Occasionally, the History Channel comes through with an epic documentary series that entrances, as well as helps history to come alive onscreen. The channel recently did this with The Men Who Built America, a series that follows five of the titans of American industry during the period of industrialization in the States. The series’ final episode is airing this Sunday, but if you missed any of the others, you will be able to catch them when The Men Who Built America hits Blu-ray and DVD on January 22.
Filmmakers used over 12 million historical negatives—many from the Library of Congress—to create the vision of The Men Who Built America. Each of the documentaries tells the tale of an industry titan, including stories about Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. To richen up the storytelling a little, industry innovators from today were interviewed to explain the strategies and mindsets of some of the men history hasn’t forgotten.
The Blu-ray and DVD sets themselves will be nicer than what fans usually get for a History Channel series. Usually, the History Channel doesn’t go all out with the extras, but The Men Who Built America will actually come with a slew of behind-the-scenes featurettes. Unfortunately, this means that the series will be a little more expensive than the average History Channel set, and will run $39.99 for the Blu-ray and $29.98 for the DVD. You can check out the full list of bonus features, and decide for your self whether the cost matches the demand.
The Men Who Built America Blu-ray and DVD extras
- "From Richer to Richer" featurette
- "The American Dream" featurette
- "Monopoly" featurette
- "Competitive Nature" featurette
- "The Every Man" featurette
- "The Rise of Cornelius Vanderbilt" featurette
- "Traits of a Titan" featurette
The series finale of The Men Who Built America airs Sunday, November 11 at 8 p.m. ET.
