As Good As It Gets

A Major Disappointment

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

A big disclaimer missing from this film, that is "Based on true events". It gives wrong impression to audiences who are familiar with the history of the underlying intent for inserting erroneous info. Is it just bad info? Or is there an alternate motive to feed wrong info to audiences not intimate with history judging from the remarks made by the modern influential men?Since this film was distributed via History Channel, the inaccurate info take away 5 points. If it was simply someone's attempt to make drama based on true events, this score would have been higher.This film cannot even be regarded as historical documentary. At best, a recount of PERSONAL perspectives, understanding and ideals of some history. It would probably be more enjoyable if it tried to learn from Elon Musk version of MARS TV show.However, if the intent is to spread personal view, belief and agenda into audiences who don't care much about history, this may be the piece to create alternate reality for them.

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.

Overall I found this to be an entertaining look at the history of the robber barons and how the US economy (and in the long run the world economy) evolved during the last half of the 19th century.The mix of interviews and commentary with actors portraying the historical figures was effective.I did have a minor problem with some of the historical errors. For example in one scene they show the magnates viewing a film of William Jennings Bryan and the commentary is to the effect that he is "certain to be the Democratic nominee.In fact there was no real front runner in 1896 and Bryan emerged as something of a surprise nominee following his famous Cross of Gold Speech But overall an entertaining series

Came across the show while flicking through the channels one evening. Caught it half way thorough the second episode and was instantly interested. Decided quickly to find the On-demand channel for the History Channel so that I could start from the beginning. Watched the first and second episode in one swoop. Couldn't wait for next episode. I thought the show was great. I was not born in USA, so to me the show was immensely educational. Also, liked the way the show was constructed. Halfway between a documentary and a film.Many interesting and surprising facts about these "robber barons" - who they were, where they came from, how they made it and what made them tick. The most interesting thing was how these men were linked to each other through coincidental business deals. On another level the show explained the immense strength that America gained internationally through the tenacity and ambition of these men - without taking away from the individual aspect of the men themselves.