wittmann_todd
First, let me say I enjoyed this series. Highly entertaining and informative for the most part. However, I think the cartoons cheapen the presentation. When a documentary resorts to cartooning it is insulting, i.e., "The Greeks" and the new "Cosmos." I am not sure the intoxicating effects were the catalyst for the thirst for more beer. This premise is suspect, that being it was the overriding drive to be intoxicated which gave rise to subsequent technology. And there is no doubt beer led to many important discoveries as well as the foundation for other discoveries. There were other reasons for the taste for beer: It signified wealth and prosperity. Beer became its own currency for a time. Otherwise, I highly enjoyed the series getting past the basic premise of the desire to become light headed...yet that premise in the series remains and as such it is bothersome.
John Primm
I love this documentary - so much so that when it was taken off of Netflix I bought the DVD. The narration is humorously delivered to you in a matter-of-fact kind of way with a touch of boasting. Nice simple animations and historical re-enactments are inserted among interviews in a delightful way. This is the best "feel-good-about-beer" video I have ever seen. I don't think the following is spoiling anything, but I checked the spoiler alert box anyway. The documentary makes some incredible statements. Who could imagine that beer is responsible for the invention of writing, or modern medicine, or refrigeration, or the production line in factories which put an end to child labor! It is reason people stopped wandering and started farming. Beer saved millions of people from death during the plagues. It was even used to pay the people who built the pyramids! This is a great tribute to an amazing drink, and I would like to see many more documentaries made like this one.
gavin6942
This show traces the important role that beer has played in human history from the probable origins of the first beer at the dawn of history to the development of a special beer for use in zero gravity space missions.I suspect some of the claims made in this show exaggerate the importance of beer. Was barley made exclusively for beer and not for bread? I do not know, but it seems a bit odd. Even the theory of how beer was accidentally discovered relies heavily on speculation.But overall, it is pretty decent with real experts explaining things about beer's history that are not well known. Did it "save" the world? I do not know. I mean, sure, beer was safer to drink than bacteria-filled water... but clearly other societies thrived besides the Europeans. The world was not "saved".
MartinHafer
While I think the film over-dramatized the impact of beer on world history just a bit, I liked its tongue in cheek style and how they managed to get the viewer to reassess everything they'd always assumed about world history. It gets HUGE kudos for managing to be very creative and like nothing you've probably ever seen before...or since.The thesis of the show is that when primitive man accidentally discovered beer, this discovery shaped civilization. So, to get the grains needed to make the beer, nomadic hunter-gatherers needed to settle down and farm. And, before money was used, the early commerce was fueled by beer--and Egyptian records indicate it was used to pay the workers building the pyramids (this was NOT done by slave labor, by the way, but skilled workers). And, even in modern times inventions like pasteurization and refrigeration were developed FIRST and FOREMOST to fuel the production of beer. The argument is compelling--and I suggest you watch this film to see exactly what this history is.Overall, very funny and clever--and well worth seeing.
AD
