Customer Reviews

U.S. Military Railroad - Civil War Trains [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am somewhat surprised at myself for taking up for this small, obscure documentary, but the other review was so unreasonably harsh and intentionally misleading I feel that I need to. The production values of this film are admittedly low, but exactly how much money was supposed to be thrown at it? It is exactly what it claims to be, no more, no less. It is, in the end, a quite thorough telling of the history and operations of the United States Military Railroad during the Civil War, and damned if that isn't what it said on the box. Despite what the other reviewer has implied, the vast majority of this film consists of period photographs, well chosen ones at that. I'll concede that the model trains can seem a bit cheesy, but they do provide us with details that black-and-white photography cannot. Also, at no point during the video are scenes from "The General" shown. The only live-action footage, save the model trains, is of Civil War reenactors doing their thing. I can understand not liking this video, but why lie about it? Why refer to yourself as "Veritas" when you do? Even had the reviewer not completely distorted what this film is, he (or she) still committed the sin that so many of us can't seem to avoid: we end up reviewing what something isn't instead of what it is. This little video is not flashy or lavishly produced, nor is it the final word on the use of railroads during the Civil War. What it is is a well-told and earnestly made film about an interesting and often neglected subject. If you are at all interested in that subject, I have little doubt that you will enjoy this short treatment of it. In short, a better film could probably be made about the subject, but where is it and how much (more) would it cost? I bought this many years ago for five to ten dollars and have not regretted it.

I can't believe I watched the whole thing. This video looks and reads/sounds like a school project. The video consists of some photographs from the Civil War but a lot of the video is footage of plastic soldiers glued to the top of a toy train. I couldn't stop laughing. There's also some footage from the movie "The General" starring Buster Keaton, but if you want to see "The General" go to your local video store and rent it or buy it at Amazon. If you're looking for a professional video on trains during the Civil War keep looking.

I can't believe I watched the whole thing. This video looks and reads/sounds like a school project. The video consists of some photographs from the Civil War but a lot of the video is footage of plastic soldiers glued to the top of a toy train. I couldn't stop laughing. There's also some footage from the movie "The General" starring Buster Keaton, but if you want to see "The General" go to your local video store and rent it or buy it at Amazon. If you're looking for a professional video on trains during the Civil War keep looking.