How about if we suggest that this documentary is allowed an 11? OK, if we could I would vote that high. I own the VHS set and have watched it all the way through many times. I became a severe Civil War nut-case around the time I bought this set and have never turned back. I own the soundtrack, the coffee table book from this series. Not only did I fall in love with this series I also developed a true love of Jacqueline Schwab. I fully know why Ken Burns just sits in awe of her talents: they are that great. I have several of her CD's at home and love them. She is at the peak of her form in this series.
The Burns brothers worked so very hard on this series, often re-shooting material after their research revealed that they had made mistakes in quoting the history. Their determination to tell the story using a wide angle lens, taking in a deep field pays off. The quotations from the letters of the simple soldiers, of politicians and from the great warriors gives the film such weight and power. Shelby Foote just blew me away: I ended up buying his trilogy on the Civil War, read all three books (huge....) and consider them to be the finest masterpieces of Civil War writing to date. The other historians quoted add very important perspectives; there are simply no extraneous moments in these chapters. Everything adds one to the other. The material is so very accurate that there are very few quibbles that Civil War experts have found. It is deeply admired and is singularly held up as one of the finest examples of documentary work ever done. I defy anyone to watch the entire epic and not be swept up into the passionate debate that still enjoys the attention of authors who every year add dozens of new books to the field. The Civil War was the defining moment to America. Abe Lincoln emerges (for me) as the quintessential and greatest of Presidents. His courage and vision and daring have never been equaled and they probably never will be. He was discounted as a country bumpkin lawyer by all those who countenanced their own opinion of themselves far above him; they were all wrong. Lincoln emerges in this series as a giant, a titan who could see above the carnage into the future and who gave of this vision to Grant and Sherman enough clarity that it hung over their deliberations during reconstruction.
I could rave on and on about this series. The best I could ask is for the curious to rent the set and start with tape/CD 1 and just sit back for an experience you'll not find elsewhere. This is as good as this genre gets and it reaches the peaks of satisfaction and achievement. Outstanding and monumental achievement and a must see for all those who know too little about the Civil War.
The Burns brothers worked so very hard on this series, often re-shooting material after their research revealed that they had made mistakes in quoting the history. Their determination to tell the story using a wide angle lens, taking in a deep field pays off. The quotations from the letters of the simple soldiers, of politicians and from the great warriors gives the film such weight and power. Shelby Foote just blew me away: I ended up buying his trilogy on the Civil War, read all three books (huge....) and consider them to be the finest masterpieces of Civil War writing to date. The other historians quoted add very important perspectives; there are simply no extraneous moments in these chapters. Everything adds one to the other. The material is so very accurate that there are very few quibbles that Civil War experts have found. It is deeply admired and is singularly held up as one of the finest examples of documentary work ever done. I defy anyone to watch the entire epic and not be swept up into the passionate debate that still enjoys the attention of authors who every year add dozens of new books to the field. The Civil War was the defining moment to America. Abe Lincoln emerges (for me) as the quintessential and greatest of Presidents. His courage and vision and daring have never been equaled and they probably never will be. He was discounted as a country bumpkin lawyer by all those who countenanced their own opinion of themselves far above him; they were all wrong. Lincoln emerges in this series as a giant, a titan who could see above the carnage into the future and who gave of this vision to Grant and Sherman enough clarity that it hung over their deliberations during reconstruction.
I could rave on and on about this series. The best I could ask is for the curious to rent the set and start with tape/CD 1 and just sit back for an experience you'll not find elsewhere. This is as good as this genre gets and it reaches the peaks of satisfaction and achievement. Outstanding and monumental achievement and a must see for all those who know too little about the Civil War.