How sad is this?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Sprawling miniseries with the wise choice of using a sketch artist as its focal point with sympathies on both sides. Having someone who isn't fighting for one side or the other allows both sides to be presented without one being dominant. John Hammond is fine in the lead but not so strong that he pulls the focus off the story. An amazing cast cycles through the story without most given enough time to really register, it's a shame but with a canvas this large unavoidable. All are fine but a few do manage to make an impression, Gregory Peck is perfectly cast as Abe Lincoln, strong and dignified. Colleen Dewhurst and Diane Baker are an interesting contrast as sisters, although they never share a scene, one a southern farm woman the other a northern homemaker but perhaps the one performer who makes the most of her few scenes is Geraldine Page as a southerner trapped in a war zone who has adapted to survive but still retains her ladylike demeanor. In just three scenes she creates a character that the viewer fully understands. For history buffs or fans of epic scale storytelling this is a must.

Eminently watchable and very much a film that delivers the 'feeling of the times'. This gets at what professional historians say that any historical works needs - i.e. a sense of 'what it was like'. As to the accuracy of historical details that some of your commentators complain about, I cannot say as I am not a military expert. Good cast and good acting all of which adds up to a very presentable dramatic view of the Civil War. The only (pleasant) distraction for me was John Hammond who is so good looking that one wonders if anyone alive in those days could have been such a beautiful, clean cut 'All American' male. When you see old Civil War photos, most of the males, even the young ones, seem 'scruffy' and worn out before their time.

I'm not going to nitpick this film because the wrong number of buttons are on a Civil War jacket nor am I going to criticize the fact that certain battles are presented out of chronological sequence, as some others have already pointed out.But taken as a Civil War drama, THE BLUE AND THE GRAY ranks with the very best movies made about this era of American history and all of the performances are splendid. The human drama, both on the home front before the war and during the various battles, is portrayed very realistically, as are the graphic battle scenes.The cast assembled does a wonderful job with characters that come alive. GREGORY PECK does well as Abraham Lincoln, although his make-up is a bit disconcerting and he was a bit too mature to play the role in the first place. But STACY KEACH and JOHN HAMMOND carry much of the film as the two leading characters who witness various aspects of the Civil War, seen through their eyes and experiences, and they are excellent.The supporting cast includes vivid performances from LLOYD BRIDGES, COLLEEN DEWHURST, RORY CALHOUN, GERALDINE PAGE, RIP TORN, STERLING HAYDEN, DIANE BAKER. BRIAN KERWIN is excellent as the Hale brother facing battle for the first time, and the sequence with the balloon to observe the enemy from the air is full of tight suspense.It may not be a perfect history lesson, but it is photographed beautifully in color (all of it filmed in Arkansas), has a fine musical score and is well worth the time it takes to unwind a very compelling story with characters any viewer can relate to.I consider it one of the finest made-for-TV miniseries ever made.

This mini-series was released around the same time as " George Washington" starring Barry Bostwick. This mini-series is very 1980's in plot and like most programs of that era, over dramatic. Stacy Keach does a good job playing a Union officer who loses his wife and falls in love with a nurse who saves his life, but most of the performances are cliched and the costumes are not authentic. The battle scenes are well done and the final battle at the farm house plays out better than most television shows still today. The all-star cast seems to have difficulty nailing the accents of the period. Over all this film is strickly for either 80's pop culture students or Civil War buffs and they might snicker at the late great Gregory Peck's Lincoln. If you are looking for a more authentic film check out "Glory". cmh1701a