Product Details

• Actors: Steve Kroft, Barack Obama
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: February 10, 2009
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001O54TFW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,324 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Correspondent Steve Kroft hosts this 60 Minutes special documenting Barack Obama's path to the presidency. The two programs include The 44th President, from November 16th, 2008, and The Road to the White House, from December 28th, 2008. The opening segment features the President-elect's first post-election interview, in which he discusses his plans for the days ahead, but takes pains to avoid too many specifics. When Kroft asks about the future of General Motors, for instance, Obama replies, "Let's see how this thing plays out." On the subject of cabinet appointments, he speaks in general terms, smiles, and then says, "Beyond that, you're not getting any more out of me, Steve." At the midway point, Michelle Obama joins in to talk about their personal goals. For their children, they say they’re striving to maintain normalcy, though her husband acknowledges that "the loss of anonymity" is an unavoidable drawback. (Kroft's only silly question: "Do you have a transition team for the dog?"). The second episode begins as the former senator lays the groundwork for candidacy and ends with his victory speech in Chicago. If the previous program focuses primarily on positives, the second touches on concerns that threatened to curtail Obama's rise, like his association with Pastor Jeremiah Wright. The feature "What You Haven't Seen" offers never-before-seen material from seven different stories, while "Major Speeches" presents six key public appearances, notably his declaration, inaugural address, and "A More Perfect Union," in which he talks about race in America, including the Wright controversy. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/17/2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful release with an intimate look at the Obama family life during the campaign and after! , February 8, 2009

By	Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

President Barack Obama. From his beginning as a Senator from Illinois to his road to the White House and to the monumental day of his inauguration, only one show and one correspondent was granted exclusive access to the Senator and that was "60 Minutes" and correspondent Steve Kroft.

"60 Minutes Presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road To The White House" is a wonderful glimpse into the personal and professional life of Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters.

The DVD features the following:

* The 44th President (November 16, 2008) - This 38-minute post-election interview with President Obama goes into the economy, automobile industry, bail-out, his Washington apartment and getting a family dog and his mother-in-law. Also, interesting insight from President Obama in regards to having an NCAA Football playoff system. But also, an interview with first lady Michelle Obama and reflecting on the past with their relationship. A very good interview featuring a confident, calm but also anxious to get to work President.
* The Road to the White House (December 28, 2008) - This 34-minute interview features President Barack Obama's road to the White House. Exclusive footage given to "60 Minutes" of Obama's two year audition to the American people and clips from past interviews with then Senator Obama and his wife Michelle. A very well done compilation of two years of footage from "60 Minutes" showcasing the challenges, the problems but also the high notes of his campaign.
* What You Haven't Seen - Steve Kroft explains that there were so much footage that did not make it on the air and thus with the DVD, they included 14-minutes of footage. This footage is much more personal as President Obama talks about his upbringing, his mother, Abraham Lincoln and the relationship between Barack and his wife Michelle.
* Major Speeches - This section features six major speeches given by Senator Obama, Democrat nominee for President, President-elect to President Barack Obama. Included are:

1. Candidacy (February 10, 2007) - Duration: 21 minutes. Illinois Senator President Obama makes his candidacy speech in Springfield at the Old State Capitol where President Abraham Lincoln made his speech against slavery.
2. Race (March 18, 2008) - Duration: 15 minutes. The topic of race was unavoidable due to his former pastor's comments. So, this speech in Philadelphia dealt with race and union.
3. Berlin (July 24, 2008) - Duration: 16 minutes. Barack Obama set out in a tour in the Middle East but also making appearances in Europe and the highlight was a speech in Berlin.
4. Nomination (August 28, 2008) - Duration: 43 minutes. Barack Obama spoke in Denver in front of 83,000 supporters. Rallying his supporters as he became the Democrat nominee for President. An exciting and energetic speech!
5. Victory (November 4, 2008) - Duration: 19 minutes. We had a new President-elect and Obama and his family greeted their cheering supporters and he gave another awesome speech.
6. Inauguration (January 20, 2009) - Duration: 22 minutes. The important oath and transfer of power as Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

The following video is featured in 4:3 and audio is English 2.0. Pretty much the TV broadcast footage as shown on television. You'll notice that the recent interviews are much more cleaner as opposed to the footage done two years prior. But overall video is as expected and audio is clear and understandable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features. Granted, the portion "What You Haven't Seen" can be looked at as a special feature. But the menu features the two "60-Minutes" segments, the "What You Haven't Seen" and Speeches as the main categories for menu selection.

I found "60 Minutes Presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road To The White House" to be a fantastic collection of exclusive footage of Barack Obama. It's one thing to see the political side of the President but you really had good insight to both the President and the first lady. How they want to live normal lives and especially how important they are as parents to their two young daughters.

Hearing his speeches again were very calm, powerful, communicative and energetic. His charisma and his delivery of his speeches were so exciting to watch again and to see the various energy, the happiness, the tears of happiness of the supporters and the thousands who turned out to see him give a speech was just touching, amazing and memorable.

If anything, I love these DVD collections that include speeches because when I was in college. Back then, I would use President Kennedy's speeches as a way to practice my delivery for speech class and also public speaking and in this case, people of today can use this as a resource for speech class because Barack Obama definitely has great delivery and confidence in his speeches. Speeches you can learn from.

Overall, "60 Minutes presents Obama: All Access - Barack Obama's Road to the White House" is enjoyable, entertaining and insightful. This DVD is for those who want to celebrate Obama's rise as a Senator from Illinois to become the 44th President of the United States and for those who want to learn more about him.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice collection for Obamamaniacs., February 14, 2009

By	Scott Beamer "Scott" (Phoenix, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

This DVD contains most of two years worth of CBS News' "60 Minutes" stories on Barack Obama.

Coverage includes his 2004 kenynote address to the Democratic National Convention in Boston through his speech on electon night after becoming the President-elect..

In addition to that, the biggest and best of his major speeches from 2004 through November 2008 are included.

In addition, there is "never before seen" stuff (about 15 minutes worth) that was cut from the various "60 Minutes" stories on Obama.

Read another review here by Dennis Amith. It goes into better detail (no need for me to be overly redundant).

My only disappointment with this DVD is that this is in standard definition 4:3, rather than 16:9 ratio.

"60 Minutes" is broadcast in HD so even though this isn't a blu-ray disc, it still could have been in widescreen.

Nevertheless, this is a minor complaint, I otherwise highly recommend this DVD.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the DVD to Get!, March 18, 2009

By	Craig Duncan "Cmdr. Duncan" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have purchased and viewed every Obama DVD available on Amazon. This one by far is the one to get as a historical reference and as a collectors piece. 60 Minutes followed Obama from before he anncounced his candadicy all the way thru the inauguration. They had unprecedented access to our new President and the DVD is full of in-depth interviews and great footage. This DVD is incredible and CBS/60 Minutes did a fantastic job.
GObama!