Robert Lloyd The Los Angeles Times

"… It's a big and of course ongoing story, of human folly and greed and ego but also of hard work and selflessness, and four hours does not seem too long a time to take to tell it. …

"Like most 'Frontline' documentaries, this seems an especially well-reasoned and reasonable work -- alarming, but not alarmist, cogent and clear. Though its main purpose is to track the sociopolitical progress of the disease as it has bumped up against political inaction, bad policy, religious mania, corporate greed and widespread parochialism, it's also an effective primer on AIDS itself, what it is, how it works and why it's hard to treat. …

"It is a portrait of maddening foolishness of many sorts, as a story of a 100% preventable disease that has already killed 22 million people would have to be. Yet it's also inspiring and moving -- a tale as well of people working hard against the disease, looking for a cure, or shaking loose money, or tending to the sick."

Charlie McCollum San Jose Mercury-News

"Proving once again that it is one of our great news resources, PBS's 'Frontline' devotes four hours over two nights this week to a sobering and absorbing report on the AIDS crisis. …

"At times, this extraordinary 'Frontline' project has the feel of a medical thriller… But 'The Age of AIDS' also is a tale of social upheaval, the politics of prejudice, and denial and neglect on the part of governments around the globe. …

"'The Age of AIDS' may make some viewers uncomfortable but it should not be missed."

Hal Boedeker The Orlando Sentinel

"… This program stands out for its depth and reach. …

"Few programs these days have the breadth or ambition of 'The Age of AIDS.' It is a stupendous achievement."

Tom Dorsey The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)

"… probably the most ambitious TV investigation of the topic ever. …"

Kevin McDonough United Features Syndicate

"… an astounding piece of work. It presents history -- and recent history at that -- like a breaking-news story."

Alex Strachan The Gazette (Montreal, Canada)

"Frontline's sprawling two-night, four-hour presentation ... sounds dour and obvious, but it isn't really: It's a definitive, sobering and at times life-affirming chronicle of the pandemic's inexorable spread...

"'The Age of AIDS' is more than a parade of talking heads... 'The Age of AIDS' is breathtaking in its scope, exhaustive in its detail and also very human."

Ted Mahar The Oregonian

"… The event-packed, quarter-century history of AIDS unfolds with grim fascination in the documentary."

Scott D. Pierce Deseret Morning News

"… sober and sobering -- a wake-up call for the complacency that exists in the United States. …"

Joanne Weintraub Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"… It's unlikely you'll find a more complete, compelling or authoritative version of the story anywhere. …"

Dusty Saunders Rocky Mountain News

"… While the four hours are full of frightening statistics, … the investigation regularly plays like a well-crafted medical suspense drama, mainly through the use of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of film and video and a wide variety of interviews. …"

Roger Catlin The Hartford Courant

"… Leave it to 'Frontline' to produce a compelling, comprehensive look back in a two-night, four-hour special, 'The Age of AIDS.'

"... It's a weighty work that should stand as the TV textbook on the subject."

Sam Allis The Boston Globe

"… The program is as exhausting as it is exhaustive, and it gives you what must be the definitive look at the disease presented on television. If you're only going to watch one show on the subject, this is it. …

"When gifted journalists simply tell us what happened, as they do here, we appreciate the power of the craft as well as the enormity of the subject."

John Doyle The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada)

"… essential viewing…

"… a remarkable achievement in reporting…

"What we should all take away from this admirable Frontline special is a reminder that stupidity is the most contagious of all diseases. …"

Jim Bawden The Toronto Star

"… simply stunning…"

"… a remarkable reportorial achievement…"

Anita Gates The New York Times

"… the story picks up steam, particularly in Part 2… By the end, with all the outrages and grievous mistakes of the last quarter century piled up, this has become a tremendously important television document with real impact. …"

Robert Abele LA Weekly

"… plays like a disturbing series of short tragedies linked by compassion, befuddlement and despair. And, of course, absurdities.

"It's an overwhelming saga, and a lot is covered in series producer Renata Simone's four hours…"

"With clear-eyed patience and seriousness, 'The Age of AIDS' shows that while HIV needed no help replicating itself inside humans, its most helpful friends were traits already well-lodged in humans: ignorance, apathy, fear and prejudice. …"

Brian Moylan Washington Blade

"… What is remarkable is that, after 25 years, there is finally some perspective on how AIDS was initially handled. …

"The history of HIV/AIDS is still being written in this country and abroad and 'Frontline: The Age of AIDS' should help viewers and policymakers learn from the past and decide where and how to focus efforts in the future to make this pandemic history for good."