Customer Reviews
One pleased customer! 
2008-04-07
Beautifully packaged and arrived on time. Never have I shopped anywhere online and had my product arrive as timely as from Amazon. I'm vere pleased with the content and customer service.
Levees 2008-04-07
The documentary was done very well. It provided the perspective of the residents of New Orleans. Spike Lee did an excellent job of revealing all levels of governmental failure with this disaster.
When the rains came and help didn't 2008-04-06
"When the Levees Broke" is Spike Lee's eloquent portrayal of the events and personalities of New Orleans who struggled in August 2005 and beyond through the assault and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lee uses first-person accounts from those who left town early and those who withstood the storm and the difficult recovery period afterwards. Officials and celebrities like Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, controversial New Orleans Policy Chief Eddie Compass and musician Wynton Marsalis are interviewed. But the ordinary people of New Orleans --good, bad and otherwise -- are the heroes of the film, and Lee gives the lion's share of screen time.
Lee subtly addresses some of the myths that have grown up around Katrina. He uses newsroom tape of FEMA head Mike Brown and George Bush to make it clear that government knew how bad the coming storm was. He makes it clear also that all sorts of folks - black and white -- took the initiative to get out of town before the storm hit. And he tries to explain why so many, including those with few means -- the poor, elderly and sick of all colors - stayed behind to fend for themselves. Many who stayed were unable to leave due to illness of incapacity. Others seemed deeply conflicted about evacuating - choosing to remain close to home, a home often purchased at great cost in money and time.
Lee lets residents be themselves, even when they make mistakes. He shows them airing ridiculous-sounding rumors, like the claim that the enormous explosions heard during the storm were from the levees being deliberately blown up. But Lee respects the residents enough Lee gives context to this fear, citing an earlier occasion when levees *were* dynamited. Lee documents naïve residents flocking to the Superdome, believing that help was on its way, and assuming that government aid would soon arrive, as it did during 9/11 and other national emergencies. But the anguish of the residents is in plain sight. Shots of elderly residents brought back to view wrecked homes - the results of a lifetime of labor and love - are heartbreaking.
The film shows Nagin and Blanco in far better light than they are normally shown. The Bush administration does not come off as well, and no federal officials were interviewed for the film, a serious shortcoming if intentional. Nagin, Blanco and others were nowhere near perfect in their reaction to the storm, but a legitimate question is whether the feds tried to cover their sins by spreading the blame down the chain of command.
The film's first two discs comprise Acts I-IV, the main part of the film, describing the approach of the storm, its fury, the immediate aftermath and the dispersal of New Orleans' citizens across the nation. Disc 3 contains additional material focusing in the efforts Sean Penn, author Douglas Brinkley and others to rescue New Orleans residents. This disk spotlights the disorganization and incompetence that surrounded the post-Katrina response. The role of police seemed to have become preventing people from fleeing the city and using the stocks of police boats needed to rescue friends and family. Hearing first-hand tales of rescuers -- of residents trapped in their attics, of the non-involvement of police, of the complete absence of Red Cross or FEMA in the first days of the disaster, of insurers returning pittances for destroyed homes-- was harrowing and inexplicable. In the absence of explanations, no wonder people have thought the worst - that class, color and greed were driving the official response.
Lee's film is a master work of the documentary form. Using images, mournful music and first-hand testimony, he builds an edifice of truth-telling that is far grander than the individual timbers that went into its construction. His pastiche of the faces, voices and emotions of New Orleanians most eloquently raises questions about the proper role of government. Is government a means of enriching oneself and one's friends, of satisfying one's personal ambitions or of flattering one's ego? Or is it, as some old document says, is instituted to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"? Whatever your answer, Lee's film shows government falling down in a big way when Katrina came storming into the Gulf in 2005. By showing us the results of government gone wrong, abetted by unaddressed poverty, hopelessness, dependence and racism, and assisted by official neglect, accidents and incompetence.
Lee raises many questions and answers few. He does not (perhaps could not) interview everyone who might have shed light on his subject. He may even try too hard to prove a racist intent for the horrible things that went wrong in New Orleans. But the devastation he filmed - not just of buildings and possessions but of spirit, pride and hope - ought to haunt the viewer long after the end credits finish rolling. Lee does his best to end his work on a positive note. This sometimes seems like painting a happy smile on a corpse. Yet he wants to be hopeful, as hopeful as the people of New Orleans are themselves about the future. "When the Levees Broke" at the very least is a record on a personal level of what it was like to live through Hurricane Katrina. At best it is a clarion call to hold government accountable for the welfare of its citizens, regardless of color, class or cash flow.
When the Levees Broke- A Requiem in 4 Acts 2008-03-31
The product is exceptional, originally saw parts on TV and had to purchase for my home library.
When the Levees Broke 2008-03-02
I've seen this four part requiem on HBO before I ordered it and I must say that I love it more now than then. This is a great documentary. I feel as if Spike Lee did an outstanding job! The Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans was a horrible episode in American history, especially for many African Americans. It's heartbreaking to hear and see some of the events and stories, but by doing so it lets you know that this great ol' America that we live in and feel so secure in, has it flaws. We of course can't control mother nature, but the people who were in charge of protecting and insuring the lives of American citizens through a time of disaster, didn't fully step up.
