Rating  - Sacred History
I am in Love with the work Ken Burns and his brother do...I have seen many of their works, but the Civil War is my favorite, it is so heartbreaking and inspirational, I am honored to support their work.
Rating - Long after we're gone..this documentary will live on!.
I have always been a student of history. I now publish a historical magazine in Florida, and always thought this documentary was the one that set the highest standard for documentaries. There are 11 hours of captivating photos, stories, excellent narration and music of all the paegentry, hopes and ultimate tragedy of the war. It is just too exhaustive to write about. But I honestly believe this documentary will live on..long after we're gone..as the definitive documentary on the Civil War. It is well worth the investment knowing that this can be viewed just as effectively....100 years from now. This is Ken Burns' masterpiece for the ages.
Rating - Great Movie!
I bought this movie for my dad and he has really enjoyed it. He is a real military buff. He said it is a great movie and will be watching it again. I had great service from Amazon and it's vendor. So we highly recommend both.
Rating - As this haunting epic unfolded, I felt I was living through the Civil War.
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.
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