Very Cool!!!

the audience applauded

just watch it!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I enjoyed watching "The Men Who Built America" and do strongly recommend it. The show is engaging and interesting--no doubt about that. However, I did have a few minor objections which seemed to come up more and more when the shows progressed. First, the show would normally only be seen by people who love history and yet, time and again, the show tried to create cliffhanger moments even though nearly every viewer KNOWS that Rockefeller went on to become rich and Carnegie took a few gambles but became mega-rich! No surprises yet the show sure made it seem like it was. Second, sometimes the show was just a bit over-the-top when it came to the drama and music. Tone it down just a bit please. And third, a few times the history just wasn't quite accurate--especially in episode 4.So what we have is a rare show because it talks about the men who made America the economic power of the world--Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan and Ford. This is important history and generally is quite watchable but just could have scored a 10 had they roughed out a few aspects of the show.

Historically accurate, astute and shows the entrepreneurial spirit! By mixing it with drama, history and interviews this mini-series brought this exciting time to life! Reading about the exploits of these greats does not have the same effect as seeing them come to life! The only problem is the series should have been longer. There are many facets of the lives of these great men that could have been shown. Not only their successes, but also their failures. I know that it covers a certain time in history, but some more of Ford and the changing of the guard, as it was, would have been nice. One request to History Chanel: Bring more historic events/ times to life as this! Superb!

I have a history degree. My favorite period is the Gilded Age/Progressive Era, and these men fell into that category. Too bad there are no women.Slams: just a small part of the backlash against these "great"men is shown. There were strikes and depressions. Some of those have been covered. These super rich men "ate cake" (named after a famous woman) while their employees starved or were forced to work ungodly schedules in the man-killing factories.The Johnstown flood show depicted a lot of devastation and human heartbreak. Meanwhile, the biggies just went on partying.I wondered why the Andrew Carnegie name on lots of our libraries. Turns out he was trying to assuage all his cruelty against society, e.g. his "robber-baron-ness".I do think the actor who played Andrew is very handsome, and the one who portrayed JP Morgan is fairly good looking also. Vanderbilt looked kind of gross. Frick was the incarnate monster. I am glad the guy beat him up. Too bad Frick did not meet his maker.Morgan Sr. was an old scrooge, but posthumously proved to be correct in his financial predictions. He said Pierpoint was pretty dumb to back electric light.Westinghouse was depicted as a moron. Edison IRL was known for some shady deals, one of which was trying to get credit for the invention of the telephone away from Alexander Graham Bell.Edison was also friends with Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford. Will that be covered her? Just saw a GE commercial on TV last night, remembering in this show how Morgan got Edison to give up his name in favor of General Electric Company.This series is more about the financiers than the famous inventors. It takes money to fund people's imaginings and wildest dreams. Sometimes the dream financing is a true bust, but without dreamers where would we be today? Too bad the dreamers and financiers were not always the same person.Turns out the Gilded Age means a layer of fake gold on the outside, masking nothingness on the inside. Supposedly these great men came from nowhere, determined to make it in the great nation of capitalism and post-Civil War optimism. Were they educated? When the money was pulled out from under them, they tended to collapse.

Came across the show while flicking through the channels one evening. Caught it half way thorough the second episode and was instantly interested. Decided quickly to find the On-demand channel for the History Channel so that I could start from the beginning. Watched the first and second episode in one swoop. Couldn't wait for next episode. I thought the show was great. I was not born in USA, so to me the show was immensely educational. Also, liked the way the show was constructed. Halfway between a documentary and a film.Many interesting and surprising facts about these "robber barons" - who they were, where they came from, how they made it and what made them tick. The most interesting thing was how these men were linked to each other through coincidental business deals. On another level the show explained the immense strength that America gained internationally through the tenacity and ambition of these men - without taking away from the individual aspect of the men themselves.