The '60s (1999)

Tackling an entire decade--and a turbulent one at that--within a three-hour movie is a challenge, and while The '60s is frequently entertaining, it unfortunately is not completely up to the task. Following the lives of four young people, three from a white suburban family with parents out of The Wonder Years and one African American from the South, the characters are forced into one-dimensional clichés; they are their personas to the nth degree. Katie (Julia Stiles), the pretty young blond, is the lost hippie; Brian (Jerry O'Connell), the former high school football player, is the gung-ho-turned-disgruntled Vietnam solider; Michael (Josh Hamilton) exemplifies the political activist; and Emmet (Leonard Roberts), the only representative of the entire black movement of the '60s, plays first the pacifist who effects change through nonviolent means and then the Black Panther, and then he finally returns to his nonviolent ways. Yet, despite the trite characters and slow beginning, the movie picks up pace as each becomes involved in his or her own story. They become strangely compelling, to the point where you are sorry when the story switches to another character because you want to see more.

An eclectic shooting style--a mixture of archival footage, seamlessly spliced with shots of the miniseries in black and white, which then becomes color--effectively places the characters in the '60s context. You can believe that these folks were at the Democratic Convention in Chicago or the Watts riots or Woodstock. Yet, sometimes a break is needed: the film is unrelenting in presenting crisis after crisis with no respite, making one wonder if there were any quiet, simple, or nice moments in the entire decade. The sentimental soundtrack plays continuously, helping set the appropriate tone and the frenetic atmosphere of the movie. For those who lived through the '60s, this miniseries provides a nostalgic look back at the various movements and a general feel of the time, especially with the proliferation of film clips that aren't oft repeated (we've all seen the moon landing ad nauseam, but footage of Abbie Hoffman or Dylan playing the club scene in the East Village is refreshing). And for those born after this period, this miniseries makes the decade look like a frenzied, troubled mess that we can be grateful we had the good fortune to miss. --Jenny Brown Amazon.com

I love this movie

I saw this movie on TV several years ago and searched and searched for it before finding it here. I think I paid $12.00 for it. I bought one for my mother last year and paid $60.00. I think the movie is totally worth the price. It'sone of my favorite movies I have seen. I have loaned it to several people who agree with me. I doubt, since it was a made for TV movie that it is in 'bargan bins', if it was I would buy them all for fear of mine getting scratched and destroyed! I think this movie is a must see for middle school aged kids-it's a lesson, sad at times, but that is how our country was! I think it can brings an awareness and show how far many of us have come! March 18, 2008

I wasn't even alive in the 60s and I knew what was missing!

I was impressed with the 70s so I rented this DVD and was sadly disappointed. Apparently, the producers thought Bob Dylan was the only musical influence of that time...not to mention hearing him constantly throughout the movie was beyond annoying. On TV this was four hours long (with commercials) but it just seemed to skim the surface of everything. This had the potential of being something really great but it's just as if they took the actors, threw them in 60s clothes, and threw in some archive footage with a sorry excuse for a story line. November 6, 2007

Not Complete

I saw this when it originally aired on TV, and there was a scene (right before the 7 minutes in heaven scene) that showed the family watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. What happened to it? It was cut out of the DVD and VHS versions!! The Beatles were a HUGE part of the 60's and should be included!!!! This is a butchered edition!!!! July 5, 2007

$80.00!!!

I saw this movie a long time ago on televison & I liked it. But there is no way I'm paying $80.00 for it. Come on people!!! June 29, 2007

See it today!

This is absolutely one of my most favorite movies of all time. I can watch it over and over. It has a great cast & really makes you feel like you were there. I have also seen 'The 70's' and I wish NBC would do all the decades from last century. June 18, 2006

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