Customer Reviews

P.T. Barnum [VHS]

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

 

 

P.T. Barnum, well worth the price of the admission ticket !
A fascinating and most of all historic glimpse into P. T. Barnum's life.
Played with heart plus a wonderful exhilarating energy, in later years by Beau Bridges.
Phineas Taylor Barnum may have very well been responsible for the creation
of the 'Rain Check' and 'Wealth Seminars' still widely used in today's society.
The made for television A & E ( Arts & Entertainment Network ) 2 part film deals equally
with his showmanship career and family life. Barnum's forever brooding, never satisfied wife
causes the viewer to wonder why he pursued her approval and the marriage did not dissolve.
The truthfulness or embellishment of her portrayed character in the film plays very well as the
reason Barnum was highly motivated and thrived on being successful.
The picture quality and stereo sound of the 1999 film and 2004 released Platinum DVD is very good to excellent.
Do not fear when Part 1 ends, Part 2 is on the DVD disc as well.
Total of approximately 3 hours, each part being 90 minutes.
The DVD information insert states incorrectly 90 minutes in length, which is each parts running time.

I am cobfirming there's a typo on the DVD cover. It's not 94 minutes, there's 3 hours here. Both parts are on the DVD, as Amazon has described. They're not separated out on the DVD menu, but rest assured that Part 2 follows right after the credits for Part 1. The movie itself is superb; well acted with incredible costuming and sets!

If you love A&E's Barnum special on video, this is it on DVD. Completely perfect and always a joy to watch.

Please be aware that - as another reviewer has pointed out - there's a typo on the DVD cover. It's not 94 minutes, there's 3 hours here. Both parts are on the DVD, as Amazon has described. They're not separated out on the DVD menu, but rest assured that Part 2 follows right after the credits for Part 1.

The labels on the 'P.T. Barnum' DVD disc and holder are deceiving. Through most of the first part, I thought I was getting a version with most of the `good stuff' removed to save space and make it more family oriented. Not to worry. The whole 180 minutes are there. There was much history involved in this story that I felt that it could be twice as long. None-the-less, I would highly recommend this made for TV production for the whole family.

Beau Bridges superbly performs P T Barnum who from his impoverished begginings to properity and wealth is the 1800's King of Showmanship and founder of the famous Barnum and Bailey Three Ring Circus as he master's his gift to attract,amuse and mystify an Audience into the biggest show ever!!

Very good history lesson on the life and times of PT Barnum wrapped in an entertaining story. Gets a little long and dragged out in spots but you can always skip ahead!

Sorry to disagree with the majority of reviewers, but the historic accuracy of this production is very poor. The plot includes "facts" from Barnum's life that were created by one of Barnum's lifetime enemies. Read Arthur Saxon's "P. T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man" if you want to know what Barnum was really like.