A&E Network

I watched this a decade and some change ago. I recalled liking some moments in it, and so when I found it cheaply I bought it on a whim to rewatch. My memory was about right, it turned out.

There are indeed several great moments here and there, but unfortunately they do not combine to a particularly engrossing whole. The series spends too much time on personal drama to be able to follow the warfare to the detail needed to understand and thus invest emotionally in the ups and downs, and simultaneously too much time on the wars and battles to properly pay off the character relationship drama aspect. The battles are mostly showing off their budget, never truly giving a sense of who is doing what to whom, what tactics are working and which are not, and yet going on for quite a while despite failing to involve the viewer. Similarly, the political intrigue is always hinted at, with clever looks, veiled threats and biting remarks, but it's all for show, as the series immediately returns to the (underdeveloped) relationship dramas and the (shallow) war epic scenes. Thus, "Napoléon" ends up teasing an intrigue thriller we never get, indulging in detailed family affairs soap that mostly (there are exceptions here, thankfully) fizzles out without fanfare, and providing hefty amounts of glorious spectacle with little to none of the depth and detail that would have made such spectacle exciting.

The production quality, however, is splendid. The actors are great (Malkovich is particularly delicious, but there are many here who get to shine), the costumes, the sets, all wonderful. Some of the dialogue is quite decent, too, and the pacing, despite my laundry list of complaints above, is actually not too bad. But in the end, to me, this show is alas, somewhat less than the sum of its parts.… (more)

From the first musket shots at Lexington and Concord to the precision-guided munitions in modern-day Baghdad, America s history has been forged in the heat of battle. AMERICA AT WAR presents twenty-five documentaries from THE HISTORY CHANNEL, charting U.S. military conflict over two centuries. This fourteen disc set explores key moments of the American Revolution, the Alamo, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, as well as the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq. The chronological collection draws upon the expertise of noted historians, military authorities, engineers, and war correspondents to convey the personal side of conflict not often found in history books. A trove of archival footage and documents brings viewers closer than ever to the heated heart of combat.… (more)