Customer Reviews

The Moyers Collection: Amazing Grace with Bill Moyers

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This is a beautiful film of the history of the hymn "Amazing Grace". Bill Moyers excels at this sort of documentary. I particularly enjoyed the testimonials from the people whose lives were enhanced when they heard or sang it. The story of the man who wrote the lyrics will astound you. Best of all is the various renditions of the hymn. I give this documentary to people I love when they feel they "..are lost, but now are found".

Amazing Grace with Bill Moyers is almost as inspiring as the song itself. The interviews with people from all backgrounds, races, genders and ages are a testament to this song and its overwhelming and widespread effect on all who hear it. It will make you laugh, make you cry and help you see the hope of grace.

This is one of the best videos that I have ever seen. I originally saw the progam on a public television chanel and enjoyed it so much that I searced until I found the video. The song, Amazing Grace, is featured thoughout the video by first telling how it was written and then by showing it being sung by many diverse individuals and groups. The Harlem Boys choir sings it in rehearsal and on a concert trip. Jesse Norman, a wonderful black opera singer sings and talks about it with so much warmth that I feel I am talking with her personally. Amazing Grace is sung in the mountains of the Carolinas and the most humble churches and still carries the wonderful and haunting message of the song to the world.

I cannot believe there is an Amazing Grace adult T-Shirt and that there is a plethora of Amazing Grace beauty products. Nothing is sacred, except perhaps this video.

There is no clunky voice-over narration in this program to remind you of the ancient March of Time documentaries of the 1930s and 40s. The story is told by people of faith who have made the hymn, Amazing Grace, their own. Families at get togethers talk about it and sing it. Judy Collins sings it and talks about how it helped to turn her life around. An opera singer, Jessye Norman, electrifies the audience in the concert hall with her earnest, upright, and moving performance.

People, famous and ordinary, comment on the words, the music, and the bond they create among all those who sing it together.

Moyers describes the lyrics and discusses the most likely author, who at the time of the writing was a minister. But the author had once been a slave ship captain, and had been a soul who was lost in the moral swamp of the slave trade. This may be a legend, but it is widely believed. So when the author says, "I once was lost, but now I'm found," he is describing his own redemption through faith and the church.

The program was made in 1990, produced by Public Broadcasting, before Moyers, a person of exquisite faith in the American People, was let go as part of an effort to make Public Broadcasting more fair and balanced.

This program is a must-see for all people of faith, and even for people who want to become people of faith.

For those of you who are fans of Bill Moyers Journal which aired on PBS for many years, you probably remember one of his best documentaries in the series titled, Amazing Grace filmed in 1990.

This outstanding documentary remains my all time favorite. The award-winning English actor, Jeromy Irons lends his magnificent voice as narrator, reciting the words of the repentant sailor turned clergyman, John Newton who wrote this [now] world-famous hymn, Amazing Grace. This excellent program also features [among others], Judy Collins, Jessye Norman, and Johnny Cash. Yet equally poignant are individuals from every walk of life who are interviewed by Moyers. Each explain how this famous hymn became part of their history and heritage. No matter the rendition or style, the music and words of Amazing Grace remain with you, and tug at your soul.

Amazing Grace with Bill Moyers was one of the most highest rated shows in the long-playing series. Released in video formant it is still highly sought after for all who enjoy this famous hymn. Fortunately, the Amazing Grace documentary will be released on DVD in mid-late January 2012. Be sure to place your order.

Maizie Lucille James
January 13, 2012

Loved it yet again. Haven't seen it in 15 years and it is stands the test of time. Get it. A classic song and documentary.

I purchased this video right after it came out, and placed it in my church library. It is an excellent history of probably the most famous hymn ever written. There audio clips from MANY singers who have sung it well, and some who butchered it (lovingly). If you are a music buff, a Bill Moyers fan, or a child of the 60s who loved Judy Collins' version, you'll love this video!