Description

The DVD can be viewed on the living room TV or on personal computers as a 70-minute bird-filled documentary. It also serves as an audio/visual reference guide-- one can use the easy-to-use menus to quickly find a particular bird (it contains 218 species found in Midwest and Eastern North America). The DVD is full of extraordinary photography, bird songs and with video footage.

Some features unique to the DVD include a collection of 18 quizzes and a section for comparing similar-sounding birds (for example, melodic, buzzy or unmusical). The narration for each bird does not occur immediately, allowing the viewer to guess what bird she is hearing and seeing. This quiz format keeps the viewer in a state of wonder and makes learning to identify birds more engaging and fun.

The focus of the narration is bird song and bird song mnemonics (such as "Who's awake? Me too" of the Great Horned Owl, or "Quick, three beers!" of the Olive-sided Flycatcher). Also, a bonus "Soundscape" track is included without narration to simulate a field trip to different habitats such as marsh, grassland and forest. This creates a very relaxing natural background which, along with the bird photos, can keep bird-watchers of any level, kids, babies, and pets (especially cats) enthralled for hours. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Exceptionally well done!
I love this DVD!The pictures are pristine and show both sexes, the video footage sprinkled thoughout is excellent, and the sound recordings are first rate as well.The mnemonic approach is original and "fixes" the sounds more easily in your memory.I find the female narrator's voice very pleasant and easy to understand.A treat for anyone who wants to learn just which bird it is whose song and calls fill the air, especially in the spring.Oh, and another wonderful plus:Great entertainment for my two lovebirds!It cracked me up when my male belted out the song of the Indigo bunting in near-perfect imitation.A companion CD is also available so you can listen to bird songs anywhere (or entertain your birds).

Please note:this DVD has but one aim:to familiarize the viewer/listener with birds and their songs and calls.If you want to learn more about these birds, I recommend Stokes' Field Guide to Birds, simply because it packs the most information on the same page of any guide that I own.For identification purposes and range, Sibley's Guide to Birds, in my opinion, is unsurpassed.And once your interest in birds leads you to ask more questions, by all means, treat yourself to Sir David Attenborough's marvelous The Life of Birds.I have both, the DVD set and the book, and I can only urge you to get the companion book as well since it is so wonderfully written.I found that I learned even more by reading the book after I had first watched the series on PBS.Sibley's Guide to Bird Behavior is also highly recommended.

There is a wealth of information out there on these feathered wonders, but for sheer beauty and clarity of sound, this DVD is worth every penny!

Any birder will love this DVD
Birds, Birds, Birds! isn't really a film or a documentary, per se, because it doesn't have a narrative storyline.Instead it's a fascinating, well-made guide to a wide range of common North American birds, with excellent footage and sound recordings for each.As eye- and ear-training for birders, it's great, and for just general enjoyment, it's a treat for all bird-lovers.Personally I liked it better with the spoken soundtrack turned off, because the actress who was voicing the birdcall mneumonics was trying a little too hard to put interest into her line readings, to the point that sometimes the way she enunciated the phrase didn't show any similarity to the bird call in question.But that's just me.

The photography and video footage on this DVD are excellent, the recordings are top-notch, and it's a terrific way to either work on your call recognition for a birding trip, or just to relax and enjoy the beauty and songs of the feathered ones.I give it four solid stars.

Disappointed
Unless you are an avid bird watcher and need resource material for north american bird sounds, this DVD is otherwise a waste of money.Spend the extra money and buy "the Life of Birds".

Any birder can't go wrong with a John Feith publication.
I agree...I can always look forward to putting on this DVD after a stressful day and feel comforted and happy. Not only is the DVD as a whole very complete, compelling, interesting and infomative, the photographs, videos and sounds of all the various birds are exquisite. Such a great team of artists and professionals have contributed to the DVD and watching it is such a wonderful experience. These are birds that appear all across the country from the West to the East and John Feith's CD "Who Cooks For Poor Sam Peabody" is such a great learning tool in and of itself, and now Mr. Feith has come out with this great DVD to have such great images to accompany the bird sounds from the CD...plus with many new surprises added along the way! I'm looking forward to watching again and again and again!

Great, Great, Great!
This is a fantastic DVD! When I get home from a hectic day at school, the sights and sounds on this disk calm me down and reminds me of the promise of spring birds soon to return. The "quiz" format is a fun way to review my bird ID skills. As a middle school science teacher, I plan to use this feature with my students. The audio, photographs and videos are all of excellent quality. I strongly recommend this DVD! ... Read more

Description

Experience all the explosive drama of a nation at war by land, sea and air. The five classic films in this collection – starring such screen legends as Michael Redgrave, Richard Attenborough, John Mills, Jack Hawkins, Stanley Baker, Robert Shaw and more – are now presented uncut and fully restored, depicting the men and women of Great Britain at their most compassionate and courageous. These are British war movies’ finest hours. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

These movies are available seperately
I purchased The Dam Busters as a single item from Critic's Choice video at www.ccvideo.com. - Although the other pictures in the series are of interest to me, I did not want to own them. It is the Anchor Bay/ Studio Canal remaster and the quality is excellent for a 1954 black and white Brit movie where the picture and sound were not all that great to begin with. There is a little rain present but overall an excellent transfer, far superior to the Thorn EMI VHS edition. It may be my imagination, but there seems to be a little more footage (or inchage) too because I get the impression that I'm hearing bits of additional dialogue on the DVD. And yes, the DVD is the original politically incorrect version.

About the Anchor Bay DVDs...
As other reviewers have noted, these are excellent movies, worthy to be savored by fans of WWII films or British cinema.Four are genuine classics, and The Dam Busters and The Cruel Sea are masterpieces of documentary-style realism.The Ship That Died of Shame is an odd choice, since most of its action takes place after the war.I'd have preferred something like The Captive Heart or The Way Ahead, but I've grown used to the curveballs that Anchor Bay usually throw into their boxsets.My personal favorite is Went the Day Well?, which is remarkably violent and stylish for a 1940s propoganda picture.And by the way, only three of these films were made at Ealing:Went the Day Well?, The Cruel Sea, and The Ship That Died of Shame.The Dam Busters and The Colditz Story were made by Associated British and Britsh Lion, respectively.

The transfers are excellent.They're clean and crisp, much like the discs in Anchor Bay's earlier Alec Guinness Collection (also recommended).There are occasional scratches and scenes with heavy grain, but nothing distracting.Even Went the Day Well?, the oldest in the set (1942), looks beautiful.I hope Anchor Bay maintains a good relationship with Studio Canal, the company that owns the rights to these and other superb British films, because they make a good team.Studio Canal keeps their film stock in great condition, and Anchor Bay's remastering jobs and transfers are solid.

The real let-down is the lack of extras, especially considering the high price.I'm not the kind of person who demands a commentary on every DVD; I'm more concerned about getting a good transfer.But these are such key films in the history of British cinema that I expected more.There's a nice 6-page booklet of liner notes, but nothing else -- no trailers, no photo galleries, no video introductions.Since Michael Anderson (director of Dam Busters) and Guy Hamilton and John Mills (director and star of Colditz Story) are still with us, I think Anchor Bay passed up a wonderful opportunity to provide some important extras, in the form of commentaries or audio/video interviews.It's a real shame, but it doesn't diminish the power or entertainment value of the movies.

