Product Description: No Description Available. Genre: Documentary Rating: NR Release Date: 28-SEP-2004 Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com: The most successful public-television miniseries in American history, the 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller, and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. --Dave McCoy
On the DVD The DVD features on The Civil War provide a wealth of insight, creative philosophy, historical perspective, and educational enjoyment. Twelve years after its premiere broadcast, the film was given a digital facelift, sharpening image clarity, correcting color, and enriching its soundtrack with a remastered 5.1-channel mix, as demonstrated in the "Civil War Reconstruction" featurette. In interviews from 2002, producer-director Ken Burns, historian Shelby Foote, journalist George Will, author Stanley Crouch, and composer-musicians Jay Ungar and Molly Mason reflect upon The Civil War's enduring significance. And Burns's eloquent commentary--selectively included on each disc and totaling five hours--illuminates the historical importance and creative impulse behind crucial chapters of the film. Fifty-seven onscreen biography cards detail important North, South, and civilian figures, and two 1990 featurettes—"Making History" and "A Conversation with Ken Burns"--provide a more personal perspective on the creation of this extraordinary film. Useful for both personal and academic study, these features stand as a fitting supplement to one of the greatest documentaries ever produced. --Jeff Shannon
Absolutley Fantastic If there was a 6 star rating, I would give it that. I saw bits and pieces of this series, and decided to get the whole series. I live close to the Lincoln museum and library, and have a special interest in the Civil War. Ken Burns did a GREAT job of describing the causes and trials of the war. Would recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in this subject.
Why Confederates Deserted... Dead for anothers bad pruchasing decision. The Southerners knew enslaving people was wrong when they bought the salves from the North since 1833 when slavery was not outlawed in States by one vote.
Simply stunning. In short, the finest thing I have ever seen on television. Mr Burns has created an amazing work here.
One of the best documentaries ever Ken Burns is a master of telling history through television. "The Civil War" is a sweeping epic that tells all sides and mixes in the hard facts with the human side of America's most tragic war.
The narration by actors, the photographs, the video and the music all combine to create pure magic.
Those who say they refuse to have a TV in their homes because nothing good ever comes out of it, need to reconsider based on documentaries like this.
I highly recommend it.
--Guy P. Harrison, author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
Also check out:
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Civil War Sites, 2nd: The Official Guide to the Civil War Discovery Trail (Civil War Sites)
My Family's War My family moved to Washington Parish just north of New Orleans in 1804 and participated in the Civil War in every way possible - on the right side of course. This series has always touched me and I watch it all the way through at least once a year. In fact I was watching it when I got the phone call that Katrina was not going to turn toward Florida but was going to be on a direct path for New Orleans where I was living at the time. It has been repeated through the generations that one of my female relatives hid secrets in her hair and skirts when crossing over the lines. This series is a terrific hit and I will never grow tired of seeing it.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
