Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)North and South is truly one of the great miniseries, and in fact in my opinion surpasses other great Civil War films such as "Gone With the Wind." Based on the John Jakes trilogy of novels, this miniseries spans the period from the 1840s and the Mexican War, through the aftermath of the American Civil War. It tells the story of two families, the Hazards of Pennsylvania, and the Mains of South Carolina. The Hazards are the owners of a great steel manufactory. The Mains are the powerful owners of a sprawling Southern rice plantation. George Hazard and Orry Main, the scions of their respective families, form a friendship while attending West Point that sees them through the Mexican War and which is tested as each takes his region's side in the Civil War.
The miniseries is reasonably faithful to the novels, and where it departs, the changes are generally benign. The story is also quite faithful to history, and both North and South are portrayed with respect, although the story harshly indicts the institution of slavery, and reminds Americans of the incredible fact that this evil was a basic fact of our country for a very long time.
Book one of North and South is superb. It spans the period from about 1840 through the outbreak of the Civil War. The portrayal of the Mexican War is quite good, and the story of George and Orry graduating West Point and fighting together in the Mexican War makes for a fine story. The film does very well at recreating the attitudes of Northerners and Southerners during this period--conflicting attitudes which ultimately could not be reconciled by the normal political institutions of the American republic and which instead culminated in the Civil War. The battle scenes are very good and surpass what we normally expect of a miniseries.
Book Two takes place immediately following the firing upon Ft. Sumpter. It is again very well done. This is one of the very best straight Civil War films. It is not without flaws. Just as in the novel, the Elkanah Bent sub-plot adds very little to this story. This is true despite the fact that the Bent sub-plot in the Book Two film bears essentially no resembence to the novel. But overall, this is a fine story. Lloyd Bridges in particular does a fine job in his portrayal of Jefferson Davis. Hal Holbrook is a wonderful Abraham Lincoln. Here again the battle scenes are very good. My only quibble is that the soldiers' uniforms are too natty and pristine. Real Civil War soldiers were never very well turned out. The combat and conditions were too tough for that, and the supply trains too inefficient.
Book Three takes place after the end of the Civil War, and is so bad as to be unwatchable. I'm not fooling. The way I look at Book Three is that the DVD makes a fine beer coaster while watching the excellent Books One and Two. Not only is Book Three unwatchable, but it totally departs from the story as set forth in the novel. (as far as I could tell-I mean it when I say that Three is unwatchable). Book Three of Jakes' novels was far and away the weakest of the three, but it was somewhat readable. Not in the miniseries, however.
North and South is imperfect, but it is still so good as to rate five stars. It really is a great story of the Civil War era. James Read and Patrick Swayze turn in great performances as George and Orry. Read was sufficiently good in this part that I am surprised that this role did not lead to greater things for him.
The flaws. First of all, as in all John Jakes stories, the characters, particularly the villains, are one-dimensional at best. Virgilia Hazard, Elkanah Bent, Ashton Main--these characters are complete villains and in real life no one in their right mind would want to live on the same continent with such scoundrels. I have always thought that this caricature-like characterization is the weakest aspect of John Jakes' writing, and these flaws, unfortunately, are faithfully recreated in this miniseries.
The good news is that as far as I can tell, this DVD collection is uncut or close to it. I've read the novels, seen the miniseries, and owned the VHS version of the miniseries, and these DVDs seem to be complete. Further, the color and sound on the DVDs is very good. Overall this is a tremenous value that many fans of North and South have waited for for a long time.
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North and South: The Complete Collection (Books One, Two & Three) (1986)NORTH AND SOUTH:COMPLETE COLLECTION - DVD Movie
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