Ken Burns America Collection - Brooklyn Bridge
by Ken Burns
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DVD details
Director: Ken BurnsBrand: Paramount
Editor: Amy Stechler
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 58 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS Paramount
DVD Reviews of Ken Burns America Collection - Brooklyn Bridge
DVD Review: Ken Burns Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Burns produces another excellent documentary. He brings life to a tale that could be otherwise uninteresting, but that is what makes Ken Burns the master storyteller that he is. Fascinating for the whole family to watch,DVD Review: How It was Built, How It's Built Me
Summary: 5 Stars
Pending who you ask, this documentary may seem incomplete. However, this reviewer believes it does a handsome job for an hour-long documentary, not to mention the maiden output by Ken Burns. I first saw this special (in a heavily-edited form) as a boy of eight. I was already the world's first self-proclaimed bridge freak, and my father figured I'd be fascinated with the Brooklyn Bridge. He was probably too right. It was on the heels of this presentation that I urged my parents to escort me to the center of the bridge in July 1988. (During that excursion, I distinctly remember taking my first photograph.)
Ken Burns did rely heavily on the published writings of David McCullough (The Great Bridge) for the construction synopsis which was the subject of Part One. The most significant details of the construction process were described very well in this instance. Anybody who would wish to know about The Great Blowout in the Brooklyn Caisson or the merger of Greater New York (or how the bends initially reared its head in the same place) need only turn to other publications (or the Modern Marvels documentary). Meanwhile, we still get very adept readings of the papers left by John A. Roebling, Colonel Washington Roebling, Emily Warren Roebling, Dr. Andrew H. Smith and others. The two most significant voice contributers are (arguably) the narration by aforementioned author David McCullough and the portrayals of John Roebling and Colonel Roebling by stage actor Paul Roebling (most fitting, since Paul Roebling was a direct descendent of that ingenious bridge-building family). In 1990, Ken Burns, David McCullough and Paul Roebling would be reunited in the production of Burns' mini-series, The Civil War.
Part Two incapsulates how the Brooklyn Bridge would come to affect the people of New York (and other parts of the world) in the ninety-eight years after its completion. Aside from musical & archival snippets featuring Frank Sinatra, animated footage, pictures by Joseph Stella & Georgia O'Keefe, plus loads more, we get interview footage of McCullough, Lewis Mumford, Paul Goldberger and Arthur Miller (who also provided excellent voiceovers during Part One). That section is for the people who need to be educated as to how a work of art such as the bridge does affect people in a way that isn't strictly "utilitarian" as Arthur Miller put it.
One of my favorite lines from this presentation is a quotation from Washington Roebling stated at a rough moment in the plot, in which his father, John Roebling had died and the construction of the bridge fell on Washington's shoulders: "The prop on which I hitherto leaned had fallen. Henceforth, I must rely on myself." That line, coupled with the message of faith and perseverance should serve as a psychological message to people making big changes in their lives. (Now, I need to go back and see if McCullough put that line anywhere in The Great Bridge - )
DVD Review: Burns' first film
Summary: 4 Stars
Ken Burns made this film from David McCullogh's brilliant book on the difficulties Washington Roebling had building the Brooklyn Bridge. Ken Burns mines the archives to document the construction, but then adds a Part Two that chronicles the reaction of our culture to the fact of the bridge: high art (paintings, poems), popular culture (movies and songs, including Frank Sinatra's "good ol' Brooklyn bridge")and even ads for, among others, Singer sewing machines. The theme is that man can create something wonderful which can stand as a testament to later generations and inspire them to strive toward creating wonderful things, as Burns has in this film. DVD Review: Fabulous documentary about the most famous bridge in the world
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading David McCullough's book "The Great Bridge, the Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge" which I bought on Amazon. Then I purchased Ken Burns' DVD. The bridge was built during the most incredible hardships, and was finished in 1883, and it is still in use today. As a native New Yorker, I am so proud of this bridge, I love to just look at it and dream.
The DVD is very informative, John Roebling's vision of a bridge scanning the two cities of New York and Brooklyn. Roebling lost his life due to a stupid mistake, getting his foot caught in a dock when a boat came in. He died of lock jaw, a horrible death from tetanus. His son, Washington Roebling, took over the planning and construction of the bridge.
A must see DVD of the wonderful and spectacular Brooklyn Bridge. I am so happy to own this DVD and will treasure it forever. And so will you!
DVD Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
I watched this a few weeks before a trip to NY and couln't wait to go after watching. It goes over all the interesting details about it being built. Nice documentary.
Description of Ken Burns America Collection - Brooklyn Bridge
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 09/23/2005 Director: Ken BurnsGeneral DVDs
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