Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

virek213 America's existence, as a beacon for freedom and democracy around the world, has often seemed to be (and frequently is, in reality) a work in progress. Nowhere is that better illustrated in the event that is oftentimes known as the War Between The States (North and South), but generally known as the Civil War. A bitter war fought largely over the question of whether it was right to keep anyone, especially those of African descent, as slaves, the war almost eviscerated the country during four long bloody year, from 1861 to 1865. It was only when the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation became law that the war ended, as too did slavery, and the long march toward full civil rights had really begun. This was the subject for the epic 3-part miniseries THE BLUE AND THE GRAY, which aired on CBS on November 14, 16, and 17, 1982.The principal focus is on two families: the Geysers, a farm family from Charlottesville, Virginia who have no prurient interest in the issue of slavery that is essentially fueling the war but are sympathetic to the South; and the Hales, who are owners of a small newspaper in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and anti-slavery/pro-Union. They become a microcosm of this long, costly, bloody war that nearly destroyed America before it could even reach its 90th year of existence as a country; and even in the Geyser family, there is a schism. Both families, though, do reunite after the end of the war, but not before the war more or less claims its last victim in President Abraham Lincoln, when John Wilkes Booth guns him down at Ford's Theatre.In the meantime, the Civil War is re-enacted, under the bounds of what could be shown on television, with a fair amount of pain and horror without an over-reliance of melodrama, but with solid acting by a huge cast of great people, including Stacy Keach; Colleen Dewhurst; Lloyd Bridges; Warren Oates (in one of his last roles, as Major Welles); Sterling Hayden (as John Brown); Rip Torn (as General Ulysses S. Grant); Robert Vaughn; Paul Winfield; Julius Harris; Diane Baker; Rory Calhoun; and, last but not least, Gregory Peck, in his first-ever dramatic TV appearance, as Lincoln. All of this is brilliantly bought together by veteran director Andrew V. McLaglen, who had done the Civil War in fictional form prior to this, in the form of 1969's THE UNDEFEATED (with John Wayne), and 1965's SHENANDOAH (with James Stewart).Even in the restrictive confines of TV, and even when compared to later films on the subject like GETTYSBURG and LINCOLN, THE BLUE AND THE GRAY does very little skimping over what war in general, and this singular war in particular, does to people not only on both sides of the battle lines but also to those innocents caught in the middle. And despite its extreme length, of close to six and a half hours, this is still one of the best miniseries ever produced in TV history. It should be watched by anyone serious in understanding our nation's history in general, and the Civil War in particular, and is essential just for anyone still interested in historically based storytelling, small screen or otherwise.

twhiteson "The Blue and The Gray" was a TV miniseries that premiered on CBS in late 1982.Allegedly inspired by the works of famed Civil War historian, Bruce Catton, "The Blue and The Gray" follows the fates of two related families, the Geysers of Virginia and the Hales of Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. The story starts in the aftermath of John Brown's (Sterling Hayden) failed slave uprising and ends with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Gregory Peck.) In between, we see various members of the Geyser and Hale families experience army life, battles, death, privation, and prisoner-of-war camps.The main focus is on the third of four Geyser brothers, John (John Hammond), a budding artist who finds a career as a combat illustrator for a northern paper. Despite his three brothers eagerly joining the Confederate Army, John views himself as a "neutral" observer and refuses to join the fight leading to considerable friction with his family. As a neutral observer, John acts as a sort of "Zelig" for the rest of the series: romancing a senator's daughter, witnessing the battles of Bull Run, Vicksburg, and the Wilderness, and hobnobbing with the political elites such as President Lincoln due to his being the cousin-in-law of one of Lincoln's military aides (Stacy Keach.)"The Blue and the Gray" was unfortunately directed by Andrew V. McLaglen who owed his career to nepotism rather than any talent. (He's the son of Oscar wining actor, Victor McLaglen.) McLaglen's "paint-by-the-numbers" style does little to help this miniseries. The best thing one can say about McLaglen is that he was "competent," but he was more of a plodding mediocrity whose career ended when his father's connections and friends died-off or retired (John Ford, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin...)McLaglen also wasn't helped by the awful casting of John Hammond as "John Geyser." Mr. Hammond was not much of an actor and that is very evident by his performance here. It also didn't help that he was simply overwhelmed by the very talented supporting actors that surrounded him. He's bad by himself, but he's just plain awful when seen next to Hayden, Peck, Bridges, Keach, Colleen Dewhurst, and Geraldine Page. Hammond is on better ground when he's sharing screen time with his character's romantic interest, "Kathy Reynolds" (Kathleen Beller), because she was just as untalented as he was. It's no surprise that both Hammond's and Beller's careers fizzled-out by the early 90's. They were both good looking, but neither had any business being given large roles in this miniseries.People interested in Civil War combat should avoid "The Blue and The Gray." The uniforms and military equipment appeared to have been recycled from McLaglen's soapy 1965 Civil War melodrama "Shenandoah" which had its Rebs and Yanks decked-out in "uniforms" that look like a 1960's Halloween costuming company's idea of Civil War uniforms. Plus, the combat scenes look like something out of the 1960's WWII TV show "Combat:" lots of indirect artillery fire going-off and the "sarge" leading his "squad." The people behind this miniseries had little or no interest in trying to recreate any resemblance to actual Civil War combat.Overall, "The Blue and the Gray" has some interesting story lines and nice acting by some of the supporting actors, but it is done in by pedestrian direction, atrocious acting by its two "leads," and a failure to adhere to any sort of historical reality when it comes to its battle scenes.

fkerr `The Blue and The Gray' is not a story about the Civil War. It is a long drama about a family set at the time of that war. Running more than six hours, it is indeed long. Yet, anyone interested in human relationships will find that the time is well spent and that no dead points exist. The snippets of the Civil War form a focus for the story and explain some of the relationship issues. They also remind the viewer what a truly difficult time it was for families and for our nation.

antelope-3 This miniseries shows the war primarily through the eyes of a Virginian who wants to witness history but cannot commit to either side of the conflict. His new-found profession of journalism allows him to participate as a neutral observer. He is surrounded by relatives and friends on both sides, and the miniseries shows events through their eyes as well.The human side of the war is stressed, and it excellently portrays the toll the conflict took on families.Many of the subplots are taken from Civil War historian Bruce Catton's final work, "Reflections On The Civil War." However, none of the people in the book, including the real John Geyser, appear in the miniseries. Rather, observations made in the book are woven around the main storyline as supplementary material.Most of the military aspects of the miniseries are laughable and bear little resemblance to reality. Due to the miniseries being done on a miniseries budget we see none of the grand scale evident in "Gettysburg" or "Glory."Stacy Keach gives a terrific performance as Jonas Steele, the Federal special operations agent. We see from his performance a little of the decentralized, more personalized ways in which intelligence gathering and other non-standard military operations were conducted in the nineteenth century.The miniseries ran for over six hours on CBS in 1982, but well over an hour was cut for the two-cassette video release. Get the whole treatment if you can.