SummaryThe two-part documentary directed by Ken Burns about the history and impact of the buffalo on America and the Indigenous people in North America.
Created By:Ken Burns
The American Buffalo
Season 1 Premiere:
Aug 15, 2023
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
User score
Generally Favorable
6.5
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
84
100% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Oct 16, 2023
100
Be prepared for the impact of Ken Burns’ latest PBS documentary, “The American Buffalo.” It is not a dry history of the North American bison; it is an indictment on the very way the United States became the country that it is today.
Oct 17, 2023
90
For those with a taste for Burns’ stately brand of storytelling, “The American Buffalo” is another demonstration of what he can do when allowed to freely roam the plains of US history – representing a form of documentary programming with a capital D that at times feels like its own kind of endangered species.
Oct 12, 2023
90
Much of it is heart-stoppingly beautiful. Who knew that Ken Burns — documentarian, entrepreneur, the closest thing we have to an unofficial curator of national memory — has a David Attenborough, wildlife-filmmaker side, too? That heart-stopping beauty makes the story Burns tells all more heartbreaking.
Oct 16, 2023
80
The visual record, in paintings, artifacts and photographs, is impressive. The larger story is told through individual ones, which have a tendency to intertwine in dramatically satisfying ways.
Oct 16, 2023
80
Owing to length and familiarity, The American Buffalo comes across as lesser Ken Burns, especially following the scathing Holocaust documentary. I think that assessment is limiting. The craftsmanship of the second part is top-notch and the takeaways regarding how frequently American pride has gone hand-in-hand with destroying aspects of America that we try to marginalize or deem not-quite-American are always vital.
Oct 13, 2023
80
Though quite lengthy, with sections that feel repetitive, Burns manages to offer an essential work so needed during a time when history is being erased.
Oct 12, 2023
70
There's always a tone of melancholy in a Ken Burns film, aided and abetted, once again, by narrator Peter Coyote. And a plinky piano. And a sense of sins that need to be forgiven. There is also an unblended mix of hard fact—the awful statistics surrounding buffalo genocide—and the spiritual and religious arguments brought to the film by the Native Americans involved.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.5
25% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
75% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Nov 7, 2023
5
It should have been titled “European emigrants are evil and some things about Buffalo you might not know”. The show was so over the top bias that it was almost unwatchable. Ken Burns is an amazing film maker which is the only reason I stayed with it. Did the film gloss over how many hundreds of species were hunted to extinction before Europeans arrived in the Americas? No. Did the film discuss what happened to the horses that lived in the Americas before Beringia disappeared below the sea? No. All I can say is thank goodness some of the horses had the good sense to migrate to Europe beforehand or horses would also be among the casualties at the hands of the natives. I don’t blame the natives for hunting hundreds or species to extinction so don’t misunderstand but if I tried to make a documentary blaming them for it, I’d be laughed at, hated and ridiculed while the reverse is praised and admired. Truth is truth but only selecting the facts that fit a specific narrative and leaving out those that are inconvenient isn’t the truth.
Production Company:
- Florentine Films
- Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Initial Release Date:Aug 15, 2023
Number of seasons:1 Season
Awards
Writers Guild of America, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
