T Y This is appreciated. And I'm glad Spike Lee has put viewers in contact with the horrible Katrina imagery. (I stowed my TV in storage 4 years ago to cut down on the idiocy in my life, so I missed footage of the disaster). But my rental place only had the first and the last dvds in the series. I missed the central 2 hours! But that oversight, sadly, has pointed out the shows problem; extrapolating from the two DVDs I saw, I feel pretty confident that I could guess the general tone, format and points of the missing DVD. It's not a very focused or structured series. I don't feel like I missed anything specific.Lee chose to roll footage of the debris and inundation, which is fine. But I wish someone else (Frontline) would do an expose on who's to blame. Like everyone else, I blame the incompetent Bush and Co. as the main culprits. But Lee keeps blame (and thus any solution) very vague. He really seems to be letting Nagin off the hook here. Even after black homeless refugees cite Nagin as a problem. For any of the Sean Penn haters, Penn was there putting himself out and helping people in danger - What were you doing?

rovivrus I cried, more than once. This is a very rare occurrence for me watching a film. Considering this was made by a "big-name" filmmaker, I was surprised to see the subtlety, honesty and roundedness. This was the kind of documentary that rarely makes it into cinemas here (and it was released here 'theatrically'). They usually end up (like most ofthe other great stuff being made) on BBC4 at midnight. It was comprehensive, beautifully structured and absolutely HUMAN. So many documentary filmmakers are trying to be Michael Moore; why don't a few try to be more like Spike Lee?

gftbiloxi As a resident of south Mississippi, I am incredibly frustrated by media that reports "Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans." In truth, Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi gulf coast and south Louisiana, visiting upon those areas a thirty foot wall of water. New Orleans, on the edge of the weaker northwest quadrant of the storm, was merely brushed.It is a point which WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE brings out early: New Orleans received at best a glancing blow and it should have survived. The great disaster which befell the city was not so much natural as man-made. And throughout the documentary's four hour run time, director Spike Lee not only presents a kaleidescope of interviews with survivors, he repeatedly returns to the inevitable question: how did it happen? Much of the answer to that question depends on who you ask. New Orleans has a history of blowing levees, and early in the film several people state flatly that the levees were deliberately blown in an effort to protect the city's wealthier districts at the expense of poorer areas. But although director Lee gives the idea play, it soon becomes clear that no such effort was required: it was in fact a mixture of bad design; neglect; an unwillingness by city, state, and federal officials to spend the money; and, most simply, indifference toward the people of New Orleans and indeed Louisiana in general.WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE is truly devastating in its portrait of a great American city's collapse. Interviews with survivors, archival footage, and news reports paint a damning portrait of failure at almost every possible level. Most damning is the picture of federal inaction. While people drowned in their attics, President Bush was on vacation. While people collapsed from heat prostration and dehydration Condoleeza Rice bought shoes at an upscale store. The minutes became hours, the hours became days, and the cavalry simply did not arrive.Spike Lee is a somewhat problematic director, an artist who has the very distinct tendency to interject race issues into scenarios whether such is warranted or not. In this particular instance, however, I believe Lee is on target when the attributes federal inaction in large part to the fact that New Orleans is predominately poor and black. Had he gone further to note the obvious fact that the city is also of the deep South--a region that has typically been ignored by Washington--he would have struck a bull's eye; it is worth pointing out that south Mississippi, which is predominately white, experienced the same federal foot dragging and ridiculous mismanagement.When all is said and done, WHEN THE LEVEES broke is a stunning but flawed portrait of a horrific disaster that befell a great American city--a city which, as of this date, has yet to begin a significant recovery and which will very likely never again be the New Orleans of legend and song. It's great strength is that it allows the victims to speak for themselves; it's great failure is a tendency to posit race plain and simple as the cause of federal indifference. It was a mighty factor, to be sure, but nothing is ever quite as simple as all that.The DVD release includes three disks. The film itself offers a commentary by Lee; the third disk consists of bonus material that further elaborates what is indeed an American tragedy. In spite of occasional flaws, I recommend it very strongly.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

lockandload481 This documentary is a very well put-together film outlining all the details of the Katrina disaster. It was informational, analytical, and moving; my favorite points of a documentary. I was also pleased to see a great deal of political commentary as well.The film may emphasize on the racial issue a little too much for my taste, but the message is clear enough: the Bush administration screwed up, just like they screw everything up. The disaster could have and SHOULD have been handled much better.So overall, great film. I would recommend everyone see this and get some education on the subject, and then can interpret it how they like.