100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
05-18-23, 01:57 PM
#1
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100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Exploring the impact of Warner Bros. on art, commerce, and culture, 100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. tells the unprecedented story of the fabled entertainment studio on its 100th anniversary. Featuring insights and first-person stories from directors, actors, executives, journalists and historians, the four specials trace Warner Bros.’ underdog origins – from its founding in the early 1920s by four brothers from an immigrant family, through decades of creative risks and impactful storytelling, to the historic mergers of the 2000s that transformed the company into a global entertainment powerhouse. Directed by Academy Award® and Emmy® nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, with narration by Morgan Freeman and clips from iconic films and hit TV series, 100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look into the indelible stories that have spoken to audiences around the world for generations. Watch, stream, or purchase our favorite titles at WB100.com. The first two #WB100 documentaries stream May 25 on Max.
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Boondock Saint (05-18-23)
05-25-23, 02:07 AM
#2
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
This is now up on Max. 2 episodes. 2 more episodes will be up next week. Looking forward to watching this. I like Hollywood history documentaries.
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Mondo Kane (05-25-23)
05-25-23, 07:21 AM
#3
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Does each episode cover a decade?
05-25-23, 12:45 PM
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05-26-23, 01:54 AM
#5
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
The 1st episode was excellent. Covered the founding of WB all the way to the 1960s. Lots of interviews from notable people in the business, including actors and creatives. And lots of great footage. Even David Zaslav was interviewed in a few segments. He really seems to know the history of the studio. Learning about the Warner family was quite fascinating.
I'll probably watch episode 2 tomorrow.
I'll probably watch episode 2 tomorrow.
05-26-23, 07:52 AM
#6
Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
I know modern audiences probably aren't that interested in the old stuff, but the first episode of a 4 part WB doc covering all the way until 1960 seems insane to me.
05-26-23, 02:21 PM
#7
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Like one of the Warner siblings worked himself into catching pneumonia and died before the big premiere of The Jazz Singer.
05-26-23, 05:14 PM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Is Warners including movies they acquired (but did not make or release) in this retrospective? That was my biggest "beef" with their 100th Anniversary commercials - they were including titles from the MGM catalog, such as The Wizard of Oz and 2001. Sorry Warners, you may own those movies now, but they're not "YOUR" movies. 
05-27-23, 01:53 AM
#9
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
This documentary is more like an overview as opposed to a in depth look into the studio and its movies. The second episode went through the 60s through the 80s. It glanced at some notable movie and TV projects during that time like The Exorcist, Superman, the Wonder Woman TV show and Blade Runner. But it mostly focuses on when the studio was taken over by Steve Ross and later segued to Bill Daly and Terry Semel. Also covered WB’s bad investment in Atari and the infamous ET game.
I like how it’s told in this format. It’s written and directed by Leslie Iwerks, who directed a few Disney behind the scenes films, like The Imagineers. The last in depth movie history series I tried watching was Women in Film, which aired a few years ago, and that was terrible. So this is a breath of fresh air for me.
I like how it’s told in this format. It’s written and directed by Leslie Iwerks, who directed a few Disney behind the scenes films, like The Imagineers. The last in depth movie history series I tried watching was Women in Film, which aired a few years ago, and that was terrible. So this is a breath of fresh air for me.
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Boondock Saint (05-27-23)
05-27-23, 03:52 AM
#10
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
I like how it’s told in this format. It’s written and directed by Leslie Iwerks, who directed a few Disney behind the scenes films, like The Imagineers. The last in depth movie history series I tried watching was Women in Film, which aired a few years ago, and that was terrible. So this is a breath of fresh air for me.
06-01-23, 11:15 AM
#11
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
The final 2 episodes were dropped today, so if you want to make it a 4 hour binge session, you can.
06-03-23, 01:55 PM
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Episode 3 jammed in a lot of stuff in 1 hour. It was basically a cliff notes version of the 80s and 90s for the studio. They covered Kubrick, Eastwood, Warner Bros. TV (Friends, Murphy Brown and ER), The Matrix, Selena, the end of the Daly and Semel era running the studio and the passing of former CEO Steve Ross and much more. It was a lot to digest. And they casually mentioned the acquisition of the MGM library. I can see a cynical person thinking this series is too rushed and it's a Warner propaganda piece.
One more episode to go.
One more episode to go.
06-03-23, 02:07 PM
#13
DVD Talk Legend
Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
I've seen three of the four (off DJariya's recommendation) and they're pretty good...although the fact that the documentary goes out of its way to show how Warners (for the most part) has taken risks with films and supported talent doesn't make Zaslav look very good in comparison (who, to date, has only been about playing it safe/eliminating debt).
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DJariya (06-03-23)
06-03-23, 10:20 PM
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
This was a great little series. Watched 1-3 in one night finished off 4 the next night. Really good documentary. Movies, I know, I love, everyone for that matter loves. Didn’t know so many of these were WB. And great to have great talking heads. Clint Eastwood, George Clooney. They got em all and made special so much better.
06-03-23, 11:32 PM
#15
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Re: 100 Years of Warner Brothers (Max) -- Documentary Film series -- Premieres 5/25/23
Last episode was solid. Nice wrap up to this overview of the studio and it's long history.
I also enjoyed hearing from David Zaslav. I know he's gotten criticized for how he handled the HBO Max purge and some cuts he made. But, I understand that even though he may seem like a tough businessman, he loves movies and knows the business. And I think he wants the studio to continue to succeed after years of decline and disastrous business business decisions. They even acknowledged the AOL merger was a disaster.
I found it interesting they didn't even mention Jason Killar, the former CEO of Warner Media, who made the infamous day and date decision in 2021 for their releases that probably nearly killed the studio.
And I enjoyed hearing from Christopher Nolan. He was very pleasant reflecting on his experiences with WB, even though he left the studio on bad terms after the Tenet debacle. But, that was under the previous regime.
This was a good overview and worth watching if you're into movie history.
I also enjoyed hearing from David Zaslav. I know he's gotten criticized for how he handled the HBO Max purge and some cuts he made. But, I understand that even though he may seem like a tough businessman, he loves movies and knows the business. And I think he wants the studio to continue to succeed after years of decline and disastrous business business decisions. They even acknowledged the AOL merger was a disaster.
I found it interesting they didn't even mention Jason Killar, the former CEO of Warner Media, who made the infamous day and date decision in 2021 for their releases that probably nearly killed the studio.
And I enjoyed hearing from Christopher Nolan. He was very pleasant reflecting on his experiences with WB, even though he left the studio on bad terms after the Tenet debacle. But, that was under the previous regime.
This was a good overview and worth watching if you're into movie history.
