Before you give this review a thumb down because of my given score, hear me out and try to keep an open mind.
"The Civil War" is phenomenal. It covers a historic event that is often forgotten despite still being so relevant to this day, 150 years later, and 33 years after the series first aired. This series gives such a comprehensive look at its start, course and consequences. Allowing us all to inspect and learn from our mistakes from the past. It is absolutely something everyone, not only Americans, should learn about.
I rate series by how much I would recommend them to others. Six, is given to series that are good, sometimes even great, but targetted at a niche audience. But wait, I hear you say. You just said everyone should watch this? Except, I didn't. I stated everyone should learn about these events. So let me explain what I think this series could do better to appeal to a broader audience. Plus, why I think that I can not recommend it to just anyone. And before you argue that it shouldn't try to appeal to a broader audience, I hear you and I'll cover this later too.
I'm someone who adores documentaries. Usually nature docus, but history as well. Nature documentaries often place visuals and presentation first, to appeal to as many people as possible. Which is important because part of their importance is to make people aware of our impact on nature and to make as many people as possible care about nature. This series does not do that, in fact, it's closer to a PowerPoint presentation than anything I've seen on TV before. I assume at least part of this was due to budget concerns, which is immensely unfortunate.
The events are covered in so much detail, it's phenomenal. However this can make it hard for newcomers, because the broader picture isn't always clear when you hear about certain smaller stories. Like the phrase not being able to see the forest through the trees. It's a bit of a nitpick, but again, it makes it harder for a broad audience to get into this. I think the stories, and the length of the episodes could be tightened, to tell a more concise story. And for the history buffs that really want to know it all, there's still this original, which does that job perfectly. Or an extended version could also be a great option.
I don't think I'm wrong when I say, that your average person would probably really struggle to keep their attention up during some of these long, not very visually stimulating episodes, with the same music playing on repeat, with the same intonation from the narrator. It's all just a bit too much like a college lesson to me, and a bit too little like a TV series. Which is why this series has so few reviews when compared to other great documentaries like Planet Earth (2006) or even Cosmos (1980).
It is because I think this series has great subject matter, a great story to tell and is obviously made by people who care deeply for these historic events that I wish this would be made for more people to see.
Bottom line, if you are a massive history buff, that wants to learn all about the civil war in America, then this is for you. And it is probably nine or ten out of ten. However, if you are anyone else, theres a good chance you're going to find it a bit too boring and I hope that one day a proper remake will arrive for you.
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