The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns VHS

This five DVD series provides a detailed account of the most tragic war in American history, the Civl War which claimed more lives than all of our wars combined. Narrated superbly by David McCullough, who would later narrate the film, "Seabiscuit," the viewer is led through the events before the conflict to fifty years after the Battle of Gettysburg when veterans met again as friends rather than enemies. The last one would die in 1959. The diaries of soldiers, civilians, and leaders of both sides are reread by such prominent actors as John Waterston, Jason Robards, Julie Harris, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, George Plimpton, and Morgan Freeman. Actual civil war photographs are interspersed with modern photography of the places where they fell or suffered the misery of bivouac and deprivation. Sounds of musketry, commands and rebel yells often provide background audio that makes the viewer feel as though he or she is there.As the stories are told to us, music of the era provides a background that adds to the realism of the time. It will replay in your ear many times over. "Dixie" and "The Bonnie Blue Flag" were southern favorites. Another favorite would be written by a lady who suddenly awoke in the middle of the night to pen a poem that would be set to an old Methodist melody. It would become the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."Nuance and coincidence are thick and so frequent in this series it is impossible to catalogue all of them here. At the first Battle of Bull Run, Wilmer McClain, a farmer decided his home and family were too close to the war. He would move them into western Virginia where four years later, Robert E. Lee would surrender to Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of the farmer's new home. "Dixe" was written by a Northerner. Union forces named battles after rivers or creeks, while Southerners named them after towns. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a college professor from Maine, found the only way he could be released from his teaching post to fight was to go on sabbatical. As colonel, of the 20th Maine, he would hold and defend the most pivotal position of the battle of Gettysburg, the most important battle of the war, and he understood both at that moment. His regiment of fishermen from Presque Isle ME would face farmers from Talledega, AL. Drawing a straight line to both communities found Gettysburg on the line, 650 miles apart from each. A failed officer, drunk, and store clerk would end up leading the US Army. His name was Ulysses S. Grant. Robert E. Lee, was offered command of the U.S. Army, but refused. He would not take up arms against his state. A Confederate officer would capture and board a Union vessel where he would cradle a dying Union lieutenant in his arms, his own son. When President Lincoln orders a new cemetery for the fallen, the Quartermaster General, Major General Montgomery Meggs brings it to the front door of Robert E. Lee's home. Within a year his son will be interred in Mrs. Lee's rose garden. It would later be known as Arlington National Cemetery. Two brothers would meet on the battlefield of Gettysburg, one fighting for the South and the other for the North. After the war, the state of Mississippi would spend one fifth of its budget on prothesis for their veterans. Elijah Hunt Rhodes would rise from the rank of private to general and would meet with veterans for years after the war as Major General Chamberlain would. Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest would also rise from private to general becoming one of the most feared cavalry raiders of the war. His tactics and phrases would become doctrine of the army to this day. "When surrounded, attack" or "Keep up the scare." Ironclad ships would make their debut and make every navy in the world suddenly obsolete. Abraham Lincoln would be invited to say a "few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery on November 19, 1863. His two minutes of 272 words would forever be remembered as "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address," and it would become the most memorable in American history. The two-hour long speech of 14,000 words by the featured speaker, Senator Edward Everett of Massachusetts would be forgotten. Only his kind telegam to Lincoln, a day later would be remembered, "I would like to flatter myself that I came to the central point in two hours as you did in two minutes." In the greatest irony of all, the rebellious Confederacy would have rampant inflation making the U.S. gold dollar, the most valuable currency they could possess.What makes this documentary so effective is that doesn't look or sound like one. Ken Burns has proven to be a master at this. He has shown how our civil war has had such a profound effect on the American pysche. "Ashikan Farewell" written in 1963 in upstate New York, is frequently played throughout the story. It has become a favorite at weddings, anniversaries and funerals across America, and is forever linked indelibly to this story. The sounds of commands, horses, and musketfire add to the realism of this production. Historians Shelby Foote, Edwin Bearss, Barbara Fields, Stephen B. Oates, and James Symington, a former congressman bring to life untold personal accounts of those long dead so well, you think they had been there. The true power of a DVD of this stature is that it makes you think and want to learn more. It's power is that you may never tire of watching it.The actual Civil War defined a nation for people from the North and South, and it continues to this day. Even though it is an event of yesteryear it can no more be separated from us than we could be separated from our own skin. It reveals the resilience and genius of our Constitution. Not a single word is changed because of it. The United States becomes the first nation to have a civil war over slavery, and the first to have elections during one. Before the war, the United States was described in the plural, are. After the war, it was the "United States is," and it has been ever since.November 11, 2009: For our veterans, North and South, past and present.

I had this on VHS years ago. The price to buy it on Prime was very reasonable. It's a GREAT series!!

Educational, intriguing, excellent production value. A timeless classic documentary.

If you are a Civil war buff then you like this.