TRUTH BE TOLD. 2008-07-12
THE TRUTH WAS TOLD IN THIS ONE.FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT KNOW THE WHOLE STORY,YOU HAD TO BE THERE LIKE WE WERE.SPIKE LEE DID A GREAT JOB IN THIS DOCUMENTARY.BUT I THINK THE EXPLOSION HEARD IN THE LOWER 9TH WARD WAS THE BARGE BREAKING THROUGH THE LEVEE AND THE WATER RUSHING THROUGH.JUST MY OPINION.WE WATCHED THIS AT MY GIRLFRIENDS COUSIN HOUSE AND I WILL TELL YOU THERE WAS NOT A DRY EYE IN THE ROOM.IT SHOWED WHAT NETWORK TELEVISION WOULDN'T SHOW.THE HORROR.REAL HORROR.I GOT SOME OF MY FAMILY OUT IN MY CAR FROM THE MELPHOMENE PROJECTS UPTOWN JUST AS THE WATER WAS STARTING TO RISE.WE WENT TO GET MY MAMA FROM THE FISCHER PROJECTS ON THE WEST BANK OF NEW ORLEANS WHERE WE LIVED AT THE TIME BUT WE DID NOT HAVE ROOM FOR HER SO SHE MADE A SACRIFICE AND TOLD ME TO TAKE MY CAR AND LEAVE HER BEHIND.SHE TOLD ME TO BE STRONG AND TAKE CARE OF EVERYBODY AND SHE WOULD BE ALRIGHT.IT WAS HARD TO LEAVE HER BUT WE WERE ON THE SAME PAGE.WE ENDED UP AT LAMAR-DIXON EXPO CENTER IN GONZALES ,LA FOR TWO WEEKS.MY MAMA ENDED UP AT A SHELTER IN LAFAYETTE,LA.I ALSO HAD TO COME BACK TO SAVE A STRANDED COUSIN.IN THOSE 2 WEEKS MY FAMILY SPLIT UP.MY SISTER, NEICES AND NEPHEWS WENT TO HOUSTON,MY BIG BROTHER WENT TO LAS VEGAS.IT WAS HARD TO SEE MY FAMILY LEAVE BUT I HAD TO WEAR A POKER FACE FOR A LONG TIME.I WAS THE LAST TO LEAVE BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE WITH A CAR AND MONEY THANKS TO MY JOB AT WALMART.I GOT A HAIRCUT,EMERGENCY FOODSTAMPS AND MY RED CROSS CARD AND ON 09-16-05 I LEFT THE SHELTER AT 4:00PM TO HEAD TO PRESTON,MS.MY GIRL HAD GOTTEN US A 2 BEDROOM APARTMENT IN NEARBY PHILADELPHIA,MS.AS I LEFT LOUISIANA I REALIZED THE FACT THAT I MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO GO HOME AGAIN.I CRIED ALMOST ALL THE WAY TO MERIDIAN,MS ON I-59N.I REFUSED TO GO TO TEXAS AND DEAL WITH THAT DRAMA OF OVERCROWDING AND CRIME.WE AS A PEOPLE SUFFERED.BUT EVERYTHING TURNED OUT OK FOR US.EVERYBODY IS DOING FINE.WE ARE ALL BACK EXCEPT FOR MY BROTHER.HE LOVES LAS VEGAS.
The Levees Broke and People Died 2008-05-26
Spike Lee struggled a bit before he was motivated to make this film for HBO. His films don't make that much money anymore because he still focuses on people and not special effects. This movie is a documentary that focuses strongly on people but Hurricane Katrina was a horrible catastrophe for the country that this film couldn't be ignored. It is a classic and very well made. If this was the only film Spike Lee ever made, he'd be a great filmmaker but he has more - both fictional films and more documentaries too. Highly recommended.
A must see 2008-05-21
After a recent trip to New Orleans (Spring 2008) I came back and felt compelled to learn all I could about Katrina and what all of the New Orleans citizens had to suffer through. This documentary does an incredible job articulating that. It's truly a must see. And if you already hate BUSH, you will hate him more.
I still shutter when I watch this movie. 2008-05-20
After I watched this on HBO, I had to own it. The powerful story that is told here is not about propoganda, or agenda, it is about the survival of people who were left behind to fend for themselves; American people.
I have watched this with several of our youth groups in an attempt to show them that life can be a fragile gift, and that we should never take for granted that we have more of it to spare. At each watching there is never a dry eye in the room. the kids are riveted to the screen. they actually care about not only what happened, but as well what is happening now.
Spike Lee and company did a fine job on this, and hopefully there is more of the story being recorded.
My advice to anyone is to "buy this movie!"
A necessary addition to my DVD Library! 2008-05-15
I feel such pain every time I watch this documentary account of the devastation caused when Katrina stuck. Anyone who watches this DVD will have a hard time turning a blind eye toward the people whose lives have been forever changed by one of the largest catastrophes the US has known -- I know I never will!
