One can't help but see this as an indicator of progress in Iraq

[Zen-like Todd]

I went to amazon.com to check out the reviews for the DVD box set of "From the Earth to the Moon", when I started reading a post that seemed to be written by someone whose native tongue was not English. Out of simple curiosity, I scrolled up a bit, and saw the name and location of the poster......

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0783114222/qid=1070399121/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-4218418-2134430?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

Whats makes this one of the best DVD's ever to watch on TV?, November 14, 2003

Reviewer: Shazarwan Hassan from Tikrit,Iraq

- Facts are real, has plenty of information about what probably is humankind`s greatest achievement. The mix of real footage and amazingly created ones add to its real life/documentary spirit. But it`s far from being a documentary, although every fact is real. It goes beyond on the narration.

- It`s not "Americana" on its spirit. Mr. Hanks and his team deserve merits for showing this great achievement as a mankind victory instead of an "America only" feat. Congratulations!

- Each episode is presented thru an original point of view, not the one you`d expect. This gives new life to the facts. The Apollo 13 episode, for example, shows how an anchor man from a TV network faced his drama at the same time as the astronauts. A great achievement since if it was presented the other way it would fail when compared to the movie. Actually, one complements the other.

- Many generations have not lived the man on the moon. This is the best way to give them a small feeling of what that meant. It`s the closest an historical document can get to emotion. Anyone will learn great and funny facts from the Apollo project and its missions.

- Episodes are very successful in passing the feeling of this great achievement. You`ll be proud of it, specially if you happened to be alive when it happened. At the end you`ll regret the fact that today we (humans/nations) spend too much time and energy with small problems that don`t take anyone anywhere.

- On the latest episode you`ll learn that one of the century`s "greatest" men was, actually, the first pirate whose actions screwed the life of the first great filmmaker.

- Mr. Hanks talents go far beyond acting. Congratulations!

- Acting is amazing, direction perfect, screenplays compelling. You won`t believe this was "just" a 12 episode TV miniseries. It`s FAR better than many movies made on science fiction/space exploration genres.

The only point where they`ve sleeped:

- The box and its opening "book" scheme doesn`t feel it`ll be up to date when man reaches Mars.

I`d like to remind you all that this is not a science fiction miniseries. Its focus is on the spirit, the challenge, the emotions, the technology, the men and women involved on taking the man on a voyage from the Earth to the Moon.

At around US$ 80.00, it`s far from cheap. But worth every cent.