I recently purchased the dvd's. The first and second were terrific. I was glued to the television. Even my husband who hates historical romance loved it...until we got to the third in the selection. It would have been much better to have never written this. It did not in any way follow the story line. It was as if you were watching a different movie.
We were VERY disappointed in the 3rd part of the dvd.
Patrick Swayze was NOT even in this 3rd part. Should have left well enough alone and dropped it after the 2nd part.

b elenniss

I've read and loved the North and South trilogy.

Books 1 and 2 on film were fairly true to the books.

Book 3 was an utter let down. Rugged dark haired and dark eyed Cousin Charles morphed into a blonde haired blue eyed twenty year old. The first Charles was weather and war beaten, his fiance died in childbirth...he was a torn up man...then in book 3 he looks like a surfer dude fresh out of his first year of college. His complexion is so rosey.

What were they thinking with that?

Orry was the love of Madeline's life: so three months after his murder she is lustfully eyeballing his married best friend. This simply did not happen in the book.

Brother Cooper arrives from no place in book 3. He was absent from 1 and 2.

The widowed and widower George and Madeline gradually feel an affection and marry. The book was more tasteful and less Hollywood.

And what is up with Virgilia dying for her sins? She was supposed to settle down an bit and she actually saves Mont Royal from Ashton's scheming. I suppose that was too dull for Hollywood.

Perhaps I misunderstood the timeline, but in the end of book two, Orry's and Charles' babies were the same age. Then in book three, Charles' child is five years old, and Orry's child remains a baby.

Too many changes ruined this.

I was so looking forward to book 3 on film.

This is one of my all time favorites. I've just spent the past 23 hours watching the set, and find myself wanting to do it again already. I spent 50 dollars on this, and it was worth EVERY penny. It could have been packaged a bit nicer, but enough of the minor nitpicking....

Why does everyone hate book III so much? I mean, it's easily the weakest of the three, and yes, what they did to Orry, Constance, George and Madeline was a bit in bad taste, but as a movie, it was decent, even though it was nothing like the first two books, it was okay. Worth watching.

I think all of us I waited to long till I finally had a chance to see the entire series. As a kid when this was on TV in the Netherlands it was so popular and as most of ud I followed many episodes of the series. Although I tried to when it was showed over and over when the series were repeat to watch it completely I never seem to manage. Now its on DVD I finally can do so, and till now I watched the first book, and realize now that together with Band Of Brothets, Shogun & Roots, this certainly is the best TV series ever created for TV. I always had a weak heart for American civil War films and have many in my collection, but this is my most beloved title. Especially if you study history and you know they are not refering to just names if they speak about Grant, Calhoun, Douglas and Lee, but to persons that indeed were extremely important in the history of the civil war. I think it gives a very nice picture to the motives of the South to proclaim independence. Another thing what certainly took me was the fact when Orry goes to see the Metal factory of George's family and see how the workers live and make a connection between slavery and the situation of the workers. Historical its interesting that the North was so hard on the slavery but in the meantime was not too friendly with the Northern slaves and workers either. So you can learn a great deal of history from this series. Im not an expert but the series made me see that I certainly have to read more about this period of time in history.

One last thing I want to settle here is the discussion about the cuts and the length of the series. Dont let the 1212 min fool you, since its not the real playing time. On IMDB they refering too the fact book one and too are both around the 560 min. I couted of the times on the discs and book one is 559 min. Booo 2 is 566 min, and book 3 is indeed 273 min. This leaves the conclusion that the entire series is clocking on 1418 min and not 1212 as the back of the box is showing. I dont know if there are any small cuts here and there, but this certainly does not seem to be the case. Apart from the fact that the films are all looking quite good to me, I would have liked a more remastered version, or even a restored one as they did with Shogun and Roots. Pollishing up the sound to 5.1 should be another thing what I have liked. A series like this will do great benefit from a 2:35 transfer but since its originally shot for TV we all can just forget that.

Another great thing would be more extra's in terms of commentaries from historians of cast and filmmakers and ofcourse more documentaries about the making of the film and the history behind the series. Who knows they can dig up even some deleted scenes that are still in the vaults of Warner. But for now a long wish to see it in its entirely finally came true. And I have to say it, even while it 23 hours and 38 min in length its amazingly addicting, so you beter be warned. I watched the entire first book in 2 days time.

Anyone who was fortunate enough to watch North and South when it originally aired on TV will remember how they felt the first time they heard the rousing and emotional theme song and made their first visit to Mont Royal Plantation. There are so many memorable moments throughout all 3 North and South books: Orry and Madeline, treacherous Asheton, George and Orrys lifelong friendship, scheming Elkanah Bent. The list goes on and on. Needless to say, North and South is one of the truly great accomplishments in television history. It isnt a stretch to say you will fall in love with the characters, feel their pains and sorrows and enjoy the great moments in their lives.

Regarding the DVDs themselves, video transfer is quite good taking into account this was filmed 20 years ago. As previous reviewers have stated, the audio is lacking in that their is no 5.1 soundtrack. This is a small price to pay, however, for the chance to own this piece of TV history in your DVD collection.

As a side note. If you have a love of Civil War history, you can see the "real" Mont Royal Platation and experience living history by visiting Boone Hall Plantation just a few miles north of Charleston SC. This is where North and South was filmed and I consider myself lucky to live so close to this national treasure.