Baseball - 1846 To 2000 on DVD (1994)

A customer from mexico , 15/09/2007

the title of the review says it al;l. i was skeptical at first but not so narrow minded to think it was a complete girls game. with an open mind i still couldnt embrace the emn in tights standing around fro ten mintues between plays. the us atre rubbish at sports so attempted to conqwuer the world with their own rubbish anti-colonial power versions. this video showed why their attepts failed. you can dowload it for free from www.boring.com

  6 out of 6 people found this review helpful

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James Thomas from Langley, Berkshire , 28/04/2005

I know the subject matter of Ken Burn's magnus opus will tend to polarise a British audience but if you have watched The West and Jazz then Baseball is mandatory viweing for anyone interested in how the US gained an identity and moved forward from that original vision. What I will say though is that the version that is currently available from UK distributors is SERIOUSLY FLAWED in that the DVD encoding is so poor that the filnal part of disc 2 is in black and white and has NO SOUND. Which is unfortunate considering that it is arguably the most important part of the whole series, Jackie Robinsons fight against the indemic racism that infected the game of Baseball at that time.

  5 out of 6 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Isle of Wight, England , 12/09/2007

I rented this series whilst living in the US. Being British but with a desire to learn more this was the most informative series I came across. The series is very thorough though as you can see from the run time. Definitely one to enjoy over months rather than weeks. Certainly not to be rushed. Every era of the game is considered but with this being a few years old you won't really get any current players. However that's not the reason for watching this. Give me Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle anyday over these. You'll pick up little interesting titbits such as how the Dodgers got their names.

It was once said by Alexis d'Tocqueville that 'in order to understand America, you have to understand baseball,' . This would certainly give you an insight not only of basball but of America as a whole. A very important focus is given to the integration of negro players into the white baseball system. Buck O Neill is legendary in giving his insights as an ex negro league player and manager. This for me would be the highlight. Strongly recommended

  3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

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Gruf from Chatham [Highly rated reviewer] , 25/06/2008

I was lucky enough to pick this up for £12, so i was even happier on viewing it that i found it to be an outstanding document of American baseball.

It is an exhuastive account of baseball from it very beginnings to 2000 but it more than that, it also tells the human stories that built that history, even moving me to tears at some points (but then i have been known to cry during a Lassie movie).

If you have an interest in Baseball then you cannot go wrong with this, it will bring to life all those names you have heard from the past and introduce you to even more colourful characters, and my god has baseball seen its fair share.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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Gruf from Chatham [Highly rated reviewer] , 25/06/2008

I was lucky enough to pick this up for £12, so i was even happier on viewing it that i found it to be an outstanding document of American baseball.

It is an exhuastive account of baseball from it very beginnings to 2000 but it more than that, it also tells the human stories that built that history, even moving me to tears at some points (but then i have been known to cry during a Lassie movie).

If you have an interest in Baseball then you cannot go wrong with this, it will bring to life all those names you have heard from the past and introduce you to even more colourful characters, and my god has baseball seen its fair share.

  2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

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James Thomas from Langley, Berkshire , 28/04/2005

I know the subject matter of Ken Burn's magnus opus will tend to polarise a British audience but if you have watched The West and Jazz then Baseball is mandatory viweing for anyone interested in how the US gained an identity and moved forward from that original vision. What I will say though is that the version that is currently available from UK distributors is SERIOUSLY FLAWED in that the DVD encoding is so poor that the filnal part of disc 2 is in black and white and has NO SOUND. Which is unfortunate considering that it is arguably the most important part of the whole series, Jackie Robinsons fight against the indemic racism that infected the game of Baseball at that time.

  5 out of 6 people found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews