Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
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VHS Movie Reviews of Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Movie Review: Not quite viewing....more like an experience
Summary: 5 Stars
Words do not do justice to this set. Extensively covering the history of baseball - the Major League, the Negro League, women's baseball, baseball overseas.....if it's baseball, it's covered here. As a Pirates fan, I can honestly say that I'm not bothered by the heavy New York and Boston content, after all, those were the hotbeds of baseball in the early days. Great players and great ballparks are highlighted, and if you come away from this not a baseball fan, nothing will convert you to one. Experience this magnificent series, it's so much more than watching. This will grab you and allow you to understand why baseball isn't a pastime, it's a passion.Movie Review: Great Story, But Too Narrow in Focus
Summary: 4 Stars
Excellent film, but it only tells part of the story, and suffers from a northeastern liberal bias. Instead of "Baseball," the series should be titled, "the New York, Boston, and Jackie Robinson Baseball Story."
A person watching the series, and not knowledgeable about baseball history, reasonably could come to the following conclusions:
(1) Major league baseball was played only in New York and Boston.
(2) The only subject discussed prior to 1947 was whether blacks could play.
(3) The Dodgers and the Giants moved West, and were not heard from again.
Oh, there was a team in Detroit that had a Jewish player (Hank Greenberg) in the 1930's and 1940's, so Detroit gets some "politically correct" points for that. And there must have been some teams in St. Louis, because Branch Rickey (the great liberal hero who hired Jackie Robinson) worked there before moving to Brooklyn. But that mean Walter O'Malley ousted Rickey, and then moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles. And from time to time, other teams are mentioned, but the entire focus of the film is on New York and Boston.
As a Detroit native, I can assure you that there was more to baseball than what went on in New York and Boston. Without taking anything away from Hank Greenberg, who was a great player, we had other great players, like Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Denny McLain, and Mickey Lolich, but we hear very little about them in Ken Burns' "Baseball."
Great film. Just incomplete that's all.
Movie Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!If you are a true fan of the game, this is must have!
Movie Review: The world's greatest game
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't so fortunate to see the series, but very much enjoyed this comprehensive and well-illustrated book. Ward does a great job of presenting America's favorite pastime down through the ages, from the early games in the polo grounds to the free agency disputes in the 70's. This book covers it all and is augmented by wonderful anecdotes and illustrations of some of the game's great players.For afficianados of the game there will be many glaring omissions but for the general reader this book is all you need to get a handle on the history of the game, casting aside the Doubleday myth (Spalding's invention) and treating yourself to the early New York Knickerbockers who wrote the rules of the game, which have essentially stayed the same ever since. Ward has an eye for detail, noting that Cartwright took the game to Hawaii, from where it eventually spread to Asia.
Ward spends a great deal of time on the divisions in baseball, not just that between the American and National leagues, but black ball and white ball. He gives an engaging discription of the Negro leagues and the eventual integration of the game with the immortal Jackie Robinson joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He also notes many of the other negro greats who weren't so fortunate to be called up to the big leagues.
He also gives a good look at the free agency disputes of the 70's, which opened the doors to the astronomical salaries players get today. There is also a requiem on Mr. Baseball, Pete Rose, and the gambling that has plagued the game throughout its history. The most notorious example being the Chicago "Black Sox." Despite these lapses, the game has not only managed to survive but flourish into quite possibly the world's greatest game.
Movie Review: A DVD All Baseball Fans Should Own
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Burns did his usual outstanding job with this documentary. He tells the story of baseball, using a combination of still photos, videos, interviews and quotes quotes. The DVD includes a bonus disc, which includes several great interviews.He hits all aspects of the game: The development of the game itself and the leagues, the labor history, the stars and great teams and personalities, the great moments in the history of the game, and so on. He also gives us a pretty good look at the old Negro leagues and we get to hear some of the great stories from those days before MLB was integrated.
The only bad thing I can say about this collection of dvds is that by the time it was over I was really sick of hearing different versions of "Take Me out to the Ballgame."
The great stories in this collection more than make up for that one drawback, however. He does more than just interview and quote the players, managers, umpires, owners and sports writers. He includes stories from fans. Doris Kearns Goodwin told about how she grew up rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers, then after they moved away, she found herself in Boston, becoming a Red Sox fan, just in time to have her heart broken again.
All fans of baseball should see this collection.