Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition)
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 A must for Civil War buffs but others may be less excited "Gettysburg" is an epic recreation of this pivotal battle of the US Civil War. It combines huge battle scenes with intimate conversations among the famous personalities including Lee, Pickett, Armistead, Longstreet on the Confederate side, and Hancock and Chamberlain on the Federal side. Standout performance are Tom Berenger as the cautious Longstreet and Martin Sheen as the legendary Robert E. Lee. At over four hours in length "Gettysburg" will test the patience of many viewers. It has feel of a mini-series and would be ideal to spread over two nights rather than watching it in one go. The characters indulge in a little too much speechifying and some of the battle scenes - staged using Civil War reenactors - seem a bit tame - but overall this is a well-made film. (****) for Civil War buffs and (***) for everybody else.  Gettysburg CD This is a great movie. This is our second purchase of this CD as we scratched our first one and wanted Gettysburg in our movie library.  The novel comes to life This is a nice transfer of novel to screen. Michael Shaara's work is well known to those interested in the Civil War. It used an interesting technique--selecting several characters and reporting their observations of events and their perspectives and understanding of those. Among the key characters from whose eyes we see things include: Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Winfield Scott Hancock, and--from the First Day--John Buford. This is a long movie, over 4 hours. But to encapsulate as sprawling a battle as Gettysburg, this is altogether appropriate. What of the cast? Overall, awfully good for a movie that is far from a traditional theater release. Martin Sheen plays Robert E. Lee (I'm not sure that he's as wooden as some reviewers comment, but his "It's all in God's hands now" does become a bit stale by the end); Jeff Daniels is quite affecting as Chamberlain (he has an appropriate academic air and portrays an amateur's sense of warfare); Sam Elliott as the hard-bitten, crusty Buford is almost perfectly cast; Tom Berenger does a nice job portraying Longstreet's discomfort with strategy and tactics and a foreboding of the battle's outcome. Secondary characters are played well, too, such as Stephen Lang's George Picket, Richard Jordan's Lew Armistead, and Kevin Conway's Sergeant Kilrain. All in all, the acting is quite well done. The scope of the movie? It begins with the hours before the meeting engagement at Gettysburg (this was an "accidental" battle with neither side anticipating a great fight there). Among the scenes is a delightful meeting among Armistead, Pickett, and Longstreet in which a pleasantly diverting discussion of Charles Darwin takes place. The first day featured the confrontation between Harry Heth's division and Buford's cavalry. As the pressure begins to be too much, General John Reynolds, at the head of the fearsome fighter of the First Corps arrives. At this point, the movie gets a but fuzzy historically. One gets the sense that the line starts collapsing at one place as the Iron Brigade arrives at another, under the direct command of Reynolds. This is misleading; the forces to the immediate north of the Iron Brigade did not collapse until after Reynolds' placement of the fighting Westerners and his death. The day ends with a powerful meeting between Buford and the Union generals gathering at Gettysburg. On the Second Day, the key action in the movie includes Devil's Den and Little Round Top. On that day, much more happened, including desperate fighting on Cemetery Ridge and Culp's Hill, not depicted in this movie (but the movie is already long at 4 hours, so this is merely a minor quibble). The DVD accepts pretty much without question Chamberlain's rather self-serving version of the 20th Maine's stalwart fight, protecting the left flank of the Union army. Nonetheless, this is a powerful scene and works most nicely. The Third Day? The focus is Pickett's Charge (technically a misnomer, since other divisions were involved as well (Pettigrew and Trimble commanded troops as well). The tension of the day is well portrayed. E. Porter Alexander directed a massive cannonade to try to wreak havoc on the Union Center. At the close of the barrage, the 12,000-15,000 Confederate troops are shown beginning their doomed charge. The music swells in a most affecting scene. And then the carnage begins, with Union artillery and later rifled musket fire decimating the attackers. Much poignancy in this third day. The personal courage of Hancock (which appears to be historically accurate), the brave last stand by Armistead (also correct), the effort by Lee to inspire his troops after the repulse, and so on. There are some historical glitches here. The movie misses many dramatic moments (although how could it be otherwise with the time limitations of a movie format?). On the whole, however, this is a powerful version of the critical battle at Gettysburg. Well worth watching. An Long, but Intriguing Epic! This film was Ted Turner's baby. He wanted to produce a movie that re-enacted the bloddiest battle on American soil. When it was completed, the film was over 4 hours long. Much too long for theatrical release. So he premiered it on his cable network, TNT in 1993. The battle scenes itself are worth the long run time. It's not too graphic and works as a historical referrence. That may be it's downfall, as well. Another is the long stretches of dialogue. Though needed for continuity, after a while, the film started to suffer from overindulgence. If you can endure it's length, you might find this film rather entertaining. Give it a try! | |||||||||||||
