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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The legendary 19th-century battle between two West Virginia clans that came to define the term feud gets a lengthy and frequently dramatic retelling in Hatfields & McCoys, a six-hour miniseries driven by leads Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton as the warring family patriarchs. Both actors lend considerable gravitas to the sprawling story, which begins with Costner's Devil Anse Hatfield going AWOL during the Civil War, setting in motion a growing animosity with former friend Randolph McCoy (Paxton) that blossoms into full-blown violence over a property dispute between the families. Bloodshed begets bloodshed, due in part to a series of miscommunications, long-simmering grievances, and acts of outright foolishness, several of which are the work of hot-blooded Hatfield relative Jim Vance (Tom Berenger). What emerges from the final work is a portrait of generational murder as a sort of Biblical virus, with the sins of the fathers wreaking untold havoc on their children, including a pair of young Hatfield-McCoy lovers (Lindsay Pulsipher and Matt Barr) whose romance considerably exacerbates tensions. The latter subplot is probably the sole weak element in the miniseries, detracting from the tragic forward momentum of the familial conflict and solid turns by all concerned, including Powers Boothe as Costner's sage older brother and Jena Malone and the always-welcome Mare Winningham as women on the McCoy side. A major ratings hit and multiple Emmy nominee for The History Channel, which made its dramatic project debut with the miniseries, Hatfields & McCoys is a compelling historical drama for both Western fans and non-genre followers alike. The DVD includes a modest, electronic press kit-style making-of featurette as well as a music video for the song "I Know These Hills," sung by Costner and his band, Modern West. --Paul Gaita
Product Description
The Hatfield-McCoy saga centers on "Devil" Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy. Close friends and comrades during the Civil War, they returned to their neighboring homes - Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy just across the Tug River border in Kentucky - to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon exploded into all-out warfare between the families. As hostilities grew, friends, neighbors and outside forces joined the fight, bringing the two states to the brink of another Civil War.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
408 of 492 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The History Channel miniseries "Hatfields and McCoys", directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Ted Mann and Bill Kerby enjoyed brisk ratings this week. Thus far, this rendering of the epic struggle between two families living in West Virginia and Kentucky is the best one to date. That is not to say that it did not have many flaws. In general, I admired Ted Mann's work on the HBO series "Deadwood", where he created great dialogue for both fictional and real denizens of the South Dakota boom town. The characters in this miniseries also generally speak with a high level of intelligence with only a few hillbilly archetypes thrown in. The acting for this program is outstanding with a few exceptions. Most notably, Jena Malone gets my vote for the worst overacting in the part of Nancy McCoy. However, Powers Boothe, Kevin Costner, Mare Winningham and Bill Paxton all turn in solid performances. For his portrayal of "Uncle Jim" Vance, Tom Berenger is the standout in this cast. As with most Hollywood versions of significant historical events, the writers and filmmakers feel a need to change the truth to suit their plot development. This includes the requisite romantic elements and composite characters. With that latitude in mind, I still found the historical inaccuracies of this television movie to be staggering. Having performed extensive research on the real feud, I would like to point out a number of these for the perspective DVD buyer:
1) The show made a big point about Devil Anse taking unofficial leave from his Rebel Company D during the Civil War. Randolph McCoy also went on unofficial leave soon afterward. So there was no moral high ground there; nor do I know of any historical record stating this caused any ill will between the two men.
2) The show depicted major religious differences between Randolph and Devil Anse. I have never read anything stating religion played a strong part in the feud. However, economic jealousy did.
3) The hog trial was conducted in Deacon Anse's cabin in Raccoon Hollow; and not a regular court house in Mate County convened by Wall Hatfield.
4) Perry Cline was not counsel for the plaintiff during the hog trial.
5) Asa Harmon McCoy was not shot while hiding at a still. Ironically, this Union man owned a slave named Pete. Unfortunately, for Asa, Pete was followed to a cave by Logan County Regulars.
6) Bill Staton was not ambushed by Paris and Sam McCoy. In fact, it was the opposite, as Staton layed in wait for the McCoys. Sam was never convicted and was acquitted for murder on the grounds of self defense.
7) Randolph McCoy did not send his sons to retrieve Roseanna McCoy from the Hatfield cabin. He sent his three daughters. Therefore, Johnse Hatfield was never shot by the McCoy brothers.
8) Frank Phillips did not kill Tom Wallace. Larkin and Jacob McCoy probably did.
