The Civil War

There's one point in this documentary series, I believe at the end of the first episode, in which a letter is read from a soldier (it makes no difference what side he's on) to his wife a few days before his death in battle. It's read against a beautiful Southern landscape and it'll bring you to tears. It says everything about The Civil War that you'll need to know. But stick around to watch the other 8 episodes because Ken Burns knows how to give you a story and a history lesson and entertain you all at once. He shows you the good, the bad, and the worst. The most odious character in the whole war was General George McClellan, as he tells it, who sat on his rear end for so much of his tenure that he was personally responsible for the deaths of thousands of men. He, believe it or not, went on to become the governor of New Jersey, and even made a try to oust the presidency away from Lincoln before that. The man we should all revere is General Robert E. Lee. I knew next to nothing about him before the documentary, but came away believing he was a great and honorable man, beloved by even his enemies. In his dying hours, he went back to the battlefield, and his last words were "strike the tent," which are probably the most perfect last words spoken. The interviews are stellar, and without the different voice talents, it wouldn't be nearly as powerful a series. Particularly Morgan Freeman speaking the lines of civil rights activist Frederick Douglass. One great orator speaking another great orator's lines. It's enough to give you shivers.

year: 1990
length: 680 min. (9 episodes)
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098769/combined