The box set is packaged just like Anchor Bay's Werner Herzog collections.There are five DVDs, and each is contained in its own thin-case.The thin-cases are held in a folder that slides out of a very handsome -- and sturdy -- box.The box itself is about the size of three regular DVD cases.

Please note that the DVDs do indeed contain the UNCUT versions of these film.That means that this print of The Dam Busters contains the original name of Richard Todd's pet dog.(The dog's name is a racist slur that was changed to "Trigger" in earlier U.S. releases -- though it should be noted that the original word has always carried less ugly connotations in the UK than in the States.)People sensitive to racist elements in older films should be aware of this, but kudos to Anchor Bay for not censoring or sugar-coating its presence!

Great but its pretty insanely priced
I love all the movies in this list but I think its just abominably priced. Have a heart and think of our wallets not just fattening your blasted treasury. The other thing and this is more STUPID than Dubya's policies and this is that these are not available individually, which I think takes the cake for ludicrousness. If you are taking the pains to converting it to US format and releasing it into the market, for crying out loud, do things right. If your dull marketing brains need an analogy, try thinking in terms of fruits or flowers. I can buy just the one or i can buy a basket or a bouquet.

The Brits made the best war films!!
It is wonderful to finally see these films released in the USA. Two years ago, I purchased the British release on Amazon.UK. That set included the Colditz Story, Dam Busters, Cruel Sea and Ice Cold in Alex. That last film is a fantastic story starring stalwarts John Mills and Anthony Quale (as a Nazi). Too bad its not included in this set. The Dam Busters, Colditz Story and Cruel Sea are three of the best war films ever made, hands down. The British style of reduced action in favor of increased drama make the atmospherics really shine. "Went the day well" was a wonderful surprise. I suspect that someone involved in the '70s film "The Eagle has landed" must have seen "Went the day well". "The ship that died in shame" added a film noirish change of pace to the set, with Richard Attenbourgh (Herr Bartlett in The great Escape) as the heavy. These are "must have" DVDs. All five films remind us in this politically correct era that World War 2 truly was a struggle of good vrs evil. YES, BOMBER COMMAND WERE THE GOOD GUYS!! There is something about these black and white works (Ealing studios films in particular), that evoke a near documentary sense of realism. And...the acting is first rate. If only they would release other vintage Brit films over here, such as "Reach for the sky", "Hunt for the Graf Spee", "Beneath the Waves" and "Scott of the Antarctic". Any fan of war films must purchase the British War Collection" as a foundation set within his/her collection!!

A Collection of Superior British WWII Films
Went the Day Well? (1942) is probably the least known of the movies in this collection. It is one of the British war movies made during WWII that were meant to strengthen morale and inspire steadfastness.

The little English village of Bromley End welcomes a large number of Royal Engineers who are to work on a secret project. However, the Royal Engineers in reality are English-speaking German soldiers in British uniforms, parachuted into England to set up a counter radar apparatus which will disrupt England's radar network. Gradually the villagers begin to suspect things aren't right, and then realize what they're dealing with. The Germans cordon off the village, show their true colors and prepare to set up their equipment. The villagers need to break through the cordon to alert authorities and get help. They also decide they must take action themselves to stop the Germans. This is complicated because the village houses a traitor. The climax is the Battle of Bromley End, with British Home Guard troops arriving while the Germans, attacking the manor house where they must set up their stuff, are held off by the men and women of the village.

If you're fond of older British movies you'll recognize some fine actors: Leslie Banks, David Farrar, Thora Hird, Basil Sydney, Mervyn Johns. The film is a well-constructed piece of stirring, patriotic wartime propaganda. The DVD I've seen has a good transfer, especially considering the age of the film.
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The Colditz Story (1955) was one of a number of movies the British made during the Fifties which relived the victories and bravery of their armed services during WWII. Often these movies starred John Mills. The Colditz Story is based on fact. Colditz Castle in Germany was used to imprison the most incorrigible prisoners-of-war, those who persistently made escape attempts. British, French, Polish and Dutch officers were sent there. Unfortunately for the Germans, they wound up trying to keep inside men dedicated to escaping, and who had skills they now could share. The result was that more prisoners of war escaped from Colditz than from any other prisoner of war camp in either the First or Second World Wars.

The movie is based on the memoirs of Pat Reid (John Mills), who served as an escape officer at Colditz and then was one of the first to break out and make it back to England. While the movie is a bit dated, it also is a dramatic and efficient telling of escape attempts, ruses played against the German captors and, of course, of the unfailing courage and good spirits of the British officers.

If you're fond of old British movies, you'll recognize, among others, Eric Portman, Lionel Jeffries, Bryan Forbes and Ian Carmichael. The DVD I saw has a picture and audio in very good shape considering the age of the movie.
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The Cruel Sea (1953) is, in my view, one of the best movies yet made dealing with naval warfare in WWII. It's the story of the Compass Rose, newly commissioned in 1940 as a convoy escort, and the officers and men who served on her. Her captain (Jack Hawkins) was fresh from the merchant marine; her new officers had seen almost no sea duty. They learned on the job as they protected convoys in the North Atlantic and then in the run to the Mediterranean.

What makes this movie so good is its matter-of-factness. There are no heroics, just men learning their jobs, doing their duty, with some dieing and some surviving. The scene where Captain Ericson decides to use depth charges to destroy a suspected submarine hiding below a group of struggling survivors from a torpedoed freighter is harrowing. The DVD I saw has a good but by no means first-class image transfer. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

One of the best documentary
China-A Century of Revolution, is such an interesting documentary. I thought it would be boring. It turned out this was one of few documentaries that did not put me to sleep. Without realizing, I easily sat through two hour of viewing each time. This is a documentary that I could not stop watching until the end. It outlined modern Chinese history in a simple yet understandable manner. It does not contain the detils and background information of many important events - It is an impossible task to include more details in a six hour doucmentary. It does take one through most of the major events in the modern Chinese history and does a good job of it. For people who merely wishes to have a simple understanding of modern Chinese history, this documentary should be the one to watch. For people who wishes to have a in depth understanding of modern Chinese history, this documentary would help to clarify things. Much of the footages are brand new to me. The interviews with the still living government officials and ordinary citizens help to bring dead history alive. This is a must see for any one who is interested in modern Chinese history. I don't normally write reviews. I feel I owe it to every one to write this review. It would be a shame if you miss it.

A documentary benchmark
This is a wonderfully unbiased documentary on the 20th century history of China. It begins with the fall of an Empire and rise of Sun Yat Sen in 1911, and moves onto Chiang Kai Shek and Chairman Mao who are portrayed as leaders who participated in some of the most significant events that define the Cultural Revolution.

I remember Secondary School curriculae that portrays the Nationalist Chiang as the 'good-guy', and Chairman Mao as the 'bad-guy' of chinese 20th century history. However, this documentary remains ambivalent on both of these matters, presenting the facts without bias by the producers. They expertly weave a history with evenhandedness making it impartial and objective to the sometimes very subjective matter that is The Cultural Revolution. The entire six hour documentary spans approximately 70 years, from 1911 (Sun Yat Sen) through to the rule and capitalistic tendencies of Deng Xiao Peng.

While the objectivity of the documentary is laudable, the treatment of the subject matter is nothing short of exceptional. The intention of the documentary is to serve as an overview within a six hour time-frame. It is NOT intended as an in-depth political study of the times! Subsequently, the documentary does not getted bogged-down in too much detail, but simultaneously manages to adequately portray the events that defined 20th century China.

