WWII'S 'EYES OF THE WORLD'.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

World War II combat photographers labored under extraordinary circumstances - they often had to lug up to 70 pounds of equipment around through the forests, waters and thickets of Europe and the South Pacific - not including, alas, a rifle with which to protect themselves. They were, with their fellow soldiers, in the thick of battle, trying to make sense of the mayhem enveloping them while staying out of the way of those bullets, bombs and planes crashing around them.

``Shooting War,'' an absorbing documentary created by Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and hosted by Tom Hanks (in his Brillo-y ``Cast Away'' beard) assembles some astonishing - and, we're told, in some cases never-before-seen - footage shot by these courageous but foolhardy souls. (There were about 1,500 in all during World War II.)

Often, we marvel at just how close these men were to battles - planes explode on the decks of aircraft carriers, buildings crumble from tank blasts, fellow soldiers, as well as enemies, fall from gunfire or are sent up in blazes by flame throwers. One photographer even filmed his own plane's crash landing.

The personal anecdotes these men share are likewise memorable. Though some were eschewed by their commanding officers as ``---damn Hollywood Marines,'' another remembers being told that he was performing a crucial duty and to keep the camera at the ready whether or not it had film in it. His commanding officer told him, ``Those cameras are the eyes of the world - there are no cowards in front of a camera.'' Another grouses that while Hollywood filmmakers like John Huston were allowed to stage artificial combat footage for wartime documentaries, footage shot on the dangerous fly by enlisted cameramen was sometimes criticized for not looking as polished.

Footage from the Normandy invasion, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima and the liberation of Paris is included, as is shockingly grisly footage of the murder of Mussolini, the grimly savage atrocities perpetrated in Nazi concentration camps and other visceral images of the violent tragedies of war. In other words, a strong constitution is occasionally required.

It's all assembled intelligently, with emphasis as much on the human aspects of the footage as on the spectacle of grand-scale suffering. ``Saving Private Ryan'' clearly had an impact on the filmmakers as much as its audiences, as Spielberg and Hanks, with Schickel's able assistance, continue to explore World War II's stirring tales of heroism in the service of unambiguous good, the likes of which have not been seen in this country for a generation or two.

``SHOOTING WAR''

What: Documentary on World War II combat photographers.

The stars: Hosted by Tom Hanks.

Where: ABC (Channel 7).

When: 9 tonight.

Our rating: Three stars

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Photo:

Tom Hanks, hidden by the beard he grew for the feature film ``Cast Away,'' hosts the ABC special ``Shooting War.''