On April 14th, 1865 John Wilkes Booth killed President Abraham Lincoln while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. Booth was an actor and confederate sympathizer as well as being opposed the idea to abolish slavery. The progression to assassinate the President began with a plot to kidnap him at The Old Soldiers Home in DC but that progressed into the assassination plot. In a plan to completely decapitate the country, Booth had also planned to kill the Vice President and the Secretary of State but they didn’t attend the play that evening. After he killed Lincoln, he fled into northern Virginia where he was finally shot by a Union Soldier in a tobacco barn.
Based on the book written by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln tells the events leading up to the assassination of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. It’s directed by Adrian Moat who has done a previous program about the same time period called Gettysburg. It was originally shown on the National Geographic Channel and it had higher ratings than any show before it. The series is narrated by Tom Hanks, who discusses some of the segments to help pull things together. It stars Jesse Johnson as John Wilkes Booth, Billy Campbell as Abraham Lincoln, and Geraldine Hughes as Mary Todd Lincoln. They definitely chose actors that not just looked the part but played them well.
The program is brilliant but it can be a little dry at times. Tom Hanks’ narration and interviews have a lack of feeling to the point of being overly stern. His part in the series is important but what he’s reading gets a little redundant with the facts. On the other hand, I really liked Johnson’s performance as Booth. Being that Booth was a stage actor and one of the best in the time period, Johnson played him a little over the top which was probably an accurate reflection of his personality. Campbell played a good Lincoln but he didn’t have that feeling of a strong leader. I will say that with the former president recently being portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, it’s tough to be in that shadow.
The release is transferred in 1080p AVC and it looks great. The sharpness of the picture has excellent details that are consistent of the blu-ray format. The portions with Tom Hanks have perfect coloring and are a great example of the details I mentioned. The portions of the actual “movie” have a light grain that gives it that older feeling and not just a pristine digital picture that might have been lost. The coloring is on the lighter side but that also adds to keeping the authenticity of the time period. The only issue I saw with the grain is that it creates some contrasting issues during the night scenes. There is almost a flicker at times but it doesn’t take away from the quality of the film.
The audio mix is a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and it’s done well. The bass is clean and never overused or intrusive. The treble is also very clear and has a near perfect mix. There’s a lot of dialogue and narration from Hanks that uses the center speaker from beginning to end. The dialogue is also clear and never gets drowned out by the score or effects. The surround sound is used frequently and never really doesn’t quit. The best usage of all of the channels is during the scene of Lincoln’s second inaugural address with the roaring of the crowd in applause. This particular scene utilizes the bass and treble in all of the channels as well.
The release is packed with extras that go in to depth about almost every facet of the production. Its perfect for the people that are in to learning about what they are watching.
Supplements
Audio Commentary- Executive producer and screenwriter Erik Jendresen talks about the historical accuracy and gives a lot of good information about his experiences while making the adaptation.
An Interview with Author Bill O’Reilly- this is an interview with the host of the Fox News segment about his experiences writing the book and his feeling about the TV program. He also talks about when Obama invited him to see the real Gettysburg Address in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House.
Uncovering the Truth: The Making of Killing Lincoln- this is a 22 minute long featurette that goes over the production and pulling it all together to make the adaptation.
Lincoln in Virginia- this is a promotional spot for the state of Virginia’s tourism.
Promotional Features- this a five part featurette of behind the scenes, characters research, and an interview with director Adrian Moat.
Sneak Peeks Trailers for a few FOX releases.
Edition Ratings
Not Rated
Disc Details
Single blu-ray disc
UltraViolet Digital copy in HD
Digital copy
Video Resolution
1080p MPEG-4 AVC
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
French
Having never read the book and seeing the extras on the release, I think this adaption was very accurate. Like I said, I didn’t know that there were so may players in the plot against the Union or the assassination. It was really an eye opener as to how different history is taught in school and how things really happened. The release itself is practically perfect. The video is excellent and the audio had a very strong mix. I would recommend this blu-ray to anyone in to history and don’t worry about there being any sort of political agenda, luckily it’s not there.
Great review! Keep them coming. Looking forward to checking out some history.