The Ghost Army
  • Network: PBS
  • Series Premiere Date: May 21, 2013
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: David Wiegand
    May 20, 2013
    100
    The art of war takes on new meaning in Rick Beyer's mesmerizing documentary.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    May 21, 2013
    80
    Fascinating film details history of American unit whose sole objective was to fool Hitler and Nazis by creating fake armies.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    May 20, 2013
    80
    Rick Beyer's fascinating, detailed and oddly delightful account of the World War II military camouflage artists whose job was not to hide men and materiel but to create battalions where none actually existed, drawing German eyes and ears to the wrong place.
  5. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Dorothy Rabinowitz
    May 20, 2013
    80
    The unit's work was top secret, its members' experiences, recounted in this film, fascinating above all for what they tell about the determined inventiveness, the all-out ambition to try everything, characteristic of that war effort.
  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    May 20, 2013
    80
    A fascinating new PBS documentary.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Mark Feeney
    May 21, 2013
    70
    The Ghost Army can feel a bit padded at times. Like one of those rubber tanks, it’s not as imposing as it seems. But also like those tanks, it’s memorable and not quite like anything else.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Neil Genzlinger
    May 20, 2013
    70
    We have perhaps grown to expect a certain rhythm in these accounts. A mission accomplished amid much bravery and loss. Memories of horror and heroism carried silently for decades. The Ghost Army reminds us that in a conflict as sweeping as the Second World War, not every story fits that template.