Just finished The War and thought it was really, really well done (as usual with Burns). I know for a lot of people his work can be as exhausting to sit through as it is exhaustive, but I can watch 4-5 installments of Baseball in one sitting, same for The Civil War. My favorite that I've seen is probably the one on Jack Johnson, mostly because I didn't know anything about the guy going into it. Haven't seen Jazz, Thomas Jefferson, Prohibition, Mark Twain, Brooklyn Bridge or the one on National Parks, but all look like they would probably hold my interest. Suggestions? The Dust Bowl is supposed to come out some time this year, then something on The Central Park Five next year. But after those, what I'm really looking forward to is The Roosevelts (2014), Jackie Robinson (2015), and Vietnam (2016).
Couldn't get all the way through National Parks due to lack of interest with the subject matter; but Peter Coyote's narration is terrific and it has a really catchy background score. I think all of those except Prohibition might have been smaller scale projects or before he got bigger budgets, so they mostly feel like run of the mill American Experience episode. Very excited to hear about the new projects, especially Vietnam. How the rest of television, movies or at least the god forsaken History Channel aren't like this I don't know.
You might also want to check out The West. I haven't heard the same level of praise for it, but subject and length wise it's on the same grand scale as his other biggies. The photo montage with Willie Nelson's Miners Life in the background is pretty cool.
I loved Baseball. That was his best that I've seen. (Baseball, Civil War, Jazz, Lewis and Clark) People that didn't like baseball before watching that documentary had a new appreciation for it after seeing it. It's a fantastic documentary whether or not you're a baseball fan.
I'm partial to National Parks and Jazz. Jazz is incredible in it's depth. National Parks is the story of America. (I also like National Parks because John F. Lacey, featured prominently in one of the episodes, is from my small town in Iowa)
Baseball and The Civil War were both phenomenal, and I can't imagine liking anything better. The Civil War made me choke up more than once, I must admit. Hell, baseball did, too. Made me think about my dad and how much he would've loved to watch something like that. I have The War, Prohibition, and Jazz queued up on Netflix. Definitely looking forward to those. I fell asleep during the Thomas Jefferson one. That frankly surprised the hell out of me. I'll have to give it another go.
I loved baseball and the Civil War so much that I purchased them via PBS. Just amazing story telling and images.
I'm normally a huge documentary fan, but Burns' docs don't do it for me. I think it is the slow music along with the slow narration.
I thought the Brooklyn Bridge was incredible, but I knew nothing about it before hand. I am not a huge fan of his style but that was a great one. On Netflix.
As a Jazz buff, I thought "Jazz" was very narrowly focused. He did a good job with the origins of jazz but when he got to the swing era, he just stayed there. He spent too much on swing, only touched upon bebop, cool/west coast jazz and hard bop, and paid little more than lip service to anything that came afterwards. "Swing" would've been a more accurate title for that documentary. For what he did, he did well, but it shouldn't be presented as or thought of as a thorough history of jazz music.
That is pretty typical. The only jazz I have much use for is bebop and hard bop but you never see it glorified.
I liked Baseball but I wasn't very impressed with The War. It wasn't as all-encompassing as I'd hoped. There are a LOT of better WWII documentaries out there.
The Civil War was a landmark event, and changed the way modern documentaries are presented. It was so amazing, it coined the phrase The Ken Burns Effect, even though he didn't invent it. And the soundtrack is absolutely epic. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HxDP6q6C5mE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Spoiler If you can listen to this and not tear up, you may be made of stone. I still choke up every time I hear the Ashokan Farewell. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2kZASM8OX7s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I've only seen National Parks and Prohibition. While I liked them both, Prohibition was amazing (and I still have it hoarded on my DVR).
For me, I felt like the interviews were what set it apart. It at least felt like the vets were being far more candid about their experiences than what you're typically used to seeing from the people of that generation. I enjoyed the more narrow focus he applied, it made it seem more intimate and accessible, if that makes sense.
Probably not a big seller on this bbs, but Ken's documentary on country music premiers on on PBS 9/15. http://kenburns.com/films/country-music/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/...-country-music-documentary-soundtrack-847764/