`Class Of '61': It May Not Graduate Beyond Pilot

"Class of '61," "ABC Monday Night Movie," 9 p.m., Channel 4. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Class of '61" was conceived as a pilot for a possible weekly series, probably back in the days when PBS' "The Civil War" was being the talk of television. After all, all of the elements of high drama were to be found in that series: Families broken apart, idealistic young men marching off to war, brother against brother, the end of slavery - and lots and lots of violence. Who could ask for more?

The class referred to in "Class of '61" is the 1861 graduating class at West Point, many of whom didn't graduate but left to join regiments, both North and South, when the rebels fired on Fort Sumter and the Civil War began in 1861. Building a series around this conflict is still a great idea - but it's easy to see why this film failed to convince ABC to go ahead with the project.

"Class of '61" is a mess - but an interesting mess. As co-produced by movie genius Steven Spielberg and directed by Emmy-winning Gregory Hoblit, it's got energy and excitement and looks like a million dollars.

No expense was spared on costumes, settings or props. The battle scenes alone, which may remind you of a small-screen version of the best from films like "Red Badge of Courage" and other Civil War theatrical films, have their own kind of awful, violent poetry and may be reason enough to view the film.

Even Shelby Foote, who emerged as a kind of star in the "Civil War" series as its narrator, was a consultant for this film's historical accuracy.

But while the direction, the action and the visual aspects of "Class of '61" are all pluses, the script by co-producer Jonas McCord is such a liability that it sinks the whole project.

Because it was conceived as a pilot, McCord introduces so many characters - and does it so badly - that it is impossible to know who is who, let alone which ones are Rebs and which ones Yankees. It helps somewhat when they get into uniform because, thanks to color, you can distinguish between the blue and the gray.

Having lots of characters who could pursue various fictional storylines would have been a plus if "Class of '61" had become a series. But as it is, a lot of what's going on is impossible to follow - and it doesn't help that most of the young cast lacks personality. They're all attractive and young and that's about all you can say for them. I began longing for individual quirks, even in their acting, that would help to give the characters more identity.

In the film's final third it settles down to three stories that are annoyingly cross-cut; The Battle of Bull Run; the escape, via underground railroad, of a slave, while, at the same time, his wife is giving birth to their child on a Virginia plantation.

But it seems clear everyone's hearts are in the Bull Run battle scenes. And it seems equally clear that, as far as "Class of '61" is concerned, the Civil War ended with that battle. I doubt, based on this pilot, the "Class" is going to continue fighting right through to Lee's surrender. ------------------------------------------------------------------- DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

"Adrift," "CBS Tuesday Night Movie," 9 p.m., Channel 7. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Adrift" is one of those TV movies that seems to exist only to fill air time with nasty characters and gross violence. It has nothing to say, no interesting characters and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Kate Jackson and Kenneth Walsh play a long-married California couple who set out on a sailing vacation to Honolulu. They soon run into a floating derelict that we know has been the scene of big trouble - it takes place before the credits - and you want to warn them to stay away from the ship. But, no!

In the tradition of those idiots who always go into the cellar where the killer is lurking without thinking to ever turn on the lights, Kate and Kenneth board the ship where they discover a weird young couple, played by Bruce Greenwood and Kelly Rowan.

You know the rest - and it's all just a matter of time before Kate and Kenneth manage to wrest back control of their ship from these two sickos. But before that happens, there are countless scenes of violence and degradation for no reason at all except a cynical network thinks this is what people want to see.

It's scary and well-acted and must have been an unpleasant task to make - but not nearly so unpleasant as watching it. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MORE VIOLENCE

"Death Train," "USA World Premiere Movie," 9 p.m. Wednesday, USA network. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Alistair MacLean writes the kind of action-oriented fiction moviemakers love to get their hands on - war-related stories like "The Guns of Navarone," "Where Eagles Dare" and "Ice Station Zebra." MacLean's "Death Train" is very much in that tradition and very up-to-the-minute.

Basically, "Death Train" is yet another replay of the old can-we-get-to-the-atomic-bomb-before-it-explodes scenario. It even uses the old digital clock countdown routine. But this bomb was made by a German scientist in collaboration with a disaffected former Soviet general and is supposed to be delivered to a Middle Eastern country.

A train is commandeered in Germany to deliver the bomb and a United Nations task force, headed by Patrick Stewart, Pierce Brosnan and Alexandra Paul, do lots of high-tech things to try and foil the bad guys (headed by an American) in what we used to call "a race against time."

It's familiar, mindless violence - lots of gunfire, explosions, helicopter blowing up in the air, people being shot for no particular reason except to add noise to the film, that kind of thing.

Isn't it time for a moratorium on making and showing junk like "Death Train" and "Adrift?" ------------------------------------------------------------------- WORTH EXPLORING

"Americas," 10-part PBS series, premiering at 10 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 9. ------------------------------------------------------------------- While most Americans seem able to only focus either on the West, toward Europe, or to the East, toward the Orient, the area of Central and South America is possibly even more important to the U.S., because of its proximity, resources and potential as a market.

Unfortunately, most Americans don't know much about that vast area - the only time those 33 countries ever make it into the news is when there's some kind of trouble, witness Venezuela, (drugs), Peru (Shining Path guerrillas) and pick any country in Central America (revolution).

This series is designed to be part geography, part history, part sociology, with a bit of travelogue thrown in for good measure - at least, that's the way it works out in the first episode, "The Garden of Forking Paths," an informative and engrossing look at Argentina.

Each film stands separately and takes its own approach to a country or area and this diversity renders each one a notable hour of video. With Hispanics the largest growing ethnic category in the U.S., Americans need to have a greater understanding of their roots. "Americas" is the kind of series that can do just that - and it's fascinating stuff in its own right.