Gore Vidal's Lincoln

Rating:
Summary: Bland Mini-Series, Very Low Quality DVD
Review: I was surprised to find this DVD so cheap, then found out why as soon as I put it in my player. Like other DVDs from the "Platinum Disc Corporation," it looks like someone took a VHS copy of this film and just recorded it to DVD. The picture is not sharp, and the colors are washed out. Some scenes are so grainy and low-quality they look like they were recorded straight from the 1988 TV broadcast. This DVD also does something I've never seen before - it initially shows a running time of just 1:33, which made me think I only had the first episode of this mini-series. When Chapter 8 concludes, the disc resets itself back to 1:33 for the second episode. Total time is a little over 3 hours. The disc contains no special features.

The film itself is, unfortunately, nothing special. Having been made after the heyday of the TV mini-series, its cinematography and less-than-stellar cast are almost as bland as the film's colors. Sam Waterston makes a good effort as Lincoln. Mary Tyler Moore is just adequate as Mary Todd Lincoln, although she does go over the top on a few occasions. Most of the other actors are stilted and unbelieveable, not to mention the atrocious accents some of them try to pass off. The battle scenes are short, bare-bones and poorly arranged; it looks as if they filmed all of the battles in one location and just used the same footage over and over, hoping no one would notice.

If you're looking for a really good Civil War mini-series, don't waste your time here. Wait for Warner to release all 3 North & South mini-series on DVD later this year (2004), and watch those instead.

Rating:
Summary: Waterston is the Definitive Modern Lincoln
Review: Sam Waterston is a very different Lincoln than the stately, orthodox one of Raymond Massey or even Henry Fonda. This Lincoln is clever, scheming, cynically funny and nakedly ambitious--one who might have a thing or two in common with some well known politicians of the 20th century. You could even call Waterston the first urban Lincoln, under the rail-splitting pretentions. But Waterston never loses sight of Lincoln's tortured, proud but guilt-ridden greatness, and that is the secret of his fine portrayal.

Rating:
Summary: A Shining Lincoln Shows Tarnish, Too
Review: Though made drearily for television, this film has a number of elements that is ahead of its time. Sam Waterston's savvy, almost hippie-like Lincoln is not at all the "great ape" that many of Lincoln's detractors claimed. He is like the true Abraham Lincoln. With the high-pitched Kentucky squeak in his voice (like Lincoln), Waterston is simply riveting- as Lincoln himself must have been. His terrible screech of pain during the height of the Civil War is something I had always imagined he did several times. Waterston hypnotizes with this Emmy-worthy portrayal. The facts in the film are blurry at times, the direction is plodding, the lighting is too dark- and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln must be the casting blunder of the 20th century. Yet all involved give terrific performances. Too bad there wasn't more LINCOLN to this "Lincoln". But all in all, it is the must-see for any interested viewer.