer, keeping the family together by force of personality? "What if" the tzarevich had not had hemophilia? "What if" Nicholas had responded to the bread riots with something other than barbaric force? And, at the very end, something I had not known about: "What if" England had not refused asylum to the last of the Romanovs? This, of course, is after the war is over. But, as I wrote, this is not so much about the specifics of WWI, but of the royal cousins to whom the war belonged, in one way or another. Did you know that Kaiser Wilhelm was exiled to Holland and lived there in luxury for 20 years after losing WWI? This is a fabulous 2-hour documentary. I was lucky enough to see it in a theater just this afternoon - the BBC is testing sending shows to America to be seen in theaters, generally more "art" theaters, and admission was free. "Royal Cousins at War" is just one of the shows the BBC produced to commemorate the centenary of the start of WWI. It originally aired on TV in England in April, 2014, in two parts. "Royal Cousins at War" has extraordinary illustrations. They include many photos and early movies, including home movies made by the doomed Romanovs. [Edited to add:] I now have my 1-disc DVD of "Royal Cousins at War". English subtitles are available on both the DVD and BluRay. The show is presented in 16:9 in stereo. The two episodes total 120 minutes of riveting viewing. There are no DVD/BluRay bonus extras. Highly recommended! After you've watched "Royal Cousins at War", watch another of BBC's centenary shows, the excellent docu-drama 37 Days. I was fortunate to see this in the theater, too. It has a totally different emphasis, and illustrates the diplomatic machinations that took place in the 37 days between the assassination of ArchDuke Ferdinand and the start of WWI. It is longer, 2 1/2 hours, and riveting, because it brings up a whole different set of "what ifs". Happy Reader