Civil War Revisited in Smithsonian ‘Battles’ Series

Another Civil War series? Wasn’t Ken Burns’ 1990 PBS miniseries the definitive Civil War project?

Not quite.

The Smithsonian’s “Great Battles of the Civil War,” a seven-cassette series on MasterVision, doesn’t cover the same ground. The first three volumes, which were just released, cost $30 each for a tape running a little more than an hour. The next four in the series are due March 15.

Judging from the first three volumes, it’s an impressive series, as informative as the PBS project--and often as moving. Naturally there are some similarities but the two are basically different, as Jay Wertz, the San Diego filmmaker who conceived and shot the “Great Battles” series, explained.

“The other series used letters and photographs for an all-around look at the war and its effect on the country,” he said. “But we focus on the battles and all that surrounded them. We also use a lot of re-enactment footage.”

Because he was already at work on his project, Wertz was understandably upset when he heard about the PBS series. “At first we thought it might ruin the market for what we were doing--until we saw that it was different,” he said. “It complements our series. The PBS series also helped create a new public interest in the war, which means the potential market for our series is much bigger.”

The series grew out of Wertz’s filming of full-dress re-enactments of battles for Civil War buffs, which he has been doing since the early 1980s. Later in the decade, he joined up with the Smithsonian Institute, primarily to authenticate the project, and MasterVision for financing and distribution.

The first three tapes cover some of the major battles, including Fort Sumter, Antietam and Fredericksburg. Famous voices portray major figures, including those of Charlton Heston as Abraham Lincoln, Burt Reynolds as Jefferson Davis and Richard Dreyfuss as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

Smaller video stores may not carry the series but it can be ordered by phone.

Information: (800) 846-0123.

Muppets on Video: Finally, all those Muppet TV shows, assembled by the late Jim Henson, are headed to home video, via a new label--Jim Henson Video. The first batch of eight titles arrived Wednesday, including feature films “The Muppet Movie” and “The Great Muppet Caper,” both priced at $23.

The rest of the releases, priced at $13, are from the TV series--two 37-minute volumes of the basic Muppet shows, three 44-minute Muppet Babies tapes and “The Tale of the Bunny Picnic,” a fantasy that runs 44 minutes.

Henson Video will be releasing material from the library of Jim Henson Productions, including both films and TV shows. Henson Video is distributed by Disney’s Buena Vista Video. Explained Disney spokeswoman Tania Steele: “This is the first time this material has been released to video. There’s been a big demand for it over the years so there’s a natural market for it.”