America's Port

Some of the show's hyperbole and intense music can be a bit much, but once you get past that, the stories are fascinating. Segments in which Port Director Dr. Geraldine Krantz' discusses the reality of a terrorist strike, for example, or when a diver jumps into the water as part of a missing persons search are plenty dramatic on their own, with no extra embellishment required.

Frankly, the series works best when the stories are simply told, and the people involved are just able to talk -- from the trucker with an older vehicle that will soon be banned from the port who knows that it's important to clean up the air but doesn't know how he's going to make a living in the meantime; to the port pilot's son who watches his father work, joking that his dad's just doing what he does at home (i.e. standing around and telling people what to do); to the longshoremen who talk about risking their lives every day. Like all good filmmaking, it's telling a good story that counts.