Lewis & Clark - The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

This Lewis and Clark documentary is the very finest I have ever come across on the fascinating trek of these two explorers. Even for people like myself that have a deep interest in American history, particularly the old west, it is a perilous and well documented journey that so few people seem to know anything about, beyond the name of it. And yet it is in my opinion a journey inside American history in its rawest, truest form. This documentary does a wonderful job of presenting the L@C expedition in what I refer to as its natural habitat. That is to say, there is very little, if anything, in it that is conjecture, politicized, whitewashed, or just plain ridiculous. (Believe me, I have seen many documentaries on the opening of the west that were). The L@C expedition remains something that was realized decades before the west as we know it from movies and television ever came into existence. And thus for many, it will be something of a journey into a time in our history where they have never set foot before. For far too many of us, even history buffs, American history seems to take some time off, or just skip over a few decades between the revolution, and the Civil War. Like nothing really much in the way of interest or historical significance took place during that time worth mentioning. One statistic that comes out very near the beginning of this documentary that brought a snapshot of US at that time into crystal clear focus, is that in 1804, when L@C began their expedition, a full 80% of all the people that inhabited the US lived within 100 miles of the east coast. (Taking into account the population of Indians that we knew about as well). Very few people realize how not only concentrated the population was then, but how much of the vast country remained uninhabited, and unexplored. This documentary is done in a patient, sweeping, lavish style covering everything from the very essence of the idea of such an expedition by then president Thomas Jefferson, to the aftermath, and ultimate fate of L@C themselves. It is a documentary you will watch, and then watch again perhaps years later. But definitely will you watch it again and again. I would be less than honest if I was to suggest that this is the best documentary on the subject that exists. For truthfully, there is just so few of them available that I have only watched two others. Amazon carries a hefty amount of DVDs on the subject, but only two that consist of a total recounting of the expedition specifically, and in its entirety. (There is one more, but it is a mere 46 minutes long. Hardly enough time to recount a 2 year expedition of discovery) The others are: National Geographic - Lewis & Clark - Great Journey West and "The Trail" Lewis & Clark Expedition 1803-1806 . I have seen them both, and neither compares to the depth and perception of this wonderful and fulfilling documentary. Both of them put together are barely half as long as this one. Whether you are someone that has an interest in the early years of our country and its exploration, or if you are a person that has never even heard of L@C before, I highly recommend this documentary for owning. It is fascinating, brilliant, consummate, and overall a true masterpiece worth your time and money. It is not easy at all to find in stores, so I also highly recommend you buy it here...

Wonderful DVD ON THE LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION. You will vicariously get to go along with the corps of discovery and experience the adventure with them.

Every school kid has heard of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and some of us even thought we knew the details, but all I can say is Wow, Ken Burns has finally done for Lewis & Clark what needed doing; he's brought one of the greatest accomplishments in U.S. history to life, and turned all they and their party survived into more than a dusty, if somewhat interesting feat presented as a chapter in a history book, turning it all into a real-life adventure, with insights and personal views of many of the expedition, with all the perils and thrills and fears and everything a good adventure film would offer and so few documentaries can . Back when our nation hadn't quite been able to stand on its own; back when Thomas Jefferson was our president; before the war or 1812 and the Star-Spangled-Banner was written; there was the shadowy legend of the north-west passage, a water route to the Pacific ocean through lands no European-white (or black) man had ever seen. We didn't even know about the Rocky Mountains, let alone the Cascades. All we knew, or thought we knew, was the head-waters of the Missouri River would show us the route to the Pacific. Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase of lands from the Gulf north and west into the unknown, and those lands had to be explored and charted. An expedition was sent by President Jefferson into these unknown lands as strange to us back then as the moon or Mars is to us, today. Yet, while the Apollo astronauts had communications with the friendly folks at NASA, this rustic party of explorers were on their own. Equipped with all the state-of-the-art equipment of the day, there were no camera'd rovers to show them what they faced and only vague stories passed on by trappers and Indians as to what may be found. But they assembled their team and set out not knowing whether they would survive, some saying their chances were nil and they'd never return. Yet they succeeded! What a story; what an adventure!

The expedition of Lewis & Clark is one of the great events in American History and is all but unknown today. This wonderful program is a great way to become more familiar with this fascinating story and that great band of explorers (including the woman on our Golden Dollar: Sacagawea). Hal Holbrook is a great narrator and the writing is quite good. The visuals are even better. It is stunning to view and brings some real appreciation to what the Corps of Discovery accomplished. Just taking that boat upstream for so many miles is stunning, let alone all the cataloging they did in the face of a very real struggle for survival. It is also amazing to see how many vistas Burns and crew were able to find in such a seemingly pristine state. One of the real shocks to me was to understand how nearly deadly the Great Plains were to the Corps because of the lack of wood. Growing up in Michigan with trees everywhere, we take wood for granted. On that expedition, its lack was a real hardship. While not as dramatic as war and without and the lack of contemporary illustrations requires a different presentation style than Burns normally provides, this is still a visual feast and good solid food for the brain. Worth viewing many times for many reasons. Don't forget to read Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" as well.

This is an astonishingly beautiful and moving account of that long-ago journey by foot and boat across the middle of the North American continent. Burns manages to bring Lewis and Clark, their men, and President Jefferson, back to life by using their own words and contemporary portraits as well as scenes that show the geographical challenges they faced. The film made me want to go to St. Louis and try to follow their journey, but also made me realize what physical strength and courage was required of the original expedition members. This film is the only way most of us will be able to go where they went, or see what they saw. It's much better than any fictionalize version of the story. I was surprised at how moving this chapter of history is.

Does not play in Region 2 (Europe). I thought as I bought it through Amazon DE that it would at least play in Europe.

For me, Ken Burns can do no wrong. He chooses his subjects and researches them carefully, making them compulsive viewing via the employment of photographs, diaries and actors' voices perfectly suited to the task. Highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed another excellent Ken Burns documentary. This two-disc feature chronicled the remarkable journey of Lewis and Clark to map and explore the great unknown expanses of the virgin American west. Their task was monumental, yet they managed it with but one casualty in their party. Ken Burns does his magic and brings these characters to life despite having very little period visuals to work with.

A beautiful, slow paced narrative of a relatively humane exploration of the wilds of America by the Corps of Discovery. Shows real understanding of the humanity, luck, passion and drive of the expedition members and the difficulties they overcame. Includes readings of contemporary documents. Another Ken Burns masterpiece.