The Civil War ; The Life of Birds; Triumph of the Nerds

Let's talk numbers: the 18 videocassettes comprising The Civil War, The Life of Birds, and Triumph of the Nerds occupy approximately a foot and a half on the shelf; on DVD, the nine discs take up less than three inches of what Trekkies refer to as "the final frontier." Of course, space is only one of the benefits that DVD (the shiny little 5" disc predicted to be found in over 80% of U.S. households by 2006) has over VHS, format-wise, but when it comes to multi-volume core collection documentary series or must-see-TV, the difference is huge. For instance, the 1963-1964 opening season of The Outer Limits, over 27 hours worth, fits on a DVD package that is no wider than a single videocassette!Although some of the major current documentary series are being released near-simultaneously on VHS and DVD (Ken Burns' Jazz, etc.), it's taken much longer for classic documentaries--such as the three spotlighted here--to bow on DVD. !Five years in the making, filmmaker Ken Burns' 11-hour The Civil War (originally reviewed in VL-5/90), which traces the cause, events, and outcome of the most important war in American history, literally redefined the documentary, with its beautifully nuanced narration by David McCullough, adroit mix of scholarly interviews, slowly panned archival photographs, and letters and diary entries read by noted actors, all set to a haunting musical score by Jay Unger and Molly Mason. Rather than simply porting The Civil War over to DVD, the producers have the gone the extra furlough, digitally cleaning up and color-balancing the film, while also adding a Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo soundtrack (covered in the informative 8-minute "Behind the Scenes: The Civil War Reconstruction"). Other major supplements include a director's commentary by Burns (who is one of the most eloquent champions of documentary filmmaking), and 50 minutes of new interview footage with Burns, Shelby Foote, George Will, Stanley Crouch, and Mason and Unger. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. !David Attenborough's exquisitely lensed The Life of Birds (originally reviewed in VL-7/99) employs the latest shutterbug technology and computer modeling to recreate avian precursors in the opening hour of this 10-part birdwatcher's delight, with subsequent episodes looking at the art of flying, eating habits, signals and songs, mating, and adaptations to harsh environments. Sporting extraordinary visuals of over 300 feathered species, The Life of Birds is that rara avis: a fine comprehensive treatment that is also very entertaining. On DVD, the series is beautifully packaged, but sports no extras, and has the softest-looking transfer of the bunch. Still, this is better than the VHS version (if not remarkably so) and, of course, much thinner. Highly recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. !With the true gift of a natural born storyteller, author/host Robert Cringely takes viewers back to 1975 to chart the birth and rise of the personal computer in the brilliant three-part Triumph of the Nerds (originally reviewed in VL­-1/97), focusing on the battle between two camps: Paul Allen and Bill Gates at Microsoft and Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs at Apple. In the two decades that followed, Microsoft ("where you work any 80 hours a week you choose") made powerful alliances with everybody, ultimately giving it an edge that would later be labeled monopolistic. While unfortunately extra-less, the DVD sports a solid transfer. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 20, 2015—PBS, 6 discs, 660 min., not rated, DVD: $99.99, Blu-ray: $129.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1990's The Civil War sports a fine transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include the “Complete High Definition Shelby Foote Interviews” with the historian (195 min.), the production featurettes “Making The Civil War: 25 Years Later” (29 min.), “Remembering The Civil War: Interview with Ken Burns” (15 min.), and “Restoring The Civil War” (14 min.), additional interviews with Foote (10 min.) and soundtrack folk duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (10 min.), “The Civil War in the Classroom” (5 min.), and a 16-page collector's booklet. Bottom line: the definitive high-definition release of this landmark documentary series.]