On B List of Movie Reviews

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The Blue and the Gray (1982)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 8/15

8/15: The Blue and the Gray is 80% soap opera and 20% Civil War.

Although the war stuff is pretty good, the soap opera scenes act as a filler and are overwhelmingly too much. The time spent to keep up with the stories of the characters has been wasted. Most of the characters appear and drop out shortly after, only to resurface later with a brief cameo appearance or two, just to remind me that they're still there.

When the historical parts of Civil War show up, they're fascinating to watch. Although I'm aware of many, there are a couple that I didn't know before such as the branding of cowards and the use of hot air balloon for reconnaissance purposes.

However, the level of realism isn't high enough. The fall of Vicksburg came before Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, not the other way around. As good as the First Battle of Bull Run is, it's too short. The Civil War has a reputation for mega battles, involving upwards to 100,000 troops at once on the same field which was something that never happened before in world history.

Another disappointing aspect is when I thought it was going to cover a lot of events, it cheated me by either skipping them or relaying the news indirectly . Hence, I never got to see them. The good examples are the Battle of Gettysburg (why bother with the newspaper's location and then tease me the entire time?) and the Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theatre. Of the cast, there are no standout performances. I like how plain-looking the thespians are, as evidenced by their costumes, to reflect the times.

All in all, The Blue and the Gray is somewhat disappointing for a Civil War picture.

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