Customer Reviews

The Harvey Milk 3-Pack Box Set (Times of Harvey Milk / Common Threads / Where Are We)

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I was one of the millions who probably heard of Harvey Milk at some point in my life, but never connected any dots to his life. Then one summer day, while housesitting, I found an old VHS tape of this documentary called "The Times of Harvey Milk". Not having anything better to do, I popped it in the VCR and sat back to watch. Two hours later, my life, perspectives, and outlooks were dramatically transformed by meeting Supervisor Harvey Milk. So it is with great excitement that this monumental film which pays tribute to a monumental time finally comes to DVD, and warrants my attention for my 200th review.

"The Times of Harvey Milk" is a transformative documentary both in style and information, created by visionary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen. The film not only covers the life of Milk, but the times which surrounded him that allows for a broader, more in-depth story. From the opening moments of the film, we learn of Harvey's untimely death, so as not to aggrandize it. Through personal interviews, newsreel coverage, and personal film shot at certain events, everything is brought to a real, intense focus. You feel as if you are watching the events unfold as San Franscians must have done in the late 1970's.

The shining stars of the film are the personal interviews given by people who knew Harvey best. Tom Ammiano, friend of Harvey, gives the film a sense of outrage of the assassinations. Jim Elliot gives a heartwarming straight man, unionist perspective to show us Harvey's universality. Henry Der allows us to see Harvey's political side. Jannine Yeoman's covering of the Milk campaign and post -assassination trial gives a sense of immediacy and urgency to the story, and a more professional viewpoint. Bill Kraus, a gay activist, soon to die of AIDS, provided a sense of Milk's activism.

A couple of interviewee struck me personally. First, lesbian activist Sally Gearheart's testimony of her work with Milk on the Proposition 6 campaign is very compelling, but her comments on the candlelight vigil and riots following the verdict are particularly poignant. Anne Kronenberg, who served as Milk's campaign manager, provides the zeal and optimism of the youth who surrounded and supported Milk in his efforts. Last comes Tory Hartmann, who's warmth on the screen is only seconded by her connection with Harvey. She provides an emotional recollection of the candlelight march that will leave you in tears.

Coming to DVD, this film looks rich and new, due to UCLA and its preservation processes. In addition to the film, the DVD brings you a second disk loaded with special features, from interviews with the film makers, to an 25th anniversary update of the Milk legacy by those who knew him best. I was particularly touched watching the "Alternate ending" section, in which Jim Elliot discloses, after describing his own journey as a straight man accepting homosexual Harvey Milk, learns his own daughter is also a lesbian, and that it was all okay, thereby completing validating Milk's thoughts on coming out.

Not enough words can be said about "The Times of Harvey Milk", a visionary, compelling documentary that should be shown, shared with everyone across this country. Milk's legacy is not only for his homosexual brothers and sisters; it is a legacy for all of us. His legacy is that of tolerance towards all, peaceful protest, fighting for what you believe in, and above all else, just having the best time of your life.

That Harvey Milk's election to the San Francisco city council made him the first openly gay elected official in the country certainly justifies this documentary look at his life and career. The fact that this political event coincides with the ascendancy of Anita Bryant, the Moral Majority, and California's controversial Proposition 6 (which sought to make it illegal to employ any gay person as a teacher in the state's public school systems) gives the film a nail-biting second act. But add the fact that Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by fellow council person Dan White, and you have a riveting truth is stranger than fiction psycho-political drama. The scenes and remembrances of the spontaneous candlelight march from the Castro to City Hall by thousands of citizens are moving and speak of a grief and loss that goes deeper than words. The film goes on to document the Dan White trial, the "Twinkie Defense", and the violent reaction to verdict. Unfortunately, you can't view the film today without realizing that at the time these interviews were being filmed, AIDS was already invisibly working its way through the community and would soon all but wipe out this generation of gay men in San Francisco. That's a different story, I know (see Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt ), but it's like watching happy passengers board the Titanic, talking about a future that you know will never happen for many of them.

As I browsed my local library DVD collection I stumbled upon this film and was curious, because I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the tragic story surrounding his political career.

