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Longitude

starring: Jonathan Coy, Christopher Hodsol, Jeremy Irons, Peter Cartwright, Gemma Jones
directed by: Charles Sturridge

: Longitude
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767027717
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 076702771X
Label: A&E Home Video
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Picture Format: Pan & Scan
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Running Time: 200 minutes
Sales Rank: 8560
Studio: A&E Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2000



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Editorial Review:

Description:
Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons stars in this sweeping adaption of Dava Sobel's best-selling book of high seas adventure and political intrigue. Determined to stop shipping losses on the oceans of the 18th century, Britain's Parliament offers a fabulous cash award to anyone who can devise a way to determine longitute at sea. Convinced he can solve the problem that has defeated England's best minds, rural clock maker John Harrison (Michael Gambon) begins an obsessive, 40-year struggle to claim the Longitude prize with his ingenious marine clock. 200 years later, naval officer Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) stumbles across Harrison's forgotten chronometers and devotes himself to restoring these long-neglected mechanical masterpieces.

Amazon.com essential video:
Gracefully adapted from Dava Sobel's extraordinary bestseller, the four-part TV production of Longitude combines drama, history, and science into a stimulating, painstakingly authentic account of personal triumph and joyous discovery. Equally impressive is the way writer-director Charles Sturridge has crafted parallel stories that complement each other with enriching perspective. The first story involves the successful 40-year effort of 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison (Michael Gambon) to solve the elusive problem of measuring longitude at sea. In 1714 the British Parliament had offered a generous reward to anyone who solved the problem, and Harrison devoted his life to that solution. The second story, some 200 years later, involves the effort of shell-shocked British Navy veteran Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) to restore the glorious clocks that Harrison had built. Like Harrison, Gould is the most admirable type of obsessive, but, also like Harrison, he risks his marriage to accomplish his difficult task.

Thousands of sailors perished at sea before Harrison's triumph changed history, but Longitude demonstrates that Harrison's glory was slow to arrive--and his prize money even slower. A fascinating study of 18th-century British politics and clashing egos in the arena of science, the film is both epic and intimate in consequence, and Sturridge's magnificent script inspires Gambon and Irons to do some of the best work of their outstanding careers. The ever-reliable Ian Hart appears in Part 3 as Harrison's now-adult son and apprentice, and Longitude approaches its dramatic climax with the exhilarating tension of a first-rate thriller. Rallying after sickness to prove the integrity of their marvelous seafaring chronometers, the Harrisons still had to fight for official recognition, and Gould's restoration of the Harrison clockworks provides a fitting coda to this exceptional story about the thrill of discovery and the tenacity of remarkable men. --Jeff Shannon



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Excellent,but "R" rated
This movie is excellently cast, directed and filmed. However, it went from a film that could have ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Human nature against New inventions.
As a veteran Airman ( I used to be a Combat Pilot for over 40 years ) and today the President of an ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Longitude
I had seen this video before purchasing my copy. I must admit that I have a vested interest in this ... Read More


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Disappointed
This movie contains two plot lines - one in the 17th century as a clockmaker tries to solve the problem ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Should be better known
This is a well done movie that is about a real historical event - the navigation problem of fixing longitude ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.