Moments in Time

Breezily narrated by James Woods, this cable-TV documentary series recreated major and pivotal events in world history -- and not always in a respectful and reverent manner. The opening episode, "Valley Forge: The Crucible," setting the tone for all future installments, underlines the newly discovered factoid that the canny George Washington portrayed the Continental Army as being more decimated and deprived than it really was in order to better to throw the British off the track and squeeze additional money out of Congress. (Could it be that this episode was meant to invoke the questions raised by the U.S. government's alleged "overstatement" of the Iraqi threat during the 2003 Gulf War?) Moments in Time premiered on July 2, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide