Seven Wonders of the Industrial World (2003) DVD

If you like engineering and/or American history then this is the perfect DVD. I was only interested in two episodes- the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Transcontinental Railroad (seriously, who cares about London's sewer system?). What I like about the DVD is that since it the episodes were reenactments, you could actually visualize the events. Most historical DVDs only have a narrator and old pictures on the screen.The Brooklyn Bridge episode told the story of how the Roebling family overcame adversity and corruption in the construction of the bridge. John Roebling died in a tragic accident and his son Washington Roebling became an invalid after he suffered from the bends disease. His courageous wife Emily took over the project and was instrumental in its completion. My only complaint is that the engineering aspects of the episode was rushed. For example, they never explained how the massive towers and the actual span were built. They should've added another 10 minutes to the episode in order to do so.The Transcontinental Railroad episode told the story of how the men constructing the railroad had to endure snowstorms, physical barriers (i.e. mountains), and attacks by Native Americans. This was another interesting episode.Parents, I have to mention one disclaimer: some of the scenes are gory and macabre. For example, in the Brooklyn Bridge episode, John Roebling's foot is amputated. The Transcontinental Railroad episode has a scene in which some of the men are maimed by the Native Americans. This may be too much for young kids.

I got this video from Netflix and I liked it so much that I purchased a copy from Amazon to send to an old friend in the construction business, He enjoyed it so much that he watched it a second time, with his adult children. The Seven Wonders are huge construction projects, ranging from the Panama Canal to a lighthouse off the coast of Scotland, built on a rocky island that is under water 20 hours a day. This lighthouse still stands and functions 200 years later. The several hour long BBC production is broken into manageable segments on each of the seven projects, I personally found the lighthouse episode the best, and the only one I would skip is the piece on the building of the huge British ship the name of which escapes me. For the most part the men, and in the case of the Brooklyn Bridge a woman, who had the vision to begin and the unwavering courage to complete these epic projects make for fascinating watching.Compelling viewing to be watched more than once.

As a civil/structural engineer, I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary on seven landmark engineering achievements. The re-enactments, acting, graphics, and storytelling are all of high quality. I can strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the engineering and construction of large infrastructure projects, whether layperson or professional.

Although this is about the making of 7 industrial wonders I was enthralled by the making of Hoover Dam. The characters tell the story rather than just having a voice over.

I love this collection, especially the one about the Impossible Lighthouse. Great historical and architectural episodes explaining what people had to go through to create these modern-day marvels.

I had seen a couple of these several years ago, and they are still great historical happenings that are well told.

Started to watch this with family, but awfully intense for smaller kids (dramatically depicts head trauma with splattered blood, cutting off toes, etc).Very well done, not too long. Good stories. We really enjoyed them.

great

The BBC still do good quality drama and this is definitely top drawer. I watched this on release on BBC2 and was engrossed. Each 'wonder' is put together using actors to portray the significant players in a 'talking head' format, with the eloquent Robert Lindsay as the voice over.For those who are interested in how the great engineers of yesteryear built their amazing projects, these seven 'wonders' are compulsive viewing. The story from the beginning to the end is woven with intrigue, danger, personal sacrfice but the biggest battles are against nature itself.Seven Wonders of The Industrial World is rivetting and won't fail to impress. The Seven Wonders are...The Great Ship - Isambard Kingdom BrunelThe Brooklyn BridgeBell Rock LighthouseThe Sewer King - London's sewer systemThe Panama CanalThe Hoover DamThe Line - The building of the railway, from coast to coast, in the US.

I use this when I teach - the sewer king in particular for GCSE medicine through time. Bit it is a fascinating series that is well acted, narrated and full of interesting bits and pieces that keep me, the history teacher, interested and impressed. If you were bored out your bonce in those Industrial Revolution lessons in the past (and I was), then this is a fabulous series to watch.

Please don't be put off by the title. The writers of every episode in this series achieved something really special. They managed to tell the story, in an easily understandable and enjoyable way, of some of the most incredible feats of modern engineering. You do not need to have a technical mind, or even be interested particularly in engineering to be able to follow, understand and enjoy these stories.The music is brilliantThe acting is soundThe narration - by Robert Lindsay - brings the necessary gravitas to the stories being toldThis should be compulsory in schools. Excellent.

Amazing series - well worth watching. Whilst different people may argue that a different seven wonders should have been chosen, I think that they all convey a good mix of technical brilliance; together with interesting human elements.Anyone who says that the BBC License Fee is too expensive should look at this series - very few (if any) wholly commercial (i.e. advert-funded) broadcasters would attempt such a series.

being interested in history and how buildings are constructed this pulled me in straight away.with seven amazing stories told and expertley narrated by robert lindsay this as to be one of the finest historical dvds i have bought. with the stories ranging from the hoover dam to the line they are all superb a must buy for any history nuts out there.