When this stunning 11 hour documentary was released on PBS in 1990, I remember watching parts of it with awe. But that was years ago, years before I could easily record episodes on DVR and, frankly, years before my interest in history grew passionate. That's why I was so delighted with the 5-disc set released in 2004. However, I did find the package a little awkward and it's easy to make a mistake and wind up viewing the same episode twice or missing one altogether, but once these small details are mastered, what is left is the feeling that I have actually lived during those tumultuous times and I now understand how this war has shaped the history of my beloved country, the United States of America.Ken Burns's use of archival photos, interviews with historians, original and traditional music and voice-overs by well-known actors such as Julie Harris, Morgan Freeman and Jason Roberts make this epic haunting, especially since Mr. Burns clearly has a sense of irony and uses it throughout. However, it is the facts that make this story real, the facts that chill me to the bone. More then 618,000 people lost their lives in the Civil War. In the Battle of Gettysburg alone there were 54,112 casualties, including the wounded who often had to have their limbs amputated because guns shot bullets in a spray which literally destroyed bones.The film is divided into nine episodes. The first describes the history of the causes of the war. I could feel the tension mounting during this episode because we all knew what was to come. It was especially sad to see the enthusiasm of the confederates which was so very misplaced. The second episode brings out how the war to preserve the union became a war to free the slaves. It also describes the new weapons, such as ironclad ships. I had heard of ironclad ships before, but now they became real to me, especially with the introduction of diaries of some of the men who actually manned them. In the third episode the Union forces are suffering defeat but Lincoln still decides to go ahead with the Emancipation Proclamation. Throughout the series we are constantly learning about the generals on both sides and in the fourth episode we see the combat between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Throughout, we also feel their humanity. The interviews with historians, specifically Shelby Foote, really bring this out. The turning point of the War, the battle of Gettysburg, and the draft riots in New York are depicted in the fifth episode, as well as beginning of the use of Negro troops by the Union forces. There are more battles in the sixth episode, and a description of Lincoln's bid for reelection. By the seventh episode we see people turning against the war as battles continue to rage. General Sherman's march to the sea is the highlight of the eighth episode. Victory seems assured for the Union but the Confederates continue to fight on as the South is being destroyed. Then, in the ninth episode the war is finally over, but not without a lot of sorrow. Lincoln has lived to see the end of the war but then his life is ended by assassination.Life goes on. Years pass. The soldiers who lived through the War turn into old men, march in parades. Eventually, we see them no more, and the memory of the war lives on only in history books. I'm inspired to read more, even explored reading Shelby Foote's 3-volume saga. But when I looked for it in a bookstore I discovered that each book is 900 dense pages long and I could barely lift each book. So I guess I'll leave this history for the historians. That's why I'm so delighted that Ken Burns made this series. If you want to learn about this definitive period of history, this classic Ken Burns work is the way to go. I give it my highest recommendation.

I'd debated whether to buy this blu-ray as I'd already got the previous DVD released some years ago but I'm glad I did, the restoration/enhancement is just stunning. Beautifully picturesque and as good as this masterpiece deserves.

Doceumentary Series: 5 Stars; Blu-Ray Presentation: 5 StarsThe Civil War is a seminal peice of documentary making which rightly deserves all the praise it has received since it was first broadcast in 1990. The innovative integration of narration, photographic images, maps, spoken diary & speech extracts and filmed interviews of historians and experts is superb and gives the documentary an immediacy & intimacy to the broad sweep of the momentous history it covers. The experts are compelling with the late historian Shelby Foote the undoubted & unlooked for star. The 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray with its restored & remastered picture is excellent and the commentary & special features and subtitling are also very welcome.A superb addition to any film buff, documentary lover or history fan's DVD/Blu-Ray collection..

This has been my favourite documentary series since it was first shown on UK TV in the early nineties. Although I bought the DVD box-set on its release, I later bought the "restored/remastered" Blu-ray edition in 2018 and was saving it for a "special occasion".When starting to view it recently, I was immediately struck by how incredibly grainy most of the video content appears. The colour interview sections are an improvement on the DVD release and the menu screens are up to standard - but the vast majority of the sequences where vintage photographs are shown are ruined by the amount of picture "noise" visible. Even most modern colour battlefield shots are affected by this too. Considering the source content, I was obviously not expecting it to be comparable with a big-budget Hollywood movie - but I am somewhat shocked that this was marketed as "restored" and "remastered". Subsequent searches on-line indicate that the Blu-ray set was recalled, corrected and reissued - but the acknowledged problems with the initial release appear to be in relation to poor black levels in certain scenes. However, I have noticed one other Amazon reviewer complain about grain and pixelation. Reviewers giving this a good rating on Amazon must surely be referring to the DVD set. (In case anyone is wondering, I have been using a high end Blu-ray player which has superb picture quality normally and none of the picture tweaks available on either the player or the TV make any difference). PBS make some brilliant documentaries - but how their flagship series can get released with such poor video and without any apparent internal quality control totally baffles me - especially considering how it had been marketed for its 25th anniversary. What would it take for someone involved to actually sit down and review it before giving it the green light for release? My particular set came from New Zealand and I don't know if this was part of the suspect run or not - but it has taught me a lesson not to leave it too long between purchasing and viewing in future. I will go back to watching the DVD until I can be sure that this has been put right as the level of grain/picture noise is simply too distracting to enjoy the content. I was expecting a definitive Blu-ray edition - but I am very disappointed unfortunately.

The Civil War by Ken Burns is a monumental achievement. Painstakingly researched in an attempt to get as close to the truth as possible. Everything about this project is commendable and the end result is stunning. Shelby Foote and Barbara Fields provide notable contributions throughout. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Other Ken Burns projects, The West, and more recently The Vietnam War are equally memorable.

Any historical documentary Ken Burns makes is truly epic, and the Civil War is no different! This is the definitive guide to the American Civil War. A must watch for anyone interested in history it is fantastic, I have watched it twice already and plan on a third soon!! I cannot recommend this highly enough.