Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

"Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery" is a very lengthy documentary that seems almost as long as the group's two year journey! This really isn't a complaint--more a comment about how incredibly thorough the show is. It's yet another exquisitely made documentary by Ken Burns--using the same wonderful and familiar style you'll see in his other PBS films. And, perhaps, it's made a bit better--very slow and lovingly rendered. The cinematography might just be the best thing about it--with wonderful vistas of the west and northwest United States. There were a few interesting surprises in the film--especially concerning Lewis' sad life due to debilitating difficulties which today would be diagnosed as a Bipolar Disorder. The interactions of the expedition with the natives was also an interesting surprise. All in all, a terrific film--just know that you'll need to devote a lot of time to it. However, IMDb indicates it's four hours long but the DVD was only about three and a half. I am not sure what this discrepancy is all about--I assume that the time listed on IMDb is just a simple mistake.

By the way, it's never mentioned in the film, but I wonder if President Jefferson sent OTHER expeditions as well but these were just never heard from again. Could this be the case? I do know that Zebulon Pike was soon sent on another western expedition--but there must have been others.

Perfect in every way--not to be missed.

Beautiful Cinematography. Excellent narration. Inspiring. What a Journey !!!

Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan are excellent film makers, but their focus on relying on still photography and reenactors in this documentary left much to be desired.

The lack of research is obvious. Images used throughout the film are of the post expedition period, at times decades after the event. Why the lack of period images? Hundreds, if not thousands of artifacts from the era, including drawings and paintings were ignored.

Historical accuracy of the reenactors left much to be desired, they are not clothed in the accoutrements issued by the U.S. Army nor correct civilian attire of the time frame. This is clearly evident by anyone wishing to review documentation produced by The Company of Military Historians, who published information on the 1st U.S. Infantry back in 1951. Lewis and Clark reenactors are notorious for their lack of historical accuracy.

Interviews with some historians (friends of the film makers) left much to be desired and did much to lesson the impact of this film.

Overall, it was an interesting endeavor but one which suffered from too much emotionalism. If you want to learn about the U.S. Army's Corps of Discovery, read the original journals.

Nothwithstanding the celebrity endorsements and hype, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration has become a monumental flop.

Ken Burns' film is a landmark study of the 1804 through 1806 Lewis and Clark expedition, starting in St Louis, and returning there two years later, having found a route to the Pacific Ocean. Put your political leanings aside, this film does not judge whether the USA, Spain, and France *should* have been able to grab and trade the native lands occupied for centuries by various Native American tribes. Lewis and Clark, and the men that went with them, were true explorers. Their journey is almost unimaginable. When you fly west over the USA during a clear day, and can see the wide expanse of mountains, you can begin to understand what an ordeal it was for them to cross over to what we now call the Columbia River. This is not a dry historical film. Everyone should see it, for the historical significance of the journey. The city of St Louis built a high arch in commemoration of the journey, and it is called "The Jefferson Expansion Memorial."

I saw the DVD, and it is a really fine one. I got it as a free loan from my local library, maybe you can too!! Plus, one of the narrators is my old college friend Daniel von Bargen.

I be an old fart of 60 years. I enjoy Walking Dead and GoT so I believe I have a pretty well rounded circle of influence.

That stated this film blows me away (far, far away). As I sit in my 3 BR 3 B AC'd and heated house, with a full fridge of nourishment, I finish watching this film desperately wishing I could have been one of the Corp. A deep melancholy settles into me. The only cure I have found for this morbid depression is to get my rig ready, and shoot up my medicine by hitting replay. Again, and again, and again,...... I fear for my sanity. I have tried exploring the wilderness around me, but I can only hike a few yards without meeting some other human or their waste. Alas.