- Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Patrick Jordan, Jennifer Lee Dake, Charles King, Matt Hutchinson
- Directors: Mark Bussler
- Writers: Charles Guggenheim
- Producers: Mark Bussler, Charles Guggenheim, Michael Bussler
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen, Import
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Inecom Entertainment Company
- Release Date: Aug 26 2003
- Run Time: 64 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00009PSE2
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Johnstown Flood plays this 1889 disaster for all the drama and suspense of a horror movie. As he describes the factors leading up to the collapse of a dam on a Pennsylvania river, narrator Richard Dreyfuss has an almost ghoulish relish. The flood itself--in which a wall of water 50 feet tall destroyed the town of Johnstown and everything in the vicinity--is chock-full of shocking and engrossing details: personal testimonies describe an entire roundhouse of locomotives being swept away; a mother tells about setting her children afloat on driftwood from the top of her rapidly submerging house. When the debris carried by rushing water reaches a heavy stone bridge, the cataclysm only worsens, leading to a devastating fire. If most documentaries aspire to the cool objectivity of The New York Times, Johnstown Flood dives into the sensationalism of tabloid journalism, and the results are enticing, unsettling, and thoroughly entertaining. --Bret Fetzer
Description
Johnstown Flood narrated by Richard Dreyfuss tells a true story of heartbreak, heroism and the courage to survive. On a stormy day in May of 1889, the South Fork Dam explodes, unleashing a 40-foot wall of water. Fiercely thrashing at frightening speeds, the flood devastates the 14-mile valley between the Conemaugh Lake and Johnstown, Pennsylvania under the force of a 20-million-ton tidal wave. Johnstown Flood depicts this tragic event which claims more than 2,200 lives and wipes out 99 entire families and is still considered to be one of the worst disasters in American history.
Horrified survivors watch as the bustling industrial city of Johnstown is instantly reduced into a wasteland. The deadly torrent overcomes terror-stricken townspeople who are tragically lost in the flood. As the waters recede, people from all over the world rally around the survivors to help victims regain all that is lost.
Features the 64-minute film and 20-minute documentary with Richard Burkert, Executive Director of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, also includes feature length historical Commentary Track with Richard Burkert and "The Johnstown Flood," an 1889 piano illustration by Alberto Rivieri, performed by Patricia Prattis Jennings exclusively for the DVD.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Shallow by comparison,
By
This review is from: Johnstown Flood narrated by Richard Dreyfuss (DVD)
I grew up in Johnstown. I have seen the films at both of the Flood Museums. The film at the downtown museum (the former Carnegie Free Library) is the Guggenheim film that won the academy award. It is an excellent film that far outstrips the one here reviewed. However, the film presented at the damsite is even superior to the Guggenheim film. Unfortunately, it can only be seen at the museum. I found the film narrated by Richard Dreyfuss to be a very "watery" story with some awful cinematography and effects. The dramatizations were terrible: actors with modern accents and mannerisms in Victorian costumes...! I thought this was a very shallow representation of a terrible disaster.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Avoids the true story and controversey,
By
This review is from: Johnstown Flood narrated by Richard Dreyfuss (DVD)
The Charles Guggenheim film that won the oscar for Documentary Film in 1989 was expanded to 1 hour with newly discovered photo's taken of the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club prior to the disaster. The entire subject of the avoidance of responsibility for the dam breaking by this club of mega wealthy families is left out of the film being offered here. The Guggenheim Film is the definitive work, and especially the 1 hour expanded version. This film narrated by Richard Dryfus is a bad imitation that avoids the discussion of the club and the events leading to the disaster. I purchased the two versions of the Guggenheim film on VHS over ten years ago, it does not seem to be available for sale and instead this hollow inadequate version seems to be all one can acquire. I watched it once and threw it away in disgust. If you want the truth read the Johnstown Flood by David McCullough, or listen to it on tape. Don't waste your money on this and try to find a copy of the Guggenheim film, even the original 1/2 hour version is better than this.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Johnstown Flood,
By Ellorysgirl "Nance" (Iowa City, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Johnstown Flood narrated by Richard Dreyfuss (DVD)
This rendition of the tragedy of the Johnstown Flood in 1889 cannot be favorably compared with the first offering from The American Experience on PBS. The 2003 Dreyfuss-narrated version does not use the quantity of archival material available; it barely hints at the social and political pressures, especially by members of the social club situated at the top of the dam, which contributed to the breaking of the dam and the tragedy that followed. Richard Dreyfuss is overly dramatic, seeming to revel in the details of the tragedy in his delivery, and is not at all equal to the terrific David McCullough as a narrator. The use of real actors to repeat quotes from survivors and act out portions of the aftermath is just ludicrous, and none of them show any talent for this portrayal at all. It was very distracting to have these people plopped into the narrative willy-nilly. I was extremely disappointed in the 2003 DVD, and cannot recommend it.
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