82 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Overview, December 29, 2003
This review is from: Empires - Martin Luther (DVD)
I've looked over the reviews for this release, and I think I see two camps.
One is composed of Lutheran scholars - or at least those with an in-depth understanding of Luther and what he meant for the modern world. They seem to think this documentary is dull or simplistic.
The other (of which I am a part) know who Luther is, know of the 95 theses, and know that he was the major figure of the Reformation, but not much beyond that - the personality and figure of Luther himself, the level of pressure he was under, his effect on secular government as well as the Church, etc.
To this second camp, I think this documentary is a fabulous overview of the life of Luther and what immense influence he had over the course of history. It touches on the major points of his life and effect, and it NEVER seemed dull to me - quite the opposite.
As filmmaking, the documentary relies on original footage more than old drawings or paintings. The actors are good, although oddly, they never get to speak a line. It's all narration (Liam Neeson does well and the actor of Luther's voice is convincing) instead of direct re-enactment. It perhaps lacks the freshness of PBS's 'Benjamin Franklin' for this reason, and might explain why another reviewer found the documentary to be boring. In the end, I found this technique to be a very minor point of critique.
A final thought would be that the soundtrack on this DVD is top-notch - I would have bought a CD of it if it had been released.
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76 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Amazingly Bland for such a dramatic life and Epoch, April 21, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Empires - Martin Luther (DVD)
PBS succeeds in neither offending nor intriguing the viewer with this bland portrait of Luther. They emphasize that his renunciation of churchly authority paved the way to the Enlightenment and the rise of the individual and that is the focus of this video. Thus theology, history and most of the dramatic events and personalities of Luther's Reformation are bypassed as the video blandly proceeds from Luther's early life in Erfurt as aa student to his refusal to recant at Augsburg in 1530. The Tower experience is never mentioned, one never meets Melanchthon and few competing/interesting views about Luther are proferred. I was disappointed that no real Luther scholars were interviewed, thosew who were never said anything so incorrect yet nothing that was ever insightful. Everything was dummied down to a very generic level of free thinking vs. bad Roman Catholic church. Amazing that no R.C.s were interviewed! After all Luther was considered a heretic at least until Vatican II. The shots of Erfurt,Wittenberg & Rome are all from a distance. PBS has made one of history's most dramatic lives remarkably bland.
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40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful background missing from MY Lutheran upbringing, July 11, 2003
This review is from: Empires - Martin Luther (DVD)
I saw the program on PBS recently which is why I am ordering the DVD .. for myself and to share.
I was raised Lutheran, turned atheist at age 12, became a Christian again at age 21. I found this to be a wonderful presentation of the history I had some sketchy introduction to during my two and one half years of Missouri Synod Lutheran parochial school.
I hadn't realized how significant a part Luther played in stating basic doctrines (not theological, mind you) of individual freedom, worth, and self-determination.
Without Protestantism, there would have been no American Revolution.
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