9) Wall Hatfield did not surrender himself to Pikeville authorities and was captured by Frank Phillips. Additionally, he was not the sympathetic character portrayed by Powers Boothe. He was an overpowering manipulator who had a strong lead role in the murders of Tolbert, Pharmer and Randolph McCoy Junior.
10) Devil Anse and Wall Hatfield did not call for Sarah McCoy to come visit her sons before they were executed. She demanded to see her boys. Wall and Devil Anse blocked her entrance to the schoolhouse where her captive sons were being held. For nearly an hour, in the pouring rain, Sarah pressed the Hatfield brothers before they relented to a visit.
11) Perry Cline had a wife; and I have never read that he showed romantic interest in Roseanna McCoy.
12) Cap Hatfield wrote the famous letter to the newspapers asking for an abatement of hostilities, not Devil Anse. Though it looked very touching to show Devil Anse reading the letter to the clan.
My other criticism of this show, is though it has been described by critics as "atmospheric", I found it to be humorless and relentlessly grim. I know the producers had six hours to tell the story, but I believed there were many missed opportunities to show less violence and greater depth of character. Instead, most of the primary players were dislikable. The real Devil Anse was a remarkable man of extraordinary humor. There was great wrong done on both sides during this clan warfare; but these actions were carried out by complex people of both good and bad temperament. Finally, the fact that little was depicted about the tremendous court battles between Kentucky and West Virginia was I believe, another opportunity that was missed.
1) The show made a big point about Devil Anse taking unofficial leave from his Rebel Company D during the Civil War. Randolph McCoy also went on unofficial leave soon afterward. So there was no moral high ground there; nor do I know of any historical record stating this caused any ill will between the two men.
2) The show depicted major religious differences between Randolph and Devil Anse. I have never read anything stating religion played a strong part in the feud. However, economic jealousy did.
3) The hog trial was conducted in Deacon Anse's cabin in Raccoon Hollow; and not a regular court house in Mate County convened by Wall Hatfield.
4) Perry Cline was not counsel for the plaintiff during the hog trial.
5) Asa Harmon McCoy was not shot while hiding at a still. Ironically, this Union man owned a slave named Pete. Unfortunately, for Asa, Pete was followed to a cave by Logan County Regulars.
6) Bill Staton was not ambushed by Paris and Sam McCoy. In fact, it was the opposite, as Staton layed in wait for the McCoys. Sam was never convicted and was acquitted for murder on the grounds of self defense.
7) Randolph McCoy did not send his sons to retrieve Roseanna McCoy from the Hatfield cabin. He sent his three daughters. Therefore, Johnse Hatfield was never shot by the McCoy brothers.
8) Frank Phillips did not kill Tom Wallace. Larkin and Jacob McCoy probably did.
9) Wall Hatfield did not surrender himself to Pikeville authorities and was captured by Frank Phillips. Additionally, he was not the sympathetic character portrayed by Powers Boothe. He was an overpowering manipulator who had a strong lead role in the murders of Tolbert, Pharmer and Randolph McCoy Junior.
10) Devil Anse and Wall Hatfield did not call for Sarah McCoy to come visit her sons before they were executed. She demanded to see her boys. Wall and Devil Anse blocked her entrance to the schoolhouse where her captive sons were being held. For nearly an hour, in the pouring rain, Sarah pressed the Hatfield brothers before they relented to a visit.
11) Perry Cline had a wife; and I have never read that he showed romantic interest in Roseanna McCoy.
12) Cap Hatfield wrote the famous letter to the newspapers asking for an abatement of hostilities, not Devil Anse. Though it looked very touching to show Devil Anse reading the letter to the clan.
My other criticism of this show, is though it has been described by critics as "atmospheric", I found it to be humorless and relentlessly grim. I know the producers had six hours to tell the story, but I believed there were many missed opportunities to show less violence and greater depth of character. Instead, most of the primary players were dislikable. The real Devil Anse was a remarkable man of extraordinary humor. There was great wrong done on both sides during this clan warfare; but these actions were carried out by complex people of both good and bad temperament. Finally, the fact that little was depicted about the tremendous court battles between Kentucky and West Virginia was I believe, another opportunity that was missed.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By ruxCYtable
Format:DVD
I had this sitting around for a while and finally decided to watch it. I had heard the first episode was a little slow so I was a little skeptical about that, but I was sucked in immediately and riveted from start to finish. I could not believe I was watching a made-for-TV movie, as it was some of the best acting and storytelling I had ever seen. If you are a person who needs constant video game stimulation then yeah, maybe this is not for you. If you are a person who appreciates great storytelling and brilliant acting, you will love this miniseries.
