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Reviews
The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen (2018)
So far I haven't thrown anything at the TV.
I started watching "'The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen", a historical mini-series about Daniel Boone etc. I love historical mini-series. I may watch the whole thing but I'm editorializing furiously inside my head as I do. It talks about settlers wanting to move into land "claimed by Indian tribes". Claimed by?
It says at one point that "the backcountry was full of Shawnee, prowling..." Or living, hunting, etc.?
The narrator speaks glowingly about America, in contrast with Europe, where "all the land was taken, owned by nobles, lords, the wealthy; there was no opportunity - but in America there was oipportunity." Because the land there wasn't owned by anyone?
The narrator does say at one point, "From (Chief) Blackfish's perspective, this was Shawnee land." From who else's perspective should it have been considered?
As the Revolution begins, America will be "built on the ideals of freedom and self-reliance - values personified by the frontiersmen." Doesn't mention land theft.
For Daniel Boone, "liberty was the freedom to do what he had been doing - to traverse the West to provide for his family." Of course the families living on that land before he arrived could simply be ignored, I guess.
Production values seem high. The narrator uses........pauses......for dramatic.....effect. It...is...extremely...annoying.
Threads (1984)
Chilling, unforgettable
The film starts out with radio news in the background as a family gets ready for the day. The family members are hardly paying attention, probably unconcerned because everything that is being discussed seems so remote, with little relevance to their lives. The news items sound like so much of what we see and hear on a daily basis, which I found absolutely horrifying; the news gets progressively worse, and still no-one is concerned - until it is too late. What affected me so profoundly was that it could so easily be true. I always thought this film was infinitely superior to "The Day After", in part because it was so understated.