For those of you who do not know, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the US (he was a Supervisor for San Francisco.) His time in office had many highlights; however, a fellow Supervisor assassinated him after Milk served only 11-months in office.

Yes, this is a documentary, and although the story is built with tragedy in mind one must remember the good that Milk built upon. His policies helped more then just the gay community, and it is disheartening to see that his story is not more prominently featured.

This was a nice DVD in general, and as documentaries go it is fairly good quality. This is a intriguing and well-done film that all should see, and may it make you a little more aware like it did me.

On DVD at last!!!!!!! Saw this movie on PBS years ago, and I cried and cried. Harvey Milk SHOULD have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize even AFTER his death because black/white/(gay)/straight/WHATEVER, Harvey was a man of the PEOPLE - caring, compassionate, genuine. Who knows, if he hadn't been murdered, MAYBE we'd be voting for President Milk this November.
Buy this DVD, remember Harvey, and give thanks that there were (and still ARE!) wonderful people like him who fought for the rights of EVERYONE in our (gay) community.
BLESS you Harvey, you have become a LEGEND!!!

Robert Epstein and Richard Schmiechen have crafted an eloquent and touching documentary that brings to life a historically important political figure in our nation's history: Harvey Milk, the first openly gay public elected official in San Francisco. Milk, together with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, were assassinated in November 1978.

The film does not concentrate on a biographical portrait of Milk, but instead focuses on the eleven months he served as San Francisco supervisor. It brings life to history, albeit recent history, a quality that is lacking in so many historical documentaries. What makes this possible, in many ways, is the ample news footage that was available to trace the events that comprised those eleven months, and the personal commentary provided by witnesses and participants of the events documented. The additional footage and audio commentary that comprises this 2-DVD set sheds more light on the Harvey Milk legacy. Milk was a politician by nature, much in the same way as John Kennedy was, but without the money. It shows how much a charasmatic figure can accomplish when the mission seems clear. Milk's humor, candor, and intelligence shines through.

I first saw this film in the late 1980s on public television, and saw it a few times since. Watching it today, what shocked me the most is that Dan White, who served a little more than five years for the slayings, received no psychiatric treatment while incarcerated. White's defense attorney stated quite clearly in news footage that White was a suicide risk the day the verdict was announced. White killed himself less than two years after his release. I am clearly no apologist for Dan White, but he was failed by the very system that awarded him his freedom a scant five years after killing two men.

Milk was elected to public office in the few years after the notion of the "personal is political" became popular. Milk exemplified and capitalized on this notion brilliantly. What Milk's legacy shows me, today, is that personal authenticity is the most essential quality needed in our public officials. Integrity and intelligence springs from authenticity, as does clarity of purpose. And a sense of wit and humor is the second most essential quality. Milk possessed both.

P.S.: I thought of this after I originally posted my review. Milk was assassinated a few short years before the AIDS epidemic emerged as a public health threat within, and outside of, the gay community. Had Milk been on the scene at the time, I have no doubt he would have used his office and political power to the greatest extent possible to affect legislation and government accountibility in their response to the epidemic. His death really altered the course of history.

This is quite an extraordinary film, but then it covers an extraordinary man and human being, Harvey Milk. For the longest time, I've been wanting to watch this film, but for various reasons, I haven't gotten around to it. Even when I finally sat down and watched it, I delayed it for a week or so because I had a feeling I was going to cry during part of it. After that delay, I stopped making excuses and just popped it in and let it rip.

The film is extraordinary for many reasons. It focuses on only a few people who knew Harvey Milk very well. Documentaries these days try to encompass too much information, and end up shortchanging their subjects because of this. This film doesn't. The handful of people (roughly five or so) who comprise the interview segments are quite moving and talk about Harvey in such a positive and meaningful way. They also cry when recounting their feelings during the assassination of Harvey and the mayor of San Francisco at the tim, George Moscone.

