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List price:
$14.98
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The Hunley Features:
Closed-captioned
Color
NTSC Rating:
NR (Not Rated)
VHS Tape Description:
Produced for Turner Network Television and originally broadcast in the summer of 1999, The Hunley is a straightforward, engrossing historical drama focusing on a little-known chapter of the Civil War: the introduction of the submarine into American naval warfare off the shore of war-torn Charleston, South Carolina, in 1864. Writer-director John Gray had previously helmed the 1998 TV movie The Day Lincoln Was Shot, and he has a knack for capturing the Civil War era with a heightened sense of authenticity, allowing for the dramatic license of mainstream television. Armand Assante plays Lieutenant Dixon, a traumatized soldier and grieving widower with just the right mixture of bravado and nihilism to skipper the C.S.S. Hunley--essentially an iron boiler cobbled into a hand-powered submersible weapon--with a volunteer crew of nine men who propel the crude sub in an effort to break the Union's coastal blockade. Donald Sutherland is superbly cast as Dixon's Confederate commander, General Beauregard, and the film's best scenes are those between Assante and Sutherland, playing two weary warriors with one final chance for victory. Otherwise, this is a very conventional film made with integrity but no particular flair, faithfully adhering to historical fact while establishing a solid supporting cast. Assante is guilty of moderate overacting, but he compensates with enough charisma to make his ill-fated command dramatically involving. Most effective is the sense of sheer bravery in the pioneering effort to prove the Hunley as a viable tool of war; the final scene within the sub is both haunting and dramatically intense. (Historical note: The C.S.S. Hunley--named after the drowned captain of a previous test vessel--was discovered intact off the coast of Charleston in 1995; efforts were later made to raise and restore this relic of naval history.) --Jeff Shannon
Average Customer Rating:
Amazing movie, TERRIBLE SERVICE FROM AMAZON
I saw this movie a while ago on TNN and I loved it. I thought it was a great made for TV movie so I just had to order it. Problem is, that was 3 months ago. Amazon said it was in stock (still says that it is) yet ever 3 weeks like clock work they send me an email that it will be delayed. Amazon had no problem charging my credit card but has made ZERO effort getting the movie to me and/or compensating me for the extreme delay. Don't bother ordering this movie or any other that say there are a few left in stock, because they're all lies.
Great Film But Where's the DVD?
The story of the CSS H.L. Hunley is one of the most engrossing and yet unknown stories of the Civil War. It is fortunate, though, that this film can help revive interest in this remarkable story. Even if this story was entirely fictional, the movie would still stand up well. Great performances all around. This movie grabs you and dosen't let you go. What impresses me the most is that the film stays pretty close to the known facts. All in all, a well crafted film. It really will help you see the Confederate point of view in this war. They were wrong on slavery, but in the end you will cheer for the crew of the Hunley. Now what we need is a DVD with special features.
WOW!!!
Definitely a great Civil War movie and one of my personal favorites, the Hunley, brings to the screen the story of a confederate submarine, the CSS Hunley, and the desperate attempts made by the South to break the Federal blockade that threatened the CSA's very existence. The movie portrays Lieutenant Dixon (played superbly by Armand Assante) in great detail, both as a man and as an officer, and his efforts to succeed in his project of training the crew whose job will be to man the vessel. The movie successfully provides an important insight into one of the many figures of this military conflict. The Hunley is a movie about duty, honor, bravery, fear, and heroes who fought and died in the name of Freedom and above all, love- love of country. A great movie indeed!
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Amazing movie, TERRIBLE SERVICE FROM AMAZON 
