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Something the Lord Made

(2,213)IMDb 8.21 h 50 min200416+

[HBO] HD. Fact-based story of a white surgeon and a black lab technician who revolutionized heart surgery amidst the racial injustice of the 1940s.

Directors: Joseph Sargent

Starring: Alan Rickman Mos Def Mary Stuart Masterson

Genres: Drama

Subtitles: English [CC]

Audio languages: English

Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 24 hours to finish once started.

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Supporting actors: Gabrielle Union Kyra Sedgwick Charles Dutton

Producers: Julian Krainin Mike Drake David Madden Eric Hetzel Robert W. Cort

Studio: HBO

Purchase rights: Stream instantly Details

Format: Prime Video (streaming online video)

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from $11.65

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5 star		91%
4 star		6%
3 star		1%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		1%

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Samthann

Don't let the title fool you

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

When my husband told me he wanted this movie, I was reluctant. I assumed it would be sacrilegious, or a mockery of Christian beliefs. This is a documentary type movie that tells the story of heart surgery. "It feels like something the Lord made" is said once, to describe how well done a specific procedure had been done.

This movie includes obvious racism and discrimination. The redeeming factor is that it is dealt with head on and not swept under the rug.

I watched this movie three times in one day. It was fantastic.

34 people found this helpful

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ChicGeek

MOVIE: 5+ • VIDEO: 4.2 • AUDIO: 4.1

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017

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FORMAT: DVD
UPC: 0-26359-24612-8
RELEASED: 2007-01-16

TITLE: Something the Lord Made (2004) • NR • 1:50:01
Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Kyra Sedgwick, Gabrielle Union
Joseph Sargent (Director)

This movie tells the story of two real-life American medical pioneers, neither of whom will likely be familiar to you today — one because his contributions to medicine happened over seventy years ago, the other, tough he worked side-by-side with the first on those very SAME medical procedures, was considered by American society of that period to be a non-entity. I first saw this movie when it made its debut on HBO back in 2004 — and, thought then, as I do now, that it was an excellent telling of a fascinating story. Since then, HBO On-Demand has usually made this movie available for viewing every two or three years, or so, for a limited time — and, every time that they did so, I watched it (at least once) — so, when I saw that it was available on DVD, this was a definite "no-brainer" purchase.

Featuring Alan Rickman, performing in his usual brilliant manner; Mos Def, surprisingly (at least, to me) holding his own with Rickman; and, a great, well told, story. What's not to like? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

See the other reviews for more detail and/or other opinions regarding the plot of the movie.

VIDEO: 1.78:1 • Color • 480p • MPEG-2 (6.3 Mbps)

Though this is a made for (cable) TV movie, it still (within the confines of the DVD format) looks pretty good. Its image features a slightly muted color-palette (which, I think, was probably done purposely in order to visually invoke the time period of the movie). The image also has good contrast and decent shadow detail. In addition, relatively fine detail (for a DVD) is evident in the brighter scenes and in many of the close-ups of actor's faces and their clothing. Also, there are no obvious artifacts such as banding, specks, white dots, hair-lines or color fluctuations to detract from the image. Overall, this movie's presentation on DVD has very good picture quality, and should satisfy all but the very pickiest of viewers.

AUDIO: Dolby Digital 5.1 (384 Kbps)

This movie's soundtrack, while doing nothing spectacularly, does everything at least adequately. The dialog is very clear and well-placed, with all voices being easily understood. The musical score is well-recorded, and well-integrated with the on-screen events. The surrounds, while not overly active, usually do an adequate job of conveying the on-screen location (the vast majority of which are indoors). Unfortunately, there is no deep bass — but, the content of the movie doesn't really call for it. This is a "workmanlike" audio presentation, that does not embarrass itself, and serves its visual presentation quite well. Most listeners should find that it has somewhat more than acceptable sound quality.

EXTRAS: Director's Commentary
Featurette
Slide Show 'Making History'

None of the extras were reviewed.

