Product Details

• Actors: Aidan Devine, Kristin Booth, Nicholas Campbell, Brent Carver, Michael Therriault
• Directors: John N. Smith
• Format: NTSC, Color, DVD
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001HKFMJQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,852 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Canadian, a parable for our times in our land, February 5, 2010

By 

Dogbert (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prairie Giant (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Prairie Giant recounts the life and times of Tommy Douglas from his assumption of the Baptist ministry through his passing. Why should this be of any interest to anyone? Well, he initiated the first universal single payer healthcare system in North America, perhaps the world. He did this in overwhelmingly rural Saskatchewan at a time when there wasn't a lot of wealth to go around in much of the world and when politics in Canada were pretty securely in the hands of the status quo. His story is one I think we could take to hand and savor for its lessons. By "we" I mean those who realize that a single payer universal coverage health care insurance system is the only rational alternative to what we have now which is near total chaos.
The film has controversy attached to it for a depiction of one character but that leaves the core story intact. Tommy Douglas, a Baptist minister, went into politics in the 30s after seeing first hand the plight of his parishioners during the depression. One would think, honestly, that the story of a Baptist minister who goes into politics in Saskatchewan would be a real yawner but I assure you it most definitely is not! Tommy Douglas was a firebrand and a crusader and an excellent orator with the debating skills of a champion. This is all depicted very well in the film and I guarantee you will be googling "Mouseland" when you get done...
Having family still in Saskatchewan I recognized many of the characters as well as the landscape. The film was shot mainly in Saskatchewan, some in Manitoba, and renders the feel of the prairie and the people who live there. The acting is excellent and I, for one, am really glad that Keifer Sutherland, a grandson of Tommy Douglas, did not get the role of Tommy Douglas. Michael Therriault nails the character to a "T". 180 minutes that will fly by, well made in Canada depiction of a man voted the most popular Canadian some years back. His accomplishments were wildly progressive and he performed them in a time of economic stress not unlike our own. See the film. Take heart and learn. This may be the best time to get it done but it won't be easy. Nor will it be much different than what you will see on the screen during Prairie Giant. Buy the "collector's editon", "Prairie Giant", NOT "Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story" (aka, "Prairie Giant:The Pastor Tommy Douglas Story")See my other review for the reasons why you should be careful which edition you purchase... Search Youtube for "Mouseland"

4.0 out of 5 stars Tommy's still a giant, April 6, 2011

By 

Harriette (Louisville, KY, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Prairie Giant (DVD)

This is a great narrative--if not great cinema. It is the story of Kiefer Sutherland's grandfather, Tommy Douglas, who brought humane and cost effective health care to all Canadians. Seeing farmers and workers suffering during the Great Depression, the idealistic young Baptist minister resigned his post as clergyman to became an activist reformer.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Biography of a Great Socialist, May 5, 2008

By 

Artist & Author (Near Mt. Baker, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prairie Giant (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Since Tommy Douglas had such an impact on Canadian society, this movie might be thought to be of interest mostly to Canadians. Still, a story of greatness in a person is really universal. There is no question that Mr. Douglas was a great leader; in 2005 Canadians voted him to be the greatest Canadian. It is difficult to write a fair review of him, however, when one disagrees with almost everything the party he founded stands for. I am not sure if it is because Tommy Douglas changed over the fifty years he lead the group, or if it changed radically after his tenure was over.

As a young Baptist pastor, I am sure he started out with the right motives. In an early scene, he found a little job for a poor woman to do to help in exchange for a warmer coat. She would not accept charity, but her dignity was saved by working for the coat. Somehow, in the last seventy years, the New Democratic Party has almost completely reversed that principle. Now, the hardest workers, the most successful workers are punitively taxed because everyone has a 'right' to a certain standard of living, whether they want to work or not. The last time the NDP was in power in British Columbia, my wife, who does business there, could hardly make any sales because so many small business owners said that if the NDP was elected for another term, they were leaving BC and possibly even leaving Canada.

Tommy Douglas' most important achievement was establishing socialized medicine in his province and later in Canada. But, even that is a mixed blessing. When I got encephalitis, I was in the hospital intensive care for four days before I even woke up, and now there is little to no evidence of any lasting problems from it. [Three out of six people we knew about were dead within 24 hours of getting sick.] On the other hand, my daughter was in a car accident, and suffered with a damaged shoulder for three years before she was able to be treated, such was the backlog. Neither of us got a bill for our doctors or hospital. Therefore, if you are at death's door, treatment is immediate, complete and effective; if not, well, you can wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.

So, it is hard to separate the vision of Tommy Douglas from what his accomplishments have become. Judging from his handling of the poor woman who needed a coat, I'd like to think that now that the socialized medicine he started has become overburdened, he would agree to, say, a $20 doctor visit charge because this would make people think twice before running off to the doctor for any old health reason. That would give doctors more time to give better treatment to those who are really sick, and leave more money free to purchase the latest medical equipment.
There is no question but that he was a true prairie giant.

According to the movie, he was the first to establish a small claims court so the 'little people' could use it to settle little legal disputes. I would suggest that you watch this movie and try to put your socialist or anti-socialist sentiments aside. Try to judge him on the obstacles he faced, and how he overcame them. Even the most pro-capitalist person can learn the traits of greatness from a socialist, especially one who based his fight for the poor on his love for the Lord!