Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World (BBC DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Episodes: B

 

 

There are endless diatribes about the “seven wonders of the world” and all kinds of variants, funny and serious.  The BBC has a (surprise) seven-part mini-series called Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World (2003) that considers the following achievements the greatest of the Industrial Age and classical Industrial Revolution:

 

1)     The SS Great Eastern Ship

2)     The Brooklyn Bridge

3)     The Bell Rock Lighthouse

4)     The U.S. Transcontinental Railway

5)     The London Sewer System

6)     The Panama Canal

7)     The Hoover Dam

 

 

Some I had not heard of, all seem like good choices, but may not be the only possibilities (what about AC power from Westinghouse, for instance?) but the shows are informative and interesting.  However, my only issue is that there was not enough vintage material in the shows and too much reenactment.  The actors are amusingly good, but there were times too much made it seem less documentary-like.  Still, this is a must-see set for anyone serious about technology, history, science and understanding where we are today.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 is a little soft, including much of the recent footage in HD that has motion blur and looks like 1080i downtraded.  For the most part, the shows are clean and consistent, with some fair digital work.  I would be curious to see Blu-ray in this case, but it is watchable for the most part, though that gold spike was a little lame in the Railway episode.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound is good, well-recorded for a simple soundtrack and has no Pro Logic surrounds.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo