Rating: 
Summary: Greatest historical epic since Gone With The Wind!
Review: Wonderful film. Greatest period epic since Gone With The Wind. I look forward to owning this movie for years to come. Thanks Ron Maxwell for sticking to history rather than Policial Correctness!
Rating:
Summary: Historically accurate and very well done
Review: I had been looking forward to the release of this film since I heard it had been produced. In my opinion, there are few war films that surpass Gettysburg for epic storytelling and historical fidelity, and I expected the same from this movie. That having been said, I must say that Gods and Generals lived up to my expectations in nearly every respect. Granted, since this film covers from the beginning of the war until Chancellorsville (roughly two years), something has been lost in the storytelling, and in fact anyone who does not already know something of this time period will likely be lost in the fast pace in which the first part of this film moves. This movie does an excellent job of depicting the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, and lives up to the reputation of its predecessor (Gettysburg) as far as action sequences go. The cast does a great job (especially Robert Duvall), but it WAS disappointing to see some characters played by different actors (most notably Longstreet, Stewart, Armisted, Pickett, and Ellis Spear). Still, the acting was great. Civil War buffs should be right at home with this film, and will have little to clamor about in the way of historical accuracy. 4 hours may be a little to much to bear for the average movie-watcher, but those willing to invest that much time in the film will not be disappointed. I still prefer Gettysburg, but this is definitely a fitting prequel and an excellent look at the most trying time in American history.
Rating: 
Summary: not as good as in theater.........but still good
Review: Well lets see, i am a man who has always been facinated by the civil war, trust me on that, and like many civil war buffs out there i couldnt wait to see Gods and Generals when it came out 2/21/03, and like many civil war buffs i wasnt too dissapointed when i saw it. Alot of people are comparing it to the movie Gettysburg, and now that i own Gods and Generals and also the movie Gettysburg on DVD i was able to watch them, one right after the other from the comfort of my living room. YET i would still say that Gettysburg is a better movie overall, and i enjoyed watching Martin Sheen more then i enjoyed watching Robert Duval even though i enjoyed both. The only real thing that bugs me about Gods and Generals is that you are trying to fit almost 3 years of very eventful history into just 4 hours of movie, and thats really tough to do. I just wish it was done better and presented in a way that someone who knew nothing about the civil war woudld be able to understand the moie better, becasue my friends who know very little about the civil war kept having to ask me questions and got confused when the movie would jump from a period of a year in less then an hour without much being said about the military issues. instead the space gaps in between the battle was just filled up with Jackson praying to god and talking to his wife, same goes for many other characters. i guess overall when I went to see this movie I was not goign to watch as much of the characters personal lives as much as was shown in the movie........good movie though, i love it!.......and where the HELL was the Battle of Antietam in this movie?!?!?
Rating:
Summary: THE GREATEST CIVIL WAR EPIC! THE BEST CIVIL WAR DVD!
Review: "Gods and Generals," one of the best and most important war films to come out in the past decade, charges onto DVD! The film is given a superb digital transfer, along with an outstanding Dolby 5.1 that makes the "acres of talk" (which is historically accurate for the people of that time) and outstanding battle scenes sound exciting. The Special Features are compelling to watch, including an exceptional one-and-a-half hour commentary track by Director Ron Maxwell and historians Keith Gibson and "Bud" Robertson that will captivate any-and-all who listen to it.
Of the three featurettes, the best is "Journey to the Past," a BET Special which deals mostly with the African-American role in the war, but also acknowledges the fact that the movie is 100% historically accurate (even the African-American actors who worked on the film acknowledge that most Confederates were fighting for their homes, NOT SLAVERY!!). Buy the DVD and treasure this awesome film forever! Movie/DVD Grade: A+
Rating:
Summary: EVEN BETTER ON DVD!!!
Review: WOW!! I was just blown away by this Gods and Generals DVD! It has superb extras and the digital quality is PERFECT! I am a huge movie fan. If you name a movie, I probably have it. And it is so rarely that a fine movie like this is made. It shows the true horrors and heroism in the chaos of war. If you didn't like parts in this movie, buy it anyway! It is well worth the money just to buy to watch the parts you like! Let us hope that the sequal "Last Full Measure" is made soon. It is bound to be just as good as Ron Maxwell's two previous American Civil War movies! ENJOY!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Southerner's View
Review: This is a wonderful, accurate and touching presentation of an unexplored aspect of the the men behind the names we have heard since our youth. Having read, voraciously, anything I could find about the War for Southern Independence, I found this movie to be a refreshing change from the standard anti-southern fare offered by the majority of "civil war" movies. When you see the conflict referred to constantly as "rebelion" or "civil war" by authors and screen writers, you know in advance where their sympathies lie and their story lines are going. If you read some of the less widely known writers and the newly available reprints of contemporary authors, the prevailing sentiments of the majority of both Northern and Southern foot soldiers is accurately portrayed in first "The Killer Angels" and "Gettysburg" and now in "Gods and Generals". If you have a Southern heritage or lineage, this movie is an excellent purchase. From all the available material on Thomas Jonathan Jackson, I have come to see the general as a devout Christian, a devoted husband and father and a staunch State's Rights defender. None of these stances were or are politically correct, therefore anything that presents Gen. Jackson as having these personality traits is seen as offensive to many. Further, if you will note the location of origin of most of the negative reviews, you will see my suppositions confirmed by the writers .
