Hosted by award-winning journalist and ABC network news anchor Howard K. Smith, THE REMARKABLE 20TH CENTURY brings to life every noteworthy event of the past hundred years. If it was important and it happened during the 20... more »th Century, you'll see it in this amazing five-DVD set. Witness firsthand as the motion-picture industry is born and Henry Ford's automobile creates modern manufacturing. See interviews with hundred-year-old-plus Army veterans as they describe the horrors of World War One. You're on the scene as the Titanic sinks, the Hindenburg crashes, and post-war Europe is reshaped. Roar into the twenties and the Great Depression. Walter Cronkite and Howard K. Smith take you step-by-step through World War Two. Experience the Korean War and see the birth of rock 'n' roll. Witness JFK's assassination. Feel the social turbulence of the civil rights demonstrations, hippie anti-war protests, and Nixon resigning in disgrace. Be a part of Americans landing on the moon, see Ronald Reagan nearly assassinated, the Challenger disaster, and the Berlin Wall coming down. Watch as the world kicks Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, Russian Communism ends, and Bill Clinton goes through the embarrassment of impeachment. All these historic events burst to life through never-before-seen footage and photos of everything from politics to the greatest sports stories of the day, only on THE REMARKABLE 20TH CENTURY. DVD-5900 Disc One - 1900s through 1910s Disc One of THE REMARKABLE 20TH CENTURY takes a look at some of the major events and happenings during this time of transition, innovation - and world war. Highlights of the first decade include the Wright Brothers' flight, Teddy Roosevelt overseeing the construction of the Panama Canal, Thomas Edison inventing the motion-picture camera, and the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, plus Jack Johnson becoming the first black boxing champ, the first World Series of baseball, and Albert Einstein developing theories that would influence the rest of this remarkable century. The second decade saw the First World War, the still-controversial film Birth of a Nation, Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino, and the ill-fated maiden voyage of the HMS Titanic, as well as the emergence of Ty Cobb and Jack Dempsey as sports giants. DVD-5920 Disc Two - 1920s through 1930s In Disc Two, the twenties roar with flappers, Prohibition, and Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic the same year the movies learn to talk, courtesy of The Jazz Singer. The twenties also saw the landmark Scopes Monkey Trial and two soon-to-be-heard-from leaders named Hitler and Stalin beginning to flex their muscles. The sports world cheered as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Knute Rockne improved on perfection. The bubble burst in 1929 when the stock market crashed, sending America in a Great Depression that lasted through most of the thirties. Across the Atlantic, Hitler and Mussolini were becoming all the more powerful and frightening. But it was also the decade of Gone With the Wind, the Wizard of Oz, FDR's New Deal, boxing great Joe "The Brown Bomber" Louis, and black runner Jesse Owens showing up Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympics. DVD-5940 Disc Three - 1940s through 1950s Disc Three takes us step-by-step through World War II - from the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor to D-Day; from the Holocaust to the death of FDR, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that brought a sudden and violent end to the war. But the forties also gave us Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Bob Hope's USO tours, Frank Sinatra's crooning, sports greats Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams, as well as the establishment of the United Nations, the state of Israel, and the People's Republic of China. The fabulous fifties saw the Korean War, the rise of Fidel Castro, and a preoccupation with Communism in many people's minds. It was also the beginning of the Space Race, the development of the H-Bomb, and landmark civil rights events such as Brown vs. the Board of Education and Rosa Parks' courageous refusal to go to the "back of the bus." The fifties also saw the rise of television, motion-picture gimmicks such as 3-D and Cinemascope, and a musical revolution known as rock 'n' roll with a certain Mr. Presley leading the charge. DVD-5960 Disc Four - 1960s through 1970s Disc Four takes us through the turbulent sixties, with the escalating Vietnam War and corresponding anti-war demonstrations, Women's Lib finding a voice through Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, the civil rights movement gaining momentum, and the space race heating up. Sadly, it also saw the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. On a happier note, the British Invasion arrived led by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and movies such as West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Dr. Strangelove, and 2001: A Space Odyssey made their cinematic marks. The seventies saw Nixon ending the Vietnam War, then crashing and burning courtesy of the Watergate Scandal. Margaret Thatcher became the first female British Prime Minister and Henry Kissinger dominates the world of diplomacy. It was also the decade of terrorists striking the Munich Olympics, Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home-run record, and Muhammad Ali continuing to dominate the boxing world. Landmark films included The Godfather, Star Wars, Jaws, and Annie Hall, while the small screen gave way to such groundbreaking series as All in the Family and MASH. DVD-5980 Disc Five - 1980s through 1990s Disc Five takes us through the Reagan era, which included an upswing in patriotism, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, wars in Grenada and Panama, and an assassination attempt. Pete Rose, Larry Bird, and Mike Tyson dominated the sports world while Michael Jackson and Madonna and were the king and queen of pop. Dallas dominated the small screen while E.T. The Extraterrestrial made box-office history. THE REMARKABLE 20TH CENTURY concludes with the remarkable nineties, a decade marked by the rise of terrorism, Operation Desert Storm, the O.J. Simpson trial, the long-awaited release of Nelson Mandela, and the impeachment of Bill Clinton as a result of his tryst with Monica Lewinsky. Memorable films included The Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park and Pulp Fiction.« less
Creator:Howard K. Smith Genres:Documentary Sub-Genres:Documentary Studio:PASSPORT VIDEO Format:DVD - Color - Closed-captioned DVD Release Date: 11/09/2004 Release Year: 2004 Run Time: 10hr 0min Screens: Color Number of Discs: 5 SwapaDVD Credits: 5 Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 2 Edition: Box set MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Languages:English
"Although it is a decent production, any appeal is lost here with no chapter breaks to frame the events in this huge historical review. "Remarkable 20th Century..." becomes a tedious beast to manuver through, unless you intend to watch each decade/chapter all the way through, and who does that with a reference production like this? You'll navigate to a topic,fast-forwarding/rewinding much as you would have with a VHS format...so the technological advantages of the DVD format are lost. As a reference, considering that lack of any index... not only as a menu item, but no clues on the packaging either, these discs become even more mysterious, ponderous, and disappointing. For a user-friendly reference to 20th Century milestones, buy the Madacy product, and steer clear of this one unless you collect these sorts of things!"
