Gods and Generals

Rating:
Summary: Civil War movie
Review: ... I can trly recommend this movie. its a movie about the civil war and the army unit is called the "2Oth from Maine Reiment" The guy who stars is called Jeff Daniels and he was just as good - no better - in this than he was in the original "Gettysburg" movie. You should also try that one there is a scene he is famous for - Little Round Top. Bottom Line= long but worth it and worth every penny. I am Harold McInnes.

Rating:
Summary: God! This movie is Generally boring!
Review: The South will rise again! And when it does, I hope it wakes me up when this movie is over. Running 3 hours and 49 minutes in length, this film is major test on both the bladder and the patience. Having neither the depth of Gettysburg or the dramatic impact and visual style of Glory it can hold the interest of perhaps only the most avid Civil War buffs. Even to them I say save your butt and pocketbook some strain and wait a few months for the DVD or the inevitable TNT "special event miniseries".

Rating:
Summary: outstanding masterpiece
Review: once again there will be a movie that will revive the little known facts fo the civil war. Jeff Shaara's masterpiece Gods and generals is relieved in epic porportions on the screen. The characters are alive and vibrant, you will be transported to the time and you will feel the power of these great men.

Rating:
Summary: Translates beautifully to the big screen!
Review: Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Gods and Generals & The Killer Angels, as well as having seen Gettysburg, I was eagerly anticipating the film version of G&G. Although I was somewhat apprehensive going in, I must say that I came away pleasantly surprised and invigorated by its masterful transformation to the big screen. How many times do you leave the theater after a movie saying, "The book was better"? Well, shockingly, Gods and Generals is just as amazing on screen as it is in book form.

Stephen Lang is dead-on as Stonewall. Robert Duvall makes for a more convincing Lee than the liberal pacifist Martin Sheen did in Gettsyburg. Furthermore, the battle scenes of Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville come to life with incredible vitality and gruesome, yet realistic, violence, that make for a much more compelling movie than the constrained made-for-tv Gettysburg.
I was on the edge of my seat for the whole epic ride. Read the book beforehand if possible, but nonetheless, you will enjoy the movie if you don't. FYI: look for Ted Turner as well as Senator Robert Byrd(Confederate General Sims) in cameos. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Very Powerful
Review: This is a LONG film, but worth it. Stephen Lang's portayal of Stonewall Jackson is incredibly compelling. Though disturbing, this is something every American should watch; it offers many lessons on the reality of war.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding depiction of the War Between the States!
Review: I recently had the opportunity to see this film at a special screening, and here's what I thought:
"Glory" still remains, in my opinion, the best Civil War movie. But "Gods and Generals" is the best movie about the Civil War. (If that makes sense, and it does to me.) It is far better, and very different, then it's 10 year-old sequel, "Gettysburg". It has great performances from Stephen Lang (especially) as "Stonewall" Jackson, Jeff Daniels as Lt. Colonel J.L. Chamberlain, and Robert Duvall as R.E. Lee, and spectacular visual effects that REALLY bring the War Between the States to life. The battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville explode onto the screen, as the beautiful and tragic score of John Frizzell and Randy Edelman brings out the feelings and emotions of the men who fought in them. The film adds a few things that werent' in the book: 1. The lives of the civilians, like Fanny Chamberlain back in Maine, waiting for her husband to return, and the civilians of Fredericksburg who must flee when urban warfare erupts as the Union soldiers try to flush out the Confederate sharpshooters who are killing the engineers at the bridges. 2. Common occurances, such as the shooting of deserters, and even the trading that went on between Yanks and Rebs. Even at it's 3 hour 40 minute length, it still captures your attention and makes you excited for more. I love the depiction of Jackson, who has got to be one of the most interesting historical figures ever! I also was amazed at watching the Irish fighting against the Irish at the battle of Fredericksburg, and the brilliant surprise attack at Chancellorsville. There are a few minor quibbles I have with the film, though: 1. I was a little disappointed that they cut out Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history. They would have skipped directly from Bull Run to Fredericksburg if it wasn't for the scenes depicting the training of the 20th Maine! But I hear that the battle will be in the preposed 5-hour Director's Cut DVD that I keep hearing about, so it shall be interesting to see that. 2. I think that the war could have used a little more setup. The film starts in April 1861, after the firing on Fort Sumter. Unless you're already a Civil War buff like myself, you might have a hard time understanding what the war was about. 3. Being a Hancock fan, I wish there was a little more Hancock content like there is in the book, but that's not important at all, really. 4. In the movie, Burnside has quite a bit of hair on his head that's just combed all the way back. What's the deal with that? He's supposed to be bald!

But all in all, I say that "Gods and Generals" is the best historical epic made in years, and I'm begging you to go see it so that it will be successful enough for them to make "The Last Full Measure", the third movie in the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Simple, colorful, mournful epic cinematic experience
Review: I had the pleasure of attending the World Premiere of this film in DC on the 10th. I was happy to discover that this film is what I would call I genuine movie going experience: one of those rare occasions where you can forget that you're watching film stock with actors and fancy yourself in the world created. I had my suspicions and fears going in, but can honestly say I wasn't prepared for the film that it turned out to be.

