Customer Reviews

National Geographic - Inside Grand Central

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
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Grand Central Station, on its own, can probably be summed up into a couple of words: simply amazing. As the world's largest railroad terminal, some of its known facts are incredible. About 700,000 commuters a day (250 million per year) utilize 538 different trains spread out over 48 acres of real estate that enclose this massive structure. The main concourse encompasses 80,000 square feet of space with 60 foot windows and a roof reaching 125 feet.

Sometimes referred to as a `city within a city', Grand Central has its own fire and police departments, the nation's largest lost and found, huge power and operations facilities hidden in secret locations, and many of the conveniences that you would expect to find in a modern suburban mall.

When it comes to a comprehensive history, there is full coverage of that here by National Geographic. Beginning with railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt's masterful idea to build Grand Central Depot (as it was known then), segments cover the massive construction efforts, the transformation from steam engines to electrical trains, and the glamorous and famous 20th Century Limited line that was then comparable to the Orient Express.

In later chapters, the automobile and jet age are explored in how they threatened the livelihood of railway transportation due to their newfound popularity. Along with this is a look at the demise of Penn Station and how Grand Central Station almost suffered a similar fate until it was eventually saved from destruction by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rounding out this program, it details how a complete restoration was performed on the aging terminal and explores the modern security measures in place to safeguard the facility against terrorism and other threats.

National Geographic has produced a fascinating and exhaustive documentary here that shines all the way through. As a longtime fan of their productions, I would venture to say that this is one of the best works I've seen by them. The narration, interviews, camera work, and evolving historical timeline are excellent from start to finish and I highly recommend this fine feature to everyone.

My mother was from the Bronx; I grew up on the south-shore of Long Island; returned to NYC many times over the past 5 decades; wound down my international career living within NY walking distance from Grand Central. Over the course of my lifetime I always appreciated the Terminal for its complexity and convenience, but not until I bought this as a gift for my son who is now a graduate student at NYU, did I appreciate it for it's secrets and beauty. If, like me, you love NYC and solutions for moving the masses efficiently and reliably, you really need to see this.

A complete look at this national landmark, Inside Grand Central is a loving look at a piece of America's culture. The station was built in the era of railroads when automobiles were new and airplanes were just being invented. It was massive and expensive; it also made boatloads of money for the Vanderbilts. Through the years, the popularity of trains began to decline, and by the 1960s and 70s, Grand Central Station was more frequently used as a refuge for the homeless than a transportation depot. It was supposed to be torn down like its rival station Penn Station. Fortunately, an uprising kept this from happening.

A documentary for many interests, this National Geographic presentation examines many aspects of the station from the history, the restoration, it technological advancements, how it runs, its security against terrorism, and future plans. None of these topics are covered as thoroughly as they could be, but as a general interest documentary, this one is excellent. It really shows why it was so important that Grand Central was saved from demolition.

I love Grand Central Terminal. I love National Geographic. I did not love this documentary. It is not up to the standards of either GCT or NG. Although the cinematography was wonderful, the writing was terrible. Transitions were abrupt and nonsensical. The attempt to combine a chronological structure with a topical one, made the end result choppy. The reuse and over use of the same footage got to be annoying. I thought I was going to get an inside view, and although there was some behind the scenes footage, it wasn't enough to justify the title. It would have been better to have stuck with a true behnd the scenes look at the current Grand Central, and forget the history. Or, conversely, give the history and forget the behind the scenes. And hire a better writer!

What a fascinating video - so well-prepared and well-documented! An inviting look into building this American monument; the conflicts that nearly prevented it from being raised; the history of the materials, labor, energy and time consumed in the proces; the design of the entire area that houses Grand Central - a complex layout of paths and tracks underground used by so very many trains and passengers daily; the levels of the station that contain businesses and other attractions for visitors to the station; the SECRETS of the station, hidden for its most famous first visitor, but known to the people who work every day at Grand Central. Every moment of the video was interesting to watch - I highly recommend it.

I saw this video on TV several years back and have been dying to watch it again. Very informative and it has many old videos and pictures of Grand Central Station. An excellent video to watch and own.

This was good for a review of the restoration of the Grand Central Station. However, I was looking for more of a history, so it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Preservation is of HUGE importance anyway, and I am sure that those who have used the building will thoroughly enjoy it.

I spent several months on an engineering evaluation of the train platforms at Grand Central Station and found the Nat Geo video to be accurate and enterntaining.

Even better: rent something else.

This documentary suffered from a lack of a script editor and a video editor. If you're over 30, you'll find the nonstop MTV style swooping camera movement nauseating. Suitable for a documentary on rollercoasters, not on a building.

The same phrases are repeated too many times and should have been cut. They should at least be consistent. You will lose count of how many times they tell you how many people a day pass through the station. And the number they tell you keeps changing. Cmon.

I found very little substance and at least 30 minutes of useless and repetitive fluff in this documentary. Very disappointing.

If you're interested in Grand Central Terminal (as this author is) this is a great resource. You'll learn the history, cultural context and function of Grand Central. The story covers the birth, near death, and rebirth of this great New York icon.

It's enjoyable, an easy watch, and a great learning experience. Perhaps all that's missing is a bit more trivia. This is for the Grand Central fanatic after all! For the non-buff, this would probably be a waste of time.