Ken Burn’s 15 hour series, “The War” premieres tonight, September 23. Jules Crittenden, a Boston Herald editor and columnist, offers his own review and summaries of and links to several other reviews.

We’ll start with the failure part.

To narrow the vastness of Americas World War II experience, Burns zeroed in on four towns. Mobile, Ala., Sacramento, Calif., Waterbury, Conn., and Luverne, Minn. Then he acknowledged his mistake by cherry-picking from a few others. Burns cut himself off from a choice of the best stories. He’d have done better to let people and history, not places, be his guide. His gimmick, with its exhaustive scene-setting, doesn’t work.

Burns wanted to make a film about ordinary people, and he did. The great leaders who guided their fates, and the obstacles they surmounted, barely get lip service.

It’s a critical omission. A 15-hour effort like this won’t be repeated soon. With a school curriculum ready, it will shape understanding of this war for generations.

But there is magnificence. Never-before-aired footage, expertly edited, offers unparalleled views of combat and a new intimacy with familiar battles. The stories of the common people often stab to the heart.

Watch the extended preview here: