Rating: 
Summary: The best DVD collection in my library of 2000+ titles
Review: Ric Burns' New York is the best documentary film to exist - period.
This insightful work uses incredible interviews, photos and perhaps best of all - a beautiful musical score - to provide everyone who views this the true flavor of The Big Apple.
Don't forget about Volume 8 that's available seperately - it's a MUST-HAVE to compliment this great set. If there were a way to give this film 100 stars, I would do just that.
Rating: 
Summary: Portrait of a City
Review: There's a great 4-part series in this production. Or eight one-hour episodes. I viewed the series for the first time not on tv but on DVD, and come away with the sense that what may have been effective for the needs of separate airings on television does not translate as well to consecutively-viewed discs. Burns has assembled a handsomely produced, well-researched set of biographies, commentary, and history with the participation of a wide range of writers, historians, and public figures. He underscores interesting facets of the city's development. Photographs and films provide glimpses of past eras to support the script. A carefully thought-out storyline, though not exhaustive, lends a strong theme.
The pacing of the episodes is, however, extended. The theme of individual episodes is overplayed so that the device of quotations slows the narrative as much as it advances it. Vignettes are played out in excessive detail and repetitiously, so that the pace becomes glacial. What is initially stirring and engaging becomes, through the editing style, anesthetic. The narration tends toward overuse of superlatives. Each time the viewer hears that the upcoming historical event-- be it race relations, the grid pattern of streets, or the effects of the automobile-- will leave the city "forever changed" or subject to its "greatest adjustment" or reeling like "never before," one feels deja vu. This effect is unfortunately emphasized by the excessive use of the otherwise stately and lovely theme music.
I have a dislike of MTV-driven, ADD style editing that employs rapid pacing, quick cuts, and multiple screens. New York's DVD release would have been strengthened, not by hyperactive editing room techniques, but by cropping the episodes to maintain a steady rhythm. Some of the consultants would be better employed in background narration than talking head shots, the eye-catching qualities of Mike Wallace's pop-eyed, hand-spinning delivery notwithstanding.
This is clearly a loving portrait of the town, and it provides a viewer with a good lesson in history. There is much of substance-- and much of bloat. A condensed version could contain what is vital and excise what is redundant.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Priceless, But Does That Have To Mean Pricey?
Review: This is an astounding series that not only puts New York, but the very heart of this nation into a fascinating perspective. It's so well done... every minute detail, including songs and personal diaries, gives one a perspective that is extremely tender without being overly sentimental. The talking heads are all appropriately inspired, profound and enthusiastic, and one can thoroughly appreciate the painstaking hours of research that went into this, despite that fact that it obviously was a labor of love! This is one of those documentaries that will be as valuable a hundred years from now as it is today, which in a sense makes it priceless, but still...
I would give a hundred stars if allowed for the quality of the production but it's extremely maddening that the fourteen hours of material are spread out among seven discs for a whopping $140.00 list price. The material could have easily fit on four discs, and with a little frugality, even both sides of two discs. It's SUCH an important documentary for all to see, PBS should really have tried to make it more accessible to those who can't afford it. The DVD packaging and price really gets just one star, but I don't want to detract viewers from at least renting this by giving it a lower rating.
Rating:
Summary: A superb, soaring chronicle of New York
Review: Granted, a 14 hour documentary is lot to watch. But I found this epic, comprehensive chronicle of New York to be so compelling that I'm heartily recommending it to everyone. Even die-hard New-Yorkers will learn a historical detail or two, and see how their lives in the city fall into wider historical, social, political and cultural contexts. Burns brings out the idea that New York has been a social laboratory for over 300 years, and so many issues -- from commercialism, rich vs poor, immigration, multiculturalism, density, transportation, urban renewal -- have been experienced by New Yorkers before the rest of the nation. As a result, New York has a rich history.
