The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World prides itself on recreating the actual historical facts surrounding the creations highlighted in each episode. Therefore, all recreated dialogue evidently comes from existing documents, which is both a boon and a detriment. While it's fascinating to get a "You Are There" perspective on these epochal building enterprises, it also has a tendency to ring false to have these supposedly historical characters speaking directly to the camera, especially when they couch their historical verbiage in patently modern speech patterns. That said, the series has seven superb episodes that run the gamut from well known creations (The Hoover Dam) to at least one I had never heard of before (The Bell Rock Lighthouse).

While some people (most likely Americans) will argue with this BBC production's Anglo-centric view of what constitutes modern marvels (several of the episodes focus on Brits), and while some others may have qualms with the seven wonders actually chosen for the series, the seven wonders chosen all present some fascinating story-telling that is also extremely visually compelling. For example the lead off episode details the construction of what was then the largest man-made object ever attempted, the behemoth ship The Great Eastern which was designed to carry a mind-boggling 4,000 passengers. Focusing on the ship's engineer, Isambard Brunel, the episode deals brilliantly with both Brunel's engineering genius and also his unadorned hubris, which led him to build the ship on land, leading to a complete comedy of errors when they finally attempted to slide the ship toward open water.

Though some people may prefer Ken Burns' take on The Brooklyn Bridge, Seven Wonders does an admirable job painting a picture of the unfortunate Roebling family, the engineering and cable-manufacturing kin who saw their patriarch die just as the project was getting off the ground, only to have his son Washington take over and ultimately contract "the bends" from the compressed air work necessary to seat the bridge's towers deep beneath the East River. While this episode, like some others, can get a bit too graphic at times (we actually see the elder Roebling's toes being amputated after a dock accident), there is such an amazing amount of first-hand detail in the piece that its occasional flaws can be overlooked. Most interesting in The Brooklyn Bridge is the ascension of a woman, Emily Roebling (Washington's wife), who taught herself the math and engineering skills necessary to take over the day-to-day supervision of the construction after Washington's health deteriorated to the point where he was more or less an invalid.

While many of the episodes deal with such well-known engineering feats as The Panama Canal, probably the least known structure covered provides one of the most riveting episodes. The Bell Rock Lighthouse, built on open water in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, is truly a miracle of both construction and man's indomitable spirit. Facing seemingly insurmountable odds of both location and incessantly stormy weather, visionary Robert Stevenson managed to build a lighthouse on what was basically an outcropping of rock (frequently under water) where there had been a long, sad history of shipwrecks. Watching the construction process in this episode is to marvel at man's ingenuity at overcoming what most people would simply say was impossible.

Almost all of the episodes feature some rudimentary CGI of varying quality. The "ship" in the Great Eastern episode is fairly ridiculous looking, while the London sewer system and the Bell Rock Lighthouse have some great graphic elements that are at least passably real looking (though, like the Roebling episode, shots of London's pre-sewer system sludge get a bit much at times). But it's the history lesson these episodes impart that are of the most lasting import, and though the first-person approach is at times awkward, overall this series offers some wonderful insight into man's ability to better his world.

The DVD

Video:
A very nice enhanced 1.78:1 image features excellent clarity, if a somewhat muted color palette at times. There are very occasional aliasing problems in some of the episodes.

Sound:
The standard stereo soundtrack has some good separation, and excellent fidelity. Voices and narration are all top-notch; the underscore is occasionally bothersome, but not too egregious. There are English subtitles available.

Extras:
None are offered.

Final Thoughts:
You might quibble with the seven wonders chosen for this outing, but you will probably nonetheless be fascinated by these particular Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. Combining an approach reminiscent of the old series "You Are There," with a more modern visual storytelling style, Seven Wonders has a lot of history to tell, and does it in a mostly satisfying manner. Recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet