A History of Scotland: The Complete Ten-Part
Series (BBC DVD) + Simon Schama: A History of Britain –
Special Edition (BBC DVD) + America:
The Story of Us (A&E/History Channel Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B-/B Sound: B-/B-/C Extras: B-/B-/C Documentaries: B
New to
DVD and Blu-ray are several documentaries that chronicle the history of three
very different countries that at the same time remain interconnected. On DVD from BBC we has A History of Scotland: The Complete Ten-Part Series and Simon Schama: A History of Britain –
Special Edition, documentaries that manage to squeeze centuries and
centuries of history into only a few discs.
A History of Britain is a tad
longer than A History of Scotland,
with Scotland approximately a 9-hour running time and Britain with nearly an amazing almost 15 hours
of footage. America: The Story of Us from A&E rockets onto Blu-ray to show
the adventure that was, forming America. America runs 9 hours and 12 minutes as it
delves into the people and ideas that built our nation. Not one of these documentaries are tedious or
boring and instead infuse action and adventure into the glimpses of time to
make the viewer feel as if they are there.
Long gone (At least here) are the drab days of High School history class
film reels that blandly project on the screen as a monotone voice lulls you to
sleep.
Each
documentary has the arduous task of cramming massive amounts of history into
about 10 to 15 hours of film and by no means is that easy to accomplish. With that said, however, each documentary
does their country of choice justice and highlights as well as details the
moments in time that shaped the country.
Now some critics may say (and have said) that the information presented
is simplified and superficial. I argue
that these documentaries are meant for the masses, to explore history an
insight further inquiry. Surely each
tiny segment of these documentaries could be explored to no ends (and people do
spend their whole lives doing such), but that is not the point here and instead
BBC and History Channel look to excite new generations about learning and
knowing where we all came from.
A History of Scotland is split into ten episodes that
are guided by Neil Oliver. The
documentary may be lost on many individuals who are not familiar with Scottish
or English History, but the journey that the feature takes you on is
stunning. Viewers are guided through
nearly 2,000 years of nobility with kings, queens and internal struggles taking
center stage. The most obvious highlight
of the program is Scotland’s
ties with England,
a part of the documentary that has come under a certain amount of
criticism. A good amount of hostility
still exists when discussing England, Scotland and even Ireland when it comes
to history and who did what; I suppose it is all according to who is telling
the tale. Regardless of how an
individual feels about the amount of involvement one country had with another,
the fact remains that England
and Scotland
were (are) so tied that neither ones history is obtainable without the other. The history of Scotland presented here by Neil
Oliver is well done with his direct and rapid speech setting a good tone
throughout. Admittedly I had no idea who
many of the historical figures or battles were, but I found it entertaining and
enlightening nevertheless. My only gripe
with the documentary would be the poor acting.
Throughout the documentary there are reenactments, which are
understandable since you can’t see the real event, but they are so poorly acted
it becomes distracting. Outside of the
‘King’s Court Restaurant Style’
acting the documentary was wonderful, as it highlighted historical figures from
Sir Walter Scott to inspiration for Braveheart,
Sir William Wallace.
A History of Britain is a bit more intense than Scotland (not to mention lengthy), but
nevertheless it remained enjoyable.
Historian Simon Schama presents the expansive history of Britain in an exciting 15-part series that (like
Scotland)
highlights the key events and people that shaped Britain. This British special seems to emphasize a lot
more drama than Scotland had, but the colorful past (and the
historian chronicling it) may explain this feature of the documentary. In this special Schama travels the globe to
emphasize what was going on in Britain
and its impact on the world. He visits
hundreds of locations (yes, hundreds) and each stop using his unique and
inspiring brand of story telling to highlight critical events throughout time. There is no single focus and Schama uses
wars, warriors, religion, birth, death, the fight for power, rise and fall of
monarchs, castles, cathedrals and all in between to paint the detailed picture
that is the history of Britain. This special goes a bit deeper than Scotland did in terms of superficiality (if you
care to call it that), but not so burdensome that it bores. Instead, Schama manages to pull you along, as
if sitting around a camp fire listening to a tale, learning who people were and
how they lived. It was all rather
exciting and a pure pleasure.
