Customer Reviews

American Cinema - 100 Years of Filmmaking

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you weren't lucky enough to have caught this series on PBS or the BBC, you truly weren't lucky. This is a terrific documentary on the history of American film with wonderful interviews and an especially good collection of exemplary scenes running the gamut of genres. Especially interesting (at least to my mind) are the episodes on film noir and the film school generation (i.e. Coppola, Scorcese, Lucas etc.), each of which is surprisingly encyclopedic in execution, considering the breadth of the topics covered. All in all, if you are a film buff like myself, this would make an excellent addition to your video library.

This ten-installment love letter to Hollywood and American film was originally aired on PBS, and comes on two two-sided DVDs. Introduced by John Lithgow, each segment is then narrated by a different actor and covers the following subjects: The Hollywood Style, The Star, Romantic Comedy, Film Noir, The Western, The Combat Film, The Studio System, Film in the Television Age, The Film School Generation and The Edge of Hollywood.

Each segment runs about 54 minutes and is well-written, loaded with illustrative scenes from great films, and filled with interviews by filmmakers, actors and film scholars. I especially enjoyed the Romantic Comedy and The Studio System segments, but each is so well done that you will undoubtedly find favorites of your own.

The only weakness here is the lack of any real documentation. When so many films and actors are discussed, it would add value to this collection to have a good index.

If you enjoy film and are interested in a thoughtful introduction to this American art form, you can't go wrong with this collection.

Writing a screenplay? Trying to do an indie? This set TOUCHES on 100's of important (sometimes obscure) American films...just enough to make you want to find some of them for further study and ignore others. You will see, within catagories or timelines, snippets, some brief but some several minutes, give you the highlights, the substance.

This is NOT MGM's "That's Entertainment".

This IS a series of entertaining, lucid programs that follow like film school seminars but are easily understood by even the most casual viewer. Note, the series does not play to the lowest common denominator. A true film buff and their film-hating spouse could watch this together, and both walk away amazed. My elementary school kids now understand as much about film making history as many professionals I know.

This would be a great gift to your local school.

I highly recommend this if you are interestted in Digital Video, especially home filming, guerilla film-making, or just getting ready for film school itself. This set is entertaining, but is an education in itself.

The shots, the sounds, the explanations of what works, the experiences of current filmmakers, the reasons for success of prior filmmakers, WHY the public taste changed in every decade(o-o-h, never thought of THAT, eh?)... This is a dream come true if you do not live within commuting distance of a film school or don't have the [money]...

Trust me on this one. You will not regret this purchase.

This series, which ran on PBS a few years back and is still repeated from time to time, is certainly the "excellent overview" that the previous writer said it was. Film buffs and certainly film students should make a point to see it. As comprehensive as it is, though, many of its main points have been made elsewhere (television changed the movies in significant ways; war movies changed profoundly after Viet Nam, etc.)...and it IS expensive. I would hope that academic libraries (especially those with film studies programs) and larger public libraries are buying this series. The demand is certainly there. As an individual purchase, well, if you can afford it and you're a big enough devotee, it should be a welcome addition to your library.

Animation. Even Orsen Welles has said on numerous occasions that the single biggest influence on his visual approach to Citizen Kane was Walt Disney's Pinocchio. Disney's impact on cinema with his specific use of sound and especially Technicolor,and its ability of color to support the dramatic stories he told must not be underestimated. Disney even had exclusive rights to 3 strip Technicolor for a number of years. The "integrated" movie musical BEGAN with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and was immediatly co-opted by MGM in it's succesful slew of musical movies. Why he is virtually entirely missing from this documentary is quite simply shocking. Otherwise, it's a fun watch.

Quick, name an artform that's uniquely American...

Sure Jazz comes to mind, and some would argue the poetry in Baseball (yeah, right), but the one artform that's most often overlooked is the influence Hollywood has had on Cinema.

And that's where 'America Cinema' comes in.

This Collection of DVD's is taken from the PBS series of the same named that was shown in the early 1990's and goes into great detail on Hollywood has changed the Film world. From the Studio System, to the Western and War movies, to the Hollywood blockbuster that developed in the late '70s, this series covers it all in a fair amount of detail.

If you consider yourself a cinephile, then you cannot go wrong in adding this series to your collection.

I've watched this series on video from my local library, and it is a top notch documentary exploring the many phases of American Cinema. I wish I'd had access to a series like this when I was taking a university course in film way back in the late 70's.

However, the price that these companies are asking for this series (from $225 to $1800 dollars) is totally bogus and ridiculous.

A DVD costs less than a dollar, and you're asking for these absurd prices! A fair price would be maybe 50 dollars, but $1800?

I hope that nobody is actually paying these prices from these sellers.

I use this set for film and history classes because the references are fresh and available to those whose have interest but little knowledge. The absence of academic vocabulary may by off-putting to some, but it makes the viewer feel well-informed and well-entertained at the same time. My idea of education!

If you want to undertake a serious study of what makes movies tick, this it it.

It is to be underscored that this is not a collection of clips with an effusive commentary. Instead, it is a serious and organized study of how cinema works to deliver an emotional and cognitive message by use of visual language. "Pure cinema" does not exist per se, but you get a much better idea of what it might be by viewing this series.

If, after seeing it, you decide to enroll in a local film study course, I think the makers of this great work will have achieved what they sought.

The first half of the series was terrific, but the last half happened to miss one of the greatest American filmmakers of our century: Woody Allen. Was it due to timing (the affair) or was Mia on the board?
Other than that, it's a pretty decent view of what this continent has had to offer the world of cinema.