Customer Reviews

ABC News - Pope John Paul II - His Life and Legacy

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In an age when it seems that fear dominates the world, this wonderful bio on Pope John Paul II is touching, endearing, and truly heartfelt.

True to his roots and true to his faith, Pope John Paul II will leave behind a legacy of goodness and peace that will be felt for generations, and perhaps, millennia.

You do not have to be Catholic to enjoy this truly amazing piece. The Pope touched many a people, and will certainly go down in history as one of the greatest popes ever.

This program provides an enlightening and complex view of Pope John Paul II's life in a way that shows his extensive involvement in world affairs... including his integral role in creating & leading the non-violent movement that intensely assisted in the dissolution of the USSR, as well as his role in fighting anti-semitism within the church.

Not a simple fluff piece, this is a superb program for really understanding the dynamics of his unbelieveable career. His victories as well as his failures are explored in depth, and the result is the creation of a really well honed complex exploration of one of the greatest men of our time.

I highly recommend it to all, and I comment ABC News for assembling such a rich documentary.

I enjoyed this ABC special when I saw it a while back, and was reminded of it while watching the current news of the Pope's ill-health. This is the most comprehensive look at his life that I have seen. Although not part of the main program, one of the best parts of the DVD is the tour of the papal apartments with Diane Sawyer. I have never seen footage like this anywhere else, and it is truly fascinating.

I would also highly recommend Search for Jesus, another ABC News DVD.

The material and presentation are decent, but this look at Pope John Paul is basically a ABC free broadcast from quite a while back, transfered to DVD-- and asking for your money. Some of the bonus features are strong (tho, again, rehashed TV), but Diane Sawyer in the Papal Apartments is typical annoying Diane: the focus is all on her, not the Vatican and certainly not John Paul II. A better bet is NBC's DVD, "NBC Presents: The Life of Pope John Paul II" -- with fresh material created just for DVD release.

A balanced presentation of the issues this Pope has addressed. I found this insightful and revealing and also inspiring. It shows the Pope as a profoundly spiritual man guiding the church through modern problems.

As we see the last chapter of this great man coming to a close, I wanted to recommend this piece to all. I have watched it and recommended it to others for its fair and reverent look at this iconic figure. ABC has done a wonderful job of balancing Pope JPII's history making decisions with his undying devotion to the things he holds most dear, peace and the overwhelming power of the human spirit.

This is a must have DVD for all of those that wish to have a full view of one of the most influencial figures in history.

This is a biased, negative account of one of the greatest figures of the 20th century - focusing a disproportionate amount of time on the Pope's alleged failings: clergy sex scandal, contraception, ordination of women, refusal to step down for health reasons... The "bonus" material is really disappointing - it can't last more than 5-10 minutes. Not worth the price.

This show is put together very well. ABC News and their staff did such a great job in researching and creating an excellent documentary on the Pope!

I expected more of an appreciative review of this great pope's life. While there are some wonderful scenes (who can forget his encounter with the trembling Gen. Jaruszelski?), I agree with other reviewers that the American bishops' negligence in the clergy abuse scandal receives disproportionate attention. Also the picture quality is quite poor for a DVD. I expected more.

This dvd is just the same stuff that aired on ABC News. One doesn't get the sense of any work put into this docu for the dvd viewer.