Reviews

The subject of Commanding Heights is the globalization of world trade in the 20th century. It does so in three-two hour installments. Part 1 shows how the world moved from market economies to planned economies and back to market economies in a century. Part 2 shows the impact, sometimes painful, of moving to market economies. Part 3 addresses the current and future problems of a globalized world. That's the structure. The brilliance here, and there is much, is how clearly, thoroughly, and excitingly the stories are told. This is not an economics lesson; this is high drama that impacts peoples lives. Commanding Heights shows that it is people who create the ideas, it is people who accept or reject them, it is people who profit or suffer by them. The series travels to the locations where events happened, and in many cases, interviews the people who made them happen, from Bill Clinton to Milton Friedman to workers in various countries. The pacing of the series is also excellent. It is amazing how many topics are covered in little time, yet, the pace does not seem rushed. Even if you have no interest in business, Commanding Heights is still fascinating to watch. There is also an accompanying website with background information on the history, people, and ideas presented. Commanding Heights is a triumph.

It's ironic that the film Star Wars premiered only a very few years after the last Apollo flight. Of course, Star Wars became one of the greatest commercial successes in film history. The Apollo program died, because people weren't interested anymore. Perhaps many of us like to fantasize about space more than really doing something about going there. However, there was a time when that wasn't so. Moon Shot is an absolutely superb documentary about how the space program went from a short flight of fifteen minutes to man walking on the moon in less than a decade. Through interviews with some of the astronauts from that period, it also shows that people who ventured into space were just that-real people. They were not named Darth or Luke, nor were they the offspring of intergalactic royalty. The didn't wear capes or spandex costumes or use the Force. Rather, they were named Al or Gus or John or Neil. They came from working class backgrounds in many cases (John Glenn's father was a plumber). They had families, mortgages, and car payments. They worked hard, and sometimes made mistakes. They also did great things. By telling what happened, and having some of them tell what happened, Moon Shot is a wonderful chronicle of their accomplishments.