MovieChat Forums > The Bronx Is Burning (2007) Discussion > Watching it again

Watching it again

posted 13 years ago by schappe1
2 replies | jump to latest

(I just got the DVD)

I'm more convinced than ever that trying to fold in the other thyings that happend in NYC in 1977 is pointless- Son of Sam, The mayoral race, the black-out. These things have nothing to do with the Yankees. No scene illustrates this more than the black-out scene. We see the lights in the whole city going out. Then we switch to a Yankee's scene and the lights aren't out!

They should have stuck to the Yankee's story and told thew whole story from 1976-81.

The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness

[–] AbdulBenHassan 13 years ago

The mini-series is supposed to be based on Jonathan Mahler's book "The Bronx is Burning", which was a chronicle of 1977 New York as a whole. The '77 Yankees were but one part of the story.

Since this is an ESPN production, of course the series was going to be mainly focused on the Yankees season and the feuding between Martin, Steinbrenner and Reggie. The scenes involving the Son of Sam murders and the blackout were meant to involve also, the state of the city at that time, and how the turmoil in the Yankee clubhouse reflected the turmoil of New York as well.

[–] scrabbler1 13 years ago

You have it pegged right. Because ESPN created the series, it is not unreasonable to see more of it directed at the Yankees angle than the other angles in Mahler's book (which I read before the series came out).

If C-SPAN created the series, it would have been more oriented toward the mayoral race than the other plot lines. If Tru-TV (formerly CourTV) had created the series, it would have been more oriented toward the Son of Sam plot line. If the Discovery Channel (a science channel) had crested the series, it would have been more oriented toward the blackout.

As much as I liked the sports angle, being a big Yankees fan in the 1970s, I liked the book more than the TV series because all four plot lines appeal to me today and the backstory behind them all was fascinating.

If you want to read a book solely about the 1977 Yankees season, I suggest "The Be$t Team Money Could Buy" by Steve Jacobson. That book (which I have read several times over the years) is listed as a source for Mahler's book, and Jacobson was a consultant for the TV series and he was played by an actor in the TV series. Some scenes and dialog in the TV series were lifted directly from his book (i.e. the batting order drawn from the hat).