Customer Reviews

The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns [VHS]

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I remember watching this documentary by Ken Burns when it first appeared on PBS in 1990. It started my lifelong interest in the Civil War. Countless books and trips to battlefields later, it still stands as the finest general work on the war ever made.

The story of the war is told through pictures, narratives, and the unobtrusive narration by David McCoulough, who's voice is pitch pefect for the job. Never before have photos had such a dramatic effect in telling a story. They say a picture says a thousand words, and this series prove that maxim correct. The five discs cover the 5 years of the war, and the 9 parts of teh series. The most effective are "1861: The Cause", "1863: The Universe of Battle", and "1865: The Better Angels of our Nature". They cover the events that led up to the war, the turining points at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and the end and aftermath of the war. Each is suprememly emotional. One episode intersperses an old narrative from the daughter of a former slave as she remembers her father's stories. Shelby Foote, author of the most comprehensive book on the war, offers invaluable advice. High praise must also go to Sam Waterston, who voices Abraham Lincoln. In the final segment of the 1863 disc, Waterston recites the Gettysburg Address, and I must admit it brought me to tears.

The music is also a key factor to the success of the film. Burns went back and found the old music that was popular among the people and the soldiers, both North & South during the war. It is moving, from the haunting opening music, to the old spirituals that are found on disc 2's "1862: Forever Free". Add that to a stable of great voice actors, (besides Waterston, Morgan Freeman as Frederick Douglass and George Plimpton as George Tempelton Strong are standouts), and the film becomes almost magical, transporting the viewer to those 4 horrible years that changed the Nation forever.

The Civil War is the most important saga in American History, and this documentary gives the people who fought it and the effect the War had on the US as a people the proper historical weight and respect. It deserves a place on any amatuer historians shelf.

I could kick myself for not recording this PBS special when it aired almost ten years ago. Luckily, I was able to purchase this magnificent documentary, and I can tell you all that it is well worth the steep purchase price.

Ken Burns' artistic creation seems to be the standard by which all other documentary films are judged. It was a landmark film disecting a very complex subject. Using actors to read actual letters and quoting dialog from the war's participants, while showing the viewer startling photographs from the war, was a brilliant stroke. And the commentaries sprinkled throughout by the historians, especially Foote, gleaned an insight not often found in documentary films, and brought vividly to life the great battles and the terrible human cost that the people of the era (both male and female / north and south) had suffered.

If one wants to see how our nation grew up and is the country we have today, look no further than this epic as a starting point. I would also recommend the four-hour movie "Gettysburg", taken almost word-for-word from the late Michael Shaara's pulitzer prize novel "The Killer Angels", as a fine companion piece.

"The Civil War" documentary (nine video tapes--approximately 15 hours of viewing time) is a fine beginning for anyone thirsting for knowledge about our history. Those interested in the "Old West" may also get an insight, or at least an understanding, of where some of the most notorious outlaws and lawmen sprang, and possibly why they felt human life was so dirt-cheap.

Between 1 and 10, "The Civil War" rates the highest level possible. If films like these were available when I was going to school, maybe I wouldn't have napped so often in history class.

Whereas critics may have chirped at Ken Burns' other documentaries like 'Jazz' or 'New York', there is virtually universal praise for this single, spectacular masterpiece. Not only is the Civil War brought to life but by the end of the entire 11 hour series you feel like you've been through the war itself.

The most important achievement of the documentary is showing how the war, with all its carnage, achieved the higher purpose of freeing the slaves. While the war may have started with the notion of keeping the tattered union together, it eventually brought societal, constitutional, economic, and medical changes that would have otherwise not come about had their not been a war. It truly was the birth of a "new freedom".

You watch as new innovative tactics are introduced out of sheer necessity. You see thousands of men using outdated tactics (charging a defense line with your bayonet) are mowed down by new weapons such as the gattling gun and the Repeating Rifle. You witness the banality of siege warfare as implemented by Gen. George McClellan. And you contrast that with maneuver warfare brilliantly executed by Stonewall Jackson and Nathan Bedford Forrest. You learn how the generals (and the country at large) grew to appreciate and utilize the telegram. You learn from General Lee how to lead from the front and how a few men effectively positioned can hold off 100 men. You witness how incompetent Union generals nearly lost the war to an inferior army. With only a rudimentary understanding in medicine, tens of thousands died from disease and from reparable surface wounds. However, without the enormous loss of life, we would have never made the medical and tactical advances that the war brought on.

