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The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
List Price: $129.98Price: $109.99 You Save: $19.99 (15%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780638877
Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0780638875
Label: Pbs Home Video
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video
Number Of Items: 5
Publisher: Pbs Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 17, 2002
Running Time: 660 minutes
Studio: Pbs Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: September 23, 1990
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Editorial Review:
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
Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burns's epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive-- and defining--conflict. With digitally enhanced images and new stereo sound, here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - As good as it gets.
This is another great documentary accredited to Ken Burns. Nicely done and extremely informative. I purchased this for my wife who loves it and has watched it several times over.
Rating: - A true masterpiece, regardless of historical reservations!
Regardless of historical reservations and allegations of bias from both North and South, I regard this work of Ken Burns as a true masterpiece. I bought my first set on VHS several years ago at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and played it through a dozen or more times. I went to the expense of having this set transferred to new tapes for my VHS player here in England. Having heard in 2002 that it was available on DVD and that the whole series had been digitally enhanced, I purchased the same and I can ... Read More
Rating: - Great piece of work; good start for beginning historians.
This series is THE definitive documentary on the American Civil War - it's the first of it's kind in style and content and powerfully evocative of the spirit of the time. However, there are some inconsistencies which become apparent to the attentive viewer. For example, statements made throughout the film representing North and South waiver between certainty of Northern perserverance and widespread dissension regarding Lincoln's leadership - points which are not in agreement and do not make a cohesive ... Read More
Rating:  - Great but misleading
Very entertaining, a masterpiece really. However, it perpetuates the myth that the abolition of slavery was at the heart of the war. So many facts run counter to this notion. For example, until well into the war, the North made it clear that it would welcome the South back into the Union with slavery intact. When Lincoln emancipated the slaves, he specifically did so only in the rebel states, leaving out the slave states that were loyal to the Union. This clearly indicates that this was a war tactic, pretty ... Read More
Rating: - A great collection, drama and great narration, and some good history as well.
I watched this series when it first came out in 1990 on PBS, and was mezmerized by it, also studing U.S history at that time and having read a rather large Civil War book for a class project as well. Now on weekends our PBS station has been reruning some episodes, and it sparked me to look it up here on amazon to see what prices were, which have come down tremendously, so I bought a set. Now reflecting back 16 years later, this show is good for base history, but it also has the narration, music and organizations ... Read More
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