Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Documentary on the Lincolns
Review: This documentary on the life of Abraham Lincoln is an excellent exploration of the character and inner life of our 16th president. At the same time it provides the viewer with much valuable information about the character of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, their marriage, the tragic deaths of two of their children, and how Lincoln continued to love his wife until his death, even though she was in many ways a liability for him. While the Lincolns as individuals are the focus of the series, the viewer is not shortchanged in regard to the presidency or the Civil War. Lincoln's growth during his four years in office is examined critically and fairly by various historians. The story of the Lincolns was originally shown on PBS's program "American Experience," and follows the format that has made that series so respected by viewers. Photographs, drawings, paintings, maps, and other artifacts contemporary to the times alternate with new film footage that enhances the story line. Well known performers do the voiceovers -- in this case David Morse is Lincoln, and Holly Hunter is the voice of Mary Todd Lincoln. There are no stagey recreations of events with unknown performers taking the parts of historical characters, which one often sees in series made for The History Channel or Arts and Entertainment Network. The three volume set runs about six hours and contains bonus materials that appear on each individual disc. The quality of the picture and sound is outstanding. The music is excellent and of the time period, and is never distacting. While people of all ages and backgrounds in American history could enjoy this series, I especially recommend it to families with high school or college age students, along with Ken Burns "The Civil War" and the PBS video biography of General Grant. This would also make an excellent gift for Father's Day or for a Civil War buff's birthday.
Rating: 
Summary: The Story Of a Marriage
Review: This is a very interesting and thoughtful production about the 16th President of the United States, and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln.
Not only is it very informative and educational. But I hope that even if you have been reading and learning about Lincoln for a very long time. That you will learn something new and truthful from this DVD documentary set.
The only thing I found disappointing what that they didn't share any information. On Lincoln's influences with his other relationships ( ie: Joshua Speed, William H. Herndon, John Nicolay * and etc...) however I guess that is another story.
I also found it interesting how some of the scholars and such. Were almost trying to revive Mary Todd's legacy. That was almost really shattered by Herndon because Mary and William hated each other so much.
This however is really a wonderful addition to any one's DVD library. The set even talks after of Lincoln's death and what became of Mary through out the years.
Really a wonderful set for any one who really wants to learn more about the Lincoln's.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Supplement To "The Civil War"
Review: UPDATE: 10/21/02: Now that Ken Burns' epic "The Civil War" to has finally DVD, this 3 disc baby of David Grubin's will keep you entertained. David McCullough's narration in this film is as pleasant as it was in the former, and David Morse reads Lincoln as well as Sam Waterston. Holly Hunter reading Mary also does well. Plus like The Civil War, there is a who's who of interviewees who relate some very good historical facts. This is the first film that I ever watched on American Experience. A welcome edition to my library let alone the collection of PBS documentaries now available on DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: When I first started watching this film I was very pleased to see that it was made by David Grubin. I was familiar with his earlier work on Lyndon Johnson which was outstanding and on America in the year 1900 which was also very good. However, it soon became apparent that this film was not up to those standards. In brief, this film could have easily been cut to half its length and not lost anything. We see Mary Lincoln as a long suffering wife who is forced to cope with the long absences of her husband on the lawyer's circuit in his younger days and later his almost continual distraction with the Civil War when he was President. It is pointed out that she was a very ambitious young woman and she decided to hitch her wagon to the rising star of Abraham Lincoln. In this way, she was similar to other super-ambitious politician's wives like Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Hilary Clinton who also had to cope with things like serial philandering, self-absorbed husbands who would ignore their wives for long periods of time or engage in destructive political policies that led to the disruption of their private lives. I don't know how much sympathy we can spare for people who bring these things on themselves. The film is visually very boring with the same few photographs of Abraham and Mary Lincoln shown over and over or with endless repetitions of trains speeding over railroad tracks, telegraph tickers clicking and horses pulling carriages and items that she purchased on her buying binges. For some reason, we only see the lower half of whatever people are shown in various re-enactments. I guess showing their faces would confuse us and remind us that this was actually filmed in the 21st Century and not the 19th. Although I assume the idea of the film was to get into the "personal" side of the Lincolns' we are never told that Lincoln received a US Government patent for a device he invented (but never marketed) designed to refloat boats that got grounded on shoals or sand bars which indicated that this man who had only one year of formal education and yet managed to become one of the most successful lawyers in Illinois also managed to teach himself the rudiments of mechanical engineering. Also, never mentioned was his determined opposition to the overwhelmingly popular Mexican War during his single term in the US House of Representatives which must have stirred up public resentment against him and which would have certainly affected his private life as well. Finally, although we are told at length about Lincoln's children and the tragic deaths that took all them except for Robert at a young age, we are only told that Mary disowned Robert for having her committed to a mental hospital but how this, and all the other events of the family's life affected Robert himself is never mentioned. Robert lived to a ripe old age and became a cabinet Secretary (he also was, in a tragic irony, present in the vicinity not only the assassination of his father, but also those of President Garfield in 1881 and President McKinley in 1901). In summary, I would recommend this film only for those who want to complete their collections on Lincoln or the Civil War.
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