The Men Who Built America

Although I am not a history major or a self-proclaimed history buff, I loved this show. I normally NEVER watch TV and I simply couldn't stop until I was done with the series. I thought the producers did an excellent job of making these stories interesting and I also enjoyed the commentary. The men portrayed, (Vanderbuilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Ford) were business geniuses regardless of their often unscrupulous tactics amongst each other, smaller business and the working man. It's still a part of American history that everyone should learn about, including kids in school. Also, it's much better than most shows you find on TV these days.

I was expecting the usual type series you get for series' like this which is the usual 'they are good, but it's kind of boring and hammy'. Not at all the case on this one. First of all, very interesting. I learned so much that I had no clue about before. The acting is actually pretty good, but what really drives this series home is the terrific narration, the fantastic editing, and the magnificent sound and music that ties along with it.

This series is proof that if you have some patience, talent and money to put into the production, the possibilities are then limitless. And this production understands the great importance and power of a well thought out sound and music to play in the background. At times you feel like you're watching different mafia families go at it with each other. That you're watching the high powered cartels dish it out and it absorbs you in to where you don't want to stop watching. This is a brilliant series to watch and I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

You know the names of the foundations, the musems, the cultural centers; not so much the circumstances of these men who contributed to America as much as any of her Presidents. This series aims to put faces to names, and succeeds in that aspiration memorably. Ideologically, it links innovation, capitalism and the social good as well as anything you're bound to see in the popular media.

The opening titles won me over then and there, demonstrating that this series was something different. it rolled out a sequence of what we thought of as dusty old names and depicted them in 2.5D as rock stars, recalling the opening titles of "Easy Riders Raging Bulls (2003)." High production values are evident all around, from the exceptional CGI recreations to the casting and acting.

At times the production comes across as bit over-the-top, but isn't that appropriate given the outsized subject matter?

An appealingly watchable and well done documentary on the men who emerged from post-Civil War America to become the titans of their respective enterprises and helped shape a nation into one of the greatest and most influential nations in history. The stories of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford are shown featuring their rise from varied backgrounds to being among the most powerful men in the United States. Their interactions with each other and society around them, their triumphs, challenges, crimes and eventual declines are well presented. Decent actors portray the historical figures well and well done reenactments give a good glimpse into a time and place when these giants of industry dominated their respective domains. Interviews with authors and prominent business figures like Donald Trump and Jack Welch add a contemporary outlook and sense of perspective. Whether it be in shipping, railroads, oil, electricity, or automobiles the documentary shows that these moguls all had the vision, the confidence and the drive to succeed and saw opportunity in situations both good and bad and never allowed adversity or setbacks to get in their way. Informative and inspiring, "The Men Who Built America" highlights what man can achieve.

I home-school my daughter and used this series to expand on this era of time in American History.

Traditional schools just touch on these men. I wanted her to get the idea of who they really were, how driven they were and how visionary they had to be to achieve such greatness.

Now that we are done with the series, we both feel more informed, and we will miss The Men Who Built America in both spirit and history.

Side note: Great acting by all in the series, they brought their roles to life and gave them personality and depth.