On the whole this documentary is highly watchable, offering historical footage and interviews with those who participated in the Cultural Revolution in one form or another. Any curriculum study of 20th century China would be greatly enhanced by including this documentary. The documentary also serves as a great introduction to China for anyone interested in the country and how it has arrived at being the country it is today.

Monumental doucumentary. Sweeping in scope and detail.
This documentary is excellently produced and I can easily watch all 6-hours of it in one sitting. It is just that compelling and fascinating to see the history of China over the last century unfold and come to life in expert testimony and primary footage of the actual events that took place, even all the way back to a speech given by Sun Yat-Sen.

6 hours is long, and at the same time, it is a very short space to compress a full century of history into. However, this film does it superbly. The dvd splits the history into three eras. The pre-WWII period (Sun Yat-Sen, Japanese Invation, the duel between the CCP and the KMT), the rise of Mao and the Communists, and what the future holds for China and the Chinese. There is ample detail provided about events and people who shaped each era.

If you know nothing about China in the last century, and all the turmoil which occured, I would strongly recommend this documentary. It has no equal in terms of it's broad scope and compelling content, and makes the already intriging story of China in the 20th century come even more alive, and human.

If you already are a Chinese history buff, this film will be interesting all the same.

It is full of rare footage (where else will you get to see Dr. Sun in film? or peasants "struggling" against their landlords?) and audio (I've never heard Madame Mao's voice before this.) that you will probably never see or hear anywhere else. Interviews with those who endured the Cultural Revoution and those who will shape the future of China give the film an intimate touch. Included are: Dr. Li, Mao's personal physician of two decades, Chinese celebrities, peasants, landlords, urban dwellers, students. All love China, but they sweep the gamut from those who hate Mao to those who love him, and what the Communists have done for/to China, and what the future lies in store for them, and the rest of the Chinese people.

Overall, and AMAZING documentary with an incredible scope. Covering one of the most amazing and remarkable chapters of human history, good and bad, this documentary will not dissapoint.

Great, but not quite 5 stars
This is an excellent and exhaustive documentary. The perfect primer for learning the social topography of our increasingly important neighbors to the East.

But it's not a complete masterpiece. It relies primarily on archival footage. And though many of these films are rare, they are almost entirely gleaned from propaganda films. The directors fill in the gaps through interviews, some quite striking for youthful appearence of the elderly intervewees.

It is remarkable for the way it concisely summarizes a complex and brutal history in 360 minutes. But what it lacks is investigative prowess and graphic brilliance.

Granted, China is not the easiest country to conduct an investigation or shoot a documentary in. But I'm left with the feeling that in 5 years, with further liberalization, a 5 star version of this documentary could be made.

Until then, this documentary comes highly recommended.

Far more than a History Lesson...
Wow.

This series consists of six one-hour episodes, and takes you through the beginning of the 20th century up until the present. The story that it tells is so incredibly bizarre and tragic and thought-provoking that at times it was difficult to believe it was all true. The 2nd DVD in particular, which focuses on the reign of Mao, really made me realize how different the Chinese culture is from my own (USA) and what a traumatic history they've had in the past 100 years.

One of the things I really appreciated about this series was how non-judgmental it was. At no point did I feel that the editor or producers had a political agenda. The point was not to demonize the Communists and also not to glorify them. Instead, it simply let you watch the events unfold and let you listen to the people who lived it as they attempt to explain to you (and to themselves) how all of these unbelievable things happened and how it felt to be in the middle of it all.

You could really understand why, after living through Chiang Kai-shek's corrupt Nationalist rule, the people were so eager to follow Mao and to embrace his idealistic vision of a Communist State built of equality and justice. And, too, you could see how the whole thing slowly went off-kilter. As Mao became more and more removed from the day-to-day reality of the peasants, his ideas became increasingly demented. In a sense, he reminded me of Marlon Brando's character in "Apocalypse Now," except that Mao was real and was in the position of leadership of almost one billion people.

By the time the documentary got to the Cultural Revolution (the fourth of the six episodes), it's like you're watching some insane Monty Python-esque satire about revolutions within revolutions. Everyone was overthrowing everyone else, and all in the name of Mao.

Watching this series will do far more than teach you some fascinating history; it will also make you re-examine all your most basic assumptions about how humans think and function. There's one woman interviewed who talks about an old man who was beaten to death shortly before her arrival, because a crowd of youths decided he was a Capitalist. She says at the end of the story that she still can't say for sure if she would have helped in beating him to death or not, had she arrived in time to do so. And this isn't some crazy woman saying this. It's someone perfectly sane and normal who simply got swept up in the times she was living in.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

The entire history of the world's favorite game? It's an extraordinary challenge that could go have gone horribly wrong, but History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game is a class act. It boasts top-drawer production values, including narration by Terence Stamp, access to everybody who has really mattered in the game, ever, plus loads of famous, rare, and never-seen-before footage, each volume offering a blend of narrative, action, and illuminating interviews. This is a polished product: part celebration, part commemoration, but always with a sharp investigative sense, digging around the misty-eyed, good ol' days tradition, to explore in the company of those interviewed the reality behind some of soccer's myths and legends.

The breadth of enquiry is naturally impressive, as is the narrative structure, but it's the deft handling of the subplots that really sets this apart, including: analysis of the dominant club sides such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Milan (volume 2); the evolution of Brazil (volume 3); the superstar casualties, like Maradona and Garrincha (volume 5); football as an agent of social control in Victorian England (volume 1); the revolution in French football that created the 1998 World Champions (volume 4); and the failure, so far, of Africa to fulfil Pele's famous World Cup prediction (volume 6). There's so little material here that isn't memorable that it's difficult to pick highlights, but action aside (and it's hard to think of an historically important game that isn't featured), an emotional Maradona exposing the "conspiracy" that fixed the 1990 World Cup final (volume 2) is an unforgettable slice of soccer culture.

History of Soccer on DVD comes complete with a heap of extras (between 33 and 54 minutes' worth per volume) including, across the set, every single goal from every World Cup Final game; extended interviews with the likes of Pele, Maradona, Zidane, and Bobby Charlton; loads of "first-ever-recorded-on-film" material including the 1907 England-Scotland game; text-only biographies of the major interviewees; extended tournament highlights of past European Championships, African Nations Cups, World Club Championships, Asian Cups, and, of course, World Cup Finals. The picture itself is presented in widescreen, and there's a Spanish-language track plus an Easter egg of additional hidden material in every volume. --Alex Hankin ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A GREAT ALL IN ALL WRAP UP OF SOCCER
This series is great but I didn't buy the dvd as I can just watch it on tape which I taped from foxtel.I have a question for all soccer(football) fans. Did soccer use to be alot more entertaining than it is now because of more defensive tatics in games these days?Please write back on Amazon so I can get your opinion, Thanks and se ya later

Worth every penny
This set is loaded with excellent documentry.
Each disc has two volumes, and extras.
Very well edited...
Roots of how football/soccer began...
History of FIFA, UEFA, and club history, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United, Celtic, Milan, etc...
Tons of game action, World Cup and other competitions.
Interviews of Pele, Maradona, George Best, Malidini, Zindane, Ronaldo, Paolo Rossi just to name a few.

There is no other soccer documentry that comes close.

Excellent
It is very good and gives you a good history of the sport. Soccer is the best sport in the world. Believe it or not. Ronaldo is the best soccer player alive and que Viva Las CHIVAS.

