There's a more emotional 1985 docu on the Statue of Liberty done in 1985 by the ubiquitous Ken Burns, but this History Channel show originally broadcast in 1994 as Modern Marvels: Statue of Liberty is a better than adequate alternative.

It's actually split between the absorbing story of how the statue came to be, and the parallel story of Ellis Island. The statue was a gift to the people of America 'from the people of France' first envisioned in 1875 as a political statement against the elitist French government of the time. Ultra wealthy American interests were dead set against the project and saw no value in a monument to the teeming masses of immigrants that generated most of the nation's wealth. It took Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper campaigns to raise the money to build the enormous pedestal upon which lady liberty would stand.

The statue took a long time to get going, and the docu shows the finished arm and torch on display in hopes of raising more money, and the complicated process by which the statue was formed from hundreds of copper plates hammered into shape. Modern restoration experts explain how the famous Gustave Eiffel replaced the original plan to simply fill the statue with sand. Instead, a steel tower framework was designed to brace the statue from within.

The project was always a political football. At its 1886 unveiling, it was inaugurated by politicians who had been dead-set against it for years. Women were banned from the event, but a boatload of suffragettes crashed the ceremony and shut it down with a heckling demonstration. The next day, its dedication speech was recorded on the brand-new cylinder voice recording invention.

Representing the dream of freedom for the millions of immigrants who came to American through New York, the statue was soon associated with immigrants themselves. The center section of the docu tells how Ellis Island came to be, detailing its process and purpose. A complicated process awaited the immigrants who were herded through it, treated like a potential health hazard and screened for all kinds of diseases. The level of detail is thorough, even down to explaining how a couple of ethnic slurs originated as innocent jargon used during the processing.

The docu brings both subjects up to date with the 1980s restoration of both the statue (with American craftsmen re-learning from French experts techniques once lost) and the Ellis Island buildings, where visitors who came through the immigration process as children long ago, can now record their personal memories. The 1986 rededication provides a fitting climax.

NewVideo's DVD of The Statue of Liberty: Enlightening the World is a reasonable retitling of a history channel episode. Video and audio quality are fine; it's a good docu that could be an excellent teaching tool. The giant Twin Towers are seen often in the background, providing an Oironic tension in wide shots and interviews.

Also included is a text extra several pages long, with facts and dimensions of every bit of the statue. A second docu on Ellis Island is on board as an extra. It's similar to the section in the main show, with different details and a different style.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
The Statue of Liberty: Enlightening the World rates:
Movie: Very Good
Video: Very Good
Sound: Very Good
Supplements: Ellis Island, an episode of The History Channel's Save Our History series, text facts on The Statue of Liberty
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: February 18, 2004