“The Civil War” remains Ken Burns’ masterpiece and one of the greatest television documentaries in American history. However, we’re going to be approaching the 25th Anniversary from a different viewpoint. While this is just an early look at the first episode of the pending release, I do want to say that PBS didn’t tread lightly when they made another trip back to the narrated letter well. So, why now?
Well, Ken Burns has always been a draw for Public Television and rediscovering “The Civil War” shows why. The material will be boring for younger people, but this was the first solid effort to humanize such a storied topic. While we’ve come quite a way in documentary narrative since 1990, there are several “cute” moments that show where the initial audience connection was made. But, it’s still weird to view a historical document as a meta historical document.
The early DVD screener I was sent had no special features, but we’ll have a full-form Blu-Ray review coming in the next two weeks.
Release Date: 10/13/15