5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Robert Altman's Mockumentary MASTERPIECE, July 10 2006
By Rhett S. Dugstad "Sjur" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Tanner 88 (DVD)
This is one of the most important things Alman's done. Which is probably why it's one of his favorites along with MASH and NASHVILLE and SHORT CUTS. It is a political satire set in the '88 presidential election. It has everything and more, even a sequal, Tanner On Tanner. Very smart and sophisticated. CHECH IT OUT NOW!!!!!!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tanner is for real, Nov 26 2004
By canuhearmenow? - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Tanner 88 (DVD)
Tanner is an odd bird, it hasn't aged quite as well as i thought it would...yet it remains interesting and sometimes fascinating. The performances are all over the place, sometimes great (Micheal Murphy especially) and sometimes alomst cartoonish...this could be a result of the writing...Trudeau is a cartoonist after all. Being taped on video gives it an odd look as well. Still i watched the whole thing in one sitting and wanted more...so it gets 4 stars. (the interview with Altman and Trudeau is a nice plus)
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool mini-series, Mar 10 2005
By Ted "Ted" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Tanner 88 (DVD)
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the series.
Tanner 88 is a TV miniseries which aired on HBO during the 1988 election year. It portrays the campaign a fictional presidential candidate by the name of Jack Tanner.
He is ultra liberal and nominates Ralph Nader for Commerce secratary, Gloria Steinem for Health secratary and other actvists for cabinet positions.
The film has a cast of many famous people playing themselves, including the late country singer, Waylon Jennings, Bob Dole, Pat Robertson, Gary Hart, and many others.
The show ran for 11 episodes starting with the beginning of his campaign to his loss of the nomination to Michael Dukakis.
I found it to be interesting and had some interesting humor in it also. Also since the show aired on HBO it contains language and scenes not shown on regular television. It would get a TV MA for language and sensuality if aired today.
The Criterion DVD includes new interviews with the show's creators Garry Trudeau and Robert Altman. It also has cast members reprising their roles for introductory 'interviews' for each episode. These were first shown during the airing of the series on the Sundance Channel in 2004
This overall was an interesting change of pace from the normal issuing of films on Criterion and I think it is more than a coincidence that it was released less than a month before the real 2004 presidential election.