Andersonville
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.93 You Save: $8.04 (54%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.42 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Andersonville
Movie Review: One of the great films on the American Civil War
Summary: 5 Stars
'Andersonville' is a really fine film made about the infamous prison camps. It has a group of characters that the viewer can identify with and also contains very good acting. I think the twin story lines in the film are handled excellently. The storyline on trying to tunnel out of the prison is handled excellently and contains very interesting details on a operation of this kind. The other story line where the characters have to take on the camp bullies 'The Raiders' is also handled excellently by director John Frankenheimer. I find these scenes to be some of my favorite of the films because of the classic clash of good vs evil.
The film also does not sugarcoat the terrible conditions in the prison but I don't think the filmmakers blame it all on Wirz. What happened in Civil War prisons was truly awful and I really don't think excuses should be made by either side. There should have been something done by both sides to alleviate the horrible suffering of POWs from both sides.
Also, the film has a very authentic look and is very true to the actual layout of the Andersonville prison.
The DVD has good visuals and sound plus two interesting commentary tracks.
I would recommend viewers to visit Andersonville National Historic site in Georgia today. It is an excellent site, very well preserved and interpreted. The site has an excellent museum on all the POWs of America's wars. The cemetery is awe-inspiring, just as it is in the movie. I find it one of the most moving places in the entire United States. It is different than the battlefields. There is a sadness in the ground at Andersonville and if there are ghosts I truly think they are still at Andersonville. The site of Andersonville Prison is a place you will never forget.
Highly recommended!
I would also recommend reading the account of Andersonville contained in William Marvel's book 'Andersonville The Last Depot' that helps separate some of the fact and fiction that is presented in the film.
Movie Review: "Andersonville Will Keep You Glued To The screen!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Andersonville" is an intense drama about a Civil War prison camp for captured Union soldiers. The camp is a huge stockade, built for 5,000 prisoners of war, but is filled to overcrowding with 8,000 Union POW's, and more arriving daily. The conditions are horrible beyond words, virtually no food, no sanitation, clothing in rags and tatters, no shelter from the rain, gangs rampaging through the camp, rampant disease, a hundred men dying a day - a literal hell on earth. Puported to be historical fact, the story centers on a brigade from Massachusetts and their struggle to survive, and what a horrendous struggle it is. Other reviewers have stated that the story is not entirely truthful. Due to the shortage of critical supplies in the south, I do not doubt that the deporable conditions existed exactly as depicted in the movie. I cannot comment on other issues as I have not read the book that the movie is based on. Truthful or not, the film is absolutely riveting! You will be shocked by the condition of the men, the violence in the camp, the slow agony of starvation, and the inevitable deline in the men, both physically and spiritually.
The film has no well-known "star" actors, but even so, the various actors perform marvelously. Their characterizations are as real as if they were really in the camp and suffering unto death.
This film was an eye-opener for me, for I never considered the fate of Civil War POW's. I will remember the conditions the men lived and died in for the rest of my life. I recommend it without reservation.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig
Movie Review: Andersonville
Summary: 5 Stars
An excellent Civil war film. It is a moving and sad story of one of the most infamous Civil War prisons
in our American history. I discovered in my genealogical researches the past forty years that a distant cousin of mine, with the same exact first and last name as myself, barely survived his imprisonment at Andersonville, Georgia. History enthusiasts will fully enjoy- and made fully aware- of the powerful influence the Civil War still has on us 145 years later. As for myself, I was born in Elmira, N.Y., my dad's hometown. Elmira was a northern prison camp, and as horrible as Andersonville. I read a book on the Elmira camp, and it was in operation during 1864-65, the same time as Andersonville. I salute the gallant men who suffered and died, or barely survived, both camps. Ironically, the Elmira camp had formally been a Union training camp in 1861, when my own great great grandfather, age 17, entered as a Union private and fought, then severely wounded in McClellen's Peninsula Campaign in spring and summer of 1862. I was glad to have visited the Battlefields of the historic Peninsula Campaign in 2008. All-in-all, I highly recommend this historic dvd- excellent acting and authentic Civil War representation.
Movie Review: Civil War Reality Check
Summary: 5 Stars
The Civil War has a lot of different meanings to a lot of people. Many of us know of the great battles such as Gettysburg and Antietam, but few remember the horrors of the Civil War prison camps. Andersonville brings that reality to life. More than 12,000 Union soldiers died at Andersonville in the short time it was open. Most died from disease and the lack of food or the unsanitary conditions they were forced to live with. Many were even killed by some of their own. This movie is straight forward and direct. There are no great battles depicted, no great charges or heroes leading an attack. There is only the brutal reality of life in a Civil War prison. The movie takes you inside the walls and almost makes you one of the inmates as you get caught up in the harsh conditions and the inhumanity. The Civil War was a great time in our history but it was also a terrible one too. Andersonville is definately a Civil War reality check. For anyone with an interest in the Civil War and who wants to know the good along with the bad, then this movie is a worthwhile purchase.Movie Review: Andersonville
Summary: 5 Stars
Atlanta's Ted Turner has become the consummate Executive Producer of Civil War Epics. His Big Screen cast of thousands Epics "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" have defined him. His scores and sound are second to none, and this movie is as it should be.
Although there are no " Big Name Stars", they are well directed by Emmy Award winning master John Frankenheimer. It is an excellent team that works- albeit with out any star players. In this movie, the team scores and the neferious "Raiders" are subdued and hung by their fellow prisoners. Turner drives home the point that good can triumph even amidst misery.
In the Turner tradition, everything is historically accurate, well researched, and correctly costumed. He has captured the essence and spirit of the most notorius of all Civil War Prison Camps. This is the ONLY and defining movie of Andersonville Prison Camp. It is a must have for every Civil War Buff.