SONY PICTURES PRESS RELEASE: Two Classic Civil War Miniseries (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

Two Critically-Acclaimed Epics Featuring All-Star Casts

CIVIL WAR DRAMAS ON DVD

The Blue and the Gray: Recut

Beulah Land

Both Titles Available on DVD July 26, 2005

On July 26, 2005, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release a pair of spectacular Civil War epics - THE BLUE AND THE GRAY: RECUT and BEULAH LAND. Both DVDs will be available for $19.94 SLP and $24.96 SLP respectively.

With its all-star cast, spectacular production values and a terrifying authenticity, 1982's THE BLUE AND THE GRAY - called "hauntingly beautiful" by NEWSWEEK - set the standard for television mini-series. The Civil War epic originally clocked in at nearly seven hours in length, but an abridged version available for the first time pares the film down to four and a half hours on two discs. THE BLUE AND THE GRAY stars Oscar® winner and four-time nominee Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird), two-time Emmy nominee Lloyd Bridges (Airplane!, TV's "Sea Hunt"), Oscar® nominee Paul Winfield (Sounder, TV's "227"), Emmy-nominee Stacy Keach (TV's "Mike Hammer"), Oscar® nominee Rip Torn (Men in Black), Oscar® nominee Robert Vaughn )The Magnificent Seven), Oscar® winner and seven-time nominee Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful, Interiors), and three-time Emmy winner and eight-time nominee Colleen Dewhurst (TV's "Road to Avonlea").

BEULAH LAND, available on DVD for the first time, originally aired on television in 1980 and ignited a national interest in Civil War history. The five-hour epic stars Oscar® nominee Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria), three-time Emmy® nominee Meredith Baxter Birney (TV's "Family Ties"), two-time Oscar® nominee Eddie Albert (Roman Holiday), Emmy® nominee Don Johnson (TV's "Nash Bridges"), Oscar® nominee Hope Lange (Peyton Place) and Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses Don't They?)

The Blue and the Gray (1982)

Based on the works of Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Catton, THE BLUE & THE GRAY is recognized for its historic accuracy, dramatic intensity and spectacular battle sequences. Filmed entirely on location in Arkansas with over 160 characters and 6,3300 extras, this searing saga contains all the stirring conflict and narrative lyricism of such cinematic masterpieces as Gone with the Wind and Glory. The film brilliantly reconstructs an eternally fascinating and controversial era in American history when families and nation were divided between the black and the white, the North and the South and THE BLUE & THE GRAY.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

• 1.33 Full Screen Presentation
• Audio: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Bonus Previews

Rated: Not Rated
Color / Closed Captioned
Running Time: 296 Minutes
DVD SLP: $19.94

Beulah Land (1980)

An epic story of the Old South, BEULAH LAND follows the trials and tribulations of Sarah Kendick (Leslie Ann Warren), a strong-willed woman who runs a thriving plantation in antebellum Georgia. Married to a man whose wasteful ways take her family to the brink of ruin, Sarah struggles to endure family betrayals, extramarital affairs, financial hardship and General Sherman's troops in a sweeping series of adventures that follow the Kendrick clan before, during, and after the American Civil War. Michael Sarrazin, Eddie Albert, Hope Lange, Paul Rudd, Martha Scott, Don Johnson, Meredith Baxter Birney, Jenny Agutter, Jonathan Frakes, and Madeline Stowe co-star in this compelling, Emmy®-nominated mini-series, based on the best-selling novels by Lonnie Coleman.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

• 1.33 full Screen Presentation
• Audio: English
• Bonus Previews

Rated: Not Rated
Color / Closed Captioned
Running Time: 281 Minutes
DVD SLP: $24.96

 

[MatthewA]

Exactly why would one want the abridged version of a miniseries when the complete version is available?

 

[Thomas T]

Matthew, you took the words right out of my mouth! I have the uncut Blue And The Gray on DVD already but I suppose some addled Sony home video executive figures there's a market for edited mini series for those with a short attention span. What's next? A 90 minute Lawrence Of Arabia?

 

[MatthewA]

Well at least it's the right aspect ratio, one thing we can't always count on from Sony.

I, too, have the uncut TB&TG, and it looks pretty good. It even has the original Columbia TV logo at the end (even the byline "A Unit of the Coca-Cola Company", when they owned the studio). Replaced logos are a real pet peeve with me.

I recommend all who want the miniseries buy the uncut disc before it's too late and skip this dangerous-precedent-setting release.

Correction: The precedent was already set, way back in the 1980s with the heavily shortened video release of "Sybil".

 

[Jeff_HR]

What wouldn't I give for a full length "Sybil" with a commentary?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Would that be a *group* commentary by Sally Field?

 

[oscar_merkx]

where do I find the uncut dvd ?

 

[MatthewA]

Any online Region 1 DVD store like Amazon will have it.

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the info

 

[BrianP]

At first I thought recut meant some additional footage was being added. I have the original release of the Blue and the Gray and see no need to buy a shortened version. Sounds like some more brilliant marketing from Sony.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

For anyone looking for the original 3-disc set, check your local Wally World. Mine sells it for $13.72 (YYMV price-wise).