More than any other character in the documentary, I enjoyed historian Shelby Foote the most. His amusing Mississippi drawl and the way he personalized the war made you realize the humanity of these legendary figures. He also highlighted how resentment towards blacks lasted for decades after the war (how the south still hates Lincoln, how Vicksburg refused to celebrate 4th of July for 80 years). You cannot possibly begin to understand US History until you have faithfully studied the Civil War. Thank you Ken Burns.

First of all, I DO NOT ENJOY DOCUMENTARIES! Or at least I thought I didn't. But Ken Burns' documentary of the Civil War was so realistic and moving, that I had to tear myself away from the television. The music and the photographs really make the Civil War come to life before your very eyes. Two words that make this film worth watching: Shelby Foote. His stories and insights make him seem as if he were sitting in the room with you discussing the Civil War. If you had no interest in The War Between the States before seeing this film, you will after. I would recommend this set of videos to anyone: history buff or not!

The CLASSIC! Looking back, Ken Burns' work from the late 80's that brought this production together was monumental for the time and probably will be most remembered as his best work. What makes this DVD set different from the huge VHS pack released 10 years ago is that it now has interviews with key historians like Shelby Foote that talk about the making of the production and their thoughts then and now. This work is monumental and probably won't seriously be tackled for a long time by another director and we're lucky to have Ken Burns handle this huge task of reporting the entire Civil War. This DVD set is put together very well and is probably the most well rounded documentary ever assembled on the subject. It has nearly 11 hours of material and is definately worth the money. Like all of Burns' work, everything is always done very well and high-class. I highly recommend this set!!

Once a year I rewatch Ken Burn's celebrated documentary on "The Civil War," listening to David McCullough's narration haunting narration as hundreds of still photographs from the period are brought alive by combining them with contemporary interviews with historians like Shelby Foote, mutli-layered sound effects, the voices of actors such as Morgan Freeman and Sam Waterson, and the simple but evocative music. We become hooked on this compelling narrative at the end of the first episode, with its unforgettable section on "Honorable Manhood," which includes the letter written by Major Sullivan Ballou of the 2nd Rhode Island to his wife Sarah back home in Smithfield, a week before the first battle of Manassas. The letter is as emotionally powerful as it is poetic, and once you hear it you will not be surprised that it was included on the CD. I was also struck by the revelation at the end of the documentary of how the glass plates of photographs taken during the war were sold to greenhouses, where the sun slowly burned away the grim images of death. In between Burns covers the Civil War in detail, focusing not only on Presidents Lincoln and Davis as well as all the Generals from Grant and Lee to Butler and Forrest, but common soldiers like Elisha Hunt Rhodes and Sam Watkins. By personal favorite discovery form this film is Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. There is just so much to take away from this documentary. Even if you are not a Civil War buff, watching "The Civil War" is a remarkable experience.

This set is pricy but it is a great investment since you and others are likely to view it and refer to it many times in the future. The nine tape set is comprehensive and like Bruse Catton's, Shelby Foote's and Time/Life's multivolume sets of books, all nine tapes are required to do justice to all the battles, social issues, and great leaders which comprised the Civil War. The tapes are made particularly interesting by the inclusion of colorful commentators such as Shelby Foote and Ed Bearss. I recommend a study of the War which includes both reading as well as video presentaions and I believe this set is a great component of such a study. There are other good multi tape sets such as the History Channel's wonderful "Civil War Journal." If you are buying just one, however, the Burns masterpiece is the one to get. Also, whether or not you intend to read one of the great histories of the war such as Foote's or James McPherson's, you will do well to view this documentary.

Ken Burns' "The Civil War" has been nit-picked for various offenses of minutia in the reviews here. Virtually none of the criticisms are worthy to deny the quality of this work. Many seem to be the automatic criticism given to any work which achieves popular success.

"The Civil War" is an excellent introduction to this very important episode in American history. It is presented to the viewer wrapped with several techniques that make the material more palatable to the viewers.

The music is the primary technique that one encounters. The "Lorena" theme that flows throughout the film is a hauntingly pleasant tune that provides continuity. Other, appropriately-placed tunes provoke the emotions for the event being described. This is a technique used in most films, but rarely done so well as in "The Civil War".

