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And now, at last, The Civil War has made it on to
DVD and it is the perfect show to have on disc. The DVDs allow
you to navigate through the massive series and easily find
something you wanted to look at again.
Burns used over 16,000 still photos in the epic production
and came up with an innovative way of filming the images and
thereby adding a stylish form of movement while getting incredible
detail out of the old plates.
The music of the Civil War period is usually lively and brings
an interesting counterpoint of life to the darker images and
details of the bloody battles that killed more Americans than
any wars since. The title music, the haunting Ashokan Farewell
will get in your blood and you may find yourself unconciously
whistling it.
David McCullough, the narrator, has an absolutely magical
voice - as has a very impressive lineup of character voices
who read from personal diaries and letters of eyewitnesses
to the battlefield carnage, political goings on and life on
the homefront. They include Morgan Freeman, Jason Robards,
Sam Waterson, Derek Jacobi and Jeremy Irons.
Blended in to that mix are explanatory to-camera pieces by
eminent historian Barbara Fields and celebrated historical
writer Shelby Foote, who is the epitomy of a Southern gentleman.
The transfer on to DVD is very good, although not pristine,
but who the heck cares? This is riveting stuff.
Above all, however, The Civil War stands as a monumental
achievement of managing to encapsulate the bitter struggle
between the North and the South in an enthralling way. 40
million Americans watched it first time around and if you
want to see something truly wonderful then you'll do so too.
Episode One: The Cause
As one would expect this examines the major causes of the
American Civil War and the leading players on both sides.
Slavery is looked at and while that itself did not cause the
war, abolitionist activist John Brown's (of John Brown's
Body fame) attack on a southern armoury at Harper's Ferry
certainly speeded things up. The main reason for the war was
the key issue of states' right and whether they could vote
to leave the American Union. Whatever the causes, the first
major battle at Manassas (Bull Run) was a humiliating defeat
for the much stronger North.
Episode Two: A Very Bloody Affair
In 1862, as both sides settle into preparations for a long
and drawn out war, the world witnesses the first clash of
ironclad ships - the Merrimac and the Monitor - and the politics
as European nations get close to recognising the Confederacy
(South) as an independent country. While the Union has the
bigger army it cannot find a man to lead it and, desperate
to turn things around, President Abraham Lincoln goes for
a drinker and failed businessman in Ulysses S. Grant. The
result is the battle of Shiloh.
Episode Three: Forever Free
By the middle of 1862, Lincoln is in real trouble and wants
to use the freeing of slaves (only in the South however) as
a way to unite the North and lessen the likelihood of European
intervention in the war. He needs a battle victory and Grant
is about to deliver him one - the bloodiest day's fighting
of the war - at Antietam.
Conclusion: 95%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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