Product Details

• Actors: J.D. Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Donal McCann, George Plimpton
• Directors: Ric Burns
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: September 28, 2004
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BITUGG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,562 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While brother Ken Burns was redefining mammoth entertainment with his public television events, brother Ric was creating tighter, more definitive documentaries such as The Donner Party, whose tragic subject has seemed more a punch line than a historical event. Yes, members of the Donner party ate human flesh when they were caught snowbound in the Sierra Nevadas just 150 miles away from the end of their 2,500-mile trip across the United States in 1846. But there's more to the story, and Burns uses the customary array of old pictures, current landscapes, and readings of historic dispatches and letters by actors (including Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, and Eli Wallach) to create a vivid portrayal of the pioneers' tough life. The heartbreaking circumstances of and miscues by the Donner party turned a common migration into one that is remembered as a landlocked Titanic tragedy. What if the snow had come one day later? What if the winter was not the worst on record? And most importantly, what if Lansford Hastings had not advertised a "shorter" West Coast route that he had never seen? Other details bring to light the human achievement of the survivors, including the intriguing fact that the women and children survived in greater number than the men. Anchored by the eerie music of Angelo Badalamenti's "Dark Spanish Symphony," the film constructs the fate of the Donner party as the gloomy side of the American dream. --Doug Thomas

Product Description

Trapped in the Sierra Nevadas during the bitter winter of 1846, nearly 90 members of the Donner and Reed families longed for California's "Promised Land." But an untried shortcut became a death warrant for half of them-–victims of madness, death, and cannibalism. The program re-creates the Donner Party's journey from family journals, newspaper accounts, and interviews with historians and descendants.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect documentary August 2, 2007

By Pete

Format:DVD

I watched this when it was on PBS and I finally understood what reviewers mean when they use the word "gripping." It's suspensful, engaging, and shocking. And educational. Of course, we all know the story already. At least we think we do, but this documentary will tell you more of the story that you ever thought you wanted to know, and presents the evidence in an unbiased manner to allow the viewer to decide whether to condemn the unthinkable acts. Make sure you have a blanket handy; it'll make you really feel the cold.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning tale of bad choices October 14, 2003

By chefdevergue VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

It is hard to find words to describe this that haven't been used in many earlier reviews --- "haunting, mind-blowing, chilling," all come to mind.

Suffice it to say, everyone of us has had a moment in life where we could make the right choice or the wrong choice. All too often, making the wrong choice leads to more wrong choices. Most of the time, the results are unfortunate, and sometimes they are perilous. Rarely are the results as grisly as the fate that befell the Donner Party.

As another reviewer noted, these were not bumbling fools done in by their own incompetence. In fact, many members of the Donner Party were intelligent men & women who really should have known better. When sound decisions really counted, they consistently made the wrong choice, and these series of bad choices now means that most of us remember the Donner Party alone out of the thousands of wagon trains that went west in the 19th century.

It is an awesome documentary that will not be easily forgotten. The narrative & the music only augment the eerie, depressing quality of the production. Ultimately, it leaves all of us with that nagging question: what would we have done in that same situation?

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE MOST TRAGIC TALES OF THE AMERICAN WEST August 25, 2003

By A Customer

Format:DVD

Like most people raised in the west I had heard the story of the Donner Party many times, though badly and inaccurately told. In fact, the Donner Party was in many cases the butt of many a bad joke rather than the historic and tragic story that should have been told.

I blundered onto the Burns' Donner Party documentary on my local PBS station and was immediately corrected of years of misconception.

Here is the story, not of a bunch of bumbling fools who planned things badly and suffered the consequences, but rather of a group of well-meaning pioneers who were doomed by the benighted vision of an enterprising fool named Lansford W. Hastings. Bad information led to bad decisions and ultimately to the most tragic of consequences.

A marvelous story of the indomitable human spirit and beautifully narrated by David McCulloch (author of Truman, John Adams), The Donner Party will be a haunting addition to the most complete western video collection. This one can absolutely not be missed.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound, astonishing story August 21, 2007

By Sidney Carton

Format:DVD

The fate of Donner Party is one of the most human stories I know. Everyone should have a deeper understanding of what happened at truckee lake in those horrible months to these unfortunate families. Ric Burns' documentary is one I have revisited many times.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A chilling depiction of a real-life horror story! November 9, 2004

By Dave

Format:DVD

I first saw this incredible documentary as a child & for several nights afterwords I had terrible nightmares! This is one of the finest PBS documentaries I've ever seen, & it's also one of the most grusome tales in American history. While dozens of books have been written about the Donner Party, I believe this is the only documentary that's been made about it so far. The story is told through eyewitness accounts that make you feel like a member of the doomed wagon train. What's even more interesting is how the weary survivors rebuilt their lives after returning to "civilization". If you want compelling, horrifying, & unforgettable entertainment, this is the documentary to get!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars good movie November 16, 2008

By Melissa Seco

Format:DVD

this movie is a really good documentary. It's very detailed and tells you everything about the Donner Party and the horrible things that they went through. It might be a little boring for high school students because it's not a real life movie; meaning that it has old pictures and some scenery. However, once all of the horrible ordeals start to happen these students become very interested in it. I personally love this movie as a history teacher.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifying and Informative February 13, 2008

By Steve

Format:DVD

The American Experience: The Donner Party Maybe you think you know the essentials about what befell the Donner Party as it tried to fight its way across the Sierra Nevada range in 1846, but chances are this masterful documentary will surprise you with little-known facts even as it freezes the blood in your veins. A superb job all around.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Donner Party December 18, 2001

By A Customer

Format:VHS Tape

Outstanding video that tells the tragic story of the ill-fated Donner Party and their attempt to move West in 1846. The story is tragic in the sense that just about anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for these people. I bought this video to show in my history classes several years ago and I still have not tired of it. More importantly, my students, year in and year out, become engrossed in the story of what people will do to survive and perservere and they watch and pay attention to the story. The descriptions of what the suvivors did to survive can be a bit graphic, but not overly so.