The '60s poster & wallpaper

Annie Corley, Bill Smitrovich, Charles S. Dutton

Tackling an entire decade--and a turbulent one at that--within a three-hour movie is a challenge, and while The '60s is frequently entertaining, it unfortunately is not completely up to the tas...( read more  read more... )k. Following the lives of four young people, three from a white suburban family with parents out of The Wonder Years and one African American from the South, the characters are forced into one-dimensional clichés; they are their personas to the nth degree. Katie (Julia Stiles), the pretty young blond, is the lost hippie; Brian (Jerry O'Connell), the former high school football player, is the gung-ho-turned-disgruntled Vietnam solider; Michael (Josh Hamilton) exemplifies the political activist; and Emmet (Leonard Roberts), the only representative of the entire black movement of the '60s, plays first the pacifist who effects change through nonviolent means and then the Black Panther, and then he finally returns to his nonviolent ways. Yet, despite the trite characters and slow beginning, the movie picks up pace as each becomes involved in his or her own story. They become strangely compelling, to the point where you are sorry when the story switches to another character because you want to see more.

An eclectic shooting style--a mixture of archival footage, seamlessly spliced with shots of the miniseries in black and white, which then becomes color--effectively places the characters in the '60s context. You can believe that these folks were at the Democratic Convention in Chicago or the Watts riots or Woodstock. Yet, sometimes a break is needed: the film is unrelenting in presenting crisis after crisis with no respite, making one wonder if there were any quiet, simple, or nice moments in the entire decade. The sentimental soundtrack plays continuously, helping set the appropriate tone and the frenetic atmosphere of the movie. For those who lived through the '60s, this miniseries provides a nostalgic look back at the various movements and a general feel of the time, especially with the proliferation of film clips that aren't oft repeated (we've all seen the moon landing ad nauseam, but footage of Abbie Hoffman or Dylan playing the club scene in the East Village is refreshing). And for those born after this period, this miniseries makes the decade look like a frenzied, troubled mess that we can be grateful we had the good fortune to miss. --Jenny Brown

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66% liked it

4,318 ratings

PG-13, 172 min.

Directed by: Mark Piznarski

Release Date: February 7, 1999

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DVD Release Date: June 22, 1999

Stats: 139 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (139)

  • Drewbacca
    April 9, 2006
    Drewbacca
    3 1/2 stars, but again, why the hell is this in the documentary category?
  • Nenebelle
    September 28, 2009
    Nenebelle
    Recommended by NickCoalNoir.
  • NickCoalNoir
    September 25, 2009
    NickCoalNoir
    So, anything that has to do with the '60s, I'm there. This was a pretty cool miniseries depicting the whole decade, although I don't know how accurate everything was. I wasn't around during that time (obviously) but some of the scenes seemed contrived and played up too much. Mayb...( read more)e that was the whole point, I dunno. But, nonetheless, it was interesting to see this fantastic decade squeezed into a miniseries and put on screen.
    I recommend this one, it's a good time. :)
  • IRONMANBLAST
    March 10, 2009
    IRONMANBLAST
    Pretty good Mini Series with a Good Soundtrack. Worth watching.
  • ohitsjamie
    December 2, 2008
    ohitsjamie
    Great story intertwined with actual events. Amazing miniseries. Highly recommended.
  • aaaartstar
    October 19, 2008
    aaaartstar
    I wonder what this is about. It looks really cliche but I suppose I'd like to see it
  • blackeyedsurfer
    July 21, 2008
    blackeyedsurfer
    What a perfect decade to chronicle as a family melodrama. It may be a little over-cooked in some places, but it's a made-for-TV mini series, what else would you expect? The acting is superb, the soundtrack is top notch, and the coolest part is definitely the way they combined rea...( read more)l archive footage and famous political speeches into the storyline, weaving a fictional family into the historical highlights of the generation.
  • RuthieGreenGirl
    February 23, 2008
    RuthieGreenGirl
    Not a mad miniseries
  • theultimatescreamqueen
    February 23, 2008
    theultimatescreamqueen
    A great miniseries ! Wonderful storylines! A great cast too!
  • quoththeravennevermore
    February 17, 2008
    quoththeravennevermore
    saw it in my govt class...THE mother of all corny pick-up lines

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The '60s Trivia

  • What character from Batman (he played the character in the 60's movie and TV show.) did Burgess Meridith portray? Meridith is better known as Mick from the Rocky series.  Answer »
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  • Who wasn't part of the famous "Rat Pack" in the 60's  Answer »
  • In the 60's, star of Pricilla Queen of The Dessert, Terence STamp, was voted the world's sexiest man.  Answer »
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