Product Description

This provides a richly detailed look at the bloodiest civil war battles fought on american soil with in-depth perspectives by leading civil war historians & striking reconstructions. Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 01/02/2007 Run time: 200 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15212 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2000-08-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 200 minutes

Amazon.com
With beautifully shot footage of reenactors, Civil War Combat illustrates aspects of four particular Civil War battles that are rightfully considered legendary. Filmed on location, the reenactors depict the violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor. Produced by the History Channel, the episodes all benefit from insightful appearances by historians as well as rangers from the National Park Service. The format of putting the focus on specific points of action in larger battles allows for narratives about specific soldiers and commanders, in both the Union and Confederate ranks, to develop. For instance, the segment on Antietam profiles commanders and individual soldiers from the Union's Irish Brigade and the Alabama regiment they charged during some of the most violent action of the entire war. The Civil War reenactors provide a credible look at how the war must have appeared to participants (though purists will note that some of the reenactors appear too clean and too well fed to have been marching behind Robert E. Lee). The discussions of strategy and the importance of the events depicted, combined with the uniformly excellent cinematography, make this an entertaining and enlightening look at critical events of the Civil War. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Civil War battle history comes to life...
The premise with this History Channel series is to tell specific battle history while showing (through re-enactment) what the engagements really looked like...and this DVD set hits the ball right out of the park! Watching the battles at Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh and (my favorite) Cold Harbor on the actual battlefield is phenominal...it really adds so much to the narration that you actually get the "feel" of being right in the middle of the conflict. Each battle covers sufficient detail that the story of the "everyday" soldier gets told along with much "new" information that makes this DVD unique (for example...on the Fredricksburg episode, the little known story of the Confederate private who risks life and limb by going onto the battlefield to help the injured is a featured part of the story but these are details that I couldn't find in books from Foote, Catton or the excellent volume on Fredricksburg by George Rable). The narration also includes "expert" analysis from noted historians and authors (Gordon Rhea in the trenches at Cold Harbor...) that add additional perspective to the storyline. The battle stories are about 1 hour long and each stands on it's own so that you can stop at reasonable intervals without missing anything. Overall this is essential Civil War viewing for the historian but still presents itself well enough for the general viewer so that all viewers should get great enjoyment from watching...highest recommendation!

Worth every penny!!
The Civil War Combat DVD set is probably by far the best reeanactment/documentary on four different battles that raged throughout 1861 to 1864. The historical accuracy and care to details given captures the importance of such warfare that took place at Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg (Wheatfield) and Cold Harbor. There isn't anything closer to the real action as reeanactors are used for the production and isn't shy on showing blood. This 2-DVD production isn't a Gettysburg that shows clean fighting or lacks the details commonly found in movie productions. Crank up the surround sound while viewing these great reeactments as bullets whiz by often and place the viewer right on the field. Soldier accounts of the action is backed by narratives which enhance this great production. The History Channel that has put this set together has definately contributed to telling the tales of four battles which had strong impacts on the war. It can't be told any better! This 2-DVD set is a must have for anyone interested in the Civil War. Nothing like this has ever been done to accurately portray such actions before. It's certainly worth every penny!

A unique approach to Civil War documentary
This series of four documentaries are different from most Civil War films in that they highlight specific points of four battles, whereas most documentaries are content simply to provide an overview of the battle itself. Because of this, each episode contains many little-known facts about the battles of Antietam, Cold Harbor, Shiloh, and Gettysburg. And, at an hour long (more or less), they are not excessively long.

The highlights from each of the battles are interesting, but probably only so for someone interested in the war. Watching an hour-long reenactment of the wheat field at Gettysburg is probably meaningless without at least some appreciation of what was happening at the other parts of the battle. Anyone who studies the Civil War closely will appreciate these little-known facts, but casual viewers may find it a bit much.

In addition to its narrow scope, these four documentaries are riddled with errors that should have been obvious to the folks at the History Channel. For example, saying General Grant was in charge of the Union Army at Gettysburg is just plain false, as any amateur historian should know. These erroes detract much from the reliability of the accounts.

Despite these two setbacks, this is a noteworthy documentary, worth your time at least to check it out.