Fake Booms and Real Wars

War documentaries are known for their powerful visuals and intense storytelling, but there’s one element that often goes unnoticed—even though it can have just as much impact as the images on screen: sound. More specifically, the sounds of explosions. Whether it’s a hand grenade going off in a trench or an airstrike pounding a city, the sound design behind those moments plays a huge role in how we experience and understand the violence of war. But how accurate are those sounds, really? Are we actually hearing what war sounded like—or what we think it should sound like?

The short answer is: not very accurate. And there are a lot of reasons for that.

The Reality of Explosions Isn’t What You Expect

Ask anyone who’s been in or near actual combat, and they’ll tell you: explosions in real life don’t sound like they do in movies or most documentaries. They’re often muffled, dull, and shockingly quick. There’s no drawn-out rumble, no high-pitched sizzle, and not much echo—especially if you’re far from the blast. In fact, the physical sensation of the shockwave often overshadows the sound itself. Soldiers have described it as more of a pressure than a noise, and sometimes it’s eerily quiet right after the blast—probably due to temporary hearing loss or the brain going into survival mode.

That’s a far cry from what we usually hear on screen.

Why Sound Design Takes Over

Part of the reason for this disconnect is practical. Capturing high-quality audio in the middle of a battlefield is next to impossible. Microphones can’t handle the volume of real explosions without distortion, and getting the gear into war zones safely is a logistical nightmare. So filmmakers turn to a foley artist or an explosion sound effects library to recreate these moments in post-production.

But here’s where things start to drift away from accuracy. Even though some sound designers do try to stay faithful to the real thing, they’re also under pressure to make the explosions feel dramatic. There’s this tension between being authentic and being engaging, and often, the more theatrical version wins. Layered sound effects, drawn-out booms, debris clattering in all directions—it all sounds great in surround sound, but it’s not necessarily what a real battlefield would sound like.

The Influence of Hollywood

This is where pop culture creeps in. Most audiences are used to the Hollywood version of explosions—big, bass-heavy, and full of detail. If a documentary used only realistic, flat-sounding blasts, viewers might think something was missing. It wouldn’t feel as immersive or emotionally gripping. So even in films that are supposed to be telling true stories, there’s often a subtle shift toward what audiences expect rather than what’s accurate.

This can be a problem. Documentaries are meant to educate as much as they are to entertain. When the soundscape is shaped by cinematic tropes, it starts to distort our understanding of what war was really like. It’s not just about being picky or pedantic—sound influences emotion, memory, and even our perception of history. If the sound is misleading, the story can be too.

When Documentaries Get It Right

To be fair, not all documentaries fall into this trap. There are some great examples of filmmakers going the extra mile to get it right. Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old is a standout. Jackson and his team spent years restoring and colorizing old World War I footage, but they also paid close attention to sound. They used actual WWI weapons to record new audio and matched it as closely as possible to the actions onscreen. The result is a rare case where the sound actually feels grounded in reality—jarring, harsh, and stripped of any Hollywood polish.

Another example is Ken Burns’ The War, which leans more on archival recordings and interviews than flashy effects. It may not have the visceral punch of some modern war films, but it captures the atmosphere and psychological weight of war more honestly.

Sound as an Emotional Weapon

There’s also another layer to this conversation: how sound affects people emotionally—especially veterans. Explosion sounds can be deeply triggering for those who’ve lived through combat. Some documentaries deliberately avoid hyper-realistic sound for this reason. They don’t want to retraumatize viewers, and that’s a valid choice. But again, it comes at the cost of raw accuracy. Sometimes, documentaries use softer or more stylized explosion effects out of sensitivity, or to create a sense of distance between the audience and the real events.

So the question becomes: are documentaries trying to represent war or make us feel something about it? Often, it’s a little of both.

At the end of the day, explosion sounds in war documentaries walk a tricky line between truth and storytelling. Most of the time, what we hear is an artistic recreation—not a faithful reproduction of the real thing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s something we should be aware of. Just like we’ve learned to question reenactments, historical accuracy in costumes, or narrative framing, we should also think critically about sound design.

Sound shapes our emotional connection to history. It can make us feel like we’re right there in the trenches—or give us a distorted, dramatized version of events. Knowing the difference helps us become better, more thoughtful viewers.

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