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The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns (Boxed Set) [VHS] 
Actors : David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Garrison Keillor
Studio : Pbs Home Video
by Pbs Home Video
Release Date : 1997-06-03
Publisher : Pbs Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 9
EAN : 9780780617902
UPC : 794054562132
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 154 reviews)
List Price : $99.88
Our Price : $29.99
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Description |
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Hailed as a documentary masterpiece without parallel, Ken Burns' filmed chronicle of America's most terrible and destructive conflict will hold you in thrall as it portrays the strategies and action of the war's famous battles, and tells the stories of illustrious generals and ordinary field soldiers, politicians and rogues, heroes and a beleaguered President. Winner of two Emmy Awards, the series begins by looking at the fateful causes of the war that led to the firing on Fort Sumter, to the devastating battles of Shiloh, Antietam and Gettysburg, climaxing with Lee's surrender and the assassination of President Lincoln. Vivid photographic imagery and narration by many of today's most acclaimed performers highlight this epic program. Titles are: "The Cause of 1862," "A Very Bloody Affair 1862," "Forever Free 1862," "Simply Murder 1863," "The Universe of Battle 1863," "Valley of the Shadow of Death 1864," "Most Hallowed Ground 1864," "War Is All Hell 1865," and "The Better Angles of Our Nature 1865 ." |
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Cooltechelectronics.com essential video |
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The most successful public-television miniseries in American history, the 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller, and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. --Dave McCoy |
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Excellent |
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Excellent in every way . . . product, time to receive it . . . |
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Unsurpassed overview of the Civil War |
I have spent quite a bit of my learning time in the past two years focusing on the Civil War, wanting to get a better handle on the whole thing. I watched movies, read books, listened to books on tape, listened to college lectures, recorded and watched shows from the History Channel and PBS. I visited Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg and in Virginia and Tennessee.
Throughout this, I used Ken Burns' film as my guide to keep things straight. I think I have watched every part of this film at least twice, and it never let me down.
Burns, whom I once heard give a lecture at Willamette University, found what in my opinion was just the right way to weave elements of learning into a compelling fabric that never bores. I loved getting to listen to and see historians like Shelby Foote. I loved the photographs, the music, the animated battlefield sequences. The many quotations from letters and diaries of participants, read by such familiar voices as Garrison Keillor, lent the whole project an unmistakable credibility.
Finally, no review could do justice to this film without lauding the narration of David McCullough. Whenever I read something aloud to anybody, I try to imagine how McCullough would do it. My imitation of him is always inadequate, but that is not a word that could ever be fairly applied to this film.
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A Great History Lessons, But Lacks The Emotional Punch Of "The War" |
Ken Burns' epic documentary about the Civil War is perhaps the greatest and most all-encompassing history lesson of the North/South conflict that has ever been put on film or page. Not only is every important detail of the war covered (and in such a way that the details are interesting and important, not boring), but two entire episodes are devoted to the build-up and aftermath of the conflict. Essentially, if you were teaching a class on the Civil War, this video is all you would need, as it both conveys the vital information of the war, and does so in a way that doesn't stagnate. In essence, a very tight, well-produced series.
The only reason I give this set four stars out of five, though, is that it lacks (althouht through no fault of its own) the emotional punch of Burns' more recent "The War" (World War II) series. Such things as personal interviews and live video could obviously not be obtained from the 1860s, but the reading of letters and still photographs doesn't quite measure up. The best example I can give of this is that while watching the Civil War series I found myself treating it as one extended history class session, while "The War" was almost more of a dramatic event (what with the live interviews and video footage).
So, although the Civil War documentary by Ken Burns is a brilliant work of research and cinematography, I can only give it a four-star rating due to its lacks of live video footage or emotionally moving personal interviews. I do, however, strongly recommend this series to anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the most brutal war in United States history. You may not need the tissue box while watching this series (unlike "The War"), but I guarantee you will come away with a much more solid understanding of the events that caused, prolonged, and ended the American Civil War. |
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As good as it gets. |
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This is another great documentary accredited to Ken Burns. Nicely done and extremely informative. I purchased this for my wife who loves it and has watched it several times over. |
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A true masterpiece, regardless of historical reservations! |
Regardless of historical reservations and allegations of bias from both North and South, I regard this work of Ken Burns as a true masterpiece. I bought my first set on VHS several years ago at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and played it through a dozen or more times. I went to the expense of having this set transferred to new tapes for my VHS player here in England. Having heard in 2002 that it was available on DVD and that the whole series had been digitally enhanced, I purchased the same and I can vouch for its much improved picture quality. I have played the DVD series several times, too, and I never tire of it (nor of the separate music CD, which is one of my all-time favourites).
Why do I love the series? Well, despite (as I have said) historical reservations on my part and allegations of bias from both North and South (as I have read), Mr Burns has gathered together over many years the most remarkable collection of old still pictures, interviews with such as the superb Shelby Foote, extremely beautiful modern scenery film footage and stills, inimitable commentary by David McCullough, and, most especially, ancient film footage of such as the reunion of veterans at Gettysburg in 1938 (the last mentioned brings tears to my eyes to this day). Mr Burns has made a wonderful whole of wonderful parts and has done a wonderfully impressive technical job.
And my historical reservations? Well, I am British and, in a British tradition dating from well before the American 'Civil War' or 'The War for Southern Independence,' I am a Southern sympathiser. I feel 'at home' when visiting such as Virginia to this day and I regret very much the loss of much of what went with the dreadful wind from the North of 1861 - 1865. I have many Yankee friends but we mostly steer clear of discussion of the Northern aggression under the appalling law-bender Lincoln and the religious hypocrites at his back. I tend, therefore, not to believe any medium that portrays the old Southerners as other than victims. This magnificent video or DVD set does not do this: it makes an attempt at balance - maybe successfully, maybe not.
Thankfully, the South has 'risen' again in a manner of speaking, but it's a shame that more than a century and so many lives were lost by succeeding and successive generations of Dixie's people.
Having got that off my British chest, I urge those who have not seen the PBS TV series, the VHS videos or the DVD set to rush out and get them/it. Of course, you don't need to rush out: just order the lot from my friends at Cooltechelectronics! |
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