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The Civil War

  • TV Mini Series
  • 19901990
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 11h 20m
IMDb RATING
9.1/10
17K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,375
104
The Civil War (1990)
The Civil War: A Film By Ken Burns (At Bull Run)
Play trailer2:23
2 Videos
24 Photos
DocumentaryHistoryWar
A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
IMDb RATING
9.1/10
17K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,375
104
  • Stars
    • David McCullough
    • Sam Waterston
    • Julie Harris
  • Stars
    • David McCullough
    • Sam Waterston
    • Julie Harris
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 90User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated TV #34
    • Won 2 Primetime Emmys

    Episodes9

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    1990

    Videos2

    The Civil War: A Film By Ken Burns (At Bull Run)
    Trailer 2:23
    Watch The Civil War: A Film By Ken Burns (At Bull Run)
    The Civil War
    Trailer 1:14
    Watch The Civil War

    Photos24

    John Wilkes Booth in The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)
    The Civil War (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    David McCullough
    David McCullough
    • Self - Narrator
    Sam Waterston
    Sam Waterston
    • President Abraham Lincoln
    Julie Harris
    Julie Harris
    • Mary Chestnut
    Jason Robards
    Jason Robards
    • Ulysses S. Grant
    Morgan Freeman
    Morgan Freeman
    • Frederick Douglass…
    Paul Roebling
    • Joshua L. Chamberlain…
    Garrison Keillor
    Garrison Keillor
    • Walt Whitman…
    George Black
    • Robert E. Lee
    Arthur Miller
    Arthur Miller
    • William Tecumseh Sherman…
    Christopher Murney
    Christopher Murney
    • Pvt. Elijah Hunt Rhodes
    Charles McDowell
    • Pvt. Sam Watkins
    Horton Foote
    Horton Foote
    • Jefferson Davis
    George Plimpton
    George Plimpton
    • George Templeton Strong…
    Philip Bosco
    Philip Bosco
    • Horace Greeley…
    Terry Courier
    • George McClellan
    Jody Powell
    • Stonewall Jackson…
    Studs Terkel
    Studs Terkel
    • Benjamin F. Butler
    Jeremy Irons
    Jeremy Irons
    • Various
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Shelby Foote became a celebrity after the success of this mini-series. Foote's phone number was listed in his local phone book, and he received frequent calls from fans. He never removed his number from the phone book, and received calls whenever the mini-series aired for the rest of his life.
    • Goofs
      Contrary to this documentary (and many historians) Winfield Scott never recommended Robet E. Lee for anything more than a "significant command" nor did Lincoln offer Lee command of the Union Army.

      An advisor to the President, Francis P. Blair, DID offer Lee command of the Defenses of Washington, via letter, but there are NO records that Lee. An Lincoln ever met in person.
    • Quotes

      Narrator: A week before the battle of Bull Run, Sullivan Ballou, a major in the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers, wrote home to his wife in Smithfield.

      Sullivan Ballou: July 14, 1861. Washington, D.C. Dear Sarah, indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days-perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I'm no more. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I'm engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the Revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down all the joys in this life, to help maintain this Government and to pay that debt. Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence can break. Yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind, bearing me irresistibly with all these chains to the battlefield. The memories of all the blissful moments I've enjoyed with you come crowding over me. And I feel most deeply grateful to God and you that I've enjoyed them for so long. How hard it is to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved each other and seen our boys grown to honorable manhood around us. If I do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you. Nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been. But, oh, Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I'll always be with you; in the brightest day and the darkest night, always. Always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath. Or the cool air at your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead. Think I am gone, and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

      Narrator: Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run.

    • Connections
      Featured in Entertainment Weekly's the New Classics: TV (2008)
    • Soundtracks
      Ashokan Farewell
      Written by Jay Ungar

      Performed by Fiddle Fever

    User reviews90

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    A groundbreaking film, for our defining moment
    When The Civil War first aired in 1990, it became a phenomenon. I

    was a little kid, but I remember "Ashokan Farewell" and the

    intriguing black and white images and voiceovers from the screen,

    and people talking about it all over the place. To be sure, the

    intimacy of the film eventually made me a Civil War buff, as it has

    for tens of thousands across the country.

    The fact is, Ken Burns created a monumental piece of television

    that chronicled, if not in a general fashion, by far the most defining

    moment in our history and an incredibly groundbreaking way.

    The film is simple, yet is so profound in it's simplicity and style,

    using just pictures and accounts and music and some bursts of

    color from modern cinematography. For the first time, we heard the

    accounts of real soldiers and people, and instead of taking sides,

    it gave a sense of humanity to both sides in a war that is riddled

    with political and social posturing, but was ultimately all slaughter.
    helpful•48
    6
    • mercybell
    • Sep 28, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 23, 1990 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production companies
      • American Documentaries Inc.
      • Florentine Films
      • Kenneth Lauren Burns
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 11 hours 20 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

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