The Regulators

The North gets most of the attention on the events that led up to the American Revolution, but if discontent had not been widespread throughout the colonies, the revolt would never have been successful. This film documents background events that occurred in North Carolina that show why the South was able to muster the popular but organized support in its backwoods areas that led to the key victories late in the war making Yorktown possible. This is an easy to follow narrative by people who are familiar with NC history presented in a manner that brings these events to life in a way that lines in a history book cannot. As an American, I find this a moving, professional portrayal of how formerly powerless people who take a stand against abuse of power can influence history.

It's wonderful that there is a full documentary on this subject. It's a fascinating slice of pre-revolutionary war colonial history and it happens to be in my home state. I certainly learned a lot from this film, but frankly it was a chore to watch.

The editing and structure of the film is poor, with different speakers all given the chance to repeat the same factoid, often with the narrator stealing their thunder by saying the same thing before them.

A half-dozen talking heads form the basis of the film, but their comments are are so sliced and diced that no one gets to say much at a time. It's like each one got two sentences per camera shot. Do this for each talking head and repeat.... and repeat...

At no point was there a clear North Carolina map showing where the battle took place, the layout of the battlefield, or any explanation of why there are currently two monuments, one off in the woods. Nor any mention of the distances between the battlefield and Hillsborough, or if there were any other settlements in the area. No context.

It's like watching an educational film in grade school and you might nod off of you're not careful.

This film would have benefited greatly from a better editor and director, to sort all these interviews and cheesy reenactor shots. Better yet, drop the cheesy reenactors and look a little harder to find colonial era paintings or something.

It could easily be shortened and greatly improved. But I guess since it's the only game in town, this has to be good enough.

Not a real history buff, I still found this video compelling me to watch it! Not only was it nicely done but it was extremely informative, systematically taking me through a period of time I was quite unaware of. Did I know about the revolt presented here? Of course. And yet the fine details of all the "whys" and "hows" were unknown to me; this video explains those details in an excellent fashion.

I live just down the road from the battleground mentioned in "The Regulators" - have even visited there a few times! - and had no real idea of all that went on there in the past until I saw this video. The precision of details that flow throughout the entire video allow the viewer to sit back and enjoy while taking in the historical knowledge that is both interesting and stimulating.

I would recommend this video to history buffs and antagonists alike. After watching this, you might find you like history after all! And you will leave more knowledgeable and even refreshed to understand our nation's history in more detail. It does not drag or lull in any one segment and will hold the viewer's attention to the very end.