New Ken Burns series The War

[nikimcbee]

Is anybody watching this? Personally, I find his work akin to watching paint dry. They're not bad, just boring as hell! I had to show his Civil War series once while substitute teaching for a high school history class. 15 minutes into the show, a girl turned to me and said;"Is this whole show like this?"

Yes it is

...and I had to watch it 5 times that day.

Ken Burns 15 part series: Cardboard box manufacturing.

[Iceman]

I am...I find it very intresting...then I like history. I am recording them. I watched part 2 and have 3&4, I missed 1...hope they re-run it.I work alot with retired people sometimes and always try to chat with them about things of the past..they're military experiences and such. It is a rare glimpse of things that actually happened...so much of the worlds history is only word of mouth and then the written word, both of which after time gets scrutinized to the point of people will almost dismiss stuff as never actually happened or something....with video and interviewing people who were actually there....and the expressions and feeling they put into a story they can take you there with them in a sense. I was just telling my wife tonite how much I enjoyed the first program.

[Takeda Shingen]

It is certainly well-assembled. However, to me, seems to lack the poignant storytelling that made The Civil War, and to a lesser degree, Baseball, so vivid and gripping. It was the masterful joining of a large number of aspects under a single umbrella that made The Civil War the masterpiece that it is. I just don't get that feeling from The War.

In short it is, thus far, good, but not a masterpiece.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

It is certainly well-assembled. However, to me, seems to lack the poignant storytelling that made The Civil War, and to a lesser degree, Baseball, so vivid and gripping. It was the masterful joining of a large number of aspects under a single umbrella that made The Civil War the masterpiece that it is. I just don't get that feeling from The War.

In short it is, thus far, good, but not a masterpiece.

I would agree TS, especially after seeing it was Ken Burns behind it. The piece he did on the Civil War was amazing


RDP

[August]

The biggest weakness i've seen is the music. Not only does it lack a good theme melody like he used in the Civil War, the historical pieces often seem disjointed and inappropriate for the scenes being shown at the time.

Plus they've already showed the flaming jeep footage, which has to be one of the most overused pieces of historical film ever.

[JALU3]

It's an interesting perspective of the war, a bottom up perspective.
With the years passing by, we loose many more veterans to time and illness, at ever increasing rates. This program captures the stories of a handful of them and their families, and the people around them, to be preserved through out time. Some Organizations such as the the California State Military Museum have attempted to preserve others in Oral History programs.
If you have time, they need your help . . .

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by August

The biggest weakness i've seen is the music. Not only does it lack a good theme melody like he used in the Civil War, the historical pieces often seem disjointed and inappropriate for the scenes being shown at the time.

Plus they've already showed the flaming jeep footage, which has to be one of the most overused pieces of historical film ever.

You hit it right on the head! I hate the music selection! It's always played too slow. I have never been able to stay awake through his shows, because of the music. I think it's a PBS thing.