I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Z Channel A Magnificent Obsession: 4 out of 10: Well they got the obsession part right. Jerry Harvey was the programming genius behind Z channel an independent LA cable channel that did help revolutionize the way pay cable shows film.He was famous for finding obscure films and directors and showcasing them to the Hollywood elite. He was also a troubled soul with a horrible family history who murdered his wife then took his own life. The documentary attempts to tell the two tales intertwined.The latter of the tales seems unfulfilling. Reminisces from former friends and colleagues are quite frank. (Some, 20 years later, clearly don't forgive him) but there is virtually no insight into causation.What the latter lacks in drama and insight the former lacks in scope. Jerry actually became programming director in 1980 at the death scene of big studio director driven independent Hollywood film of the seventies. (His pal Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate was the film that inspired the studio coup d'etat.) So his influence on independent film was more of a eulogizer than influential promoter. (Cimino, Peckinpah and others in his independent circle simply couldn't get work Z channel marathon or no Z channel marathon. Only James Woods (whose Salvador performance was highlighted during Oscar season) and Paul Verhooeven (who claims he got his Robocop job after a Z channel marathon of his films) show a career boost from Jerry.So Jerry plucked tons of virtually unseen studio films of the seventies as well as foreign films for his channel and used these movies to help fill the twenty four hours a day.The documentary avoids one reason for this (These films were cheap if not outright free to show) and barely acknowledges the other reason (These films had plenty of nudity making them the perfect cable only product).The film also avoids answering some simple questions such as if it was so popular why didn't Z channel expand to San Francisco or New York? Jerry does deserve credit for introducing the now ubiquitous director's cut. (Though Heaven's Gate was a really bad movie to start that trend on) and his love of the obscure can be felt from Sundance to Netflix.The film does highlight some great obscure films I still haven't seen but surprising shows no footage whatsoever from the Z channel itself. Long and talky Z Channel is a great place to find some obscure films it just isn't that great a story.

Even from the perspective of a young film enthusiast (which this review holds most in mind), the well-known name of the director's father is enough of a draw to justify gambling on this unusual documentary. The focal point is not Channel Z, the LA-based pay-channel started in the 70's, or the life of Jerry Harvey, the half-crazed mastermind behind its incredible programming. Instead these are touched on and used as a sort of backbone to hold up its main intent: a grand introduction into a wide array of marvelous and often-overlooked films.For some it may serve primarily as memorabilia of a past age; for the younger generation whose only concept of a pay movie channel is HBO or Showtime, it's an education. Again and again, the documentary tactfully exposes the viewer to countless films and directors that otherwise would be lost amid the fanfare din of movies now calculated for the appeal of trailers and catch-phrases alone. For any who have been disenchanted by modern cinema, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession offers a comforting return to a more ideologically experimental time in the history of film.Working something like a subtle lecture wrapped in a semi-biopic, this documentary has its share of small problems, running occasionally along the mundane -- even the surprising resolution of Jerry's problem leaves one far less affected than circumstances would seem to call for -- yet in the end, the exposure to the brilliant content of the channel and all those touched by it renders the viewer with a renewed sense of vigorous interest in the art of film as a whole.

a pretty straight forward documentary about an early pay cable movie channel, yet this movie itself serves if anything to pique an interest in the thousands of movie that disappear year after year into the oblivion of forgotten film. as a lover of film and viewer of far too few i find it fascinating that even with all the cable options now available there are so few willing to take the types of risk involved in old film, foreign films, crass films, art films, short films and combine them in the manner that doesn't insult the viewers intelligence. this movie in and of itself may not be terribly interesting, but it will perhaps stir the imagination towards other movies that you may never forget.

Back in 1974 a pay TV station was started in Los Angeles. It was the Z channel--it showed movies uncut with no commercials. It was a pioneer--years before Showtime, HBO and Cinemax. But Z channel showed films no one else would air--foreign films, independent features. A lot of important film were discovered (or rediscovered) on this channel. It ran the uncut "Heaven's Gate" after the disastrous cut version was released; the same with "Once Upon A Time In America"; it introduced "Bad Timing" to an audience after it's minor theatrical release; "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" found its audience here; the complete 9 hour version of "1900" was shown here and on and on. Also, some of these films had X ratings--but Z didn't cut them. MANY clips of the various films are shown here.It's also about it's owner and programming director--Jerry Harvey. It explains what drove him and how he singlehandedly found these films and showed them. Unfortunately he was also suffering from personal demons which ended up killing him.I didn't know anything about this station--and I'm upset that I grew up on the East Coast and not the West Coast. The programming this station had was fascinating and is inter cut with people who worked there and directors it helped. This is an absolutely fascinating look at the kind of pay TV station we'll never see again and the men and women who ran it. Just great--a definite must-see! A 10 all the way.