Seabiscuit (American Experience) [DVD]

What's remarkable about this "take" on the Seabiscuit story, without excluding bestselling author Laura Hillenbrand's insights, which are also included - is feeling an exponential leap of emotion from an already spectacular book - when it's re-told, transformed and condensed into a fabulous documentary - all because you're now seeing the very thing you've long visualized in your head after reading all of her words. History truly comes alive without a script or stunts or actors.The emphasis on this all-too-short documentary is on jockey Red Pollard. Why? Because its filmmakers caught up with his daughter Nora Christianson, and were given tons of photos and color home movies that make the Seabiscuit saga jump off the pages of a book, as if everything happened yesterday. You're suddenly in 1936 through 1940, pulled into a time and place by virtue of looking at something that feels newly minted and accessible. Just tremendous.The start-to-finish stretch calls are exciting, even more than they could ever be in the book or in the just released movie. Moreover, the re-telling of every imaginable setback that befell Charles Howard, Red Pollard and Seabiscuit - well, it doesn't matter that you already know the ending, this documentary is still thrilling. In fact, you will still shed tears despite the lack of surprises associated with this all-too-enormously wonderful tale.What I find astonishing and oddly surreal is that interest in Seabiscuit's tale has been revived as a result of Hillenbrand's wonderful 2001 book - and, combined with this documentary and the Universal-Dreamworks movie - a kind of manic fascination is repeating itself, involving greater numbers of people in this nation of 275 million than those who were alive in 1938, 65 years later.However, like all great stories, there is a downside. And that's trying to boil down the history of the world in 60 minutes. Impossible. Yes, I understand the constraints.So perhaps my only criticism about this otherwise fine documentary is the lack of an historic post-script. Dwelling on the rags-to-riches tale of three men and a horse - without bringing the true life "ending" (post-1940) back down to earth - feels incomplete. Seabiscuit went on to sire many foals, none of 'em real winners, and then died in 1947 at the age of 14. This is a glaring omission that could've been dispensed with in a few lines of type just before the credits speed all too quickly at the end. It almost seems this portion was purposely left out to keep things from feeling bittersweet, to maintain a spirit of uplift, much as you'd expect from Hollywood, but not from documentarians. This post-script, in my mind, the "life as it all turned out" portion after 1940, would've taken nothing away from the heroism of Seabiscuit's tale. He captured a nation at a time when it really needed it. Don't you think some viewers would want to know what happened to Charles Howard, Red Pollard and Tom Smith?So while this DVD is a keeper - it does makes one wish for a "director's cut" - even for a documentary! A "special edition" perhaps? But this feeling of truncation is a reminder that it was designed to fill a television slot, hence could not go over its allocated 60 minutes.The bigger picture though, is I guess this doesn't matter when you have a winner of a story and a fab-documentary that's still 99 percent great.

I imagine that the PBS documentary was timed to coincide with the release of the feature film. It was a stroke of genius!! I was channel-surfing and ended up viewing the documentary until the wee hours of the morning, i.e., 2 a.m., because it was so captivating and engrossing that I couldn't turn the television off. After seeing the documentary, I couldn't wait to see the movie. I was the first one in line to purchase my ticket for the first showing of the movie in my hometown. I must admit that the film was poignant and well-made, which is a feat in and of itself in these salacious and superficial times. However, with all of its cinematography, music and screenplay, the documentary wins hands down! Every family, young and old, should get this documentary about triumph over adversity. It is a true American classic and it just happens to be about a horse (go figure). The story truly defines character.

I saw this documentary when aired earlier this year. I'm not big on horse-racing and frankly find horses a bit worrisome ... but I was spellbound by this story. And afterwards, I spent a lot of time thinking about why.The documentary itself is a first rate production. Lots of historical footage and photos, interviews with jockey Red Pollard's daughter, Seabiscuit's "biographer", Laura Hillenbrand, and others, the story told with fitting understatement. That understatement serves to highlight what is (for me anyway) the core of the story: that in the late 1930s, events conspired to give this horse a second chance to prove its singular, raw athletic gift ... and it did.There is a human side to the story of course. The horse's potential was coaxed out by a motley collection of, well, losers: a discredited trainer, a failed jockey, an owner who lost both son and wife. But without Seabiscuit's innate and unmatched physical power and spirit, their efforts would have have been wasted, and we wouldn't care about the story.For me, the emotional highpoint of the story is the match race between Seabiscuit and Triple Crown winner War Admiral. The documentary contains full historical footage of this showdown, one that attracted a national audience of 40 million (remember this is the 1930s!). The grainy, black and white footage only accentuates the explosive start and raw speed the two horses unleashed that day, and the overwhelming physical power Seabiscuit revealed in the race's final seconds.You don't need to know about horse-racing to understand what you're seeing: one of the few true pure athletes of modern times at the peak of his power. The documentary steps back and lets Seabiscuit speak for himself. It's the inspiring moment in a well-told story, and one you will find yourself viewing in your home and mind again and again.

Very well done documentary on this remarkable horse and his amazing story. Looking at Seabiscuit's front legs I would have been too afraid to race him if I had owned him because of the strain on those front legs. Yet the horse turned out to be lightning fast! With the care of those who loved him he stayed sound for the most part even though he had been terribly overworked. This video is wonderful because of the actual footage it contains and the way it helps you get a feeling for the time period and what that horse meant to people living at that time. What a wonderful story.

The American Experience series on Public Television in the USA is continuously outstanding, and this episode about the little horse that could is no exception. First of all the poignancy of the backgrounds of all the main characters involved is beautifully described, with wonderful archive photos and film. Laura Hildenbrand who wrote the "biography" of "The Biscuit" is an excellent interviewee and a great articulator of her subject's amazing true life story. The Oscar winning film was lovely, but it cannot compare to the real deal. I recommend you buy this if you love stories of people or animals who succeed despite all the odds.

I am glad to be able to obtain this classic movie; it is one for which I have been looking a while.