The film is also sad in that when it shows Dan White, the man who killed Harvey and George, engaging in the same tired, cliched, "family values" rhetoric that is still permeating our political discourse (the recent passing of Prop 8 in California is still fresh in my mind). There's a scene in which California State Senator John Briggs attempting to pass Prop 6, which would ban gay people from teaching in the public schools on the ridiculous, asinine claim that gay people are more prone to molest children (they're not, and luckily, this proposition didn't pass, much to the relief of gays, lesbians, and intelligent human beings everywhere). The scene where Milk debates Briggs is painful to watch, as Briggs is absolutely clueless about it all, preferring to deal with stupid, stock "family values" phrases, and Milk shreds his arguments to pieces. It's sad that we're still debating this garbage, because gays are just as equal as anyone.

It also shows the laughable defense of White by his lawyers that he ate too much junk food, and that despite having a gun and extra ammunition, didn't want to really kill White. Dan White had resigned from the city council abruptly, then changed his mind. He campaigned for the mayor of San Francisco to reinstate him, but the mayor said no. White then snuck into City Hall through a window, shot the mayor, then shot Milk. Many have commented that if White had only shot the mayor, he would have been sentenced for life. But shooting a gay man (and a very prominent gay activist/politician) provoked "sympathy" from the jury, because White was a purveyor of "family values", so White got off easy, only serving five years for manslaughter, not murder. The verdict provoked riots in San Francisco. But two years after White got released from prison, he killed himself. It's hard to tell whether White really wanted to kill Milk for his sexual orientation. The film never shows White making any overly homophobic statements, just the usual "family values" stuff. Milk, sadly, just happened to be in the room with the mayor at the time that Dan White came in. Ulitmately, it's kind of immaterial whether White meant to kill Milk for his homosexuality, because White killed two human beings, a mayor and an extraordinary man called Harvey Milk. The whole town of San Francisco was shattered by this idiotic killing, and the scene with the candlelight vigil for the mayor and Harvey is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen in a documentary/film EVER. The people extend for literally miles and miles, and if you don't cry during this scene, you're not human. I did.

This is one of the most moving documentaries I've ever seen. It's phenomenal that only a handful of people (only 5 people are interviewed in the film) can make you feel that you know Harvey Milk by the end of the film. Harvey was a deeply charismatic, wonderful man who inspired people and believed that everyone deserved to be treated with respect and dignity. That's just human decency, and Harvey's legacy lives on.

I just finished watching The Times of Harvey Milk and I struggle to find the right words to express how amazing this documentary is.

Focusing on Harvey Milk in the context of San Francisco and California in the 1970's, this film is as much about the gay community as it is about Milk himself.

Yet it captures Milk's passion without portraying him as a saint. He has temper tantrums, he lacks patience at times, but he calls on ALL of us, gay or straight, as members of the human condition, to make our world a better place. He calls us to see the links between the oppression of gays, asians, blacks, women, the poor, etc and challenges us to rise up in our own communities and fight for every one of these causes because it is the right thing to do.

The film is exquisitely made, using photographs, news reports, radio broadcasts, and interviews with Milk's friends and political cohorts. It reaches down into you and tears at your heart, it enrages you when White doesn't really get the full brunt of the law, and it inspires you with that most difficult of things... hope.

"The Times Of Harvey Milk" is such a great movie. It is easiliy as powerful as any scripted movie I've ever seen (and I can't say that about any other documentary). The 3-part structure works well: Harvey's rise, then his murder, then the aftermath.
The story is almost too crazy to believe. How could anyone buy Dan White's weak, whiny excuse for murdering 2 politicians in a major US city? And yet, he got off with a gentle slap on the wrist, and it's hard to dispute that the leniency of his sentence was because one of his victims was gay. We watch in disbelief as this unfolds. And then we watch the gay & lesbian community vent its fury in a chilling riot.
Fascinating from beginning to end, funny and heartbreaking, and important.
Kudos too for Mark Isham's gorgeous musical score.

While this documentary is pulls at the heart and makes this reviewer as a gay person,want to step back into time to experiences the feeling of that era.....of the emerging political movement What a time of total optimism!!! The Tragedy of Milk and Moscones' death was are downers in an otherwise positive time for gays and lesbians...in California. Little did they know that within 3 years the first of thousands upon thousands of Aids deaths would rock the Castro. (SEE THE CASTRO) a pbs film about the history of the Castro.
That said however , as a person inspired by this film in 1985 when I first saw it to find out all I could about Harvey Milk was somewhat disolusioned to learn that the Harvey portrayed in The Times of Harvey Milk, beared little resemblance in many ways to the Harvey Milk of Randy Shilts book, The Mayor of Castro Street. His life a personal mess one some levels, Unorganized, vindictive and petty.....on others. Still though Milks strength of persona and the era in which he lived transends all the faults.
The XTRAS are well worth the purchase of this disc for anyone who has seen this documentary before.
I have watched The Times of Harvey Milk MANY MANY times over the past 19 years when I feel down about the gay movement and the forces that wish to have us relegated to a sub existence in this country. It reminds me always that anything worth fighting for sometimes requires a sacrifice....Sadly Harvey was a sacrifice for the betterment of the Gay community... Sad yes but it gives me strength and resolve every time i watch it!!!

This is quite an extraordinary film, but then it covers an extraordinary man and human being, Harvey Milk. For the longest time, I've been wanting to watch this film, but for various reasons, I haven't gotten around to it. Even when I finally sat down and watched it, I delayed it for a week or so because I had a feeling I was going to cry during part of it. After that delay, I stopped making excuses and just popped it in and let it rip.

The film is extraordinary for many reasons. It focuses on only a few people who knew Harvey Milk very well. Documentaries these days try to encompass too much information, and end up shortchanging their subjects because of this. This film doesn't. The handful of people who comprise the interview segments are quite moving and talk about Harvey in such a positive and meaningful way. They also cry when recounting their feelings during the assassination of Harvey and the mayor of San Francisco at the tim, George Moscone.

The film is also sad in that when it shows Dan White, the man who killed Harvey and George, engaging in the same tired, cliched, "family values" rhetoric that is still permeating our political discourse (the recent passing of Prop 8 in California is still fresh in everyone's mind), and State Senator John Briggs attempting to pass Prop 6, which would ban gay people from teaching in the public schools on the ridiculous, asinine claim that gay people are more prone to molest children (they're not, and luckily, this POS of proposition didn't pass, much to the relief of gays, lesbians, and intelligent human beings everywhere). The scene where Milk debates Briggs is painful to watch, as Briggs is absolutely clueless about it all, preferring to deal with stupid, stock "family values" phrases, and Milk shreds his arguments to pieces. It's sad that we're still debating this garbage, because gays are just as equal as anyone.

It also shows the asinine defense of White by his lawyers that he ate too much junk food, and that despite having a gun and extra ammunition, didn't want to really kill White. Dan White had resigned from the city council abruptly, then changed his mind. He campaigned for the mayor of San Francisco to reinstate him, but the mayor said no. White then snuck into City Hall through a window, shot the mayor, then shot Milk. Many have commented that if White had only shot the mayor, he would have been sentenced for life. But shooting a gay man (and a very prominent gay activist/politician) provoked "sympathy" from the jury, because White was a purveyor of "family values", so White got off easy, only serving five years for manslaughter, not murder, provoking riots in San Francisco. But two years after White got released from prison, he killed himself. It's hard to tell whether White really wanted to kill Milk for his sexual orientation. The film never shows White making any overly homophobic statements. Milk, sadly, just happened to be in the room with the mayor at the time that Dan White came in. Ulitmately, it's kind of immaterial whether White meant to kill Milk for his homosexuality, because White killed two human beings, a mayor and an extraordinary man called Harvey Milk. The whole town of San Francisco was shattered by this idiotic killing, and the scene with the candlelight vigil for the mayor and Harvey is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen in a documentary/film EVER. The people extend for literally miles and miles, and if you don't cry during this scene, you're not human. I did.

This is one of the most moving documentaries I've ever seen. It's phenomenal that only a handful of people (only 5 people are interviewed in the film) can make you feel that you know Harvey Milk by the end of the film. Harvey was a deeply charismatic, wonderful man who inspired people and believed that everyone deserved to be treated with respect and dignity. That's just human deceny, and Harvey's legacy lives on.