SUPERB!!!
A lavish production by people who clearly love Soccer, this is probably the best sport documentary series ever produced and worth every cent.
The DVD box set contains a 13-episode documentary series exploring various aspects of Soccer's development and cultural significance as well as its greatest moments, and a whole slew of extras featuring *hours* of match highlights, extended interviews, more featurettes, biographies and even some easter eggs, little silent documentary films showing various regions' passion for the game. The production values are absolutely fantastic, equaling any of the Ken Burns documentary series. The range of interviews is staggering - lengthy and utterly engrossing chats with the likes of di Stefano, Maradona, Pele, Menotti, Sandro Mazzola and Jurgen Klinsmann to name just a few.
Absorbing, fascinating, well made and well worth it. Five out of five.

Lopsided
Less a history of soccer than the title would suggest, this documentary on DVD is more a chronologically-minded discussion of football topics and polemics rather than pure history, and one that manages to say very little over the course of seven discs. Jarringly repetitive, it will, for instance mention a topic or event on several episodes, each time going a different level of depth into the topic, leading to a feeling of deja-vu for the viewer. I kept wishing this were done by Ken Burns. Then we'd get a feel for the personalities of the sport, something which this cold, distant HOS series fails to do, as well as good highlights, another thing HOS gives in surprisingly little amounts.
Along with an annoyingly Anglo-centric view of the game (Britain seems to be brought up one way or another in every episode, even for the most tangential of references), there is also a strange preoccupation with Indian football. India gets two whole segments in this series, over twenty minutes of airtime for a nation that isn't anywhere close to challenging anyone for anything in world football.
The extras amount to nothing but unnarrated, oftentimes confusing footage collected under a specific heading, but otherwise viewable elsewhere in the series.
Also, if a team didn't reach a major final, they aren't talked about. There is no mention of the Bulgarians at USA 94.
No mention of Steaua Bucharest's unlikely penalty shootout win over Barcelona in 86. Many other quality events like this are missing. Instead the series focuses on topics that are often boring, such as devoting an entire hour to the bureaucratic history of FIFA. Yawn.
Overall, somewhat of a disappointment. Not worth the price. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This HBO documentary is based on a highly original idea: tell the storyof baseball from the Great Depression era through the late 1950s using footagefrom home-movie cameras shot by fans and players. The result is a marvelous lookat baseball in America as seen from the ground--the culture of stadiums, theritual of afternoon games, the spiritually sustaining rivalries. Among the trulyunexpected sights is color footage of the 1938 World Series, not only frominside the stadium walls but from the street as traffic cops, crowds, andvehicles amassed. It also covers World War II's impact on the game, and, ofcourse, the heroes, often caught in relaxed, unselfconscious moments.

Arguably more defined and even more lyrical than its predecessor, When It Wasa Game 2 moves from a general celebration of baseball culture in America toa specific focus on various facets of the game's history, including the specialrelationship between game announcers and fans and the farm-team system duringthe 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Brooklyn's assimilation of the Dodgers into theircommunity identity is covered quite winningly as is the heartbreak of the team'sdesertion to California. Last, the film takes us on a tour of some of the game'slegends and presents a touching tribute to the extraordinary Babe Ruth. --TomKeogh

When It Was a Game 3 focuses on the 1960s, a time of change for all ofAmerica.Through sharp, incredibly clear color footage of players and fans, thefilm shows how Major League Baseball slowly but surely evolved from pure sportto moneymaking entertainment. Covering the mighty Yankees, the western expansionof both leagues, the increasing inclusion of black players, and the rise of freeagency and increased salaries, the film shows the growth of baseball fromadolescence to adulthood. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (2)

When it was a game-3 pack
I have been an avid baseball fan since 4 yrs. old. (1951) I am a collector of baseball sports memorabilia going back to late 20's. The series, "When it was a game" was an absolute delight. It finally placed faces to names I have collected for over 50 yrs. The 8 and 16 mm made the viewing even more spellbounding. It made me feel like I actually took the photos. It is refreshing to see my hero's in everyday circumstances; snapshots of the best of the best as ordinary people. The movies were well-done, I was not able to stop viewing until I have watched all three DVD's. This is the best collection of home movies of hall of famers I have ever seen. I would recommend this collection to any baseball fan who truly wants to reward himself with the very best footage of his favorite leaguer. I will cherish the entire set.

Baseball History on DVD
The when it was a game series is one of the best baseball documenturies that I have ever seen. The extreamly rare footage of baseball's greats with commentation is a very good mix. You'll love to relive the history and remember those great days "when it was a game." ... Read more

Amazon.com

Startling and powerful, Control Room is a documentary about the Arab television network Al-Jazeera's coverage of the U.S.-led Iraqi war, and conflicts that arose in managed perceptions of truth between that news media outlet and the American military. Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com) catches the frantic action at Al-Jazeera headquarters as President Bush stipulates his 48-hour, get-out-of-town warning to Saddam Hussein and sons, soon followed by the network's shocking footage of Iraqi civilians terrorized and killed by invading U.S. troops. Al-Jazeera's determination to show images and report details outside the Pentagon's carefully controlled information flow draws the wrath of American officials, who accuse it of being an al-Qaida propagandist. (The killing of an Al-Jazeera reporter in what appears to be a deliberately targeted air strike is horrifying.) Most fascinating is the way Control Room allows well-meaning, Western-educated, pro-democratic Arabs an opportunity to express views on Iraq as they see it--in an international context, and in a way most Americans never hear about. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Description

22 profiles of Hollywood's most highly acclaimed directors, assembled in a specially designed "clapper board" display box. Titles include Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Spike Lee, Barry Levinson, Sydney Pollack, Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and more... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Directors Series
This series is fascinating for filmmakers as well as people that simply enjoy movies. It takes you on an indepth journey with 22 feature film directors as viewed through their eyes as well as famous actors that they have worked with. As in any documentary setting, the editions vary in quality, but the good ones make the purchase well worth while. In particular I enjoyed the interviews with: Ron Howard, John McTiernan, Steven Speilberg, Milos Foreman, and Joel Schumacher. These interviews expand the viewers horizons and allow them to get an inside look at the successes and failures that each feature director has experienced. Well worth the purchase...

The greatest gift....
I own 5 of the titles in this collection and find them all really interesting from a film history and entertainment point of view. My favorite is Spielberg. That said, I recently needed a gift for someone who is a major major film buff, and I got this for him and he loves it. Not only do the DVD's make him smile, but the box itself is stupendous and looks amazing on his shelf (impresses the visitors:)

Sure wish someone would spend this kind of money on me:) ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Watch this and judge for yourself
Throughout the last eighteen months, the Bush administration has been trying to make Americans believe that there were legitimate reasons for going to war in Iraq. Most of the arguments dealt with misleading use of the available intelligence reports and with trying to link Saddam Hussein with Al Qaeda, blaming Iraq for September 11. Although most of the people that were involved in the investigation and in the decisions following the tragedy were aware that there was no real evidence as to Iraq's involvement or as to Saddam having nuclear and chemical weapons of mass destruction, an effective "advertising campaign" was put in place with successful results. A good part of the American population was convinced that war was the only option.

In this documentary, the testimony and opinions of several experts in the topic are presented and the conclusion can only be one: the public was unethically misled. The interviewees range from former CIA agents, to UN weapons inspectors. The conclusion is unanimous and the interviewees point out clear examples that prove that Bush, Cheney and Powell knew that they were misleading the American public.

