The Show:
Being born in 1983, I obviously have no recollection of the 1970s, although I am aware of many of the important changes in the world that happened during that decade. Thankfully, MPI have chosen to give me more knowledge about these events, and plenty of information about other, less important happenings aswell with the release of their Sensational 70s four disc box set. Originally made in 1979 for Canadian television, the collection is narrated by Harvey Kirck a former presenter for CTV National News. Made as a documentary that comes across as a video scrapbook of the decade it features many extended interviews with people who made a big impact, from politicians to renowned feminists.
I came into the documentary, expecting it to be entirely focused on American and Canadian politics and although this does feature heavily, the programmes also take a look at the rest of the world including some decent footage of British news items about topics such as the European Union. Whilst it tells us a lot about the main occurences of the decade like the end of the Vietnam war and attempted assassination attempts, the shows also manage to split this up nicely by adding some enjoyable and fun topics like the arrival of the midi skirt and the debut of the ever popular and still going strong television show Saturday Night Live. For me, this was an enioyable watch though my interest wasn't keeping up for long periods of time because of the focus on North American presidents (who I honestly couldn't care less about). I would recommend the show to people who have great memories of the decade or people who have an interest in modern history, otherwise you'll probably want to rent it first. Here is a brief look at the highlights of each episode where discs one and two have three each and discs three and four contain two each:
1970 - US invades Cambodia, Kent State University riots, Sesame Street debuts.
1971 - My Lai massacre, Pentagon Papers published in the NY Times, technology advancements.
1972 - Nixon's visit to China, terrorism at the Munich olymics, world chess tournament.
1973 - US leaves Vietnam, Picasso dies, gas crisis.
1974 - Nixon resigns, streaking being popular, Charles Lindbergh dies.
1975 - Patty Hearst arrested, Ford assassination attempts, Saturday Night Live.
1976 - Legionnaire's disease, viking spacecrafts, Howard Hughes dies.
1977 - New York City blackout, Son of Sam murders, safety pin chic.
1978 - Idi Amin overthrown, Three Mile Island, Thatcher elected as prime minister.
1979 - Jonestown Massacre, popularity of RV's, Panama Canal turned over.
The DVD:
Video:
MPI have provided us with the original 4:3 aspect ratio, which is pretty shabby. It suffers from a serious amount of grain and dirt throughout and some bad scratches. It does actually add a certain charm to the show and gives it the authentic 70s fell, but a clearer and better picture would've made things a lot better.
Audio:
MPI have given us the original English 1.0 mono audio for the disc and it's the same sort of quality as the picture. Plenty of scratches and damage to the sound throughout, again adding a certain charm, but also rendering parts extremely poor. Thankfully, English subtitles have been provided throughout the four disc ets making it a little more bearable.
Extras:
None.
