Vietnam - A Television History (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was a huge fan of this series when it first aired on PBS in 1983 and I taped the whole thing. So when it came out on DVD I thought I'd invest in the new format, seeing as my tapes were now 20 years old and I wanted to be able to watch it again and share it with others without fear of it disintegrating.

Boy, was I in for a letdown. First of all, this edition is loaded with commercials. That's right, commercials. That was the last thing I expected to see on an expensive DVD set. But no, every episode is prefaced with no less than 2 commercials: one for Liberty Mutual and one for the Scott lawn care company. I could have lived with a brief mention of the companies that funded the series, but not only are these full-blown commercials, they aren't even the companies that funded the making of the series! WGBH has sold commercial time to companies who had nothing to do with the making of this docmentary. If that weren't enough, we get to see the same commercials at the end of every episode, followed by a plug for PBS. I paid $60 for this???

But the most shocking thing about this set is that it's been edited down from the original series. I couldn't believe it. I haven't had a chance to compare every episode on the DVD set with my old tapes, but there is a segment near the end of episode 1 that has been deleted. In the original episode 1, a French colonel being interviewed about Dien Bien Phu talks about the end of the infamous seige and refers to the Viet Minh as "Red Termites". This has been lopped off the DVD version. I can only dismay at the thought of other expurgations. Was it purged for political correctness or to make room for the commercials? I can't say. I don't yet know if the other episodes are similarly truncated, but in my opinion none of them should have been. This series is too important to let commercial expediency diminish its journalistic integrity.

Thank goodness I still have my old tapes. Now I think I will digitize them onto DVD so I can preserve the work in the form the film maker intended.

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An extraordinary, Emmy award-winning series about the people who masterminded this controversial war, and the Americans and Vietnamese who fought it.Includes 13 videos.

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Eyes on the Prize (PBS Mini Series Boxed Set) (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)"I know the one thing we did right, was the day we started to fight...keep your eyes on the prize, hold on my lord, hold on! " These are the lyrics to the music in the opening of each tape, in the Eyes on the Prize set. I consider this collection one of the most influential forms of film ever made. The power of the visuals, the singing, the interviews of the civil rights movement is so overwhelming throughout these videos. When I become a classroom teacher, I fully intend to use these videos to educate students about the experiences and injustice of the civil rights movement.
This documentary is one of my most prized possessions, which I value tremendously because it is an important tool in educating people about the civil rights movement in ways they cannot be educated through reading of books or articles.
It should be made mandatory in all schools to have the social studies teachers show this video. The students will definately walk away with a much different perspective on America and race relations - the perspective that offers the truth.
Who can dispute the horrible murders of Emmitt Till, Cheney Goodman & Schwerner, among countless of others? Eyes on the Prize does not cover up the graphic details of these situations, but rather shows them - close up. It'll leave images in your mind you will vividly remember for a long, long time. Then there's the era of MLKing, Jr. and the March on Washington. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and the list goes on and on.
Unquestionably a video worth purchasing and watching over and over and over. You'll learn something new each time.

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Eyes on the Prize, the most comprehensive television documentary on the American civil rights movement ever produced, includes rare film footage and incisive present-day interviews to bring the events of this period to life. Two events of the mid-'50s propel the movement into the headlines: the Mississippi lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till, and the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, inspired by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white man. Walk with hundreds of thousands of protesters to the triumphant 1963 March on Washington. By the mid-'60s, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. confronts the powerful political machinery of Chicago's Mayer Richard Daley. As America enters the turbulent '70s, African Americans begin celebrating their own culture.

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Civil War Journal II - Set 2 (6pc) (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)The second Civil War Journal boxset picks up where the first ended, continuing with the same gripping narratives, excellent production values and attention to detail that lift this entire series head and shoulders above most documentaries.
Series two concentrates a bit more on personalities than battles, although not exclusively. Featured in these 13 episodes are Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Joshua L. Chamberlain, Frederick Douglas and Nathan Bedford Forest, alongwith the Battles of Fredericksburg and Chattanooga. Once again, Danny Glover's understated narration adds the final polish to the production.
The most telling aspect of Box Set 2 is that there is no drop-off in quality from its predecessor. Any American History or Civil War enthusiast will be delighted with this collection.
Very highly recommended.

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The Civil War: Episode One - The Cause - 1861 (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was first introduced to this documentary in a US History class. All too often history is portrayed in such a way as to be completely alien or so far out of touch with "today" that a search for relevancy proves futile. Not so with this documentary! The combination of David McCullough's voice, the background music native to the time, hundreds and hundreds of actual pictures taken on scene, and compelling stories that ranged from the strategic "macro" level of the war to the level of the individual soldier and their family absolutely captivated me! A MUST HAVE for all interested in the history of the Civil War.

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