This is a short documentary (a little less than an hour) that presents facts in a clear and efficient way. Everyone should see it and draw his own conclusions about what were the facts that lead to the Iraq war, especially now that Clarke has come out in the open with allegations about this topic.

A must see for conservatives.
I would like to preface my statements by saying that I supported George W. Bush in the 2000 election and I am still a strong supporter of the war on terror. The clear and present danger represented by terrorism is something Americans must never loose sight of. This movie was brought to my attention by a friend of mine at work who's politics are very far to the left. He begged me to see it and judge for myself. I refused thinking it was just one more piece of partisan nonsense offered up by disgruntled Clintonites. He challenged me by saying that the lion's share of people interviewed on the disc were ex D.O.D. and C.I.A. with distinguished service records. I reluctantly agreed to watch.
After my first viewing I was forced to reconsider everything I believed about the war in Iraq. I find it very hard to argue with men who have spent decades in diplomatic and defense positions, some of whom served George W. Bush's father so well in the first Gulf War. As a conservative I feel a real disconnect from this so called "Neo Con" movement. I still haven't decided if I can hold my nose and vote for Kerry in November, but thanks to this eye opening film, I'm sure I won't be voting for the man I voted for in 2000. Everyone should see this movie.

Disturbingly Funny
Every American should see it - Democrats and, especially, Republicans.
Point-by-point explanation of all the lies and deceptions.
It is amazing that people in high office can lie so well with a straight face.
I always knew the Iraq war was the biggest lie ever in the history of the US, but this documentary helps make the case.
The sad part is, most Americans will not see this movie, because they are truly brain-washed.

Bush's Cowardice!
Bush is no leader, just a Texas coward who likes to play dressup on aircraft carriers. Not a bad guy, but he should have stuck to hanging out at the frat house or the country club with his drinking buddies. Sure would have been a favor to the nation.

It is not leadership to take this nation to war on the basis of lies -- then lie about lies -- cover up the biggest mistake a president could ever make -- then say you'd do it all over again. Which part, Mr. Bush? No surrogates please. You keep avoiding or attacking people who might ask the hard questions.

Bush decides. You Comply. Yes, this film is from the same source as the more recent gutting of the neo-fascist Fox Propaganda Network -- the Bushy boy's bully SS of the airwaves. Take a look at "Outfoxed" and you'll realize -- if you have a brain and can think -- that Rupert Murdoch is out to destroy America values and beliefs through lies disguised as news.

What Bush declared was the cause of the war, what he claimed was the proven existence of WMDs, turns out to be a total crock. So is most of the rest of what of what we've been told -- and most of what the right wing is putting into circulation now. The little talking points spread by a White House afraid of truth. It's important for them to muddy the waters. Talk about gay marriage, Chappaquiddick -- anything but that we have a president who took us to war for a reason that was a total crock of horse manure. Buy lots of attack ads.

Oops, we're sorry? Not, Bush did not even have the cojones for taking the responsibility. He passed the buck. It wasjn't me. It was the CIA. He's almost as confused about a misguided war based on lies as he is about where he was when he was supposed to be serving in the Air Guard. Cowardice.

The Right Wing dominated media cheerleaded for what the Fox Fascists called "America's New War" without ever questioning the utter shallowness of what little evidence that was offered -- evidence that turned out to be forged, invented, exaggerated, lied about, tainted. It was everything but the truth. It would have taken the merest gesture to discover the truth -- and the layers of deceit.Bush doesn't take calls from Chalabi and, typical of a coward, writes him off as a friend of Laura's.

This film uncovers a lot of this. Yes, it includes opinion, but the facts are laid out there for any rational, red-blooded American to see how we're being betrayed by the right wing nutjobs rejabbering Rush and Faux. Mr. Bush and his people knew where the WMDs were? That's what they said. That's what Rummy said, again and again. That's what Powell told the UN was established, provable fact, not guesswork. Well, that was just another little mistake on the way to killing thousands upon thousands of people. Rummy said Iraq wouldn't need rebuilding --precision weapons, you know! Way over a hundred billion hard earned American tax dollars the place is a shambles, we've put a new strongman in place and Bush is doing the Baghdad boogie. Just not fast enough to save any American lives.

This country's wealth of good intentions, respect for freedom and tolerance -- what the world once thought the best of us -- is being destroyed so that these cretins can use their wars to guarantee the Bush succession. These people are war criminals and traitors at worst, damned fools at best. This documentary starts you down the path toward understanding.

The real question? Why haven't we impeached and removed George Bush form Office? And why haven't we gone after Neil Bush, Jeb Bush and the others for their influence peddling and sucking up to foreign governments against our national best interest (peculiar for people who on an official level have destroyed every alliance we had).

IF you're going to defend this war, made a vicious attack on this factual film -- and you're just another chickenhawk, draft-dodger, just shut up and go away into your hole. We learned some hard lessons in Vietnam. Bush and his entire crew ducked their service. Bush was AWOL and too privileged to even show up for meetings.

Impeach Bush! Do it now. And if he steals this election as he did the last one, then it's time to start impeaching power-hungry Supreme Court justices such as Rehnquist and Scalia. And Bush!

You don't think, by the way, that Janet Rehnquist got her job as an Inspector General at HHS based on her competence do you. Or Scalia the younger on his legal acument?

The Rehnquist daughter was forced to resign last year for unethical conduct that provoked the most negative GAO report of its type -- and it was requested by a Republican Congress. Why? That's how bad she was.

This administration is as powermade\ and corrupt as any that have ever come along in this country. Bush is a nice amiable guy on some levels. It won't hurt him to retire to Crawford and act like he has something to do.

Bush lies! Americans die!
This is a good film with a lot of soundly argued fact and opinion. It does not do scattershot. It makes logical points and offers substantianting evidence.

No rational human being would launch a senseless invasion based on half-baked, third hand "intelligence" from a CIA that is being pushed to compensate for its numerous failures. We will never know the full truth about the pressure Cheney put on the CIA, but we know many, many responsibile analysts saw a runaway freight train crushing anyone who did not belly up with the party line.

Bush and his people state a casus belli. It has proven to be utterly and unredeemingly false. A war like World War II and Bush like Churchill? Give it a rest. No great president -- or the barely adequate -- reaches like that. D-Day? The German Army was a first rate bunch of bad asses. Saddam's army was virtually toothless --our troops took care of that -- and when it came to the real test, no one made any plans for the occupation army. Troops died for that stupidity and venality. Our American troops and many innocent people died -- serving no purpose but as cannon fodder for yet another Bush campaign based on lies, deceit and a relentless quest for family power and glory.

Our Secretary of State makes official statements at the UN that were not true. Deliberate? Maybe not by Powell, but the buck has to stop somewhere. And, as the great Harry Truman said of his White House, the buck stopped there. LBJ understood that. He stood down. And what Bush has done is so much worse and far more deliberately calculated. Away with him.

You don't blame the CIA for bad intelligence. You fix it -- encourage honest analysis. It needs to be done. But it is hard for the man who ignored warnings about bin Laden to make those changes. Instead, the CIA is just a scapegoat for criminal decision making by an inadequate man who was a draft dodger and the next thing to a deserter, one who has seen to the destruction of the files that show just how rotten he is.

We get a nutty president inventing reasons for the war -- after the fact And, having killed thousands of people he says he'd do it again.

If this country was acting normally, the Republican Party would be looking for a new candidate who could represent the mainsteam -- instead of this war criminal. The Texas nut faction doesn't represent us generally and certainly they don't represent the best of the nation.

