Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns

Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns

Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns
List Price: $179.99
Our Price: $143.99
You Save: $36.00 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $90.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Arthur Ashe, Bud Abbott, Hank Aaron, Red Barber, Roger Angell
Brand: Team Marketing
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS Paramount
Product features:
  • Officially Licensed
  • Highest Quality Recording

Movie Reviews of Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns

Movie Review: You're Safe At Home With This One
Summary: 5 Stars

This isn't just for those of us who had carefully rubbed our gloves with Kneatsfoot Oil, had sore throwing arms at the start of each Spring or noticed how the darkness came earlier near season's end, making the spheroid harder to see at the same time of day. "Baseball" by Ken Burns is about more than our childhood memories of the sound of katydids, the sun, longer days, and dreams we would all save the game from the batter's box, with two out in the bottom of the ninth, and the bases loaded. It is uniquely American tracing the game's greatest triumphs and most tragic disappointments that matched an ever evolving culture decade by decade, and season by season. For a boy like me who is still a boy when it comes to baseball and loves history, "Baseball" provides both with everything except the wonderful sting of the bat hitting the ball, or the leather glove that comes between the ball and your face. It's a combination of pitching a perfect game and hitting a grand slammer.

Burns goes back to the beginning of baseball time where he dispels the myth that the game was created by Major Abner Doubleday, and tells us how Walt Whitman extolled the joy of playing a game of bases. With background music in a slow tempo that often includes "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," Burns shows us pictures of now old stadiums being built and great baseball players whose achievements and batting stances I knew by heart: "Hammerin Hank" Aaron, Duke Snyder, Ty Cobb, Harmon Killebrew, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Joltin' Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Hank Greenberg, Ted Williams, Mel Ott, Jackie Robinson, Roger Hornsby, Whitey Ford, Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, Christie Mathewson, Tris Speaker, Roy Campanella, Roberto Clemente, Juan Marishall, Willie Mays, my favorite Mickey Mantle, and the oddball who would run to the sound of fire engines every time he heard the local alarm go off. These were giants we revered (all except the last one). We would know these names better than the characters of Shakespeare or other famous figures of history or science.

We also learn about players we never heard of. The Philadelphia Phillies traded one to the (then) hapless New York Mets for a player to be named later. He was so bad that he was traded back to the Phils one month later, as the player named later. He became the only player in baseball history who was traded for himself. Then, there was that mug who chased fire engines.

The series focuses on three teams at the expense of others, the wonderful New York Yankees, the hated Boston Red Sox (who still look like convicts), and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The first one is the team that most Americans love to hate except this one. The second were the hapless Sox who hadn't won a single World Series in four score and six years which was well within this production. There were the Trolley Dodgers who proudly referred to their team and themselves as "the Bums," normally a gross insult in baseball. Each team saw their dynasties, their power players, their wins, and their disappointments. The Dodgers will never forget 1951, nor 1955, just as the people of Boston will still talk about the Series of 1976 and Carlton Fisk. The Yankees will remember Bill Mazerowski batting against them in Pittsburgh in 1960, but they will also remember Murderers Row, the Bronx Bombers, and the farewells of Gehrig, Ruth, and Mantle.

Interviews with relative unknowns brought my childhood memories back from the dugout of my preconscious to a time when I wondered why every adult male didn't own a baseball glove. I felt the same sickness they mentioned wondering, hoping, praying that the nun or teacher would let us out early so we could run home to catch some of the World Series. One interviewee, a former pitcher described how the players' rights allowed "everyone" to profit, the players as well as the owners, but that was not exactly true. Someone always has to lose, and it was the fans who paid, and have ever since which makes the family trip to the park on Sunday afternoon a virtual thing of the past.

"Baseball" is a classic that will be one of the finest stories of our national pastime. What makes this so worth buying is that you can take out any DVD and enjoy watching it again and again. It's even cheaper than going to a, well, baseball game.

You're safe at home with this one.






For my great grandfather, Joe "Ubbo" Hornung, major league baseball player, 1879-1890.

Opening Day, 2009: The average cost of a ticket at the new Yankee Stadium is $76.00. A hot dog costs $5.50.

Summary of Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns

Ken Burns tops himself with this epic of American history, told in "nine innings," with a skilled narration by John Chancellor and the voices of Paul Newman, Jason Robards, Billy Crystal, and other stars. The series spans 150 years, starting with the myth-debunking tale of baseball's true beginnings -- when it was a game "one degree above mayhem." Then follow the growth of America's National Pastime through the decades of glory and record-setting achievements, as well as the scandals, the bigotry, and the big money. The series portrays the game as a mirror of America itself -- the passions, prejudices, and ambitions that have shape the country.

Documentary DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in The 25 Movies Obama Should Have Given Gordon Brown
Baseball - A Film By Ken Burns ImageBaseball - A Film By Ken Burns
Team Marketing; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $98.42
Price in other shops: $179.99
The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition) ImageThe Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $6.92
Price in other shops: $28.98
The Onion Movie ImageThe Onion Movie
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-06-03; DVD
Best price: $9.74
Price in other shops: $19.98
The House Bunny ImageThe House Bunny
Sony; Release date: 2008-12-19; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: $19.94
Swingers (Miramax Collector's Series) ImageSwingers (Miramax Collector's Series)
FAVREAU,JOHN; Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops: $14.99
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ImageBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2001-12-04; DVD
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops: $14.98
This Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition) ImageThis Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)
Release date: 2000-09-12; DVD
Best price: $7.76
Price in other shops: $14.98
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition) ImageHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)
Paramount; Release date: 2003-07-01; DVD
Best price: $5.54
Price in other shops: $12.98
The Game Plan (Full Screen Edition) ImageThe Game Plan (Full Screen Edition)
Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-01-22; DVD
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops: $19.99
The Great Escape (2-Disc Collector's Set) ImageThe Great Escape (2-Disc Collector's Set)
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $4.91
Price in other shops: $19.98
Similar DVD Movies
Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition) ImageField of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)
Universal; Release date: 2004-06-08; DVD
Best price: $5.83
Price in other shops: $12.98
Ken Burns - American Lives (Thomas Jefferson / Lewis & Clark / Frank Lloyd Wright / Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B Anthony / Mark Twain / Horatio's Drive / Unforgivable Blackness) ImageKen Burns - American Lives (Thomas Jefferson / Lewis & Clark / Frank Lloyd Wright / Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B Anthony / Mark Twain / Horatio's Drive / Unforgivable Blackness)
Paramount; Release date: 2005-10-25; DVD
Best price: $69.95
Price in other shops: $139.99
Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns ImageBaseball - A Film by Ken Burns
Release date: 2000-10-17; DVD
Best price: $149.99
Price in other shops: $177.98
Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition) ImageEight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-18; DVD
Best price: $7.56
Price in other shops: $14.98
Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery ImageLewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
Paramount; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $15.25
Price in other shops: $24.99
Ken Burns Presents: The West ImageKen Burns Presents: The West
Paramount; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $36.84
Price in other shops: $129.99
When It Was a Game - Triple Play Collection ImageWhen It Was a Game - Triple Play Collection
Team Marketing; Release date: 2001-05-01; DVD
Best price: $23.20
Price in other shops: $38.98
Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns ImageJazz : A Film By Ken Burns
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $71.99
Price in other shops: $179.99
The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ImageThe War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Paramount; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops: $129.99
The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns ImageThe Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Paramount; Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $33.81
Price in other shops: $129.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners