The Harvey Milk 3-Pack Box Set (Times of Harvey Milk / Common Threads / Where Are We)

Rating:
Summary: The Times of Harvey Milk
Review: While this documentary is pulls at the heart and makes this reviewer as a gay person,want to step back into time to experiences the feeling of that era.....of the emerging political movement What a time of total optimism!!! The Tragedy of Milk and Moscones' death was are downers in an otherwise positive time for gays and lesbians...in California. Little did they know that within 3 years the first of thousands upon thousands of Aids deaths would rock the Castro. (SEE THE CASTRO) a pbs film about the history of the Castro.
That said however , as a person inspired by this film in 1985 when I first saw it to find out all I could about Harvey Milk was somewhat disolusioned to learn that the Harvey portrayed in The Times of Harvey Milk, beared little resemblance in many ways to the Harvey Milk of Randy Shilts book, The Mayor of Castro Street. His life a personal mess one some levels, Unorganized, vindictive and petty.....on others. Still though Milks strength of persona and the era in which he lived transends all the faults.
The XTRAS are well worth the purchase of this disc for anyone who has seen this documentary before.
I have watched The Times of Harvey Milk MANY MANY times over the past 19 years when I feel down about the gay movement and the forces that wish to have us relegated to a sub existence in this country. It reminds me always that anything worth fighting for sometimes requires a sacrifice....Sadly Harvey was a sacrifice for the betterment of the Gay community... Sad yes but it gives me strength and resolve every time i watch it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Powerful DVD for all!
Review: Great DVD of what has become a classic of the queer community's most important hero! The extras are amazing, I was asking where can I get more on Moscone's son and Harvey's nephew, wow? How can they be contacted? The alternative ending was very insightful, very! Is there more to come? I will use this in every class I teach. Unforgetable!

Rating:
Summary: A MUST SEE FILM
Review: The Times of Harvey Milk never ever fails to touch you. I saw it in the 80's on PBS and it's just as relevant now as it was then. The DVD remaster looks and sounds terrific and is packed with lots of bonus materials, but the the real meat of the impact is still the actual film. If you've never seen it, you need to.

Rating:
Summary: Unknown to me, till now...
Review: As I browsed my local library DVD collection I stumbled upon this film and was curious, because I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the tragic story surrounding his political career.

For those of you who do not know, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the US (he was a Supervisor for San Francisco.) His time in office had many highlights; however, a fellow Supervisor assassinated him after Milk served only 11-months in office.

Yes, this is a documentary, and although the story is built with tragedy in mind one must remember the good that Milk built upon. His policies helped more then just the gay community, and it is disheartening to see that his story is not more prominently featured.

This was a nice DVD in general, and as documentaries go it is fairly good quality. This is a intriguing and well-done film that all should see, and may it make you a little more aware like it did me.

Rating:
Summary: A Man For His Times.
Review: I have owned a copy of this film for a long time. I have probably watched it ten times, and I always tear up a little at each viewing. From the beginning newsreel, of a shell-shocked Diane Feinstein announcing the less than hour old murders of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, to the final reel of Harvey Milk's prophetic and haunting statements, the viewer is mesmerized. Though Harvey Milk was a San Francisco city supervisor, his election in the 1970's, that of an open and unrepentant gay man, made national headlines . He was a ray of hope to gay people everywhere, who at that time were unrepresented and, for the most part, still forced into the closet. This film not only gives insight into the philosiphy of Harvey Milk, but is a rare document into that not so long ago but seemingly ancient time. Milk was a very eloquent speaker, and his sensibility, logic, and unapologetic viewpoint more often than not made mincemeat of any verbal opponent. This is best displayed in the footage of his debate with then California Senator Briggs, a buffoon like character, who not only was a terrible speaker, who couldn't even clearly express his arguably irrational fears, but who in fact seemed much prissier than his nemesis Milk. The public view at that time was about family values, with the Anita Bryants condeming homosexuals to Hell for their decadent ways (Old times come round again....). Milk's voice opposed this view openly, and he seemed to predict his early demise at the hands of an assassin who was against what he represented. The notion of this martyrdom, and its romantic though fateful attraction to Milk, has been argued. Nevertheless, his bravery in representing the unrepresented cannot be argued, and the sordid details of his love affairs and personal life should not diminish his message, nor the admiration he deserves. This film unfolds as it happened, seeming like fiction, but all too real. As Milk is assassinated, along with the Mayor, by the homophobic and disgruntled resigned supervisor Dan White, whose subsequent trial, with the famous "Twinkie Defense", and his being sentenced to an appalling five years for the murders, resulted in riots the likes of which the city had never seen. As one of those interviewed here expresses with sad resignation,... if only the Mayor had been killed, White would have gotten life, but the fact that Milk, a gay man, had also been killed, leaned public sympathy towards White, an absurd but all too realistic conclusion.There are many moving, telling, historically signifigant moments in this film, but none so clearly represents those times, and Milk's loss and legacy, as the film of the nighttime march in San Francisco right after the murders. Seas of people, holding candles and standing silently, came together in a very moving moment in time. This film, which won best documentary at that years Oscars, transcends its subject matter, and is simply a great documentary. Gay rights have made much progress. And perhaps time has diminished their names and these memories to most all, excluding those who were there, are old enough to remember , or are gay. Nonetheless, Harvey Milk is a representive and icon of the early gay rights movement, and his legacy, through schools named after him, organizations, and his place in history as a voice for the all too often voiceless, lives on.

