Guns, Germs, and Steel
List Price:
Our Price: $16.99
You Save: $17.99 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $15.43 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Braden Doane, Katy Kastner, Mason Graham, Santa Clause, Stacy BluntBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 165 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-07-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: National Geographic Video
DVD Reviews of Guns, Germs, and Steel
DVD Review: Unintended Consequences
Summary: 5 Stars
As a child, I was taught that society was developed in the Fertile Crescent and migrated northwest where the success of European society was due to moderate temperature. Of course all this was God's will. (I went to Catholic school.) This eerily familiar story line is augmented by Dr. Jared Diamond in this compelling documentary in which he explains these phenomena in understandable and sometimes surprising ways. The importance of domesticated animals may be more obvious at first glance, but their involvement in disease and later decimation of the Native American population is an example of the unintended consequences that plague human history (no pun intended).
I use this film in Technology and Society classes where most students are introduced to these principles without the assumption that the "greatness" of European domination was inspired by Divinity. This is definitely worth the class time. Inspired discussions in any Humanities-oriented class from Nationalist arrogance to Global Warming make this a valuable addition to any teacher's collection. The fact that the "mosquito line" is rising in Africa (see Inconvenient Truth) and West Nile Virus is in Southern Californian have been subjects of discussion after viewing this film.
Don't worry if you don't have all the answers. I have found that inspiring students to ask the questions is the real goal of teaching. This film helps do that.
DVD Review: Guns, Germs, and Steel
Summary: 5 Stars
Why did some cultures expand faster than others? Why do some cultures have more power and wealth than others? These are the questions answered in Guns, Germs, and Steel. The cultures that developed agriculture had time to develop other technologies (Guns and Steel) and thus were able to conquer other cultures (hunting/foraging societies). A big contributing factor to these agrarian cultures was close proximity to animals and the diseases they carried. This provided the immunity to germs which other cultures lacked. The germs were by far more lethal than the guns and steel. Jared Diamond shows how these events all came about and the twist that happened in Africa. A very entertaining and insightful documentary.DVD Review: Heartily recommend the book and the video, and especially both together
Summary: 5 Stars
Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs and Steel" has had a profound impact on our understanding of human society, how we got to where we are today and the underlining forces that shaped our history. In the true definition of genius, Diamond examines these very complex subjects and leaves the reader with a sense of it all being so simple, just common sense really.
The first time viewer should find the video interesting and stimulating. It provides a brief overview of the overall concept, and helps visualise the importance of the three main points, guns, germs and steel. The video also goes on to explore how these same forces affect more recent world events. However, in the shortness of time, there is not enough substance in the video to fully explain all the points that are covered.
The book and video complement each other nicely.
As one who has read the book, I found it entertaining to meet the author on video and see these rather dry and academic theories illustrated in graphics, explained on location in interviews, and acted out in theatre.
DVD Review: Simply an Awesome Eye Opener
Summary: 5 Stars
My eyes were open to things that I didnt even know influenced our civilization and culture. This DVD shows that much of the progress and stagnation in our world has been largely due to geographic forces displaying themselves in the form of guns, germs, and steel. This documentary is not law but a look at a very creative yet credible theory on the division between the modern day rich and poor and how they came to be.DVD Review: Excellent production of an amazing book
Summary: 5 Stars
This 2-DVD set contains three episodes based on Jared Diamond's book of the same name. Re-enactments add drama, interviews with experts explain details, and Diamond appears frequently to introduce or explain ideas.
A companion website at http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/ adds to the video's experience.
I really enjoyed the video series because it provides a visually compelling argument for why the world's power is so unbalanced. The book and the video series pair well, I think.
Description of Guns, Germs, and Steel
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book and national best seller Guns Germs and Steel is an epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer the biggest question of world history. Why is the world so unequal? The answers he found were simple yet extraordinary. Our destiny depends on geography and access to: Guns Germs and Steel. Weaving together anthropology and science with epic historical reenactments Guns Germs and Steel brings Diamond's fascinating theories to life and moves beyond the book to bring his ideas into the present day.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. UPC:?727994930082Is the balance of power in the world, the essentially unequal distribution of wealth and clout that has shaped civilization for centuries, a matter of survival of the fittest. or merely of the luckiest? In Guns, Germs, and Steel, UCLA professor (and author of the best-seller bearing the same title) Jared Diamond makes a compelling case for the latter. Diamond's theory is that the predominance of white Europeans (and Americans of European descent) over other cultures has nothing to do with racial superiority, as many have claimed, but is instead the result of nothing more, or less, than geographical coincidence. His argument, in a nutshell, is that the people who populated the Middle East's "fertile crescent" thousands of years ago were the first farmers, blessed with abundant natural resources (native crops such as wheat and barley, domesticable animals like pigs, goats, sheep, and cows). When their descendents migrated to Europe and northern Africa, climates similar to the crescent's, those same assets, which were unavailable in most of the rest of the world, led to the flourishing of advanced civilizations in those places as well. Add to that their ability to control fire, and Europeans eventually developed the guns and steel (swords, trains, etc.) they used to conquer the planet (the devastating diseases they brought with them, like smallpox, were an unplanned "benefit" to their subjugation of, for instance, Peru's native Incas). Spread out over three episodes and two discs and presented with National Geographic's usual style and thoroughness, the program uses location footage (from New Guinea, South America, Africa, and elsewhere), interviews, reenactments, maps, and Diamond's own participation to support his thesis. And while one might disagree with his conclusions, there is no doubt that Guns, Germs, and Steel is a provocative, classy piece of work. --Sam Graham
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth SeasonRelease date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $43.99
Price in other shops:
Mad Men - Season OneMAD MEN - SEASON 1 (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops:
The Unit - The Complete Third SeasonRelease date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $25.50
Price in other shops:
Smallville - The Complete Seventh SeasonRelease date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $34.97
Price in other shops:
House, M.D. - Season FourHOUSE: SEASON FOUR (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $28.99
Price in other shops:
Dexter - The Complete Second SeasonPARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $18.25
Price in other shops:
Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth SeasonBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $31.00
Price in other shops:
John Adams (HBO Miniseries)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $30.96
Price in other shops:
The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops:
The Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Global Warming: The Signs and the ScienceRelease date: 2006-01-17; DVD
Best price: $18.45
Price in other shops:
Empires - Islam: Empire of FaithRelease date: 2005-03-08; DVD
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops:
The Dark Ages (The History Channel )A&E; Release date: 2007-05-29; DVD
Best price: $11.92
Price in other shops:
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (P.S.)by Jared M. Diamond
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops:
1421: The Year China Discovered AmericaRelease date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $17.65
Price in other shops:
The French Revolution (History Channel)A&E; Release date: 2005-03-29; DVD
Best price: $13.39
Price in other shops:
Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World EconomyRelease date: 2002-07-30; DVD
Best price: $21.79
Price in other shops:
National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet EarthWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-04-26; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops:
NOVA - World in the Balance: The Population ParadoxRelease date: 2004-06-29; DVD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops:
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societiesby Jared Diamond
W. W. Norton; Published: 2005-07-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.49
Price in other shops: