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The 60s

The 60s (1999)

February. 07,1999
|
6.9
|
PG-13
| Drama TV Movie

The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.

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Dotsthavesp
1999/02/07

I wanted to but couldn't!

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Derry Herrera
1999/02/08

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

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Juana
1999/02/09

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Lela
1999/02/10

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

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widescreenguy
1999/02/11

oh ya, I was there and can vouch for the veracity of many of the scenes in this series. My background was that of a naive shy geeky type and it took me a long time to come to terms with what happened during the 60s. A time of very rapid and huge social change. The course of the decade is mirrored in the story presented in this excellent representation. The remnants of the bobbysoxer era gave way to some pretty horrid psychedelic tunes but then Jimi Hendrix hit the air waves. His legacy will in 200 years be similar to Amadeus Mozart: they both revolutionized music, lived on the edge, died young and broke. The difference is we have Jimi's live recordings and know his resting place. The characters then undergo some defining moments, and the war in southeast Asia spills over. The end of the film was rather abrupt and bewildering, same goes for that decade. I was there when the hippie era ended in a similar fashion.Plausibility of this story ranges from dead on to highly unlikely. But you have to remember the hippie era was partly based on a lot of media hype and voyeurism. This range of views is correctly portrayed.Julia Stiles was uniquely outstanding in her role as the wayward daughter who struggles against the downside of a society that in some cases was determined to devour its young. I too was kicked out of the house at a young age but I deserved it having chosen to sport long hair and argue with my parents at every opportunity. Fortunately I had a job at the time and all was forgiven eventually. Gee, thats exactly what happens in this movie. Its no wonder Ms Stiles has gone on to many more film projects and I hope to see her in roles that extend her talent.Out of all the portrayals I have seen of that period, 'The 60s' is the most accurate. I was there, I should know. I even lived in a hippie house the summer of 1970. It was a farm house converted to a non-denominational church and some teens from around Canada and one chap from Jamaica were there on an exchange program. Music, motorcycles, pot, hitch-hikers, stern faced members of the establishment, oh ya, I had some flashbacks watching this one.You can look back but you can never go back.

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The Non-Hip
1999/02/12

I caught this movie on TV last night, I don't usually enjoy this particular kind of movie, but I was bored so I figured I'd sit through it.Now I've seen other comments on how the movie doesn't show the era correctly, that it's not historically correct, and since I wasn't alive yet during the 60s, and my European education didn't touch the subject of american history much, I can't comment on that.However, when you get past the idea of this movie having to be a historical document of the 60s, and see that it's actually just simply a story, not a history lesson, about a group of people during this period of time, you'll see that this story is actually quite enjoyable.I expected a mediocre history movie, I got a great movie about love, principles and family. It made my evening.

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jar0d
1999/02/13

I accidently felt on this movie on TV, and I wasn't able to leave it.... It's really an excellent movie which makes people learning about american's history with the Vietnam war, the flower power's time, the racism's fight.... It illustrates the conflict of generation, of political opinion, of race which took place in the 60's....I'm born in 1980 so I didn't know all that stuff before...In france, USA's history is not a priority and that movie really learned me a lot of facts ! By the way, I think all the actors are great; especially Jordana Brewster, Josh Hamilton and Jerry O'Connell. Now I can see this film more then 1 time each day !! It's really great.... what a shame it only appeared on TV not in cinemas...

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JuanitaG
1999/02/14

It's scary when aging baby-boomers start remembering the 1960s as the "good ole days." "The 60's" is a bloated ode to the decade of drugs, sex, and irresponsibility. The acting and writing by all of the characters is sup-par at best. The only thing worse than this mini-series was "The 70s," which aired a year later.If you want a historical perspective, I suggest you don't watch this mini-series, but go to the library. If you want to see movies about 1960's, I suggest watching "KIDS" and "TRAFFIC." These two movies accurately describe the awful legacy this decade gave to younger generations., which I belong to.

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