Herb Kane
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
- Messages
- 1,342
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns
Studio: PBS
Year: 1994
Rated: Not Rated
Film Length: 1621 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Standard
Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
Color/B&W: Color & B&W
Subtitles: Closed Captioned
MSRP: $179.98
Package: Box Set – 10 Keepcases
The Feature:
I recall years ago when this show was originally broadcast on our PBS station, I watched this religiously. As a fan of documentaries, Ken Burns is among my favorite documentarians and is responsible for many specials, some which I consider the best ever done. Some of his previous projects include; Jazz, The Civil War, biographies of Frank Lloyd Wright, Lewis & Clark, Thomas Jefferson and one of my favorites, Mark Twain (which is an absolute must own).
Regardless of what many people think of the game today, I'm still a fan of the sport, although admittedly, my admiration for many of those who now participate has waned over the last ten years. When I see clips of baseball from the 40's or 50's, I can't help but think of simpler times. Ken Burns has meticulously researched the game of baseball and has created a most enjoyable history on video. Smartly, the set consists of nine individual innings as well as an extra inning disc.
Colossal in scale, this documentary which took more than four years to complete, chronicles the history of the sport’s origin dating back to the 1800’s and continues through to present day. Many of baseball's greats are featured including Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Mays with countless contributions from the likes of Buck O'Neill, Curt Flood and Ted Williams as well as various celebrities, journalists, politicians and historians.
Many of the game's more troubled times are also discussed, such as segregation, racial inequality and the forgotten Negro Leagues. Included are some of the game’s scandalous times, discussing the cloud over the Chicago “Black” Sox as well as the notorious Pete Rose saga. It should come as no surprise that there is a significant amount of coverage focusing on Jackie Robinson and detailing what he had to endure to lead the way for others through the integration process. It's also interesting how the various social issues of the times were also incorporated into the documentary, discussing the role of the game during the Great Depression as well as both World Wars. The show is superbly narrated by John Chancellor.
The set consists of a rather large and durable box set containing 10 discs with a total of approximately 25 hours of material. Some might say that the use of 10 discs is excessive, but personally the trade off is a preference of individual keepcases over a digipak gatefold (which I tire of) or double sided discs. So I'm perfectly content to give up some shelf space for a matter of convenience. Also included is a two page folded insert, which very neatly outlines all of the various chapters and where they can be located on the individual discs (a must for a set of this magnitude).
The discs are prepared in the following manner:
Disc One:
1840’s – 1900
Our Game
Disc Two:
1900 – 1910
Something Like A War
Disc Three:
1910 – 1920
The Faith Of Fifty Million People
Disc Four:
1920 – 1930
A National Heirloom
Disc Five:
1930 – 1940
Shadow Ball
Disc Six:
1940 - 1950
The National Pastime
Disc Seven:
1950 – 1960
The Capital Of Baseball
Disc Eight:
1960 – 1970
A Whole New Ballgame
Disc Nine:
1970 – 1994
Home
Disc Ten:
Extra Innings
Special Features & Interviews.
Video:
Documentaries are rather difficult to critique in that much of the material that has been gathered for the feature is all over the map in terms of quality and age. I’m happy to report that even though many of the photographs and some of the footage used dates back to the turn of the century, this feature looks great on the big screen.
I recall reading that the DVD presentation looks vastly superior to that of the previous VHS releases, and I must say that I’m not surprised. Considering the age of much of the material that has been included, it certainly exceeded my expectations.
Even much of the material that was specifically recorded for the special, shows superior to many of the documentaries I have seen, even those recently released. If I had to find any faults with this set (and I’m nit picking here folks) would be that some of the recorded material has a reddish tint to it on flesh tones during interview sequences. No big deal.
A very impressive job considering the age of much of the material that was included.
Audio:
Not much to talk about in the audio department and I would doubt that many who are truly interested in the set are concerned about showing off their home theater. That said, the wonderful narration of John Chancellor comes across exceptionally clear and bold. To me this is one of the highlights of this special in that it is 25 hours long. The last thing I’d want is an “insurance sales seminar” like narration and this is anything but. Very tastefully done.
There is a ton of period appropriate music used to score the individual chapters much of which is an accompanied piano score, all of which adds greatly to the feel of the show and the era being discussed. It comes across quite nice never sounding strained or becoming fatiguing. Occasionally, during some of the older recorded music, hiss and pops can be heard, which is to be expected.
An absolutely perfect job.
Special Features:
There are a number of special features located on this set. On each disc, there is a “Gold Features” listing which is comprised of the following:
[*] Trivia is a listing of 25 questions. Upon a correct answer, you are taken to the next question. When answering incorrectly, you are taken to a clip of the feature and shown a snippet of footage highlighting the correct answer. These are done very well.
[*] Up next is a Timeline. This is an interesting feature which glides along highlighting in chronological order, the significant events surrounding the game which occurred throughout that particular decade. A very nice little feature.
[*] The next feature is Baseball Cards. Several players are featured who were dominant in that particular decade. Upon clicking the card, personal information as well as statistics is shown.
Disc 10 is entitled Extra Innings and contains most of the special features and interviews.
[*] The first feature is entitled The Making Of Baseball Duration: 23:32 minutes. This is an extremely interesting feature (in essence, a documentary of a documentary) showing how much work and effort went into this vast undertaking including trips to various film archives (very interesting), sound effects, voice narration (John Chancellor) and the music that was used throughout the special. Very interesting stuff.
[*] The next special feature is Team Information which are text listings of all past and present MLB teams showing various team stats such as previous team names, retired numbers and stadium information.
[*] The last feature is a number of Interviews. This is a group of Charlie Rose episodes which includes interviews with Ken Burns – Duration: 54:49, Rachel Robinson (Jackie’s widow) – Duration: 24:41, Bob Gibson – Duration: 29:43, Yogi Berra – Duration: 14:46, Bob Costas “On the 1998 Season” - Duration: 52:04. What can I say about Charlie Rose? These are all “meat and potatoes” interviews particularly the Costas interview discussion on Mickey Mantle – Duration: 27:32.
All of these special features are extraordinary and definitely worth your time.
Final Thoughts:
There are very few filmmakers that have accomplished what Ken Burns has when it comes to shooting documentaries. His Baseball series is proof that he is one of the best documentary filmmakers period. Baseball is not just a story about the sport, moreover, it’s a meticulous account of Americana that's intertwined with the sport spanning the past century.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns is a testament of his work, and here, he has produced another high quality documentary that rivals his The Civil War series. Ken Burns covers the origins of baseball from its beginnings in the 1800s to present day (1994). For fans of the sport or those who enjoy extremely well done and thorough documentaries, this set is a must.
Highly Recommended...!!!
Release Date: Now