117 of 145 people found the following review helpful
By dgdbear
Format:Blu-ray
This Mini-Series is still currently running, One episode to go. It has Three really stand out actors to me who do an outstanding job portraying the characters.
Kevin Costner plays "Anse" Hatfield and Paxton plays "Ol' Ran'l" McCoy. This follows pretty strong to the history of the feud while it's still argued what exactly caused the feud to boil to the point that it did, it was another civil war between Kentucky and W.Virginia.
My Soon to be Ex-Wife is a McCoy and boy let me tell you, they really do have some bad attitudes. It's really cool to kind of know some of the family. Proud as can be of that heritage.
I am sure the blu-ray will be great quality as well since the HD showing on History is spectacular.
If you love History grab this and you will not regret it.
Edit: Just finished the series, It was amazing. This has it all, parts that make you cry, parts that make you wanna throw something at the T.V., parts that have you on the edge of your seat. This series is great for anybody fans of history or not.
Edit: As someone mentioned to me, I left out some of the other Actors and Actresses that are deff worth mentioning, Tom Berenger play Jim Vance and at first it took me by surprise when I finally realized it was him, he player the role amazingly.
Mare Winningham played Sally McCoy and hit it spot on, it was almost to good, it was hard to watch this character at times.
Lindsay Pulsipher also stood out as Roseanna, the plot between her and Johnse was almost to heart breaking to watch and she played the heartbroken woman perfectly both mentally and physically.
Honestly there are no Actors in this film that did a bad job, Everything came together perfectly.
Kevin Costner plays "Anse" Hatfield and Paxton plays "Ol' Ran'l" McCoy. This follows pretty strong to the history of the feud while it's still argued what exactly caused the feud to boil to the point that it did, it was another civil war between Kentucky and W.Virginia.
My Soon to be Ex-Wife is a McCoy and boy let me tell you, they really do have some bad attitudes. It's really cool to kind of know some of the family. Proud as can be of that heritage.
I am sure the blu-ray will be great quality as well since the HD showing on History is spectacular.
If you love History grab this and you will not regret it.
Edit: Just finished the series, It was amazing. This has it all, parts that make you cry, parts that make you wanna throw something at the T.V., parts that have you on the edge of your seat. This series is great for anybody fans of history or not.
Edit: As someone mentioned to me, I left out some of the other Actors and Actresses that are deff worth mentioning, Tom Berenger play Jim Vance and at first it took me by surprise when I finally realized it was him, he player the role amazingly.
Mare Winningham played Sally McCoy and hit it spot on, it was almost to good, it was hard to watch this character at times.
Lindsay Pulsipher also stood out as Roseanna, the plot between her and Johnse was almost to heart breaking to watch and she played the heartbroken woman perfectly both mentally and physically.
Honestly there are no Actors in this film that did a bad job, Everything came together perfectly.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
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Published 2 days ago by Gina G. Stout
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This movie is by far one of the best I have ever seen. You will watch it over and over and over again! This is a must have for you collection. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Kat
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie & cast!
I really enjoyed this movie & the actors were great! They really did a good job at selecting the actors/actresses for the part they played. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Sedlove
5.0 out of 5 stars
hatfields and mccoys
i have this downloaded on my kindle and i love being able to watch it on my kindle great item
Published 7 days ago by chloe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie
Rather long, but tells a good story. I missed it on PBS, so decided to buy it here. No begging for money to wait through and can watch it all in 1 night!
Published 7 days ago by Melanie Hurst
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Film--Pretty Much What I Expected It to Be
HATFIELDS & McCOYS is well-acted and well-filmed. According to some other reviewers, many of the historical fine points are inaccurate. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Doug Park
5.0 out of 5 stars
My wife is a Hatfield descendant
This was very good acting when we watched it on TV and we just had to have a copy of our own. Perhaps some of the facts were played with a little but it made for a good story. Read more
Published 11 days ago by J. Armstrong
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great movie
You won't even want to pause it to take a potty break! One of the best movies I have watched in a long time.
Published 11 days ago by dontoe
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT MOVIE!!!!
I grew up down south and heard a lot about this controversy but never knew how bad it was. This movie is AWESOME!!!! Read more
Published 12 days ago by Alan
