College Essentials: History 101 DVD Review

The College Essentials Collection are a number of DVD sets, each with three films fit into the specific category given to the set, each grouped by college course names. These categories include Anatomy 101, Music Appreciation 101, Anti-Social Studies 101, Astronomy 101, Partying 101, Phys. Ed. 101, History 101, Computer Science 101, and Romance 101. Whether these are to be followed by 200 level college essentials next year or it is just a clever marketing ploy in order to sell more DVDs as gifts for new college students is rather irrelevant. What is relevant are the films in these sets, which are surprisingly well paired.

Often when films are paired up in packages despite having no connection to each other, except for the company that owns them all, there is at least one film in the set that is sandwiched between much better films. It is a way of making people feel like they are getting more even if part of what they are getting they don’t really want. These sets pair some strange films together, but for the most part they are all films worth owning, even if just for guilty pleasure. Although the films are often impressive, one disappointment about the set is the versions of the films included. In order to keep the cost down the versions of the DVDs included are always the cheapest possible version. The only special edition DVDs included are the ones which were never released otherwise. For some people the films are all that really matter, and for those consumers these packages will be a great deal, but collectors and film buffs might find it worthwhile to buy the films individually.

History 101 is a great set in regards to the films, because they are all great films, but they are indeed so good that there are several other better packages for them individually available. Each has a special edition available and one even has a longer version of the film available. This makes it difficult to encourage fans to buy this set, but I suppose if only the film is important than it is a great buy. They are all certainly films worth having, even though they are all very different movies as well as each representing their own decade in film.

Platoon (1986) Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director in 1986, Platoon is a brutal depiction of war based on Oliver Stone’s experiences in Vietnam. Charlie Sheen plays Chris Taylor, a man who struggles with a fight between the Viet Cong and his own sanity in the jungle. At the same time his commanding officers, played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, are fighting their own battles with sanity and each other in the deep jungles of Vietnam. This DVD is one of the few special edition packages, but it is a slight triumph considering an even bigger package was recently released for the film. This version still has some special features worthwhile, including a great commentary track with writer/director Oliver Stone and a documentary with interviews with the cast and Stone. There is also a separate commentary track by military supervisor Dale Dyle and a photo gallery.

Dances With Wolves (1990) The truly epic and sweeping three hour film directed and starring Kevin Costner is based on the book by Michael Blake, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, and was the winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director in 1990. Costner also stars in the film as Lt. John Dunbar, a man after going crazy from battle who is sent to a distant outpost on the frontier. With only himself to survive he befriends the local Sioux Indian tribe and spends a great deal of time with them, learning their ways. Due to the extreme length of the film all that is on this single disc DVD is the trailer and the film.

Windtalkers (2002) John Woo takes on World War II in this somewhat cheesy war film. Even with a little more melodrama than the cast seems able to handle with sincerity there is so much nonstop action that it is impossible not to be entertained. This is the only film in the set not given an Academy Award and is also the most basic of many different DVDs available for the film. This one has only the theatrical version of the film and the theatrical trailer for a special feature despite a much shorter running time than Dances with Wolves. Nicolas Cage plays Sergeant Joe Enders, a scarred soldier given the task of guarding a special Navajo soldier who is trained to use a code that hasn’t been decoded by the enemy yet.