The Civil War DVD 5PK

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Features

• Behind the Scenes: The Civil War Reconstruction
• Commentary by Ken Burns
• Interviews with Ken Burns, Shelby Foote, George Will and Stanley Crouch
• Biography Cards
• Battlefield Maps
• Civil War Challenge
• Featurettes: Ken Burns: Making History and A Conversation with Ken Burns

"Wow." That's the only word that sprung to mind when I sat down to write this review. After spending over 11 hours with Ken Burns' immortal documentary series, I was beyond clear articulation and analytical thought. Suffice to say that I learned more during The Civil War than I did in 12 years of traditional American history lessons, and I'd contend that the brilliance of Ken Burns' work is that he makes the 'potentially boring' the pinnacle of all things hypnotic. There are undoubtedly throngs of people out there who'd be fascinated by the Civil War, but the prospect of poring over textbooks and journals seems too massive an undertaking. I'd even wager that those with no curiosity regarding the Civil War would promptly find themselves sucked right in to this amazing production. Whatever camp you fall into, trust me when I recommend this series to anyone under the sun; rare is a production so long so gosh-darned addicting. I'm a bit lost on how to properly 'synopsize' The Civil War, so let's just say that it covers basically everything about the famed 19th century war between the U.S. states. (And if it doesn't, I'd be quite interested to hear of any anecdotes of consequence that were omitted.) This five-disc DVD set divides the film by years, starting with the U.S. on the brink of division and follows the inevitable passage from emancipation to war's end to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Given the film's massive scope, you can expect nothing to be glossed over, and having all the 'major players' characterized so well helps to bring history into a wonderful 'real-life' perspective. Through the use of old photographs, maps, portraits, and letters, Burns brings history to life like no documentary I've ever seen. Narration is presented in an articulate and stately manner by historian David McCulloch, and Burns was clever enough to bring in a boatload of respected actors to deliver voice-over work. Each actor is given one historical figure to emulate, and it's a device that works wonders. Hearing Sam Waterston reading the letters of Abraham Lincoln (and Jason Robards breathing life into the words of Ulysses S. Grant) does more for the cause of historical education than do any 100 droning college professors. (Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, and George Plimpton also deliver great work.) Burns periodically takes a break from the history lessons to share conversations with astute historians and authors like Shelby Foote, George Will, and Ed Bearss, and these visits prove as entertaining as the archival photos and fascinating memoirs. (It helps when your interview subjects are as colourful as the topics they're enamoured with.) It's easy for a documentary to devolve into 'lecture territory' when the talking-head segments show up, but that's never the case here. Originally produced for public television (indeed it's still considered the most successful Public TV production ever), The Civil War is quite simply the finest historical documentary ever made. It should absolutely thrill the armies of U.S. Civil War buffs out there, and stands as perhaps the best piece of education-on-video yet conceived. As he did with his equally amazing Baseball, Burns concocts the perfect recipe for this sort of film: take a library's worth of fascinating facts, and present them in a sincere, artistic, and addictively informative style. The only thing wrong with this 11-hour cinematic mammoth is that it's not longer. Scott Weinberg (Apollo Movie Guide)