EXPO - Magic of the White City DVD | 
| Director: Mark Bussler
Actors: Gene Wilder, Claire Litton, Gene Wilder, Mark Bussler
Studio: Inecom Entertainment Company
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.07
You Save: $10.88 (44%)
New (28) Used (10) from $12.98
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 18255
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 116 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: RPNDIN15702D
ISBN: 1592180280
UPC: 806213157025
EAN: 9781592180288
ASIN: B000977JBW
Theatrical Release Date: September 13, 2005
Release Date: September 13, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New! Factory Sealed 100%Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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Product Description
Studio: Repnet Llc Release Date: 05/08/2007
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Great to see a documentary about this fair September 18, 2005
Mad Midwest Maggie (Southeastern, WI United States)
45 out of 46 found this review helpful
If you have only read "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson and want to see and know more about the fair you will be happy with this documentary. If you have read many books about the fair and taken advantage of all the resources at the Paul V. Galvin Library Digital History Collection online you may find yourself wanting more.
The focus of this documentary was mostly a tour of the fair. In recent books on the fair there seems to be either a "horray for progress/wasn't the fair pretty?" or a "damn American imperialism, racism, and sexism" route. The tone of this documentary was neutral/celebratory as it largely omitted discussion of racism and sexism (with only a few passing mentions). There were photos I hadn't seen before, and the narration (Gene Wilder) was superlative.
I do have quibbles with the film, which are most likey not the fault of the creators. See, what I really want is a bigger-budget version of this, full of computer reproductions of the fair so that we can "walk through" it instead of just scenes of a camera panning over a still photograph or painting. The live reinactments were limited to a belly dancer, beer drinking, and the murder of Mayor Harrison. There was also some live footage of fish and animals that the fair goers would have seen, which I am ambivalent about. But don't just tell me that the great pyramid would fit inside the Palace of Manufactures and Liberal Arts, drive the idea home with a little graphic, even a simple one, of the pyramid sitting inside it.
All that said, this was worth every penny and contained a lot of great material which I am bound to watch over and over again.
 I loved this DVD! February 7, 2006
Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA)
41 out of 41 found this review helpful
Having grown up in the Chicagoland area, I always heard passing references to the great Columbia Exposition, the 1893 World's Fair. This two hour documentary, narrated by Gene Wilder(!), tells the story of the Columbia Exposition from its conception down to final closing and aftermath. Chockfull of interesting pictures, it gives the modern day viewer something quite close to a guided tour of that great event of more than a century ago!
Overall, I must say that I loved this DVD. It gave a very interesting and highly informative look at the Fair, and I do not hesitate to recommend it to everyone! The one thing I must say is that the documentary did make me a little sad. Living in the early 21st century, it's hard to believe that people once dreamed so big. I have never before realized what a smaller, meaner world we now live in.
This is a great DVD, and I give it my highest recommendations!
Documentary of the Year September 17, 2005
Meredith Towbin (Pittsburgh, PA)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
The Columbian Exposition was vast in every way - from the sheer size of its physical location to the number of its visitors to the diversity of its exhibits - yet this film covers it all using a historically responsible and entertaining approach. "EXPO" treats its viewers to a detailed "behind-the-scenes" look into the Exposition with Gene Wilder as a guide. The tour is chock-full of fascinating tidbits, and the period photographs add a whole other dimension that is often absent from texts on the subject. The film truly drops the viewer smack in the middle of the Fair. The quality of the high-definition transfer is stunning, and the picture looks as clear and crisp as a high-definition broadcast. The sound is enveloping and adds depth to the documentary; you actually feel as if you're surrounded by the Fair's bustling crowds. The film is without a doubt satisfying for everyone from the amateur history buff to the well-read historian.
 The White City January 3, 2006
Mark Forrester (Hyattsville, MD USA)
14 out of 24 found this review helpful
Gene Wilder's narration adds an appropriate sense of Willy Wonka-esque wonder to this solid overview of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. At almost two hours, though, the DVD drags a bit - cheesy reenactments, for one thing, might have been happily omitted. While this documentary provides a lot of interesting information about how the Exposition came to be, and what it contained, it falls short in adequately placing the Exposition in a broader context. The most glaring and unfortunate oversight is the failure to include any discussion of the Fair's exclusion of African-Americans, and the resulting controversy.
Columbian Exposition Revisited January 29, 2006
Raymond A. Briggs (oviedo, fl)
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
THIS DOCUMENTARY WAS WELL ORGANIZED AND PROVIDED AN EXCELLENT OVERVIEW OF THE MONUMENTAL CHALLENGES FACED BY THE ARCHITECTS, WORKERS AND INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. Some historic facts presented by this film don't match other sources.
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