Our country has been humiliated by this president. We have exposed just how short our reach of power can be. Our foreign relations have been damaged beyond belief. The "coalition" is crumbling before our eyes as people make their distaste for Bush felt.

This film cuts to the chase and lays out the facts. True believers change their facts to fit their opinions. Pay attention to the facts here and you might be enlightened if you actually got an open mind. We need to find common ground and that can't be done with a president who looks for wedges with which to divide us. A president who lies, then takes us to war on the basis of those lies and does not have the common decency to be embarrassed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

An epic in length and breadth, this documentary aims at nothing less than a full-scale portrait of the most dominant institution on the planet Earth in our lifetime--a phenomenon all the more remarkable, if not downright frightening, when you consider that the corporation as we know it has been around for only about 150 years. It used to be that corporations were, by definition, short-lived and finite in agenda. If a town needed a bridge built, a corporation was set up to finance and complete the project; when the bridge was an accomplished fact, the corporation ceased to be. Then came the 19th-century robber barons, and the courts were prevailed upon to define corporations not as get-the-job-done mechanisms but as persons under the 14th Amendment with full civil rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (i.e., power and profit)--ad infinitum.

The Corporation defines this endlessly mutating life-form in exhaustive detail, measuring the many ways it has not only come to dominate but to deform our reality. The movie performs a running psychoanalysis of this entity with the characteristics of a prototypical psychopath: a callous unconcern for the feelings and safety of others, an incapacity to experience guilt, an ingrained habit of lying for profit, etc. We are swept away on a demented odyssey through an altered cosmos, in which artificial chemicals are created for profit and incidentally contribute to a cancer epidemic; in which the folks who brought us Agent Orange devise a milk-increasing drug for a world in which there is already a glut of milk; in which an American computer company leased its systems to the Nazis--and serviced them on a monthly basis--so that the Holocaust could go forward as an orderly process.

The movie goes on too long, circles too many points obsessively and redundantly, and risks preaching-to-the-choir reductiveness by calling on the usual talking-head suspects--Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Moore. And except for an endlessly receding tracking shot in an infinite patents archive, there's scarcely an image worth recalling. Still, it maps the new reality. This is our world--welcome to it. --Richard T. Jameson ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Review of the Corporation
Like the behemoths it chronicles, The Corporation is monstrous in scope, clocking in at nearly two and a half hours.While none of the footage seems dispendable, the documentary could certainly have used some tightening up.If it had remained comitted to its subject matter, the history and structure of the corporation, it would have been more effective.The most useful parts were in the begining of the film, which really made me look at history differently: we see how the post Civil War treatment of the Corporation as an individual, in one legal decision, was actually one of the hugest paradigm shifts of the modern age.However, The Corporation goes on to tackle every single aspect of globalized, late capitalist life: advertising, marketing, branding, intellectual property.There is plenty of scholarship on marketing and advertising out there, and while the segments here were well done, they made this documentary feel bloated and meandering.The argument, while devastating, loses its complexity as it moves along.The documentary begins with Corporations as monstrous structures that are not necesarily the sum of their parts.The most amazing footage is that of a CEO and his wife having their home surrounded by hippy protestors, only to bring them coffee and tea, and sit down to chat with them.This scene, in which consumer-citizens and corporate spokesmen form a genuine ecology, was pivotal and ultimately describes what corporate interface may have to become if they are to survive (or if we are to survive, for that matter), cut off from boardrooms, immersed in the environment of which they are a part.As the documetary progresses, however, the tone becomes one of Evil Empires and patholically insane citizens servicing institutions without understanding their actions.This may be partially true, but it leads to an argument for localized, community based consumer resistance, which may be less effective than corporation-based, intercommunity collaboration. The end of this documentary was a gnostic, transcendentalist veil lifting: we can fight the corporation, if we only take control of our Selves! Where it should have run a bit deeper than that:We ARE the corporation, and the survival, reformation or downfall of these structures relies on how we learn to treat one another.Additionally, blame on environmental destruction was placed squarely on the power of corporations, and not on the more guilty culprit: overpopulation.I believe it's possible to make corporations fiscally accountable for population growth, if only because it is in their immediate best interest.(The lower the population, the more money there is to go around.Every corporation on Earth would benefit from a population decrease in several generations' time.)Despite the overly broad approach, this is an absolutely neccesary documentary to view for anyone interested in corporations or the structures of late capitalism.

Excellent primer on corporate globalization
I saw this documentary twice in the theaters, and recently purchased a copy of the DVD from the film distributor's website, Zeitgeist Video, not Amazon.It's an excellent ethnography of corporations and their abuse of power in the U.S. and abroad.The film starts off with a history of corporate charters, and how they gained a definition of personhood through manipulation of the Supreme Court decision that freed slaves after the Civil War.And, as a person, the corporation can be diagnosed with a psychopathic personality disorder using the DSM-IV.A criticism that I have about the movie is that it doesn't deal with the fundamental problem with corporations: it's not corporations that's the problem, but the underlying economic system of capitalism.It's capitalism that causes corporations to look towards the global south to enslave cheap labor to make a profit.Capitalism that causes corporations to pollute the environment and spew toxins into the air.Capital interests that control the ruling ideology and prevent the voices of dissent from being heard.(The film shows two Fox reporters who were silenced for making a show about cow's milk laced with hormones produced by Monsanto.)The film stops short at pointing a finger at the real culprit for ecological destruction and global stratification today - capitalism.That being said, it's still a good primer on corporations, and I plan to use it in my intro sociology class for undergrads.It is a long movie, for other educators out there, at 145 minutes.The second disc of the movie has 5 hours of interviews with people from the film including Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and the horrid Milton Friedman.And, the website for the film, TheCorporation.com, has a helpful instructor's guide.

Defamation DOES NOT equal credibility
This documentary is absolutely and categorically disgusting in every form of the word.This is a socialist onslaught against capitalist success and no one seems to care.Here's just an example of how radical and meritless this film is...it stretches to compare coporations with Nazi facism...its disgusting.Do not support the liberal lying media; boycot this crap.

Stunning Food for Thought, Whatever Your Politics
Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, and Joel Bakan have collaborated in THE CORPORATIONto produce a documentary version of Bakan's book of the same name (subtitled "The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power"). In doing so, they have outlined the legal history of corporations in America and compiled a litany of concerns over the increasingly unregulated and growing power of that institution.

There can be no doubt that THE CORPORATION takes a left of center view of American business, as witnessed by the film's featured "talking heads:" Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Howard Zinn, and Michael Moore. Viewers can argue over balance or the choice to "diagnose" the legal personhood of the corporate institution as pathological. Nevertheless, this movie raises important issues that deserve consideration regardless of the viewer's political leanings. When an organizational form accumulates as much power and influence as the corporation has, and when that institution is legally bound to consider first and foremost its profit maximization over all other factors, the consequences of disregard and lax regulation (and popular unawareness) may be dire indeed.

Achbar and Abbott begin with a brief history of corporations, noting that the origin of corporations' rights as "legal persons" arose out of judicial interpretations of the equal protections clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was written to end slavery. This interpretation granted corporations the rights of individuals, but overlooked many of the responsibilities and accountabilities of citizens. "Corporation as person" opens the door for Bakan's psychoanalysis, from which he deems the institution to qualify under DMS-IV as psychopathic.

