dwcvideo Reviews

American Experience: Coney Island (1991) Season 3, Episode 14

One of the best documentaries ever

[10/10 · 2 November 2006]

I first saw this back in 1991, when it premiered, and I fell in love with it back then. I fortunately videotaped it that night, and wore my tape out. Imagine my glee a few months ago when I found this on DVD on Amazon! I immediately bought it and all those old feelings came back.

If you are familiar with the Burns style of documentaries, you'll see that this work is a masterpiece. A mixture of vintage photos as well as authentic film footage, combined with some great music and well-known voice talents creates a solid piece of history. The best part of this video are the interviews with Al Lewis (better known as Grandpa Munster), who experienced it all firsthand and obviously loved every minute of it. This documentary captivated me at age 18, and now at 33 I still wish that I could have experienced the Island in its heyday one hundred years ago. If you love documentaries, I strongly suggest you pick this one up as soon as possible.

Miracle (2004)

Dramatic without being melodramatic

[8/10 · 6 February 2004]

My son and I, both hockey fans who know the USA/USSR game by heart because of HBO's excellent documentary, both agreed that this is an excellent film. Although Disney made it, it is NOT on the scale of, say, the Mighty Ducks. I think the fact they used hockey players who had some acting talent went a long way towards making the film very realistic.

Interestingly enough, the film was NOT a USAfest, as some people might think. It's really the simple story of a team and its coach.

My only regret- Herb Brooks didn't live to see the film.