Please suggest some good ones. I don’t know what rule that clearly defines something as a miniseries but I guess anything with a pre-scheduled number of episodes count.
The reason I ask is that someone just told med there is a six part miniseries produced by Spielberg about the first settlers in the wild west that I never heard about (now I don’t know if it’s great or not) so I bet there’s lots of stuff out there I have never seen or heard of.
I’ll kick off with a few that had great impact on me when I was a child:
Shogun
Holocaust
Das Boot
Roots
Masada
And then there was another WWII miniseries about the uprising of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw that was really great. I have searched forever for it but can’t remember the name. I believe it was a US production, it had an American actor as the main star.
Begins and ends with Lonesome Dove.
From the Earth to the Moon.
And for the classics you can’t leave out Winds of War or The Thorn Birds.
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| Originally Posted by Hammerhead View Post From the Earth to the Moon. And for the classics you can’t leave out Winds of War or The Thorn Birds. |
Ah the Thorn Birds, that was great also! Richard Chamberlain is quite the man when it comes to miniseries from the 80’s. I don’t know how it holds up today, but his “Bourne Identity” from '88 was really good at the time. It might not be a miniseries but around here it was shown as a five parter.
Wasn’t Fanny and Alexander a miniseries? I know Berlin Alexanderplatz was.
ETA: Can’t believe I didn’t think of The Singing Detective before any of these.
Seconded on The Singing Detective. Also, Pennies From Heaven
Alan Bleasdale’s TV Work was a big thing for me when I was growing up, particularly GBH which is almost Michael Palin’s finest hour and Boys From the Black Stuff, which is an examination of how screwed the UK’s working class were in the 80s.
More recently and obviously, you can’t go wrong with Generation Kill or The Corner.
The Brits know how to do these real well, it seems. To the ones mentioned I’d like to add: BLACKPOOL. Funny and occasionally disturbing rise&fall story about an arcade owner in England’s seaside gambling resort. Has a lot of music too, which is applied in a similar manner to Singing Detective, but more focused towards soul & modern britpop. Great acting as well.
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| Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post Band of Brothers. Done. |
Yup. It’s the best mini-series that’s been created. Ever. It’s the equivalent in term of quality to a certain The Wire…
‘I, Claudius’ - this is a British miniseries from the late 70s that follows Derek Jacobi, as Claudius, as he tries to survive Rome. It’s gripping and perfectly acted throughout. As Richard mentions, Patrick Stewart has hair:
Also:
‘James Clavell’s Noble House’ - features Pierce Brosnan. If you liked ‘Shogun’, you’ll probably like this one.
‘Rich Man, Poor Man’.
Also also:
the ‘Sharpe’s’ movies from England, featuring Sean Bean. There’s 15 movies in total, and they go together like a miniseries. Sean Bean is Lt. Sharpe, a soldier who has risen through the ranks to be become an officer during the Napoleonic Wars. Good stuff.
Seconding BAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON. Both are about as good as it gets.
On a different tack, I’ll toss in V and V: THE FINAL BATTLE. I rewatched them w/ friends who’d never seen them a few years back, and they were still really enjoyable. The hairstyles and clothes give away the era, and some aspects are more on-the-nose than the best shows of today, but these were produced in a much more cinematic manner than most TV of that time, so they still look good, and the story still just plain works. Plus, there’s a new version coming this fall! ![]( "Smilie")
This thread will cost me a lot of money!
Before “The Wire” HBO had a great 6 part mini-series about the streets of Baltimore called “The Corner”.
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| Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post ‘I, Claudius’ - this is a British miniseries from the late 70s that follows Derek Jacobi, as Claudius, as he tries to survive Rome. It’s gripping and perfectly acted throughout. |
And features Patrick Stewart with hair!
Not sure if it was ever a television mini-series but The Yakuza Papers is also very good.
My Favorite Miniseries…
- G.I. Joe-The M.A.S.S. Device
- G.I. Joe-The Weather Dominator
- The Odyssey
- V-The Final Battle
- V
P.S. Sure, G.I. Joe is a cartoon…but it began as not one but 2 mini-series.
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| Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post And features Patrick Stewart with hair! |
I updated my post with a box cover for it, proving your point. He’s quite good in this, too. In addition to Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, and Patrick Stewart, this also features Brian Blessed and John Rhys-Davies.
‘Winds of War’ and ‘War and Remembrance’ were pretty damn good too, as I recall:
I’d love to see Aussie Blue Murder, damn thing is not on dvd around here. But they play it on a loop over at the Sydney Police & Justice museum.
Also, this thread begins and ends with John Adams and State of Play.
