Carrier
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 Unsung Heros Sung at Last My father worked on aircraft carriers (including the Nimitz), not as a sailor but as an engineer who worked on the designs. So when I found out this show was airing, I marked my calendar so as not to miss a single episode. I was not disappointed. I remember my father describing life aboard aircraft carriers as being like "a city at sea," but I never fully understood what he meant by that until seeing this series. Of course one of the most exciting, suspense-filled episodes is the one where they show the aircraft taking off and landing. But the real story that's uncovered is just how much manpower it takes to make that happen. I was literally moved tears to see the sacrifices these young recruits make, and my heart goes out to them. All episodes are good but my least favorite of them is episode 8, "True Believers" which explores the many faiths on board the Nimitz. In place of this episode, I would've preferred to see a visit to the ship's hospital or clinic, with interviews with the ship's doctor, dentist, and nurse, to see how the medical personnel fit into the overall scheme of things. Overall, this series gives an unbiased glimpse into the interworkings of an aircraft carrier that highlights the human element. I highly recommend this series to anyone. 5 stars for the content; waiting on the DVD I just watched most of the series off my DVR at one sitting. "HD Collector's" anti-pre-review opinion baffles me. We who have seen the show have every reason to review it here. Since this hasn't been released yet, one important reason to do a review here and now is to help encourage Amazon and PBS and whoever to put this series out on the market. Why should they publish it if there's no buzz, no viewer support? I'm writing this to help get it out there so HDCollector actually has the option of collecting it. Duh. But also, of course the DVD itself and the extras are worth knowing about, and when/if this comes out I'll report on those aspects. But whether it's a superb DVD set or just average in terms of the extras and the quality of DVD reproduction, at least 90% of the overall value of the set is the content--is what I just watched on my big screen. And that was amazingly good, as most of the other reviewers have noted--it didn't impose a Navy PR scam or an antiwar screed on the story. You get the an honest, nuanced view of life on an American carrier. It even got me a little weepy at the end, watching the air controller's reunion with her two kids after moving heaven and earth to get them there. A truly worthy show, and one other documentarians should watch to see how you can do a great job with the sort of thing that usually just gets a propaganda treatment, either pro or con. The praise from the Navy guys who wrote reviews says it all. BTW this is being offered by PBS Home Video for [...] but I'm inclined to wait for it to go through Amazon, because I want to support Amazon's great peer review system. Deserves an Emmy I just finished watching "Carrier" on PBS and was extremely impressed by the honest, warts-and-all portrayal of life aboard a carrier. The producers did an outstanding job providing compelling human-interest storylines and showing the diversity of attitudes among the sailors, airmen, and Marines regarding their military service. The show captures the real ambivalence some have regarding our strategy on "the war on terror" and yet how they continue to serve professionally in fulfilling their duties. What I most took away from the series was the exceptional sacrifices these military members make by serving long (monotonous) tours away from their families and from the remedial comforts of home that most of us take for granted. "Carrier" puts a human face to the Navy and its personnel whose service is often performed out of sight of the American public. Kudos to PBS for airing this; to the show's producers for their painstaking work in piecing these individuals' stories together in such an informative and engaging manner; and mostly to the service members and their families who made this series possible. Loved the show! I had alot of fun being in the show; It's been nearly three years now, so glad this has seen the light of day. Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, Matthew Akers are great!! - -Christian Garzone | |||||||||||||
