The War that made America parts 1&2 a small review

[sulinai]

We have all been anticipating the airing of this mini series. I managed to get hold of an advanced promo copy of the series. I viewed parts 1 and 2 tonight. My impressions are mixed. I have to remember that this series is made for a very large audience. For historians and reenactors it was disappointing in that some major historical events are omitted. I understand that they only had four hours to tell a seven year story. That being the case, there also seems to be a large preoccupation with Geo. Washington.. As my forte is Native American history I have some problems(typical reenactor stuff) with too long breechclouts, choreographed dance scenes etc. However, it was highly enjoyable overall and well made. It covered the basics and that is probably what it meant to do. I am not going to pick it apart for historical inaccuracies but there are some. Its strength is that it tells a story and this is a story that needs to be told. It is fair and unbaised to Native Americans but doesn't cover the French viewpoint too well. As a Native American I am glad to see Graham Greene as the host to this series. I am looking forward to seeing parts 3 and 4 tomorrow.

 

[Gary]

Thanks for your insights and I look forward to reading your review of Parts III and IV. :hatsoff:

 

[Wehrmacht]

Thanks for the "Heads-Up" on this.I pulled it up at[url] www.thewarthatmadeamerica.org[/url] and it looks very interesting :thumbsup:.

The series is scheduled to kick off on PBS on 18 January,9AM EST.

SEMPER FI...traveled in any perticular direction?

 

[ashleywyoung]

My impression from the small blurp I read off of an e-mail forwarded to me was that, as the originator of this thread stated, there would be a pre-occupation with George Washington. That isn't very good history, but I digress . . .

Would anyone happen to know if the mini-series addresses activities in the Midwest or Great Lakes regions very much? I have a feeling that the series is probably centered around activities on or near the East Coast but I'm hoping that I'm somewhat wrong in that assumption.

 

[RangerThacher]

Being that this is a WQED (Pittsburgh) production and accused of focusing too much on Georgie, I'm afraid that it will focus too much on PA. But then again, how you can focus on one area of the F&I War in only 4 hours is a bit of a mystery. :winking: I'd prefer to see it focus on the Lake George/Champlain corridor, the center of activity and the where all the really interesting events happened IMHO. I guess we'll have to see.

 

[ashleywyoung]

Being that this is a WQED (Pittsburgh) production and accused of focusing too much on Georgie, I'm afraid that it will focus too much on PA.

Good point. I wonder how much they'll emphasize that the war was also an extension of a broader, worldwide conflict, something that even we reenactors sometimes forget?

 

[Black Hand]

When will this program air? An approximate date so I can make sure to watch.
Thanks,
Black Hand

 

[AaronT]

On most PBS stations it will air in two parts on 18 Jan and 25 Jan at 9pm. Friends in MD tell me their station is airing it in a different time slot, so you should check your local listings. You should be able to find your local station and times at[url] www.pbs.org[/url]

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Jan. 18th & 25th 9 PM local AZ time here.

 

[sulinai]

The series focuses on the main events of the war.Jumonvilles Glen, Ft Necessity,Braddocks ambush,Ft Ti, Ft william henry Wolfe at Louisbourg and Quebec.There is some frontier stuff, some Pa oriented some revolving around Washington and the Va regt.Its fairly basic stuff Lots of names left out. Some focus on Sir William Johnson. Another 2 hours would have been nicer. BTW the Geo Washingon character is very hard to believe almost effeminate. Native American stuff appears to be the best done part of the whole series but this is my focus.Enjoy it for what it is,a doccumentary on the F&I war for those that have little knowledge of it.

 

The series focuses on the main events of the war.Jumonvilles Glen, Ft Necessity,Braddocks ambush,Ft Ti, Ft william henry Wolfe at Louisbourg and Quebec.There is some frontier stuff, some Pa oriented some revolving around Washington and the Va regt.Its fairly basic stuff Lots of names left out. Some focus on Sir William Johnson. Another 2 hours would have been nicer. BTW the Geo Washingon character is very hard to believe almost effeminate. Native American stuff appears to be the best done part of the whole series but this is my focus.Enjoy it for what it is,a doccumentary on the F&I war for those that have little knowledge of it.

I thought it isn't being relesed for another two days? Have you already seen it?

 

[fluggies4]

It's scheduled to air here in a few minutes....however, there's a terrific wind storm going on and the PBS channel is off the air :cursing:

 

[TNtrapper]

Saw it a few minutes ago. I thought it was pretty good. Heck its good to see anything on the tube about this time period. All in all this time period has been greatly overlooked...and its about time a decent documentary was released about it. Just my two cents. Have a good un yall!! :v

 

[aragorn]

I watched the first two hours of this last night and thought a major flaw was the continuous re-enactment: apart from a few linking moments where Graham Greene wandered in front of the 'set', and a few moments panning on a map, it was made up almost entirely of dramatic vignettes.

It would have been far better to chop these by about half (some of the sequences are repeated several times anyway), and to insert some good old-fashioned historical narrative to give context, to clarify the historical and geographical background, and to answer some basic questions. For example, the narrator several times refered to 'Canadians' and 'Americans', without clearly spelling out that this meant, respectively, French and British. I think this crucial fact would be unknown to many younger viewers. The same viewers also needed to know how it was that George Washington, who they would have probably have heard of as an American, was in earlier life a colonial British militia officer whose main aspiration was a commission from the Crown! Without this kind of basic background information, the attempt to create 'empathetic' history through drama falls flat.

Too much dramatic reconstruction like this ultimately backfires, because you realise that even the best-funded and most carefully researched docudrama can never equal Hollywood - and we've been spoiled by the Patriot, Last of the Mohicans, etc. It's a shame, because such care had clearly gone into the historical accuracy of the clothing, weapons and settings, but the fact was that the battle scenes did not come off well because there weren't the resources to portray them on a big enough scale, or to film them with the dramatic quality we've come to expect - there was little excitement in seeing rifles go off like popguns, even though they were being fired authentically.

Another consequence of too much dramatisation in documentaries is that the deficiencies of the acting become really glaring - unless you're able to persuade big names to take on these roles for a pittance. If Washington had been portrayed here a few times, then the actor used would have been adequate. But as it is he has a major role, appearing many times, and this really becomes a huge weakness in the series - the actor bears a passing resemblance to Washington, but is surely wrong in almost all other respects. Washington may sometimes have been pompous and priggish but he had a personality that made reluctant colonists follow him, and that didn't come across here at all. Washington came across as weedy and weak, with no charisma or natural leadership abilities at all. They needed a Liam Neeson!

Maybe next week's final two episodes will leave me feeling more positive, but I think the chance for a really great documentary may have been squandered.

 

[AaronT]

I agree with you 100%. In addition, I thought it came off as choppy and rushed with so many short re-enactment segments packed in. I still think it's a good show, but it could have been much better.

 

[mikee51848]

I still think it's a good show, but it could have been much better.

Yeah, but it was better than nothing, for tv.
Plus, I kept waiting for Hawkeye to appear in the scenes from Ft William Henry. :haha:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Ditto on the repeat scenes, lost me mone than a few times, I really expected something better after all the press hype from PBS.