SEINFELD BLOG

500 Nations

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780790798837
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 0790798832
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 5
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 21, 2004
Running Time: 372 minutes
Sales Rank: 3537
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: April 20, 1995

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Editorial Review:

Description:
500 Nations is an eight-part documentary that explores the history of the indigenous peoples of North and Central America, from pre-Colombian times through the period of European contact and colonization, to the end of the 19th century and the subjugation of the Plains Indians of North America. 500 Nations utilizes historical texts, eyewitness accounts, pictorial sources and computer graphic reconstructions to explore the magnificent civilizations which flourished prior to contact with Western civilization, and to tell the dramatic and tragic story of the Native American nations' desperate attempts to retain their way of life against overwhelming odds.

DVD Features:
Featurette
Introduction
Other




Amazon.com:
With six episodes spread out over four discs and a running time of well over six hours (in addition to an interactive CD-ROM filled with extra features), director-producer Jack Leustig's sprawling 500 Nations, a history of Indians in North America, is likely the most comprehensive effort of its kind ever undertaken.

Mention the word 'Indian,' and most will conjure up images inspired by myths and movies: teepees, headdresses, and war paint; Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, and their battles (like Little Big Horn) with the U.S. Cavalry. Those stories of the so-called 'horse nations' of the Great Plains are all here, but so is a great deal more. Using impressive computer imaging, photos, location film footage and breathtaking cinematography, interviews with present-day Indians, books and manuscripts, museum artifacts, and more, Leustig and his crew go back more than a millennium to present an fascinating account of Indians, including those (like the Maya and Aztecs in Mexico and the Anasazi in the Southwest) who were here long before white men ever reached these shores.

It was the arrival of Europeans like Columbus, Cortez, and DeSoto that marked the beginning of the end for the Indians. Considering the participation of host Kevin Costner, whose film Dances with Wolves was highly sympathetic to the Indians, it's no bulletin that 500 Nations also takes a compassionate view of the multitude of calamities--from alcohol and disease to the corruption of their culture and the depletion of their vast natural resources--visited on them by the white man in his quest for land and money, eventually leading to such horrific events as the Trail of Tears 'forced march,' the massacre at Wounded Knee, and other consequences of the effort to 'relocate' Indians to the reservations where many of them still live. Along the way, we learn about the Indians' participation in such events as the American Revolution and the War of 1812, as well as popular legends like the first Thanksgiving (it really happened) and the rescue of Captain John Smith by Pocahontas (it probably didn't).

With its sometimes New Age-y music and many beauty shots of the great outdoors, 500 Nations has a rather different vibe than the average Ken Burns documentary. That may lessen its value for sober historians, but for the rest of us, this is an illuminating and important work. --Sam Graham




Rating: - Brings History alive
This documentary is so fantastic, I hardly knew that it was one. The photography is brilliant, and ... Read More

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Rating: - not happy
I can't review this product because it is a month since I ordered it and I still don't have it..
Read More

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Rating: - 500 Nations gives a good overview
I use this collection in my middle school classroom to help teach about what the Americas were like before ... Read More

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Rating: - Every American should view these!
These DVD's are some of the best I have seen from the Native American point of view. It follows the history ... Read More

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Rating: - Native American History Reborn
This is an awesome Movie. I watched the entire movie (4 dics) in one sitting. It is a great way to dispel myths ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.