I was
automatically intrigued by America: The
Story of Us when I initially saw the previews on the History Channel;
unfortunately I only had the pleasure of seeing the first episode. With the feature now released on Blu-ray
audiences have a chance for the first time to view the special in High
Definition Blu-ray; so whether you saw it on TV or this is your first
experience of America: The Story of US,
it remains a great one. This ambitious
special chronicles the history of America from the settlers in James
town, to the American Revolution, our expansion West, through the Civil War and
up to the new millennium. The special
uses a mix of many documentary tricks to propel the story forward. There are heavy doses of all ‘talking head’
interviews, flipping through artistic renderings of history, reenactments and
visiting historical sites. The choice of
interviewees I found really odd, with the likes of Michael Douglas showing up
as an ‘expert’ on topics. Now I understand
he is old as dirt, but an expert? The choice
was just confusing and after the appearance of the likes of Sheryl Crowe it was
more than obvious that these ‘experts’ were more of a marketing ploy, than a
historical credibility choice. Never the
less Liev Schreiber is a good narrator and the historical series does an
excellent job of integrating the key historical events with lesser known
events, people and places. The other
thing that makes me roll my eyes in these series are the historical
reenactments, as they are only ever done mildly well and are all too fake. Leaving me wondering what would it take to
get a Saving Private Ryan or HBO John Adams like reenactment? I know, I know; money. Overall, it was a wonderful documentary that
is very inclusive and is not only historically relevant, but entertaining as
well.
The
technical features on both BBC documentaries are nice, but far from
perfect. The picture on both is
presented in an enhanced 16 X 9 widescreen that has solid blacks and colors,
but the clarity is often lacking and distracts from the overall
presentation. The sound is nothing epic
in a simple Dolby Digital Stereo track that comes from the front with crisp
dialogue, but does little to involve the viewer and without surrounds it all
falls rather flat.
The
extras on History of Scotland include
an additional and insightful two-part documentary entitled How the Celts Saved Britain, presented by Dan Snow. This additional documentary just adds another
layer to the entire experience that I found to be not only educational, but fun
as well. Also included as an “extra” is
a 24 page booklet containing historical facts and striking images of Scottish
Landmarks.
The
extras on A History of Britain include
Simon Schama’s Promo Message, an
interview taken from “The Rest of History,”
Television and the Trouble with History, Biography of Simon Schama, Tempus
Fugit – Exclusive Behind the Scenes Interview, Original Score and finally Simon
Schama’s John Donne Special. With the
exception of Schama’s promo and biography, I found the extras to be just as
insightful (though not as entertaining) as the 15 hour documentary set
itself. It is nice to see some love and
effort put into extras.
America: The Story of Us is an 1.78 X 1 AVC Encoded 1080p
Blu-ray that is a mixed bag in terms of visual presentation. The newer footage is sharp, crisp and beaming
with detail that has exemplary color and blacks. The older ‘stock footage,’ however, is less
detailed and quality wavers from adequate to bad. The depth and detail of newer interviews is
admirable, but on the other hand the old footage is grainy and distracting;
hence the ‘mixed bag.’ The audio is an
odd at best in its DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio presentation. Throughout the presentation I was
experiencing a hum from the speakers that was more than distracting. I tried to play the 5.1 track on three
different systems; two surround systems maintained that steady buzz, whereas a
standard television without surround did not experience this anomaly. Oddly enough the DTS 2.0 track does NOT have
this hum, but is still a poor mix as it is vulnerable to “too much noise,”
making it distracting.
The
extras on America are weak and only include some 7
segments of additional footage that neither adds not detracts from the feature,
hence why it was cut in the first place.
I would
recommend all three of these documentaries as they are not only insightful, but
rewatchable and fun.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