19 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Every American should see this A must

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2019

Verified Purchase

I bought this dvd because I couldn’t find anyone showing it. IT IS A MUST SEE FOR EVERY AMERICAN.
Vivian Thomas is an extrodinary man. He endured much abasement (wrongly) but so excelled in his intellectual gifts that his contribution eventually could not go unnoticed. I do not believe his character is lifted up enough today as an example to young people. Perhaps we don’t want to show it because we are ashamed that anyone would talk or treat another person in the manner Vivian was treated. But the manner he progresses is the inspiration. I’m saddened by it but proud of his contributions to the medical profession. Watch it. Savor the hardship. Rejoice with his recognition. Show your children.

13 people found this helpful

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Catcando75RN

NEVER GIVE UP!

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

Loved the whole movie, everything about it. If you like true life, actually happened stories, this one's for you. It runs the emotional roller coaster between friendship, business, racism, marriage, courage, medical miracles, mental creativity, genius, humility, sticktoitiveness & accolades. I love Alan Rickman & Mos Def is most definitely the star in this one. Highly recommend for Black History Month & those 15 & older, yet it's a great family film also, just not sure a younger age group could truly appreciate all the film has to offer. A must buy.

15 people found this helpful

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Questioning the limits placed upon blacks in America

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2021

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Something The Lord Made is about collaboration, friendship, medicine and race.

Mos Def plays Vivien Thomas who was hired as a carpenter but quickly became the medical assistant to Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) at Vanderbilt University and then Johns Hopkins. Together they would do groundbreaking work in medicine on things such as the effect on trauma on the human body and heart surgery. The story captures the excitement of scientific discovery. The fact that Thomas was African American made their collaboration difficult.

Blalock was impressed by Thomas’ intelligence and initiative. To others however Thomas looked like a janitor or other menial worker. There was the general racism of society as well. This is played out in several scenes. When Thomas and Blalock start work at Johns Hopkins for instance, they can’t walk in the front door together because the school was segregated. Another time Thomas was fixing up their new lab when another doctor walked in and told Thomas to get some coffee and donuts for him.

The movie makes a strong comment upon overcoming the limits placed upon blacks in America.
C

2 people found this helpful

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Lucille Pagenkopf

One of the greatest stories ever told.

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019

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This movie is th astonishing biography of Vivien Thomas, a black man who in 1930 began working as a surgical research technician with brilliant surgeon Dr. Alfred Blalock. Together they helped treat shock in soldiers during WWII & went on to pioneer vascular surgery by creating the surgical method to stop "blue baby symdrome". This is an incredible story everyone should see!

9 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

nicolette

must see movie!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2007

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Id never heard of this film and bought it after reading a review.
I loved it! Great acting by both leading men, AR did well with the accent. It also educated me about "blue babies" and the doctors behind these ground breaking procedures, in a time when racial equal opportunities were out of the question.
My only complaint was the speed in which the years passed, although i do understand the film makers have to condence a 25 year relasionship into a couple of hours, it seemed as soon as they met it jumped to 15 years later.
Anyway, all that said, we loved it, will watch it again and tell friends to watch it too! See if you can blink back the tears at the end!

One person found this helpful

Bev Bev

Enjoyed watching it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Fantastic DVD

Duchess

Something The Lord Made

Reviewed in Canada on January 5, 2012

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We bought this because we liked Alan Rickman. He has played in many roles that we liked, so I thought this would be a good movie to buy. It's based on a true story of how the two figured out a way to fix the heart defect that was referred to as 'blue baby'. Both played their roles very well and it really shows how the black man, regardless of the fact he did most of the important work that was involved, that he still had not got the deserved recognition until much later in life. I would recommend this to anyone who likes stories based on true events.

9 people found this helpful

The Truth

AN AMAZING BLACK DOCTOR

Reviewed in Canada on January 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Even in the days of persecution, a handful of the Black race succeeded. This movie brought tears to my eyes, especially when this apprentice black doctor was not invited or credited by his boss at the meeting for doctors because he wanted all the glory, so the apprentice looked on from a distance. It will be a wonderful story for the next generation of all races.

Zerone

Fast delivery and good video quality

Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

Faster delivery than expected. The movie is good. The DVD video quality is medium to good.

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