THE CORPORATION is at its best and most revealing when it tells stories, such as the little-known plot to overthrow FDR in 1934 by a cabal of industrialists, including representatives of Bethlehem Steel, DuPont, Goodyear, and J.P. Morgan. Perhaps only the conscience of General Smedley Butler, the man approached by those industrialists to lead a 500,000-man, militarized march on Washington, prevented America from experiencing a military coup. Stories about GM, Ford, Coca-Cola and IBM under Hitler's regime are equally fascinating, and equally disturbing (did you know, for example, that Coke invented Fanta Orange to keep its German factories open in the 1930's?).

Three particular stories give THE CORPORATION its greatest impact and best serve to humanize the issues. The first concerns child labor in Asian sweatshops, particularly with regard to Kathy Lee Gifford's clothing line. The second story concerns the privatization of water in Cochabamba, Bolivia as a condition for that country's receipt of World Bank loans. Bechtel Corporation comes off as the bad guy here, particularly as a result of the extraordinary greed and hubris the company displayed in managing to make the collection of rainwater illegal in such a poor area. Finally, there is the story of Monsanto's rBGH bovine growth hormone, rejected throughout Europe and Canada for its cancer links but approved by the FDA. The story behind the story here is Fox News's blatantly coercive actions to suppress a report on rBGH compiled by its own staff from ever appearing on the air, presumably in order not to offend a major advertiser. Each of these three stories prove that "little people" can still be heroes - Charles Kernaghan (Director, National Labor Committee) in the first case, Oscar Olivera in the second, and Steve Wilson and Jane Akre in the Fox News story.

THE CORPORATION runs long (145 minutes) and can seem dry at times, but the story is too important to ignore. This movie is two and a half well-spent hours, and you will finish it with a lot to think about. The separate "Majority Report" interview of Joel Bakan by Janeane Garofolo provides a good summary and review of the many different topics covered by the full documentary. It would be nice to imagine NBC or even PBS airing this movie someday, just as it would be nice to imagine students at Harvard or Wharton business schools being required to view it in their coursework. Would that it were so. Hopefully, enough concerned citizens will watch it on their own to raise some consciouses.

Corporation - Politics, Economy, Society, and Logo Loyalty
The documentary Corporation provides an angry and dark image of the leading corporations of the world, and justly so.This image originates with the 14th Amendment, which the government generated in order to give the slaves the same freedoms as its owners.Somehow, similar corporations that exploited the slaves took the opportunity to maximize their powers through the very same document that helped slaves gain their freedom.Through the 14th Amendment, Corporations gained rights of individuals, yet without individual responsibilities for the actions of the corporation.

Cleverly, filmmakers Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar utilize the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), which psychological health professionals use to assess and diagnose mental disorders.The psychological profile of a corporation should be justifiable, if they intend to fall under the same category as an individual in a legal sense.Through the psychological profile of corporations, several deviant behaviors occur such as "failure of conforming to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest" (see pp. 649-650 in DSM-IV.) In the film they checked of all seven criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder, and only three of them need to be checked in order to receive this diagnosis, which in common mouth is referred to as being a psychopath.

The case studies in the film offer a more intricate view of how some of the ruthless corporations advance through the American and world community.For example corporations have been found guilty of performing deceitful exploitation of people, their money, and their health as the Monsanto corporation deceitfully informs the public that their rBGH drug does not have any side effects on cows or human beings while Canada and other European countries have banned the supplement for increased milk production.A FOX television news show did research the topic and tried to air the news in regards to the cancer inducing effect of rBGH and how cows suffered dire consequences of the drug.Nonetheless, the reporters could never air the show, as Monsanto methodically prevented the truth from reaching the people through the legal system.This triggers the notion that corporations are above the law while they can squelch the opportunity for all citizens to exercise their first amendment right through exercising economic fear within those who dare to speak up.

Numerous studies have suggested that milk cows injected with rBGH have a lowered immune system and higher bacteria level.Farmers in turn treat cows with high-level of antibiotics to prevent bacterial infestations in the cows, but it also increases the likelihood of the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria that could eventually cause people to die from simple illnesses.Corporations such as Monsanto do not have to carry responsibility, as they have the law on their side while they can externalize the damages (i.e., let someone else pay for the damages) when random health problems such as cancer could appear.Some corporations even take in consideration what it would cost if law enforcement would catch them, and they often deem it to be worth the risk when penalty fees would not exceed the profit margin.This raises the notion, where does society draw the line of biological attacks on a nation?

Besides the negative and dark image of the corporation the audience also gets to hear the CEO of Interface, Roy Anderson, expressing his concern of corporations continual plundering of the earth.The viewers also get to learn about Shell's concern about environmental issues, yet they do not seem willing to hastily find an alternative resource for oil.Even Michael Moore informs the audience that many corporations provide a good product, but it is the excessive profiteering that seems to upset him.

There are several other topics that are brought to the audience's attention such as the stock trading blindness that occur on Wall Street and places alike, as the only notion that crosses the trader's mind is the profit.Several intriguing examples are provided as many made big profits after 9/11 in gold while the first war in Iraq increased the price on oil that gave many a large dollar profit.The audience also learns how companies enter war, that they do not have to pay for while harvesting large profits on the situation.There is also a swift and detailed report on ownership of the patents of living things, as the judicial organ that ruled in the first case had no clue what it was talking about which resulted in people now being able to own the rights to certain genes or microbe essential for living.They even talk about ownership of space, water, and air, which displays an ugly event in Bolivia and how American corporations continued their business deals with the Nazis in Germany.An interesting question would be whether these companies or the people working for these corporations have committed any acts of treason .

Ultimately, the Corporation offers a cinematic experience that will unsettle all viewers without consideration for what side of the issue they stand.It is also remarkable how the film causes cerebral unrest, as if it tries to reach out to the audience to take action.If the audience wants to get more information in regards to the film or issues in the film they can visit the website www.thecorporation.com, which offers a little of everything for the interested.Otherwise, it provides some interesting notions to ponder in regards to current and future politics, economy, society, and corporate loyalty. ... Read more

Description

The award-winning series narrated by Laurence Olivier. A powerful and devastating historical chronicle of war, composed of penetrating interviews with world leaders, statesmen and the military, along with the experiences of the ordinary men and women of a ... Read more

Reviews (75)

Excellent Series
When investing in any DVD, especially a boxed set, you might ponder the question, "How often will I watch this?" Let me say that your purchase of The World at War will offer you endless viewing opportunities! Besides the 26 original episodes, all of the extra features that were produced afterwards are included in the set. There is so much information generated in over 30 hours of material that you will discover something new with each repeated viewing. Each episode will hold your attention from first to last, and they are efficiently indexed so you can easily review a map or replay a speech. Along side the emotional impact of the pictorial images, you have Carl Davis' moving score, a judicious use of period music, personal accounts from all the major powers, and Sir Laurance's strong narration, making this the most comprehensive documentary on the subject. Now if we can only have World War I, narrated by Robert Ryan, available, we would have the documentary bookends to the two most devastating wars in the 20th century.

The Finest WWII Documentary Ever Produced
For History buffs and those who have a keen, deeply felt interest in World War II beyond just the military events, the World at War, produced by Thames Television (1981) and released earlier on VHS by Thorn/EMI, is a 26 episode documentary set apart from all other documentaries about WWII. No other, with the exception of Walter Cronkite's CBS series, comes close to an unbiased, analytical perspective of a War that cost perhaps 50 million lives and took an emotional and philosophical toll we are still trying to comprehend today.

Narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier and covering all aspects of the war, this definitive series is used by many colleges and universities as a source for History and Documentary Film courses. There is an incredible depth of archive footage used; skilfully woven with interviews of major figures in the War from Britain, US, Canada, Europe and Japan. Many major eye-witness leaders and ordinary people who were still alive in 1981 contributed sometimes surprising, sometimes incredible, and sometimes haunting interviews. Yet, for all its skilful editing and historical sophistication, it is clearly presented and emotionally compelling. In my opinion, it is, along with Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation", the best ever produced British documentary.

What makes this a stellar and overpowering account of the War is Olivier's narration. Never blustery, patriotic, or theatrical, Sir Laurence delivers pointed, thoughtful analysis with his incredible command of English and oration. Music for the series was composed by Carl Davis and even the opening credits set an unforgettable tone in a haunting image of a child in a photograph, dissolving in flames. This series is for those trying to make sense of a 6 year period when the world went mad. Five Stars PLUS.

Very good. Probably THE documentary set to own
This kept me going for months (in one hour segments at a time). There is so much material presented here and I learned a lot.

I wanted to give 4.5 stars and only knock a half off for the sometimes annoying menu (it could have been presented in a more orgnaized fashion, I thought), or other small problems, but half points aren't allowed on the system. Very close to perfect!

Buyer Beware
This was a wonderful documentary as originally broadcast, but I'd avoid this product if I had it to do over again: the maker's quality control is awful. Disk 1 skipped badly. And I the same problem others have reported: two copies of one of the five disks (with me, disk 5), and one disk (disk 4) entirely missing.

"Remember"
This is an excellent, extensive, British-made documentary about events leading up to, and including, World War II. With 26 episodes, there is quite a bit of material covered. Excellent narration by Laurence Olivier, and a memorable score.

If you are a war buff, particularly WW2, this is the set to have. Can't say enough good things about it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Just awesome!!!!
I really enjoyed this movie because it shows what distance runners go through. Highly recommended for those who enjoy long distance running. If you're planning to run an ultramarathon one day, this is a good movie to watch. It's interesting as well as motivating. Rock it out!!!

Who'd've thought WATCHING people run would be so watchable!!
We're runners and would usually prefer to BE running, than to WATCH running. But, this is an excellent film. It's well-done and kept our interest throughout. It was painful to watch at times as these folks suffered along trying to do 135 miles, but yet, we couldn't take our eyes off. Highly recommended if you are a runner of any distance. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Extraordinary and compelling documentary!
I have just finished viewing the 6th Disc of the incredible journey of the greatest city in the world, and just had to share my excitement and disbelief at what I have been watching. Ric Burns does an extraordinary job of showing the history of New York from it's discovery by Henry Hudson to modern times. Each episode is addictive and compelling. Once the use of film and motion picture is employed in this collection at the turn of the 20th Century, each episode becomes even more amazing. I was amazed at the footage of the Empire State Building and the Chrylser Building as they were being built. The pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge being built were astounding. The time of La Guardia and seeing him in action, while Robert Moses built bridges and highways all around the city and beyond to Long Island was stunning. The history of Central Park, the Erie Canal, the plan for the streets of the city, the building of the subways and tunnels, the railroads, the coming of the immigrants, and many more were incredible to see. Being a native New Yorker born in the early 70's, I was exhilarated, but saddened at the same time while watching this, that I was not around to experience the great growth of the city. This film does justice though, as it brought me deep inside the history, and allowed me to see so vividly how New York came to be what it is today. I highly recommend all to view this, for not only is it a history of New York, but a history of why American is what it is today. It all started in New York City.

More justice. Better as the DVD version
The Burns family has come up with some fine work, from Baseball, to the Civil War; and now the latest, New York. A fine successor.
Ric Burns explores the early history of New York, starting with the God-created attributes of the region and one of the world's finest natural seaports. But the treasure is found in what man has added to the Apple, starting with the Erie Canal, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Subway system. The Bridge's history has itself been the subject of much scholarship, and Burns does it well also. The creation of the skyline, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are some of the series best moments, filled with some of the fascinating type of information that fans of Burns' documentaries have come to expect and enjoy.

The history of New York is the history of immigrants, and the interaction of Irish, Italians, Africans and other groups is splendidly examined. The politics of the City, such as the rise and demise of Al Smith and Jimmy Walker are well explored also.

My few complaints are minor, and don't detract from the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald seems to have become a demi-god to Burns, and after awhile, I found the continued references to him and his
work tiring. More than a few minutes on the early history of Harlem would have been a welcome replacement.

I purchased the DVD version, although I had the videocassettes. Am I glad I did! It has two additional discs, which try to bring the series up to date. Fiorello LaGuardia and Robert Moses, the two most pivotal figures in the history of the City, are splendidly explored. More examination of the development and contribution of Harlem (which I lamented in the review of the VHS version) is also welcomed. New York's post W.W. II predominance as the true center of the Earth is made plain. As the series progresses, we see the value of the City (any city), the destruction of the great and old in the name of urban renewal, and the slow cancer of suburban sprawl.

Even those not from New York will find it to be a rich, interesting history, worth of the length of time one must devote to its viewing. The rest of the world will understand some of why New Yorkers love their home as they do. Those expatriate New Yorkers will be tugged to head back home. All in all, brilliant, brilliant work.

AMAZING!
If you are from New York this DVD set is a must have. Absolutley riviting and informative.The old film footage and other epherma that was collected for this compilation is remarkable. I literally sat through all 7 DVDs in one sitting without a moment of boredom. If you love history this will be a valued addition to any collection, even if you are not from NY.

Learn history painlessly
I have told several friends that they need to watch this wonderful series. Almost everyone seems to think that history is boring. It isn't - you just had boring history teachers in high school, that taught history in a boring manner. If history was taught as the clash of great personalities and the range of choices they had, and it was explained why the person choose the path they did based on the limited resources they had to divide between all their goals and aspirations - people would recognize that alot of history is facinating. As you learn the history of the city of New York you will also learn a great deal about American history - because they are so intertwined.

A Great Series for a Great City
Though there are many older cities than New York, in the (relatively) short time of its existence, no city has captured the imagination, desire, love, and even hatred, that New York City has. Ric Burns has captured all of these emotions and more in this, one of the finest documentaries ever put on film.

The series traces the history of NYC from its earliest days as a Dutch trading post through 2000 (an additional volume was produced after the September 11th terrorist attack). Using interviews, stories, & archival material (prints, paintings, photographs, and old silent films), Burns pulls the viewer in to the life of all types of New Yorkers through the last 300+ years. ... Read more

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Set to a beguiling reggae beat, Life and Debt takes as its subject Jamaica's economic decline in the 20th century.The story has reverberations in the plight of other third-world nations blindsided by globalization, like Ghana and Haiti.After England granted Jamaica independence in 1962, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in with a series of loans.These loans came with strings attached--the kind that would eventually plunge the country $7 billion into debt, stranded without the resources to dig themselves out.Although IMF officials get the chance to have their say, it's clear where filmmaker Stephanie Black's sympathies lie--with the country's underemployed farmers and sweatshop workers.Jamaica Kinkaid (A Small Place) penned the narration, while the soundtrack features some of the "imports" with which this island nation remains mostly closely associated: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Mutabaruka, who performs the title track. --Kathleen C. Fennessy ... Read more

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