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Customer Reviews of Seabiscuit (PBS American Experience)

The documentary itself is a first rate production. Lots of historical footage and photos, interviews with jockey Red Pollard's daughter, Seabiscuit's "biographer", Laura Hillenbrand, and others, the story told with fitting understatement. That understatement serves to highlight what is (for me anyway) the core of the story: that in the late 1930s, events conspired to give this horse a second chance to prove its singular, raw athletic gift ... and it did.

There is a human side to the story of course. The horse's potential was coaxed out by a motley collection of, well, losers: a discredited trainer, a failed jockey, an owner who lost both son and wife. But without Seabiscuit's innate and unmatched physical power and spirit, their efforts would have have been wasted, and we wouldn't care about the story.

For me, the emotional highpoint of the story is the match race between Seabiscuit and Triple Crown winner War Admiral. The documentary contains full historical footage of this showdown, one that attracted a national audience of 40 million (remember this is the 1930s!). The grainy, black and white footage only accentuates the explosive start and raw speed the two horses unleashed that day, and the overwhelming physical power Seabiscuit revealed in the race's final seconds.

You don't need to know about horse-racing to understand what you're seeing: one of the few true pure athletes of modern times at the peak of his power. The documentary steps back and lets Seabiscuit speak for himself. It's the inspiring moment in a well-told story, and one you will find yourself viewing in your home and mind again and again.

Terrific story, beautifully made
I am not a horse racing fan and know next to nothing about the sport. But I found myself watching this incredible story and was transfixed by it. Not only in this documentary gorgeously photographed, the narration, interviews and background material are all first-rate. It tells the story of the magnificent Seabiscuit, a horse deemed "ugly," too small and too insignificant to make the slightest impact on the track. The documentary beautifully weaves in the hindered jockey, Red Pollard, who had broken his leg three times and was considered a "cripple," in the jargon of the 30's. But Pollard and the Biscuit fuse together and beat War Admiral, the most fabled horse of the era.

You get to see actual footage of Seabiscuit pulling away and trouncing the noble War Admiral. I found myself jumping up and down, screaming, "Go, Biscuit!" Yup, this film is that mesmerizing. The rags-to-riches story and the ending, in particular, will leave you spellbound. This is a magnificent story, the only criticism is that it's too short at only 60 minutes.

The movie was good, the documentary is better
Here is a an excellent example of the supposedly "dry bones" of history actually being more compelling than a dressed-up Hollywood dramatization. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the movie, but not only is the documentary more informative, but also is more fun to watch much of the time. In particular, the complete footage of the race against War Admiral is infinitely superior to the race as rendered in the movie; having seen the documentary first, I was a little disappointed with the presentation of the race in the movie.

Definitely, this is one of the more entertaining "American Experience" documentaries to be produced in recent years & is very much worth watching.