Product Details

• Actors: Robert Klein, Daniel Schorr, Liev Schreiber, Kirk Wolfinger, Lisa Wolfinger
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: January 20, 2008
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0018GRE8G
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,496 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With the benefit of half a century’s worth of hindsight, the events described in Sputnik Mania might seem almost quaint. But they were no laughing matter at the time. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made object capable of remaining in and sending back messages from space, in October 1957, it sent shock waves around the world. "The most important story of the century," blared one headline. "On a par with the discoveries of Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus," gushed folks given to hyberbolic pronouncements. "Oh no!" cried the United States. Thanks to the Korean War, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and other factors, this country had been obsessed with Communists for a decade. Now they had beaten us into space, and our image as the world’s preeminent power took a beating, both at home and abroad. What’s more, the American government fueled a raging paranoia that suggested that Sputnik was only the beginning; if the Reds could launch a satellite, surely they could also deliver enough weapons, like Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, to wipe us off the map. Thus both the space race and the arms race began, fueled by terror, competitiveness, and a mountain of propaganda emanating from both sides. Combining interviews, photos, computer animation, and plenty of fascinating file footage (detailing everything from the dogs the Soviets sent up after Sputnik to the "rocket mania" that swept America, with plenty of face time for politicians like President Dwight Eisenhower and Premier Nikita Khrushchev as well), director/co-writer David Hoffman’s documentary tells the tale in riveting fashion. The bonus material is interesting too--and there’s a lot of it, including black & white documentaries detailing the Soviet way of life (at least as we perceived it), anti-American propaganda produced by the enemy, and various other items that seem almost risibly dated and naïve when viewed from a 21st Century perspective. --Sam Graham

Product Description

SPUTNIK MANIA - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doo wop, circa 1957: 'There's two moons out tonight', April 9, 2009

By 

Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sputnik Mania (DVD)

The Russian word "sputnik" translates roughly as "traveling companion."

The USSR's successful October 1957 launch of Sputnik 1 caused some panic in the US. Potential spying capabilities and more importantly, concern that Soviet missile technology had far outpaced our own led to two hurried launchings of Vanguard rockets. Both of these attempts ended in flaming disaster.

When a month later Sputnik 2 safely carried a dog into orbit, anxieties here increased. President Eisenhower appeared on national TV to assure Americans these two satellites hurtling around the globe every hour and a half were harmless and that much had been learned about space because of them. He didn't however mention the implications of superior rocket technology on the ability to deliver nuclear weapons from Europe to North America. That was being said elsewhere, and loudly.

Released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Soviets' initial satellite missions, SPUTNIK MANIA accurately documents in 90 minutes the events, reaction and response to the first man-made objects placed in Earth orbit. Narrated by Liev Schreiber (portrayer of Orson Welles in RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane, from 1999), additional commentary is provided by TV reporters Daniel Schorr and Jay Barbree, plus Nikita Khrushchev's son Sergei and Ike Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan. Archive footage of many principal players is also included.


Related item:
The one-hour PBS "NOVA" documentary SPUTNIK DECLASSIFIED (2007) also explores this subject in depth.


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(7.8) Sputnik Mania (2007) - Liev Schreiber/Sergei Khrushchev/Susan Eisenhower/Daniel Schorr/Jay Barbree/Paul Dickson (archive footage of: Nikita Khrushchev/Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon/Werner Von Braun/Estelle Taylor)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars love it, April 24, 2010

By 

Shawn P. Kelly - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sputnik Mania (DVD)

This Documentary is VERY well done and perfectly captures the hysteria that followed after the Sputnik launch. This is a must have for any history buff or cold war enthusiast.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space-Time Capsule, October 23, 2009

By 

Patrick Gleeson (Limerick Ireland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sputnik Mania (DVD)

It's difficult today to understand how frightening a prospect an ever growing threat from the USSR provided. Everything over the iron curtain was done in the utmost secrecy, whilst to their credit the USA in the guise of NASA was a very public story. This DVD shows how paranoia filled the void left by the absence of hard facts. From the assumption that the USSR was basically a backward society, to the realisation that they has indeed launched a man in orbit - something not even attempted at the time by the US - the shock was palpable, and is illustrated excellently in this film. Liberal usage of TV and film archive from the time, along with an evocative soundtrack (including sections of El Greco by Vangelis - uncredited), and an appropriate understated narration by Liev Schreiber. A second disc of extra archive material round off the package.

Recommended.