New York (8 Episode PBS Boxed Set)

Rating:
Summary: Actually, 4 1/2 Stars
Review: As another reviewer indicated, only one thing kept me from giving five stars, and that's Mr. Burns' pre-occupation with F. Scott Fitzgerald. I thought the reliance on Brooklyn native and one-time favorite son, Walt Whitman, was more appropriate. Other than that, the movie gave me an understanding of New York City's culture and history that I never culled from my several recent visits.

Prior to viewing this series, and as a southerner, I've always had difficulty understanding New York and New Yorkers. Everything about NYC's culture and politics had me baffled yet constantly intrigued. The videos went a long way to clarify my misconceptions and made me realize that for almost 400 years, New York City is a grand, ongoing experement that serves to bring all the people and cultures of the world together like no other place in time.

Ric Burns covers almost all of the seminal events in New York's history which also had a profound impact on the entire country's history. An important Revolutionary War battle, the City's near secession from the union, the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy which gave rise to the modern labor movement, Abe Lincoln's political rise, Tammany Hall, Hamiltonians vs. Jeffersonians, and so much more. It's all here, it's all riveting, and for five nights your life will be on hold.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, Couldn't wait until the DVD came out!
Review: I love New York. I love its history, its streets and its people. I've read Mike Wallace's Gotham cover to cover. Yet, this series of interviews, photographs, films and information about my favorite city made it complete. Well done from beginning to end with quotations from famous New Yorkers, a great sound track and thoughtful editing make this entertaining and informative through all 14 glorious hours. DVD format with sharp images and digital sound are the only way to go with such a long series especially knowing it will be watched a dozen times. However, given the events on September 11th the documentary can be a somber experience at times. Yet, knowing that New York and America have suffered similar horrors in the past (especially with New York City burning down at least twice) and have rebuilt and recovered colors that sadness with inspiration that the people of New York City and America will have their spirit soar once more. This documentary is a tribute as well as informative.

Rating:
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: If you are from New York this DVD set is a must have. Absolutley riviting and informative.The old film footage and other epherma that was collected for this compilation is remarkable. I literally sat through all 7 DVDs in one sitting without a moment of boredom. If you love history this will be a valued addition to any collection, even if you are not from NY.

Rating:
Summary: Justice to the greatest city in the World.
Review: The Burns family has come up with some fine work, from Baseball, to the Civil War; and now the latest, New York. A fine successor.

Ric Burns explores the early history of New York, starting with the God-created attributes of the region and one of the world's finest natural seaports. But the treasure is found in what man has added to the Apple, starting with the Erie Canal, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Subway system. The Bridge's history has itself been the subject of much scholarship, and Burns does it well also. The creation of the skyline, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are some of the series best moments, filled with some of the fascinating type of information that fans of Burns' documentaries have come to expect and enjoy.

The history of New York is the history of immigrants, and the interaction of Irish, Italians, Africans and other groups is splendidly examined. The politics of the City, such as the rise and demise of Al Smith are well explored also.

My few complaints are minor, and don't detract from the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald seems to have become a demi-god to Burns, and after awhile, I found the continued references to him and his work tiring. More than a few minutes on the history of Harlem would have been a welcome replacement. Of course, history is harder to write the closer we are to it, but I would have liked to have seen the series end later (perhaps at the end of the 1960's).

Even those not from New York will find it to be a rich, interesting history, worth of the length of time one must devote to its viewing. Those expatriate New Yorkers will be tugged to head back home. All in all, very worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Burns -- for Better and Worse
Review: The style and structure of this documentary is nearly identical to that used by Burns's brother Ken in his trilogy of breathtaking American documentaries, "The Civil War," "Baseball" and "Jazz." This is an excellent format: Clean, evenhanded, evocative, democratic yet firmly rooted in an ideological framework.

But sometimes Ric, in "New York," lets that style, and the intellectual brand of rah-rah American centrism that is behind all of these documentaries, take precedence over its historical value. One will learn everything about New York's development as a colony, its geographical and economic importance, the European immigration that swelled its population, and its relationship to the rest of the United States. The work gives especial focus to the strength of the city as a modern Constantinople, a meeting place of all the world's cultures and traditions that nevertheless manages to exist in relative peace. Amid all of this, however, several crucial historical events and institutions, especially those from New York's more recent history, are omitted. The Five Points, for example, is mentioned but never defined or located.

Also without mention are: The New York Times, the Mafia, the Battery landfill project, the theatre industry, the fledgling movie industry and its later removal to Hollywood, and the subsequent rise of Los Angeles as the only American city seriously to challenge New York's cultural primacy, the Beats, drugs, rap music (which is mentioned, but Burns is apparently afraid of playing us any), the election of Mayor David Dinkins, the gay and lesbian movements in the city, and the rehabilitation of the city under Police Commissioner William Bratton, seeing the most radical drop in the crime rate in the city's history.

In place of these we get more breathless paeans to urban multiculturalism, more tentative hagiographies of New York's most notorious characters, more desperate defenses of New York's apparently fragile position as capital of the world, more handwringing lamentations over the depredations wrought by the automobile and the suburban transformation of American culture, more vilifications of Robert Moses and urban renewal, and yet more breathless paeans to urban multiculturalism.

A balanced and thorough historical document would have been more valuable, both to us and to posterity, than yet another romantic hymn to New York. Still, as romantic hymns go, it's pretty remarkable.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Series for a Great City
Review: Though there are many older cities than New York, in the (relatively) short time of its existence, no city has captured the imagination, desire, love, and even hatred, that New York City has. Ric Burns has captured all of these emotions and more in this, one of the finest documentaries ever put on film.

The series traces the history of NYC from its earliest days as a Dutch trading post through 2000 (an additional volume was produced after the September 11th terrorist attack). Using interviews, stories, & archival material (prints, paintings, photographs, and old silent films), Burns pulls the viewer in to the life of all types of New Yorkers through the last 300+ years.