Product Details

• Actors: Charlton Heston, Keith Carradine, Brad Davis, Wayne Rogers, Billy Dee Williams
• Directors: Jerry London
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Starmaker Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: October 1, 1990
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302550424
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,649 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #23 in	Video > Television > Miniseries
  #34 in	Video > Boxed Sets > Drama

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent mystery and social commentary!, February 27, 2005

By	Patrick Simmons (Stone Mountain, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first saw this miniseries when I was 13 years old and I can still watch it over and over! It's a great story about a series of murders in ficticious Delano Georgia that span a 40+ year period and the three police chiefs who work to solve them. The series begins in the early 1920s and the first chief is Will Henry Lee (Wayne Rogers), an easygoing and fair minded family man who is respected by Delano's white and black communities. Lee comes close to solving the case until something unfortunate happens (no spoilers here). The series fast forwards to 1945 at the end of WWII and the next chief is Sonny Butts (Brad Davis), a despicable racist who is appointed when the previous chief dies of a sudden heart attack. Butts is hardly qualified to be chief but is apparently put in his position to keep Delano's black community in line. His wishes to solve the murders pales in comparison to his obsession with doing away with Marshall Peters (Danny Glover), a black businessman who is also the unofficial leader of Delano's black community. Butts also comes close to solving the case until he too is thwarted.

We next go to 1962 and the third chief is Tyler Watts (Billy Dee Williams), a black military police officer whose appointment is pushed by Lieutenant Governor Billy Lee (Stephen Collins), former Chief Will Henry's son. In spite of the racism directed toward him from the community and other law enforcement officials (including a bumbling officer who profiles him as a car thief only to have his face hit the floor when he finds out that his suspect is the chief), Watts doesn't back down or lose his focus. He later proves his detractors wrong and the ending is very heart touching.

"Chiefs" was very well acted for a TV miniseries. Brad Davis' portrayal of Sonny Butts is as real and convincing as you'll find and Billy Dee Williams' bold confrontations with the local bigots, the sheriff and others remind me so much of Sidney Poitier from "In The Heat Of The Night" that it gets me out of my seat when I see it. Seeing him getting his officers in line and drilling them after they initially accuse him of being a car thief is classic. Other fine performances are given by Charlton Heston as town founder Hugh Holmes (who also narrates the series), Keith Carradine as dog breeder/murderer "Foxy" Funderburke and Stephen Collins as Billy Lee. It's not exactly the classic mystery/social commentary that "In The Heat Of The Night" was but for a miniseries, it comes very close.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book was really good too, January 22, 2002

By	Tammy Blackburn (Monroe, OR USA) - See all my reviews

I just finished reading the book "Chiefs" and decided to try and find the movie and compare the two. I personally think that books are better because movies leave out too much vital information. I recommend Stuart Woods' books to anyone that likes to read.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great historical epic, January 23, 2003

By	schackdaddy (www.schackdaddy.com) - See all my reviews

chief's tells the storey of a small southern area, and the generations of people, the interactions of the towns people affected, and the horrible secret yet to be uncovered
from it's past. charlton heston, brad davis and billy dee williams give stand out performances in this police tale
which spans 40 yr's.