The choice of narrators for the various characters in the war was also done remarkably well. The slightly soft and solemn voice used for Robert E. Lee promoted the grand illusions that so many have for this very human and fallible man. The main narrator for the film possessed a clear voice that was easy to listen to for long periods of time.

Interesting, tangential elements like the 104-year-old lady added much to the watchability of the film. She recited a poem from memory of such length that one wouldn't expect a person of advanced age to recall it. Shelby Foote's occasional unexplainable humor was also interesting to watch. He would recite some simple comment by a soldier and then chuckle about it, leaving you wondering how he had extracted so much humor from that simple statement. It was quite amusing.

Historical revisionists object to the portrayal of slavery in the movie. In actuality, Burns didn't give much of a view of slavery at all. However, slavery had such a key role in the war that it could not be concealed to the level that the revisionists desire. While neither side in the war had emancipation as a major motivating factor initially, the slavery issue had a massive and overwhelming effect on the outcome. Any less attention to slavery by Burns would have invalidated his work. Slavery is an issue that many have tried to defuse, but none have been successful. Now, they just try to historically conceal it. Ken Burns' movie makes their job just a little more difficult.

I could go on for some time about "The Civil War". I have owned the set for some years and have watched it repeatedly. There is a companion book that provides additional information, and references for further reading to cover parts of the war that could not be addressed in a movie of this length. Being a long-time Civil War buff that has finally had the opportunity to live in Virginia where much of it happened, I am reading everything I can find about the subject and visiting battle sites. This movie is one of my favorite sources of events that I can further investigate.

As a child of the public school system of the United States and with children now in school, I can accurately state that the real history of the American civil war is not being taught. In general, students are told that it was largely about slavery and the rights of blacks. Nothing could be further from the truth. The abolitionist movement was rather small and some of the antiwar riots that took place in the North were due largely to the resentment of men who did not want to fight and die for the blacks. This and many other misconceptions are set straight in this film series.
The causes and consequences of the war are presented in great detail, with an emphasis on historical accuracy. Even almost fifteen decades later, it is sad to watch the first episode and the events leading to the states seceding from the union. It is amazing to realize that there was still strong sentiment in most states for staying in the union. It is overstating to stay that the majority was pro-union, but it is accurate to say that the majority of white people in the Confederate States were not in favor of seceding in 1861.
In the beginning very few thought the war would last more than a few months, and there were some who thought that it would end with a peaceful political settlement. William Tecumseh Sherman was considered unfit for duty when he stated that it would be a long and bloody fight. As the events unfold, one cannot help but draw comparisons with the events in Europe in August 1914. As the armies of Europe marched off to war waved on by cheering crowds, no one thought that it would end four years later with one side totally destroyed after horrendous slaughter.
The civil war was the first war where massive citizen armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands clashed. In this tape you see scenes that could pass for what happened fifty years later in the fields of northwest France. Extensive fortifications of trenchworks, reinforced by barricades and stretching for miles. Dead men are left strewn across fields after leaving their fortifications to attack the enemy in their trenches. It amazes me to think that the Europeans repeated the American experience in world war one, somehow still believing that courage was strong enough to defeat armed men behind barricades.
The course of the war leads many different ways, but most often union defeats at the hands of dashing, talented Confederate military leaders. George McClelland has to go down as the greatest example of arrogant ineptitude in American history. Had he acted with anything approaching the dash of Lee, the war could have been ended in the first year. So many things went wrong, and yet in the end, as long as no other country intervened, a union victory was assured.
The conclusion put forward in the final tape is a bit overstated, but it is accurate. Before the war, the United States was a political entity where the emphasis was on the states. After the war was over, the emphasis was on the united, as it was the single event that forged a nation. No longer was a person first and foremost a Virginian or a Texan, forever more they would be an American from Texas or an American from Virginia.
Despite years of reading about the civil war, I still learned many aspects of the war from this tape, The producers have created a documentary masterpiece that should be required viewing of all citizens, current and potential.

When I first saw this documentary almost ten years ago, it renewed my interest in this most crucial part of American history. I never tire of watching it, whether my local PBS station is running it, or watching my very used videotapes! It's not just the wonderful photographs, the actors reading the words of those who were there, or even the historians bringing their considerable expertise to us. Throughout the documentary, it is evident how much the whole subject of the Civil War meant to the makers of the film. If only more filmmakers took as much care as Ken Burns and his co-workers did with their product. . .! A DVD version would be wonderful for all of us Civil War buffs!