Rating: 
Summary: One of the great documentaries - one of the great movies
Review: "The Times Of Harvey Milk" is such a great movie. It is easiliy as powerful as any scripted movie I've ever seen (and I can't say that about any other documentary). The 3-part structure works well: Harvey's rise, then his murder, then the aftermath.
The story is almost too crazy to believe. How could anyone buy Dan White's weak, whiny excuse for murdering 2 politicians in a major US city? And yet, he got off with a gentle slap on the wrist, and it's hard to dispute that the leniency of his sentence was because one of his victims was gay. We watch in disbelief as this unfolds. And then we watch the gay & lesbian community vent its fury in a chilling riot.
Fascinating from beginning to end, funny and heartbreaking, and important.
Kudos too for Mark Isham's gorgeous musical score.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great documentaries - one of the great movies
Review: "The Times Of Harvey Milk" is such a great movie. It is easiliy as powerful as any scripted movie I've ever seen (and I can't say that about any other documentary). The 3-part structure works well: Harvey's rise, then his murder, then the aftermath.
The story is almost too crazy to believe. How could anyone buy Dan White's weak, whiny excuse for murdering 2 politicians in a major US city? And yet, he got off with a gentle slap on the wrist, and it's hard to dispute that the leniency of his sentence was because one of his victims was gay. We watch in disbelief as this unfolds. And then we watch the gay & lesbian community vent its fury in a chilling riot.
Fascinating from beginning to end, funny and heartbreaking, and important.
Kudos too for Mark Isham's gorgeous musical score.
Rating: 
Summary: Unknown to me, till now...
Review: As I browsed my local library DVD collection I stumbled upon this film and was curious, because I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the tragic story surrounding his political career.
For those of you who do not know, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the US (he was a Supervisor for San Francisco.) His time in office had many highlights; however, a fellow Supervisor assassinated him after Milk served only 11-months in office.
Yes, this is a documentary, and although the story is built with tragedy in mind one must remember the good that Milk built upon. His policies helped more then just the gay community, and it is disheartening to see that his story is not more prominently featured.
This was a nice DVD in general, and as documentaries go it is fairly good quality. This is a intriguing and well-done film that all should see, and may it make you a little more aware like it did me.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful DVD for all!
Review: Great DVD of what has become a classic of the queer community's most important hero! The extras are amazing, I was asking where can I get more on Moscone's son and Harvey's nephew, wow? How can they be contacted? The alternative ending was very insightful, very! Is there more to come? I will use this in every class I teach. Unforgetable!
Rating:
Summary: Powerful DVD for all!
Review: Great DVD of what has become a classic of the queer community's most important hero! The extras are amazing, I was asking where can I get more on Moscone's son and Harvey's nephew, wow? How can they be contacted? The alternative ending was very insightful, very! Is there more to come? I will use this in every class I teach. Unforgetable!
Rating:
Summary: A brave and charismatic man
Review: Harvey Milk's political career only lasted 11 months but his impact continues to resonate 26 years after his death.
Watching this Greek drama unfold during the 1970s one can only imagine how Milk would react to gay and lesbians emergence in the mainstream. Although his time was short, he can justiably be cited as an influence in the fight for gay rights.
For those of us who were not aware of him during his lifetime, Milk's charisma is apparent to the viewers of this film. One can understand why the city of San Francisco was enveloped in grief after Milk and George Moscone's murders and can only wonder what might have been had they lived. I challenge anyone to try not to tear up watching the scenes of the march after their deaths.
The film is powerful enough where one even feels sorry for Dan White, an individual who was in over his head against more politically saavy opponents.
Because this DVD was released during the film's 20th anniversary, my main complaint is why doesn't the special features give an update on some of the supporting characters. Rather than listen to the director and editor drone on in the commentary about how certain scenes were shot with natural light, I would have preferred updated information on people such as Jim Elliot (A seemingly unlikely supporter of someone like Milk. The commentators could have let us know, is he still alive?), Sally Gearhart, Jeannine Yeomans, Tory Hartmann and others.
Other than that, I give this film a high reccomendation.
Rating:
Summary: A Man For His Times.
Review: I have owned a copy of this film for a long time. I have probably watched it ten times, and I always tear up a little at each viewing. From the beginning newsreel, of a shell-shocked Diane Feinstein announcing the less than hour old murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, to the final reel of Harvey Milk's prophetic and haunting statements, the viewer is mesmerized. Though Harvey Milk was a San Francisco city supervisor, his election in the 1970's, that of an open and unrepentant gay man, made national headlines . He was a ray of hope to gay people everywhere, who at that time were unrepresented and, for the most part, still forced into the closet. This film not only gives insight into the philosiphy of Harvey Milk, but is a rare document into that not so long ago but seemingly ancient time. Milk was a very eloquent speaker, and his sensibility, logic, and unapologetic viewpoint more often than not made mincemeat of any verbal opponent. This is best displayed in the footage of his debate with then California Senator Briggs, a buffoon like character, who not only was a terrible speaker, who couldn't even clearly express his arguably irrational fears, but who in fact seemed much prissier than his nemesis Milk. The public view at that time was about family values, with the Anita Bryants condeming homosexuals to Hell for their decadent ways (Old times come round again....). Milk's voice opposed this view openly, and he seemed to predict his early demise at the hands of an assassin who was against what he represented. The notion of this martyrdom, and its romantic though fateful attraction to Milk, has been argued. Nevertheless, his bravery in representing the unrepresented cannot be argued, and the sordid details of his love affairs and personal life should not diminish his message, nor the admiration he deserves. This film unfolds as it happened, seeming like fiction, but all too real. As Milk is assassinated, along with the Mayor, by the homophobic and disgruntled resigned supervisor Dan White, whose subsequent trial, with the famous "Twinkie Defense", and his being sentenced to an appalling five years for the murders, resulted in riots the likes of which the city had never seen. As one of those interviewed here expresses with sad resignation,... if only the Mayor had been killed, White would have gotten life, but the fact that Milk, a gay man, had also been killed, leaned public sympathy towards White, an absurd but all too realistic conclusion.There are many moving, telling, historically signifigant moments in this film, but none so clearly represents those times, and Milk's loss and legacy, as the film of the nighttime march in San Francisco right after the murders. Seas of people, holding candles and standing silently, came together in a very moving moment in time. This film, which won best documentary at that years Oscars, transcends its subject matter, and is simply a great documentary. Gay rights have made much progress. And perhaps time has diminished their names and these memories to most all, excluding those who were there, are old enough to remember , or are gay. Nonetheless, Harvey Milk is a representive and icon of the early gay rights movement, and his legacy, through schools named after him, organizations, and his place in history as a voice for the all too often voiceless, lives on.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable film about the trials of being gay.
Review: I used this film when I was president of the local GLBT groups at Iowa State University. It is amazingly clear how the lives of GLBT people are impacted by society and the lower levels of respect given to them by mainstream America. It also shows how courageous people can join together and make a difference in their lives.
Rating:
Summary: His life, his legacy; our hope
Review: I was one of the millions who probably heard of Harvey Milk at some point in my life, but never connected any dots to his life. Then one summer day, while housesitting, I found an old VHS tape of this documentary called "The Times of Harvey Milk". Not having anything better to do, I popped it in the VCR and sat back to watch. Two hours later, my life, perspectives, and outlooks were dramatically transformed by meeting Supervisor Harvey Milk. So it is with great excitement that this monumental film which pays tribute to a monumental time finally comes to DVD, and warrants my attention for my 200th review."The Times of Harvey Milk" is a transformative documentary both in style and information, created by visionary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen. The film not only covers the life of Milk, but the times which surrounded him that allows for a broader, more in-depth story. From the opening moments of the film, we learn of Harvey's untimely death, so as not to aggrandize it. Through personal interviews, newsreel coverage, and personal film shot at certain events, everything is brought to a real, intense focus. You feel as if you are watching the events unfold as San Franscians must have done in the late 1970's. The shining stars of the film are the personal interviews given by people who knew Harvey best. Tom Ammiano, friend of Harvey, gives the film a sense of outrage of the assassinations. Jim Elliot gives a heartwarming straight man, unionist perspective to show us Harvey's universality. Henry Der allows us to see Harvey's political side. Jannine Yeoman's covering of the Milk campaign and post -assassination trial gives a sense of immediacy and urgency to the story, and a more professional viewpoint. Bill Kraus, a gay activist, soon to die of AIDS, provided a sense of Milk's activism. A couple of interviewee struck me personally. First, lesbian activist Sally Gearheart's testimony of her work with Milk on the Proposition 6 campaign is very compelling, but her comments on the candlelight vigil and riots following the verdict are particularly poignant. Anne Kronenberg, who served as Milk's campaign manager, provides the zeal and optimism of the youth who surrounded and supported Milk in his efforts. Last comes Tory Hartmann, who's warmth on the screen is only seconded by her connection with Harvey. She provides an emotional recollection of the candlelight march that will leave you in tears. Coming to DVD, this film looks rich and new, due to UCLA and its preservation processes. In addition to the film, the DVD brings you a second disk loaded with special features, from interviews with the film makers, to an 25th anniversary update of the Milk legacy by those who knew him best. I was particularly touched watching the "Alternate ending" section, in which Jim Elliot discloses, after describing his own journey as a straight man accepting homosexual Harvey Milk, learns his own daughter is also a lesbian, and that it was all okay, thereby completing validating Milk's thoughts on coming out. Not enough words can be said about "The Times of Harvey Milk", a visionary, compelling documentary that should be shown, shared with everyone across this country. Milk's legacy is not only for his homosexual brothers and sisters; it is a legacy for all of us. His legacy is that of tolerance towards all, peaceful protest, fighting for what you believe in, and above all else, just having the best time of your life.
Rating:
Summary: I'm A Straight Republican
Review: In one of my classes, we studied the infamous "twinkie defense," and I was enthralled by the whole ordeal. Wanting to learn more, I rented this dvd, and was not disappointed.
I was transferred back to a time when the political scene was changing, and gays were just starting to "come out of the closet." The story of a young [...] NY Jewish camera salesman who fled to SF in the 60's and through passion & elbow grease managed to become the first openly gay man elected as Supervisor was somewhat inspiring.
The documentary builds up the story expertly up to the unfortunate end.
I took off 1 star because I wanted them to talk more about how the jury selected was conservative because the prosecution WANTED a conservative jury, in hopes they'd get the death penalty. Instead of blaming THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, by my reasoning, I'd blame the prosecution for bad judgement in selecting the jurors.
Anyways, while I may not have agreed politically with Harvey Milk on most issues, I still admire the passion he displayed in fighting for his cause.
This is a must-see for all documentary and "court tv" lovers.
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