North and South: Book 2 (1985)

Hubby pleaser

Great flick. Easy for you to watch with the hubby while he appreciates the gift!!! May 31, 2007

Soap Opera of Pre-civil War

North and South is about two friends, who attend and graduate from West Point. One friend is from the South and the other from the North. The Abolitionist were preaching about the evils of slavery, the brutality of the slave owners, and the inevitiblity of machines.

North and South is filled with action, carnage, tragedy, sorrow, joy, marriages, obligations, jealousy, true love, and passion. This is probably the best work for Patrick Swayze. Swayze acting and character were likely and complex, filled with emotion, anger, confidence, love, romance, and empathy.

"Gone with the wind" is a boring epic, in comparison too, "North and South". North and South ranks among great Civil War movies, such as, "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg".

South Carolina repulsion of Union law and confederacy too succeed from the Union sets the stage for the drama. The war with Mexico for Texas one campaign. The soap opera of family tradegy ends to the first Civil war battle.

Tradegy at Harpers Ferry is painful. Virgal's prediction of blood happens as her husband is shot and killed. Billie and Brent marry. Whoredoms, backstabbing, betrayal, incest, abortion, infidelity, and adultery are source of embarrassment and degeneration of the chastity Mount Royal and Resolute Southern women. Pride hardens the heart of the Southern way of life - believing slaves were property and must be controlled by torture. Gentlemen rules reign supreme and honor maintained by dueling. Slave labour will endure because the North misunderstands - Uncle Toms cabin would end that. The machine would produce great wealth for Mount Royal but not free the slaves on the plantation even though one of the agreements was "no slaves". The darkeness of slavery will not dispel immediately and hundreds of years of oppression can not be lifted with sacrifice. The destruction of the South seems speedily as they push five other states into succession. Brother against brother, friend against friend, and north against south. September 4, 2006

Incredible, as good if not better than Gone With The Wind!

Incredible, as good if not better than Gone With The Wind! Stunning set design, incredible costumes and Oscar worthy acting, this stunning portrayal of the Civil War and the lives of the Hazzards and the Maines will take you in and capture your attention. You won't want to leave until you have seen the entire trilogy! This hidden gem is a must see for most of the family (it's a little racy and bloody for the under 16 crowd in my opinion). Men and women will love this movie, make a weekend of it! July 22, 2006

Well made but not exactly Revisionist History

Plenty of talent on hand. Swazee comes off
best in here as Southern fighting for his
land (and later country), but badly stereo-
typed rest of cast (except for Leslie Ann
Down), especially Alley, Carradine and many
blacks (how about the Buckwheat meets Fred
Williamson act by Forrest Whitaker?!) hurts
overall production. Beautifully filmed and
edited like the sorry Broke Back Mountain,
but wastes too much time inputting the Pro-
ducer (especially Dave Wolper, I'm told...)
ideas. Yes, there are several redeeming
(white and black Southerns in here; especi-
ally Washington and Sally Reemus) but there
never was any guy named Bent who tried to
"off" CSA Pres. Jeff Davis, who is played
very well by Lloyd Bridges(, who comes off
much better than small-faced Hal Holbrook
as Lincoln). Also, where are the blacks that
fought for the Confederacy?! There where 100,
000 more than fought for the Yanks during the
war between the states. Also, no mention of
white or Indian indentured servants! Oh well,
that's Hollyweird for ya, Y'all! Long live
the South! But go to atlanticbullionandcoin
dotcom for the real South, in DVDs and videos! June 29, 2006

Nice soap opera

I liked the mini series. Acting is good. Scenery lovely. Costuming is superb. Gives the viewer a real feel for the place and time.

Unfortunately there are some things I don't care for. Both sides, if there's a character in one family there is another in the other just like that person. Some of the relationships are somewhat stale. The main villein is really two dimensional.

Both the southern main character and his northern counterpart fall in love with women socially unacceptable to their society. The northerner falls in love with and marries an irish catholic lass. The southerner falls in love with a girl who turns out to be the daughter of a harlot and an Octeroon (One african great grandparent). I would have prefurred something more open since history reveals there were quite a few gentle relationships between southern white men and women of african decent which would spare the audience this soap opera stuff.

Great scenerey. Wonderful scenes. Wonderful authentic costuming.
Just pathetic as sopa operas are. June 18, 2006

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