Darwin's Darkest Hour |  | Director: John Bradshaw
Actors: Henry Ian Cusick, Joe the Dog, Frances O'Connor
Studio: Nat'l Geographic Vid
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $13.66
as of 11/23/2009 14:40 CST details
You Save: $6.32 (32%)
New (20) Used (2) from $13.66
Seller: -importcds
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 8612
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 1000117517
UPC: 727994753797
EAN: 0727994753797
ASIN: B002N1AE4G
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: November 17, 2009 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | Starring Henry Ian Cusick ("Lost") and Frances O'Connor ("Mansfield Park") Darwin s Darkest Hour depicts the professional and personal trauma Charles Darwin endured the year before the publication of On the Origin of Species.Darwin s life's work, what he called "his abominable volume," is in danger of being scooped by Alfred Wallace; at the same time, one of his children is stricken by scarlet fev |
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
National Geographic makes superb use of its vast store of nature footage in Darwin's Darkest Hour, which dramatizes how Darwin wrestled with honor and ambition when a rival scientist was on the verge of publishing material exploring similar theories of how species are created. Darwin (Henry Ian Cusick, Lost) hesitated to publish from concerns about the religious controversy that might erupt; he held back until he was sure he had the evidence to substantiate his ideas about natural selection. Darwin's Darkest Hour suggests that his wife Emma (Frances O'Connor, Mansfield Park), though firm in her religious belief, pushed Darwin to secure the proof that his writings predated his rival's. Interwoven with this immediate conflict is the story of how Darwin conceived his theories in the first place--accompanied by gorgeous footage of rainforests and mountainsides, seals and seabirds, iguanas, tortoises, and much, much more. Darwin grappled with the industry of bees, the sex lives of barnacles, and the feeding habits of Venus flytraps. Darwin's Darkest Hour provides both a sprightly exposition of a volatile branch of science (more than a hundred years later, his work continues to provoke violent responses) and beautiful illustrations of what obsessed this influential scientist. Also on the DVD is an excellent special feature about the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin found the most vivid illustrations of his ideas. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/17/2009 Run time: 90 minutes Rating: Nr
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent October 11, 2009
MythMaker (PA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Old fashioned tv movie sticks to the facts & manages to compel both the heart & the mind. Yes, this actor does not physically resemble Charles Darwin in any way. And yes, Emma is used to stand in for the viewer unfamiliar with Darwin's life & work. Small quibbles. This is a really excellent little drama. I will watch it many times.
 "Darwin's Darkest HAIR"!!! October 8, 2009
Jordan Hofer (Monmouth, Oregon United States)
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
Since when did Darwin look like Fabio--what is with the hair?
The portrayal of Emma Darwin was insulting: the doting, concerned wife with no real understanding of what Charles was doing ("What is it, Charles?"). In fact, Emma was a genius who spoke several languages and helped edit Darwin's texts.
The only good thing I can say is that it was nice to see Down House; and the opening scene in which Darwin receives Wallace's paper and promptly throws up was nice too.
 A must own and watch DVD!!! October 7, 2009
MotherLodeBeth (Sierras of California)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
The British do historical movies so well and having seen this on PBS I am so looking forward to the DVD come November. For anyone not familiar with the facts of Charles Darwin's life and his wife Emma who while a devout Christian was his biggest fan and supporter even when he was attacked by religious zealots after his books were published.
The movie also shows his many children being loved, encouraged and mourned when some of them die and when two children are struck down with deadly diseases, such as small pox and diphtheria which were common. And what I so loved and wonder if many people who like or dislike the man, know what an ethical man he was.
Like when a young self made explorer (Alfred Wallace) seems to 'borrow' from some of the writings of Darwin, placing Darwin in an difficult position because he doesn't feel at ease tooting his own horn. Its nice that the movie disperses modern film segments to show various animals that Darwin encountered in his travels which led to some of his works like Origins of the Species. And the movie is so timely because it shows how in the 1820's and 1830's his father may have been a free thinker but the Unitarian church was seen as the church where Christians who had given up on Christianity went. And the movie notes Darwin felt that one could believe in a God and still believe in evolution.
The movie also shows the concern he had about his wife Emma being his first cousin, because he wondered aloud if the reason some of their children had died so young was because of genetic issues. Fact is tuberculosis, small pox and other diseases were the norm at the time. It was the death of his daughter Anne Elizabeth at the age of ten that effected him the deepest because she loved his work and had great conversations with her father. In a way it reminded me of how the father of the Walton's television series also avoided church. After her death he preferred taking walks and appreciating the creation around him. And he seemed to get brushed off with nonsensical answers to serious religious questions when he asked them.
This being the 200th anniversary of his birth I think this is a wonderful movie to own and watch, and to expose children to.
|
|
|
|
