Modern Marvels: Brooklyn Bridge (1995)
*** (out of 4)
The Brooklyn Bridge is the subject of this entry in the Modern Marvels series. As with most in the series, the documentary works best as an educator and I'm sure those interesting in not only the subject but also bridge building and the history of Manhattan should find it interesting. We start off learning about John Roebling's desire to build something that no one else had tried. We learn about what gave him the idea and then we get into the deadly creation of the bridge, which took years to finish and hundreds of lives. At just 45-minutes you'd be amazed at how much information they were able to cram into this film. Ken Burns 1981 film BROOKLYN BRIDGE gave a great idea of everything going on around the creation while this one here looks more at the technical side of things. One really gets a great idea on what had to be done to get the bridge built and there are some terrific diagrams showing various stages of the job. Throughout the documentary we get interviews with historians on the subject as well as a relative of Roebling's.
*** (out of 4)
The Brooklyn Bridge is the subject of this entry in the Modern Marvels series. As with most in the series, the documentary works best as an educator and I'm sure those interesting in not only the subject but also bridge building and the history of Manhattan should find it interesting. We start off learning about John Roebling's desire to build something that no one else had tried. We learn about what gave him the idea and then we get into the deadly creation of the bridge, which took years to finish and hundreds of lives. At just 45-minutes you'd be amazed at how much information they were able to cram into this film. Ken Burns 1981 film BROOKLYN BRIDGE gave a great idea of everything going on around the creation while this one here looks more at the technical side of things. One really gets a great idea on what had to be done to get the bridge built and there are some terrific diagrams showing various stages of the job. Throughout the documentary we get interviews with historians on the subject as well as a relative of Roebling's.
