Documentaries & Biographies

Superb documentary that has never been rivalled

Advantages: Fantastic pooling of archive footage, interviews with eyewitnesses and no sensationalism
Disadvantages: Occasionally, Laurence Olivier's excellent commentary can be a little hard to hear

The World at War was first broadcast in 1973 and ever since then has stood as the benchmark for Second World War documentaries. Composed of archive footage (mostly black and white) and interviews with some of the eyewitnesses from both sides of the conflict, it avoids the annoying modern trend in documentaries of repetition and pointless and/or endless reconstructions that cannot capture meaning or emotion. It will never be bettered in the sense ...
...It is also narrated by the excellent Oscar-winning Laurence Olivier, whose sparse narration has just the right level of sombre gravitas to provide a fitting frame for the events the documentary relates. It's a very thorough, comprehensive series. There are twenty-six original episodes and this box set also includes eight special presentations and a three hour 30th Anniversary disc with includes previously unseen interviews and retrospective interviews ...

Robs86 13.06.2009 · Read Full Review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The World At War (Box Set) (DVD)

Great documentry must see

Advantages: Great documentry must see.
Disadvantages: none

I've been a fan of Tupac Shakur for years, I would say I am a obsessive one. I own all of his albums and I've seen all of his movies. The new documentary, Tupac: Resurrection, answers just about every question anyone may have. So watch it There have been many unauthorized movies about the life of Tupac, a.k.a. 2Pac, but this is the first one officially commissioned by his mother, Afeni Shakur. Tupac Amaru Shakur, born Lesane Parish Crooks, was born ...
...In September of 1996, Tupac was leaving the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with Death Row Records label head Marion "Suge" Knight when they were the victims of a drive-by shooting. On September 13, 1996, he passed away at the age of 25, six days after the shooting. The movie is structured very much in the way that last year's The Kid Stays in the Picture was. They both overlap cutouts of the pictures of the subjects ...

UrbanChaos 26.08.2005 · Read Full Review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Tupac - Resurrection (DVD)

Explore The World From The Comfort Of Your Sofa

Advantages: The best travel documentaries ever.
Disadvantages: Finding enough time to watch it all.

...if as much part of the entertainment as the destinations he visits. Even if you don't like geography, you'll be hard pressed to find exploration of our planet from the comfort of your own sofa any better than this. Tech Spec: 16 discs covering seven Michael Palin television series filmed for the BBC. A total running time that runs into days not just hours. Box set contents: Hemingway Adventure - retracing the footsteps of writer Ernest Hemingway ...
...put to the test Pole To Pole - from North to South across Northern Europe, Russia & Africa Full Circle - a 50,000 mile trip around the coastlines of the Pacific Ocean Sahara - a trek across the worlds largest desert. Himalaya - the highs and lows of the greatest mountain range of all. Great Railway Journeys - Palins favorite hobby, train journeys. This time a little closer to home, the UK & Ireland However, if I have to choose one of the series ...

stevieray 10.09.2007 · Read Full Review
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Review of The Michael Palin Collection (DVD)

OUR 'PLANET EARTH' for your understanding and excitement!

Advantages: educational, interesting & cheap to buy
Disadvantages: feature length

PLANET EARTH 'Planet Earth' is a longitudinal study of our world with everything involved from climate right through to animals and wonders of the world. This documentary is full of detail and exciting facts that will intrigue everyone who watches it. A camera crew go all around the world to give us at home the best understanding of everything and anything. If you have an interest in geography this is the perfect thing to watch. It is the best documentary ...
...look at the making of PLANET EARTH. I would recommend anyone who doesnt have this to buy it, it is a must have for all DVD collectors, animal lovers and geography students of all ages. Also would make a perfect gift. Series has been previously broadcasted on TV. Paul Mc Alister ...

plainpaul 22.02.2009 · Read Full Review
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Review of Planet Earth (DVD)

Cinema in Balance

Advantages: Utterly beautiful, visually and musically
Disadvantages: Say what?

...be possible to go through Koyaanisqatsi scene by scene and yet it would also be impossible. There is a sense of mysticism to this film, most likely intentional as the title: Koyaanisqatsi comes from the Native American Hopi tribe, which is explained as the film finishes. For those of a curious disposition, Koyaanisqatsi means 1. Crazy life. 2. Life in turmoil. 3. Life disintegrating. 4. Life out of balance. 5. A state of life that calls for another ...
...no ordinary motion picture, and Koyaanisqatsi isn’t at all. It has a narrative, but in an entirely different sense to going down to your local multiplex and seeing a Hollywood blockbuster, which is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with doing so; Koyaanisqatsi is simply the kind of life that should be pretentious, self-indulgence-as-high-art rubbish. But it’s not. Why? Koyaanisqatsi is a film built out of images. Some still, some in motion, ...

No_name 30.01.2004 · Read Full Review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Koyaanisqatsi / Powaqqatsi (Box Set) (DVD)