Customer Reviews

History Channel: The Spanish-American War - Birth of a Superpower

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

 

 

I am sure the military strategies depicted are accurate and quite interesting for military history buffs, but I could barely stand to watch this and only did so because I had paid for it.

Little trumpeting music played in the background the whole time, and made it hard to focus on what was being said. It was completely unnecessary.

This documentary focuses almost entirely on a few battles in Cuba, giving the Phillipines and Puerto Rico only a brief mention. Also fails to discuss the social-political climate of Cuban citizens (didn't even mention the Phillipines or Puerto Rico in this context) and only gave a short mention on the role the media magnates Hearst and Pulitzer played in trumpeting the nation to war.

Take away the goofy music, the reenactments would be fine if they had a lesser role, and show a broader more in-depth overview of the war and this would make a fine documentary.

The video "The Spanish-American War: Birth of a Superpower" does a good job on using photographic evidence and reinacting to portray the war in Cuba and in the Philippines. Its analysis of military events is good but not historically insightful. It is, for the most part, devoid of any useful discussion of the international politics of the day, and does only a cursory job of covering American domestic politics.

If you like shoot-'em-up-history, this video is for you.

Rick Whaley

I previewed this film in hopes of running it for my 10th grade world history class. Usually, I find History Channel productions to be relatively good, but this piece is abominable. The narrator's voice is difficult to hear over the sound effects and music, and even when it can be heard, his phrasing and word choice is so pompous and garrulious as to be incomprehensible by students. Granted: students find most documentaries to be boring, but this one would inpsire a lynch mob. P.S.: The running time given in the product details above is not correct. The film runs 100 minutes, not 50.

With few videos available about the Spanish-American War, I feel that this is one of the best. The material is presented in an interesting manner & in the proper timeline. I would highly recommend this as an addition to any American history collection.

Without a doubt this is the best documentary of the Spanish-American War that has been produced. It tells of how the war began to take root not long after the American Civil War and how it still affects us today. For anyone who wants to know more about the war and how America became the superpower it did. this is for you.