denis888 Not the greatest of its kind, Class Of '61 suffers a hastily delivered plot, too many plot holes and sometimes, poor acting. Anyway, Clive Owen and Laura Linney alone saved this albeit a bit shallow effort, as their delivery is very decent and very deep. The sheer tragedy of a class split, of friendships destroyed, of mates killed in the same battle is shown here. Well, bother, that could have been much better, had Ron Maxwell done that in his sheer Gettysburg style and grandeur. What the movie does show well is the very banality of death at war, the immediacy of tragedy looming, the simplicity of bloodshed. No heroism, almost, just a real suffering of men and women. That could be a better movie, but even now, it is OK

George Parker The "Class of '61" looks at the splitting apart of the Union through the lives of three West Point graduates and their ramifications of families and friends imparting a sense of the times; sentiments, circumstances, and political climate. From Sumter to First Manassas, this didactic presentation is an even blend of drama and history with enough of each to entertain and inform though it does spread itself to a necessary thinness. Not sufficient as a stand alone drama, "Class of '61" is worth a look for anyone interested in Civil War history. C+

Havan_IronOak Class of 61 tells the story of a group of friends who are cadets at West Point at the outbreak of the civil war. While the story starts slow and lets us get to know about these folks as people and as friends, it ends abruptly at the Battle of Manassas.Not surprising really in that it was meant as the pilot for a TV series dealing with the civil war.As a movie it really doesn't stand alone all that well. Just as you get to know and care about the characters the film is over.

Polly_Plummer I just saw the last two-thirds of this movie on TV, and was very impressed by it. I'm not fond of Civil War movies in general, because they are bound to be very sad. This movie fulfills that promise, but nonetheless I found myself liking it a lot. The Class of '61 succeeds in humanizing both sides of that terrible war, by giving you characters on both sides to root for. Rather than rooting for the North or the South, you instead find yourself rooting desperately for peace so the lives of the men and women involved will not be destroyed. Though many important issues are involved in the plot, the movie is about the characters, not about the issues. The acting is superb, especially for a TV movie. The relationship between Shelby, a southern gentleman, and Lucius, his friend and slave, is particularly compelling. This movie, on the whole, is very worth watching despite its inevitably depressing end.