The city's story is told historically, through a mosaic of images, interviews, music, and narrative. There are, however, multiple recurring themes as the city's history unfolds:
One theme is that New York is a unabashedly commercial city, and that brings with it both energy and rapid change. Burns follows the economic changes of the city, starting with its start as a Dutch trading colony that gave NY it's distinctly commercial culture, to the economic leadership of Alexander Hamilton, to the economic boom resulting from the opening of the Erie Canal. The story then moves on to the rise of NYC as a manufacturing center, to the "Guilded Age" of robber barrons, through the 1929 stock market crash & the depression, to the 1970's fiscal crisis, and on to the economic boom of the 1980's.
Another theme is the physical development of the city. The early vision for a grand city was first seen under Mayor DeWitt Clinton, who oversaw the audacious plan to create the "grid" of numbered streets across the entire island of Manhattan. Burns tells the story of the rise of the great buildings -- the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the UN, and others -- which at the time were seen as soaring symbols of modern urban life & the hope for the future. In contrast, we also see the fall of great buildings, such as the old Penn Station building, and witness the backlash of historic preservation as people try to hold on to the city's past.
The influence of the automobile on urban planning makes for a surprisingly fascinating story. Robert Moses, a powerful city administrator who oversaw the creation of NYC's public works projects for 50 years, built many highways that made a suburban "commuter-culture" possible. City residents rose up and stopped some of his later projects, however, since they leveled buildings and broke up long-standing communities of city residents for the sake of better traffic flow to the suburbs.
Burns also tracks the social & political development of the city. For example, he shows how New York multiculturalism is the result of massive immigration over the past 200 years, from the massive influx of Irish & Italian immigrants passed through Ellis Island, mixing with others in Manhattan, such as blacks & Puerto Ricans. There are interesting sections on politics as well, from the rise of Boss Tweed & the corrupt Tammany Hall "political machine" in the 1800's, to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who oversaw the creation of city-wide social programs (programs that, incidentally, FDR used as a partial blueprint for the New Deal).
Finally, Burns also shows New York as a cultural center. He brings us through the Harlem Renaissance and jazz, through the "Cosmopolis" described in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, through Walt Whitman's poems describing busting street life in his "Manhatta" and many others.
Love it or loath it, New York has an important story to tell. As a symbol, NY has been both a city of ambition, energy, opportunity and culture for some, but also a symbol of decadence & depravity for others. Regardless, the city has a long rich history, and in Burns' epic, compelling narrative brings through it all, with the touch of a master storyteller. I'm recommending it highly, and rate it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: BEST DOCUMENTARY EVER!
Review: I've watched this so much I know some of the lines by heart. This is not your ordinary run of the mill documentary. This is a true epic, a masterpiece that could give any fiction drama a run for its money. The collection and presentation of information is superb - 14 hours of pure engrossment. Make some cappucino some cold winter day and sit down with this - you will not be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: NEW YORK (7 EPISODE PBS BOXED SET) DVD
Review: EXCELLENT COMPLETE HISTORY OF NEW YORK. A MUST HAVE FOR ANYONE WHO LIVES IN NEW YORK AS WELL AS HISTORY BUFFS ALL OVER. WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT. A+++++++++
Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING!
Review: I have told several friends that they need to watch this wonderful series. Almost everyone seems to think that history is boring. It isn't - you just had boring history teachers in high school, that taught history in a boring manner. If history was taught as the clash of great personalities and the range of choices they had, and it was explained why the person choose the path they did based on the limited resources they had to divide between all their goals and aspirations - people would recognize that alot of history is facinating. As you learn the history of the city of New York you will also learn a great deal about American history - because they are so intertwined.
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.
Rating:
Summary: A Love Letter to a City
Review: Ric Burns has, in fact, done the incredible. He has written, produced, and directed a love letter to his home. The documentary shows NYC in all its splendor, with all its warts intact. It is a love letter to its buildings, its ideas, what it stands for, and its people. It shows its heroes and its villains (Boss Tweed and co). It shows its drive and its compassion. It shows its legends and its myths. In other words, it shows NYC for what it is, what it represents, to the people who live here and to the people who don't. A towering acheivement.
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