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: I have a baccalaureate in Military History. I looked forward to this film for some time, saw it in the theater, and am going to buy the DVD. With that said, it was a bit disappointing. I've given it four stars, but that is largely a default I have awarded for the civic service this film does in teaching some of the history of the Civil War. With that said, I had two main disappointments: 1. The screenplay and direction sacrificed much of the rest of the story in order to focus on Stonewall Jackson. The book is a largely balanced work that seeks to make the attitudes and beliefs of the contemporary participants real to the reader by focusing on four soldiers, two on each side: Jackson and Lee for the South, and Hancock and Chamberlin for the North. All but Jackson are reduced to minor roles. This is wrong, not merely from an historic standpoint, but also from a cinematic one: Jackson, while an American icon, is just too weird for the audience to relate to and nearly 5 nonstop hours of his odd habits and religious fervor begins to wear on the audience. 2. The slavery issue. Frankly, this movie softsoaps the slavery issue to a point I consider embarassing. I am a conservative New Englander. I now live in the south. My ancestors fought, and several died, in this war. While the technical study of history does indeed point out that there were many social, economic, and political factors that contributed to this war, the ultimate cause was undoubtedly slavery. Remove any one of the other ingredients and the war would still have happened, remove slavery and the disagreements would have been minor and easily dealt with. Slavery was an atrocity. Period. It should be portrayed honestly for what it was: while it is certainly OK to show that Southerners were not monsters and that many treated their slaves quite well (and most treated their slaves with at least the forbearance of someone who understands the value of their perishable "property") it should never be portrayed in the one-sided way this movie depicts. See this movie. Buy it. It is worth the effort and cost. But director and writer take note: you could have done better. I look forward to your next work.
Rating: 
Summary: Slavery
Review: To a previous reviewer, I must set the record straight. When it comes to the Civil War, slavery (in the territories) was for all practical purposes was the prinicpal cause of the War Between the States (or secession, which was an inevitable result of the volitale issue). Nevertheless, this does not mean the South was necessarily in the wrong, contrary to the politically correct viewpoint endorsed today. The Supreme Court decision in Dredd Scott v. Sandford (although posthumously denounced as immoral) was constitutionally correct. In the Nullification Crisis of 1830-31 the North (namely Daniel Webster) had demanded the South look to the Supreme Court in constituional crises, but now that the Supreme Court sided with the South, the "Black" Republicans and Abraham Lincoln (admittedly a great man) simply ignored what Webster had called the "supreme ruling body." Obviously the North displayed a conspicuous disregard for Supreme Court supremacy when their interests were crossed. In the final analysis, both the North and South played the states' rights card for their own benefit. Thus the South, outnumbered by a North whose views diametrically opposed their own (and theoretically facing perhaps a constitutional amendment in the future outlawing slavery if the Republicans succeeded in ignoring the Dredd Scott decision and admitting new free states for the territories), was left with no viable option but secession, and made a decision for which it would, as history tells us, pay dearly. In the end the Civil War was firmly rooted in the struggle over slavery in the western territories, and anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed or does not possess a comprehensive and unbiased knowledge of American history.
Nevertheless, it would be foolish to believe that I endorse slavery as morally justifiable. I only recognize that now we live in a different time, and in sectional disputes, one must not judge by one's own moral standards, but by the most sovereign document of all in the United States, the US Consitution.
Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: I loved this movie! Yes..I'll admit it..I did YAWN a few times while watching it. But big whoop...I loved it anyway. It's not
an action packed adreneline-pump-in-your-veins & guts spewing all over the battle field kinda movie..so be prepared..it has fast and slow moments. Stonewall Jackson is one of my heros and I was happy to see him acurately portrayed (for the most part). Many of the conversations and talks are almost exact quotes. I'd recommend spacing it out over a few days of watching..maybe an hour here and there. It can get a bit long if you try to slog through the whole thing in one sitting.
Rating: 
Summary: Disgraceful
Review: Ron Maxwell apparently couldn't decide whether he wanted to do an epic about the beginning of the Civil War or a film biography of Stonewall Jackson. If he had chosen the latter, the film would have been fine. Stephen Lang really seems to "get" Jackson's the kooky personality of one of American histories most intriguing characters. But Maxwell chose to pad out the story with ridiculous and unnecessary fictional subplots featuring politically correct stereotypes in an effort to cast a softer light on the south. The Strong Southern Matriarch bravely sending her boys off to war. The Proud Slave Woman singing to a dying soldier. The scene where Jackson prays with his slave cook is laugh-out-loud funny -- a slave who can quote Napoleon! There's no need for this sort of apologism. The first two years of the war were all about the south. Just tell it the way it happened. And as if there weren't enough action -- in a war movie, for crying out loud -- Maxwell throws in what is essentially a Hollywood chase scene, as a family in a stagecoach flees the bombing of Fredericksburg. Puh-leeze. Maxwell's crime ultimately is straying from the source material. He was faithful almost to a fault when he adapted the novel The Killer Angels into the film Gettysburg. The movie was long and long-winded but in the service of doing justice to the source material. Did he even read Gods and Generals? It's hard to say from the movie. Robert E. Lee is in the movie for about five minutes. Imagine a movie about the Revolutionary War in which George Washington has a bit part... And Antietam, the single bloodiest day in the history of American warfare -- Maxwell skips it! But we are treated to a jamboree scene, with a troupe of players entertaining the Confederate troops. It has nothing to do with anything -- but Ted Turner has a cameo in the scene, so it's in the movie. Here's hoping Maxwell models his adaptation of the third book in the trilogy, The Last Full Measure, after Gettysburg, and not this film.
| 