Rating:
Summary: I'm A Straight Republican
Review: In one of my classes, we studied the infamous "twinkie defense," and I was enthralled by the whole ordeal. Wanting to learn more, I rented this dvd, and was not disappointed.

I was transferred back to a time when the political scene was changing, and gays were just starting to "come out of the closet." The story of a young [...] NY Jewish camera salesman who fled to SF in the 60's and through passion & elbow grease managed to become the first openly gay man elected as Supervisor was somewhat inspiring.

The documentary builds up the story expertly up to the unfortunate end.

I took off 1 star because I wanted them to talk more about how the jury selected was conservative because the prosecution WANTED a conservative jury, in hopes they'd get the death penalty. Instead of blaming THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, by my reasoning, I'd blame the prosecution for bad judgement in selecting the jurors.

Anyways, while I may not have agreed politically with Harvey Milk on most issues, I still admire the passion he displayed in fighting for his cause.

This is a must-see for all documentary and "court tv" lovers.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable film about the trials of being gay.
Review: I used this film when I was president of the local GLBT groups at Iowa State University. It is amazingly clear how the lives of GLBT people are impacted by society and the lower levels of respect given to them by mainstream America. It also shows how courageous people can join together and make a difference in their lives.

Rating:
Summary: A brave and charismatic man
Review: Harvey Milk's political career only lasted 11 months but his impact continues to resonate 26 years after his death.

Watching this Greek drama unfold during the 1970s one can only imagine how Milk would react to gay and lesbians emergence in the mainstream. Although his time was short, he can justiably be cited as an influence in the fight for gay rights.

For those of us who were not aware of him during his lifetime, Milk's charisma is apparent to the viewers of this film. One can understand why the city of San Francisco was enveloped in grief after Milk and George Moscone's murders and can only wonder what might have been had they lived. I challenge anyone to try not to tear up watching the scenes of the march after their deaths.

The film is powerful enough where one even feels sorry for Dan White, an individual who was in over his head against more politically saavy opponents.

Because this DVD was released during the film's 20th anniversary, my main complaint is why doesn't the special features give an update on some of the supporting characters. Rather than listen to the director and editor drone on in the commentary about how certain scenes were shot with natural light, I would have preferred updated information on people such as Jim Elliot (A seemingly unlikely supporter of someone like Milk. The commentators could have let us know, is he still alive?), Sally Gearhart, Jeannine Yeomans, Tory Hartmann and others.

Other than that, I give this film a high reccomendation.

Rating:
Summary: The Times of Harvey Milk
Review: While this documentary is pulls at the heart and makes this reviewer as a gay person,want to step back into time to experiences the feeling of that era.....of the emerging political movement What a time of total optimism!!! The Tragedy of Milk and Moscones' death was are downers in an otherwise positive time for gays and lesbians...in California. Little did they know that within 3 years the first of thousands upon thousands of Aids deaths would rock the Castro. (SEE THE CASTRO) a pbs film about the history of the Castro.
That said however , as a person inspired by this film in 1985 when I first saw it to find out all I could about Harvey Milk was somewhat disolusioned to learn that the Harvey portrayed in The Times of Harvey Milk, beared little resemblance in many ways to the Harvey Milk of Randy Shilts book, The Mayor of Castro Street. His life a personal mess one some levels, Unorganized, vindictive and petty.....on others. Still though Milks strength of persona and the era in which he lived transends all the faults.
The XTRAS are well worth the purchase of this disc for anyone who has seen this documentary before.
I have watched The Times of Harvey Milk MANY MANY times over the past 19 years when I feel down about the gay movement and the forces that wish to have us relegated to a sub existence in this country. It reminds me always that anything worth fighting for sometimes requires a sacrifice....Sadly Harvey was a sacrifice for the betterment of the Gay community... Sad yes but it gives me strength and resolve every time i watch it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Powerful DVD for all!
Review: Great DVD of what has become a classic of the queer community's most important hero! The extras are amazing, I was asking where can I get more on Moscone's son and Harvey's nephew, wow? How can they be contacted? The alternative ending was very insightful, very! Is there more to come? I will use this in every class I teach. Unforgetable!