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List Price: $14.95Amazon.com's Price: $11.99 You Save: $2.96 (20%)as of 03/21/2010 01:37 EDT
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: A&E
EAN: 9780767027717
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 076702771X
Label: A&E Home Video
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageUnknownPortugueseUnknown
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
MPN: AAED70123D
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Running Time: 200 minutes
Studio: A&E Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2000
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In the 18th century a rural clock maker john harrison begins an obsessive forty-year effot to devise a system of determining longitude at sea with an ingenious marine timepiece. Meanwhile 200 years in the future naval officer rupert gould begins his own quest to refurbish the chronometers. Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 08/29/2000 Starring: Jeremy Irons Michael Gambon Run time: 200 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com essential video:
Gracefully adapted from Dava Sobel's extraordinary bestseller, the four-part TV production of Longitude combines drama, history, and science into a stimulating, painstakingly authentic account of personal triumph and joyous discovery. Equally impressive is the way writer-director Charles Sturridge has crafted parallel stories that complement each other with enriching perspective. The first story involves the successful 40-year effort of 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison (Michael Gambon) to solve the elusive problem of measuring longitude at sea. In 1714 the British Parliament had offered a generous reward to anyone who solved the problem, and Harrison devoted his life to that solution. The second story, some 200 years later, involves the effort of shell-shocked British Navy veteran Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) to restore the glorious clocks that Harrison had built. Like Harrison, Gould is the most admirable type of obsessive, but, also like Harrison, he risks his marriage to accomplish his difficult task.
Thousands of sailors perished at sea before Harrison's triumph changed history, but Longitude demonstrates that Harrison's glory was slow to arrive--and his prize money even slower. A fascinating study of 18th-century British politics and clashing egos in the arena of science, the film is both epic and intimate in consequence, and Sturridge's magnificent script inspires Gambon and Irons to do some of the best work of their outstanding careers. The ever-reliable Ian Hart appears in Part 3 as Harrison's now-adult son and apprentice, and Longitude approaches its dramatic climax with the exhilarating tension of a first-rate thriller. Rallying after sickness to prove the integrity of their marvelous seafaring chronometers, the Harrisons still had to fight for official recognition, and Gould's restoration of the Harrison clockworks provides a fitting coda to this exceptional story about the thrill of discovery and the tenacity of remarkable men. --Jeff Shannon
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Longitude is 2 documentaries woven together to tell the story of the first sea-going time piece. It is the story of two obsessions. It is a fascinating story that is well done. Think of it as the first contractor competing against the government; the same government agency deciding who is to get the prize for this multi-decade pursuit. Well told, well acted and extremely interesting if you are into historical non-fiction.
Rating: -
The first three customer reviews really say it all!
So why am I writing here?
Because you just gotta see this!
Truly a great movie.
Rating: -
A brilliant drama about a man's passion! Both Michael Gambon and Jeremy Irons bring powerful performances. Although in two parts I was with these characters all the way and captured by the powerful messages of their life stories.
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I was first introduced to the story of John Harrison via Dava Sobel's pocket dynamo paperback 'Longitude' which I thoroughly enjoyed. Next to fall into my possession was Sobel's 'The Illustrated Longitude' which was just superb and added so much to the story with all the amazing images. Subsequently when I came across the DVD 'Longitude' a few years back I quickly grabbed it.
This film is wonderful and a delightful complement to Sobel's books. Michael Gambon and Jeremy Irons shine in ... Read More
Rating: -
What a great and informative movie about the creation of a static ocean clock which allowed true navigation at sea - something that was not a constant in the late 1600's and early 1700's. If any of you have an interest in nautical history and general nautical navigation, get this DVD. We take for granted, since most ships are guided by GPS, how simple we can go from NY to Spain but a mere 300 to 350 years ago, that voyage was very risky and often led to disaster. If a navigator didn't know what ... Read More
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: A&E
EAN: 9780767027717
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 076702771X
Label: A&E Home Video
Languages:
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
MPN: AAED70123D
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: A&E Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Running Time: 200 minutes
Studio: A&E Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2000