| The Civil War | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_civil_war_1990_ken_burns_vhs_1991.jpg) A side portion of the 1991 VHS box set of nine volumes | |
| Genre | Documentary |
| Written by | Geoffrey C. Ward Ric Burns |
| Directed by | Ken Burns |
| Voices of | Sam Waterston Jason Robards Julie Harris Morgan Freeman Arthur Miller George Plimpton Paul Roebling Garrison Keillor George Black Christopher Murney Charley McDowell Shelby Foote Philip Bosco Terry Courier Jody Powell Studs Terkel |
| Narrated by | David McCullough |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Ken Burns Ric Burns |
| Cinematography | Ken Burns Allen Moore Buddy Squires |
| Editors | Paul Barnes Bruce Shaw Tricia Reidy |
| Running time | 690 minutes/11 hours 30 minutes (9 episodes) |
| Production companies | Kenneth Lauren Burns Productions (Florentine Films), WETA-TV |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | September 23 – September 27, 1990 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Civil War is a 1990 American television documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was the first broadcast to air on PBS for five consecutive nights, from September 23 to 27, 1990.
More than 39 million viewers tuned in to at least one episode, and viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. A companion book to the documentary was released shortly after the series aired.[1]
The film's production techniques were groundbreaking for the time, and spawned film techniques such as the Ken Burns effect. Its theme song, "Ashokan Farewell" is widely acclaimed. The series was extremely influential, and serves as the main source of knowledge about the Civil War to many Americans. However, some historians have criticized the film for not delving into the subsequent, racially contentious Reconstruction era,[2] and having an all-white production team.[3]
The series was rebroadcast in June 1994[4] as a lead-up to Burns's next series Baseball, then remastered for its 12th anniversary in 2002, although it remained in standard definition resolution. To commemorate the film's 25th anniversary and the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination, the film underwent a complete digital restoration to high-definition format in 2015.
- ^ Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken (1992) [First published 1991]. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0679742777.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "'The Civil War', 'Gettysburg' capture history". Southern Illonoisan. June 25, 1994. Retrieved June 2, 2018.