Click here to visit our new site --> CafeDVD 2.0 Great Events Of Our Century, The - Box Set (1999) Rating: Starring: Alfonso Garcia (II) Director: Category: Special Interest Studio: Madacy Subtitles: [None] Length: 600 mins     Events Which Shaped Our Lives Disaster Throughout the 20th century the spectre of "Disaster" has cast a shadow over almost every aspect of man's relationship with the world of inhabits. Our heading rush to improve and expand has carried with it the inherent danger of spectacular failure. Just as it has throughout history, the unpredictable world of nature has often exploded with devastating results. Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and hurricanes have left whole nations reeling their best efforts to predict and control the elements. But the greatest disasters of the century have been of man's own making. Our advances in science, technology and innovation, designed to make our lives easier, have come with a heavy price. The race for industrial and economic power has contaminated the environment and threatened the very existence of the planet. This disturbing and often spectacular episode charts 100 years of disaster and raise the greatest question of all: Can mankind and the planet survive the legacy of the twentieth century? Freedom There are many kinds of freedom - political and civil, sexual and racial, the freedom of belief and the freedom of expression. In the name of freedom, systems born in this century have died in this century, established empires have been dismantled. "Freedom" explores the 20th century phenomenon of people power, from the individual freedom fighters to the millions of ordinary people who have campaigned to change the course of history. Politics Of Violence Political violence has been defining feature of the twentieth century. Politically motivated groups and individuals have forcefully transmitted their political perspective to an international audience. ""Politics of Violence"" catalogues the horrifying escalation of terror within the twentieth century, examines its driving forces and witnesses its effects on the world's innocent civilians. Death and Glory War is unfortunately very popular. Television and film archives probably carry more footage of the world's conflicts than on any other subject. This episode of the series uses never before seen footage of the struggles cam has fought this century, across the continents of the world. Not a single year of the 20th century has passed without war somewhere in the world. In 1900, armies of the great European empires were in the field, and the film cameras were there with them. As the end of the millenium approaches, the hail of bullets is still with us - captured now on this television screen. This episode of Century traces the challenging face of warfare, from the king and country to mechanized massacre of whole populations. Science has invented ever more ingenious machines for slaughter: from semaphore to the Stealth bomber, from artillery shells killing 100 men to nuclear weapons capable of disparching millions. Fame There has always been fame. In any human group or society throughout history someone somewhere has become famous for something. "Fame" explores the concept of 20th century fame and infamy. It examines how the perquisites of fame have changed over the course of a hundred years; how we still hold on to our old-style heroes in Andy Warhol's world of 15-minute fame. "Fame" is presented in thematic sections which include personalities form cinema, music, society and politics. Obsession From the way we look to the way we dress, "Obsession" traces our growing fascination with the human body over the last 100 years. From cosmetic - make-up and adornment, dress and undress - to the fundamental - the exciting, fast moving program examines man's great obsession with himself. In a century where our ability to remanipulate and alter the body we are born with has never been greater, we expose the truth behind the body beautiful. In a century where the greatest attention has been reserved for the most important body of all - our own - "Obsession" looks back at the diversity and beauty of mankind as it has been exposed to the all-seeing eye of the 20th century, the camera. Scandal "Cardinal Dies in Arms of Caberet Blonde!" screamed the headline. His Eminence Cardinal Danilou was found in the Paris apartment of 24-year-old Mme. Santoni - the police delicately reported that he "had been acting as her father confessor". The more powerful they are, the further they have to fall and the more entertaining it is for the rest of us to see them land in the mire: priests and politicians, diplomats and doctors, emperors and entertainers. And stirring the murky waters of the scandal pool are the men with the muckrakes, gentlemen of the press. "Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality", said Oscar Wilde, the victim of a notorious 19th century scandal. Scandals reflect the changes in society's view of acceptable and unacceptable behavior - this view alters dramatically with time and place. Scandals erupt when taboos are broken or cultures clash. Do illegitimacy, homosexuality, divorce and miscegenation still have the power to shock as they did in 1900? In 100 years time, the world may wonder why such a fuss was made about euthanasia - or will it? I Am The Greatest Muhammed Ali's famous eulogy to himself is now universally acknowledged as an accurate and fitting tribute to the century's most charismatic sporting hero. But he is only the most outstanding of a succession of athletes whose deeds have inspired all of us. During the twentieth century sport has become a huge entertainment industry: a reflection of much that is laudable in the human spirit; a mirror of much that is said about the human condition; and a world-wide social opium, offering a cathartic release from the mundane realities of life. At the beginning of the century sport was still based on the simple pastimes of folk games. Little was organized on a significant scale, practically nothing resembling international competition existed. Legacy Our children will inherit a legacy form a century of dramatic change - a legacy generated by a hundred years of technological and political hyper-activity. But it has also been a world where change constancy have been paradoxical themes. The beneficiaries of this legacy will undoubtedly gain from the technological revolution, but they will also have to endure the consequences of our mistakes and follies. An ever expanding population will be forced to confront a shrinking world where our multiple identities and loyalties to family, community, nation and planet will vie with each other for a balanced co-existence. The manipulation and conquest of our environment, our exploitation of new systems of communication, our increased understanding of our psychological make-up, and the increased sophistication of our weapons of destruction only go to highlight one alarming fact: for all the obvious changes that our surroundings have undergone one thing hasn't changed - man himself. Into The Unknown Since the dawn of time our insatiable curiosity has made us want to know more about our universe, our planet and ourselves. If a frontier is there we must cross it, if a mountain is there we must climb it; we must do it more quickly, with added danger, forever testing our strength, our endurance and our ingenuity. "Into The Unknown" meets those indomitable heroes who, however awesome the task, have always been ready to meet it, and tries to understand why challenging the unknown is so important to us.