Nord et sud III

I've only just started watching the first episode of book three after going through a marathon of watching two episodes a night of books one and two. Didn't know there was a third until I got the DVD. Have read the book, but it was a while ago.

Inconsistencies avail in this series. Orry Jr. never seems to age. I noticed this at the end of book two. Orry tells George at the hospital he hasn't seen Madeline in two years. We he reunites with her, the baby looks like he's six months if that. He should be almost two years old!! In book three the time line is fuzzy at best. How soon after the war does the setting take place? Orry Jr. is still not that much older, but Gus, Charles' son, is five years old!! He was born after Orry Jr. who looks like he's maybe a year old.

George mentions kids, as in more than one, but no mention made at the end of book two that he has more than one.

Why would Madeline want to build a house in Mont Royal's front yard, when the slave quarters were not destroyed? I thought she was interested in rebuilding Mont Royal, yet she takes the time to build a school for freed slaves. Doesn't she have Justin's house she could sell or live in, or if that was burned down, the property could be sold to help refinance Mont Royal.

If Charles hated the war so much, why wouldn't he stay behind, raise his son, and help rebuild Mont Royal with Madeline.

Why bother replacing Ezra and Simi with Jane and Issac? Why not bring back the two freed slaves that stayed with them to the end of book 2? And the opening scene with the footage of Patrick Swayze making his way across to the front door. That is obviously Mont Royal, because when Madeline is meeting with Ashton at the friend's house in Charleston, from which the double for Patrick exits, the set up and lighting are way different inside.

Though I am a big fan of the first two, I would only recommend watching the third one out of curiosity. It doesn't have nearly the same quality all around. Thank God it was only three episodes instead of six.

Just like so many people before me I also am disappointed by the third part of North and South. In part the problem is that too many changes from the original story in books 1 and 2 had been made in the mini series. Therefore a lot of things didn't quite work out. In John Jakes' novels, Orry Main died in "Love and War", having been shot in the head by Elkanah Bent. So he wouldn't have been there anyway. But the biggest problem was the omission of Cooper Main in the first 2 mini series. For those who didn't know the book his sudden appearance must have been quite puzzling. Also, in the mini series part II Virgilia Hazard is executed, but not in the second novel. She shows up in the third novel! As to the murders mentioned in other comments, there are quite a few in the novel. And what I also don't like about part III is that so many actors were replaced. Was that necessary?

Although this movie follows the book more closely, with a few exceptions (Bent miraculously surviving everything, Cooper Main appearing out of nowhere), it is not as bad as everyone states.

The production values and editing of certain scenes could have been up to par with the first two books. Not to mention that Patrick Swayze declined to reprise his role of Orry Main, which is probably why the producers decided he will be killed in this one. Also, I think that the storyline involving Ashton scheming to take Mont Royal for herself could have been expanded.

As for the other characters, I liked the original Charles Main (played by Lewis Smith), although Kyle Chandler delivered a satisfactory performance. And, to agree with everyone else, the appearance of Cooper Main makes no sense, especially since there is no mention of Cooper in the first two movies.

If the movie were twelve hours long like the previous ones, then more explanation for certain things would have made the movie a better piece.

6/10

My first thought watching this is that it was nowhere near as good as books one and two, but it wasn't the worst thing i have watched. The first episode was quite interesting, and the ending to that episode was really good. The only thing i didn't like was that it looked kind of... cheap. I hated the way the scenes were edited, and especially the painting effect used on the opening to each scene, because it was tedious and not so good. Overall though i thought it was okay, and may watch it again in the future. But if you want something exactly like the first 2 books, you might want to steer clear in order to avoid some disappointed, but if u are generally interested, take a look.

I first saw North and South back in 85-86 on the television, and later came across Heaven and Hell in a video store. The North and South I am seeing today just does not seem to be what I watched way back when, and when I watched Heaven and Hell it seem to fit with the other just fine. I enjoyed them both. Now I see there is a book 2 that I never even realized was out and I can not find Heaven and Hell any where. I still find the books North and South, Love and War and Heaven Hell to be the all time greatest, but I enjoy watching the movies with an open mine. No movie is ever as good as there books, but then again movies are based on what the producers think the people want and at that time it was Patrick Swayze. I would love to see this one done all over again from the begining maybe using some of todays actors/actresses and staying closer to the books. Why not they redo movies all the time now.(The Parent Trap, Sebrina,The man in the Iron Mask even Titanic) P.S. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on the copies of Heaven and Hell?