Product Details

• Actors: David McCullough, J.D. Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Gene Jones, Amy Madigan
• Directors: Ric Burns
• Writers: Ric Burns
• Producers: Bob M. McCausland, Chas Norton, Joseph Tovares, Judy Crichton, Larry LeCain
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Pbs Paramount
• DVD Release Date: September 28, 2004
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002JP4UA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,719 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Donner Party" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect documentary, August 2, 2007

By 

Pete "Pete" (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American Experience: The Donner Party (DVD)

I watched this when it was on PBS and I finally understood what reviewers mean when they use the word "gripping." It's suspensful, engaging, and shocking. And educational. Of course, we all know the story already. At least we think we do, but this documentary will tell you more of the story that you ever thought you wanted to know, and presents the evidence in an unbiased manner to allow the viewer to decide whether to condemn the unthinkable acts. Make sure you have a blanket handy; it'll make you really feel the cold.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning tale of bad choices, October 14, 2003

By 

chefdevergue (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: American Experience - The Donner Party: A Film by Ric Burns [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is hard to find words to describe this that haven't been used in many earlier reviews --- "haunting, mind-blowing, chilling," all come to mind.

Suffice it to say, everyone of us has had a moment in life where we could make the right choice or the wrong choice. All too often, making the wrong choice leads to more wrong choices. Most of the time, the results are unfortunate, and sometimes they are perilous. Rarely are the results as grisly as the fate that befell the Donner Party.

As another reviewer noted, these were not bumbling fools done in by their own incompetence. In fact, many members of the Donner Party were intelligent men & women who really should have known better. When sound decisions really counted, they consistently made the wrong choice, and these series of bad choices now means that most of us remember the Donner Party alone out of the thousands of wagon trains that went west in the 19th century.

It is an awesome documentary that will not be easily forgotten. The narrative & the music only augment the eerie, depressing quality of the production. Ultimately, it leaves all of us with that nagging question: what would we have done in that same situation?

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE MOST TRAGIC TALES OF THE AMERICAN WEST, August 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: American Experience - The Donner Party (DVD)

Like most people raised in the west I had heard the story of the Donner Party many times, though badly and inaccurately told. In fact, the Donner Party was in many cases the butt of many a bad joke rather than the historic and tragic story that should have been told.

I blundered onto the Burns' Donner Party documentary on my local PBS station and was immediately corrected of years of misconception.

Here is the story, not of a bunch of bumbling fools who planned things badly and suffered the consequences, but rather of a group of well-meaning pioneers who were doomed by the benighted vision of an enterprising fool named Lansford W. Hastings. Bad information led to bad decisions and ultimately to the most tragic of consequences.

A marvelous story of the indomitable human spirit and beautifully narrated by David McCulloch (author of Truman, John Adams), The Donner Party will be a haunting addition to the most complete western video collection. This one can absolutely not be missed.