| Public Television PBS DVD's |
The Agatha Christie Mystery Lover's Collection 4 DVD $ 49.99 David Suchet returns as Agatha Christie's Belgian supersleuth, Hercule Poirot, in two delightful, full-length films. In Mrs. McGinty's Dead, a boarding-house owner's death is pinned on a shiftless and shifty lodger, but Poirot is convinced the truth lies elsewhere. In Cat Among the Pigeons, Poirot investigates a murder at a girls' school after the headmistress reports a disturbing conversation with a parent
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Masterpiece: The Complete Jane Austen Collection 9PK DVD Combo $ 189.99
Description:
Purchase six Masterpiece Theatre classics together; Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and the Pride and Prejudice 10th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition.
6 programs on 9 discs : Includes Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Emma and Pride and Prejudice 10th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition
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American Experience: The Presidents Collection 15PK DVD $ 149.99 Length: 2255 minutes on 15 Discs
Description:
This collection of 20th century presidential biographies from the acclaimed American Experience President's Collection includes TR, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), FDR (1933-1945), Truman (1945-1953), Kennedys (1961- 1963), LBJ (1963-1969), Nixon (1969-1974), Carter (1977-1981), Reagan (1981-1989) and George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
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National Geographic Specials: Stress: Portrait of a Killer DVD $ 24.99 Over the last three decades, science has been advancing our understanding of stress--how it impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible. In Stress: Portrait of a Killer, scientific discoveries in the field and in the lab proves that stress is not a state of mind, but something measurable and dangerous.
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The Civil War DVD 5 Set 690 minutes on 5 Discs $ 149.99 Ken Burns' epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. With digitally enhanced images and new stereo sound, THE CIVIL WAR is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.
Professional Reviews
"Wow." That's the only word that sprung to mind when I sat down to write this review. After spending over 11 hours with Ken Burns' immortal documentary series, I was beyond clear articulation and analytical thought. Suffice to say that I learned more during The Civil War than I did in 12 years of traditional American history lessons, and I'd contend that the brilliance of Ken Burns' work is that he makes the 'potentially boring' the pinnacle of all things hypnotic. There are undoubtedly throngs of people out there who'd be fascinated by the Civil War, but the prospect of poring over textbooks and journals seems too massive an undertaking. I'd even wager that those with no curiosity regarding the Civil War would promptly find themselves sucked right in to this amazing production. Whatever camp you fall into, trust me when I recommend this series to anyone under the sun; rare is a production so long so gosh-darned addicting. I'm a bit lost on how to properly 'synopsize' The Civil War, so let's just say that it covers basically everything about the famed 19th century war between the U.S. states. (And if it doesn't, I'd be quite interested to hear of any anecdotes of consequence that were omitted.) This five-disc DVD set divides the film by years, starting with the U.S. on the brink of division and follows the inevitable passage from emancipation to war's end to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Given the film's massive scope, you can expect nothing to be glossed over, and having all the 'major players' characterized so well helps to bring history into a wonderful 'real-life' perspective. Through the use of old photographs, maps, portraits, and letters, Burns brings history to life like no documentary I've ever seen. Narration is presented in an articulate and stately manner by historian David McCulloch, and Burns was clever enough to bring in a boatload of respected actors to deliver voice-over work. Each actor is given one historical figure to emulate, and it's a device that works wonders. Hearing Sam Waterston reading the letters of Abraham Lincoln (and Jason Robards breathing life into the words of Ulysses S. Grant) does more for the cause of historical education than do any 100 droning college professors. (Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, and George Plimpton also deliver great work.) Burns periodically takes a break from the history lessons to share conversations with astute historians and authors like Shelby Foote, George Will, and Ed Bearss, and these visits prove as entertaining as the archival photos and fascinating memoirs. (It helps when your interview subjects are as colourful as the topics they're enamoured with.) It's easy for a documentary to devolve into 'lecture territory' when the talking-head segments show up, but that's never the case here. Originally produced for public television (indeed it's still considered the most successful Public TV production ever), The Civil War is quite simply the finest historical documentary ever made. It should absolutely thrill the armies of U.S. Civil War buffs out there, and stands as perhaps the best piece of education-on-video yet conceived. As he did with his equally amazing Baseball, Burns concocts the perfect recipe for this sort of film: take a library's worth of fascinating facts, and present them in a sincere, artistic, and addictively informative style. The only thing wrong with this 11-hour cinematic mammoth is that it's not longer. Scott Weinberg (Apollo Movie Guide)
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The Jewish Americans: A Series by David Grubin 2 DVD's 360 minutes on 2 Discs $ 39.99 This six-hour documentary follows 350 years of Jewish-American history, from the first settlement in the 17th century to the present, and explores the experience of immigration and assimilation. Liev Schreiber narrates.
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