DVD : Mark Twain - A Film Directed by Ken Burns

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Paramount
EAN: 0841887051354
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Label: PBS Paramount
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: PBS Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 28, 2004
Running Time: 212 minutes
Studio: PBS Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: January 14, 2002
Sales Rank: 16647
MPN: PARD705135D

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/20/2005 Director: Ken Burns

Amazon.com:
Given the legendary life of its subject, it's not surprising that Mark Twain is perhaps the most entertaining documentary Ken Burns has made. The creator of The Civil War and Jazz achieves reverent harmony with the magnificent story of Missouri-born author Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), encompassing legend and fact with an exhilarating sense of adventure. Hailed by Hemingway as the originator of American literature, Twain (a nom de plume taken from a riverboat pilot's term for "safe waters") viewed himself as the American. Burns's film backs that claim as it follows Clemens's literary odyssey around the globe, from unrivaled acclaim as a writer to near destitution and the devastating deaths of his wife and three children. As usual, eloquent writers and scholars (including longtime Twain performer Hal Holbrook) provide a wondrous flow of anecdotes and observations, recounting Twain's remarkable humor while acknowledging a darker side that felt anger toward an indifferent god. Like all of Burns's films, Mark Twain is must-see viewing. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Beautifully done biography
This is a fantastic biographical film about Mark Twain, really Samuel Clemens. It covers everything from his birth to his death. This man, considered to be one of America's greatest humorists, suffered a lot of personal grief - some of it by his own doing. The film is typical of Ken Burn's style; very engrossing, very long, and always worth the time.

Rating:

- Ken Burns does his bit for Mark Twain
If you've seen anything by Ken Burns, you know his formula, and you will not see anything different here. But the formula is good, and it works.

If you don't care about Mark Twain, this probably won't capture your attention, but if you have read Twain and are a fan of him, as I am, this bio will do a great job of putting Twain's works into the context of a life that was remarkable in so many ways. The thing I most learned from this that I didn't know before had to do with the extent ... Read More

Rating:

- Mark Twain - A Film Directed by Ken Burns
Ken Burns is a great film maker. As a history buff I found this very interesting.

Rating:

- American Original
"I am not an American I am THE American." Ken Burns and Company go about demonstrating, through this brilliant piece of work, why those words of Samuel Clemens ring even truer than ever today. Buy this and be inspired and thought-provoked by Twain's multi-faceted, and facinating life.

Rating:

- Burns' Best
At least as good as Burns' other, more heralded works, the concision and love with which Twain's life is here presented make this a true masterpiece. If your local library doesn't have it, make them get it; every school and library in the land should have this at the front of their dvd collection.
If ever there was doubt as to Twain's status as one of the finest and most quintessentially American of American artists, it is laid to rest here. A stunningly tragic life filled with triumphant ... Read More

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