The beginning is simple, with a gorgeous quote about "home" from George Eliot, and the very haunting strains of a song called "Going Home". It then merges into fluttering flags of various regiments historically represented in the film. Quite the opening.

The film does start and stop from scene to scene very quickly, in other words the cuts between scenes are very fast and abrupt. But this didn't bother me in the slightest. It occurred to me while watching that it moves very much like the chapters in the book itself do. I can see how it might be jarring for someone not familiar with the characters or book to find the beginning of the film confusing, but what I found that to be was a simple character set up. The film is enormous, so by systematically and bluntly introducing characters early on, one after another after another, etc etc, it helped introduce the pace of the film. That was something that reminded me of the way the book was laid out. Whether or not it was done on purpose I'm not sure, but I had no problem with it. So, as with many screen adaptations, I think this is the part of the film, and the only part of the film, that would have helped if you had read the book first, since you know what they had left out, and how the story is set up. But that's only the first 20 minutes or so, after that I found that the movie took on it's very own path. They leave out the Hancock/Armistead relationship entirely, they skip a year, they never once mention the Valley Campaign, or Second Manassas, or Antietam, or the Peninsula. Yet despite all this, it still stayed true to the book in many ways thematically, style wise, and character wise, though I'm sure people more familiar with the book than I am will probably say otherwise. I sensed that Maxwell had decided he had to choose the story he was going to tell, and tell it with as many extra storylines that he could fit in there without making the film seem unfinished. And that's exactly what he does. The end result is a symphony of characters, storylines, and themes.

Another aspect that I actually liked, and may lend itself to the fact that I'm a female, is the civilian aspect. The civilian costumes were horrible, and the accents weren't to good, and the acting was a bit over the top, but I liked it. I think it worked very well, and gave the film another layer to it.

I feel the need to mention that this movie is not refined. It's a bit awkward, it's not a Stanley Kubrick or Martin Scorsese movie; something that has no visible seams. It can seem a bit preachy at times, some of the costumes are silly, some of the acting is off, the scene changes sometimes feel like what you just saw didn't really get a chance to soak in, and sometimes the music doesn't really fit what you're seeing onscreen. But, for me at least, it all eventually worked itself out.

The film IS about Jackson. I think they make that very clear from the beginning on, though, as I said, they have many different storylines going. Most of which eventually flow into Jackson's character, or Chamberlain's character. Chamberlain is really the only other person who's life we get a separate glimpse of. Lee is a supporting character in this film. Hancock is introduced slightly. And while watching we are aware by the end of the movie that they go on to other pursuits and challenges later on. As you know, all three of these characters go on to have their own cinematic monologues in `Gettysburg' and we are reminded of this at the end of the film as a note scrolled across the screen saying that G&G was the first in a trilogy of Civil War films, including Gettysburg and Last Full Measure. The idea is a bit akin to a Civil War `Lord of the Rings' style movie trilogy. Jackson on the other hand, has no part in the other stories, so essentially, this is his film, and a lot of that credit goes to Stephen Lang.

I've heard it been said before, but Stephen Lang IS Jackson. I've never seen such a larger than life, real person embodied so intensely and completely. The casting in this film, for this character, was smart. By getting a relatively unknown character actor to fill the part of a historical, enigmatic, giant. Lang, eccentricities, speaking patterns, praying styles, and all grow on you. This man has done an incredible job. Jackson comes across as a sometimes intensely cold, strange, distant man, often afraid to feel, yet can be overcome by his feelings for his wife, and his daughter, a little girl he befriends, his respect for his men, and his love and faith in God. And where this accomplishment is 90% Lang, kudos to Maxwell are in order for setting up, from the beginning of the film key aspects that flesh out Jackson's character. I don't want to give away too much, but we witness an execution of Jackson's men, and by using Sandie Pendleton's character (in a wonderful performance the whole film through by Jeremy London) the filmmakers reflect the contrast between a `normal' reaction and Jackson's complex and cold demeanor. And after one of Jackson's generals is mortally wounded, he softly and gently goes to speak and comfort the man, saying how he will pray for him. As he walks out, one of his staff mentions the chaos of the battle and the ransacking of Fredericksburg, and how do they intend to stop it. Lang chillingly repeats one of Jackson's famous lines, that they would simply kill them all. Lang's immersion in the character is so complete, that even though I was anticipating the line, it was the character saying it. Not an actor saying a line to represent a famous historical figure. To top the scene off, the score plays softly, menacingly, as the camera pans away as the stunned staff watches the general slowly walk away, erect, with his hands behind his back. These are the kinds of details that fill the movie.

To get back to the acting, it's not only Lang who shines. Jeff Daniels returns for a fantastic performance, his monologue about Ceasar's troops as they march off to battle is chilling and perfectly suited for the character (a verbose rhetoric professor), and Daniels' stage acting skills shine through as he recites the verse while watching the members of Irish Brigade charge to their deaths (and we see, as they edited the uphill charge with Daniels' speech). The whole scene is goosebump inducing. In another scene, where Chamberlain gives his brother Tom a lecture and talks about what he's fighting for, he mentions how `every soldier out there is a whole person' with their own lives and people who love them. He's entirely convincing in a scene that could have been performed very badly, and is also one of the only insights into the Union cause. But because of his performance, what he says resonates throughout the rest of the film.

Robert Duvall is just how you'd imagine him to be Lee. You get a great, respected, icon of a dramatic actor, to play `The Marble Man' and half the effect is already done. Duvall acts the rest perfectly, and provides a great support to Jackson's storyline.

Other kudos go to Sean Pratt as a perfect Dr. Maguire, Jeremy London as Sandie Pendleton, Stephen Spacek as James Smith, and Frankie Faison as Jackson's cook, Jim. C. Thomas Howell returns with another endearing turn as Tom Chamberlain, and Kevin Conway as the savvy and wise Sgt. Kilrain. Matt Lescher as Col. Adelburt Ames shines in smaller supporting role. Donzaleigh Abernathy supports a separate storyline all by herself, and does a superb job of it. Kali Rocha is good as Jackson's wife Anna, and fills her role well. Mira Sorvino has exactly two scenes, but she actually makes great use of them, despite a bad Maine accent and a distracting wig.

Now comes down to the theme of the film. This movie does not attempt to smooth over anything, but it's actually lightly political. Every character has a legitimate say as to their lot in life and why they stand where they stand. There is no argument about who was right and who was wrong. There are no apologizing or blaming modern messages coming through. The film belongs to the characters and depending on what character is in focus, that is the point of view you get. Whether it be Chamberlain, or the slaves, or Jackson.

The film, without a substantial use of blood and gore, gets the idea of the tragedy of this war across. There's a scene where Col. Ames is reading off a letter from Lincoln after Fredericksburg, and in the letter it is mentioned that though all the men were noble, the casualties were comparatively moderate, and Buster Kilrain mentions `compared to what?....the French at Waterloo?'. It's an ironic cinematic statement. We've just scene rows of men mowed down, and shots of men scattered about a field. We've seen Chamberlain and his men use bodies as shields, and then this letter comes in. Early on in the film, the camera gently pans and fades in and out of different men in Virginia giving up their work in whatever they are doing, picking up their guns, and rushing off to muster in. It's a beautiful and sad technique, as we realize where these men are coming from. Later on, in the same manner, we see that one of Chamberlain's students, from an earlier scene, asks for permission to go to the rear, and his arm has been blown off. The film also briefly and sporadically follows two soldiers as they go through the battles.

The battles themselves are superbly filmed. They obviously put a lot of thought into these scenes. First Manassas is and average battle scene, but Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville surpass it. The crowning moment of the battle of Fredericksburg is the charge of the Irish Brigade. With ease, it moves swiftly along with extensive tracking shots. Then we see that it's the Rebel Irish, the 24th GA, who are firing at them. As the camera moves from the Irish Brigade's emerald flag, to the Rebels' Irish flag, and we hear remarks from both sides, I could hear the audience start to sniffle, and I teared up. The effect is entirely stirring, startling, and tragic, it sends chills up your spine. What Pickett's charge in the Gettysburg film was, the charge of the Irish Brigade is here (strangely enough, in the film Gettysburg, we have the Union line chant `Fredericksburg' at the retreating Rebels). It's just history, bluntly and plainly filmed. The battle doesn't stop there, though. Chamberlain's men see some action, what with dead bodies as shields, and the Aurora Borealis where all the characters, North and South simply look up, silently, not one word, as the scene softly fades.

The battle of Chancellorsville is just as well choreographed. In the same tracking, graceful style, we see each regiment come out of the woods silently. And, in an amazing shot, just when you wonder how many men there are, we see Jackson emerge, and all to the right of the screen we see thousands of soldiers emerging noiselessly. The rest of this battle is fantastic, with the various shots and angles utilized. This and Fredericksburg are some of the best battle scenes I've ever watched.

The dramatic scenes in the film work very well. There are many, many moments in this movie that are touching. Most of them concerning Jackson, but all of them wonderfully executed. The score by John Frizell and Randy Edelman , for the most part perfectly suits the film. Sometimes it sounds a bit odd or out of place, but it usually reconstitutes itself into the scene for a greater effect. The cinematography by Kees Van Oostrum is stunning. He captures the gorgeous landscape of where this war took place, thus adding, at least for me, a new layer: how could such a horrific war take place in such a beautiful place? Costume design is so, so, sometimes awful, sometimes great; but the production design, interiors and exteriors (save many a scene with tents where tents would not be) is wonderful, and had the look of a museum.

This film is, thematically, dark. It is somber, and it is intense. It's extremely sad, foreboding at times, but it's not depressing or, substance wise, hard to watch. Despite some of the blatant costume mistakes (hey, a lot of the beards looked great!), watching it felt like an immersion into another era and the lives of people not so different than ourselves. It's an epic, colorful, mournful cinematic experience that captures a slice of life. It's not a film for everyone: it's nearly 4 hours long, intensely historical - from the romantic Victorian dialogue to various references to literature and politics, but it has an immense human value to it that I believe anyone can relate to. And despite it's sometime rough hewed edges, it feels completely heartfelt, I think it is an ode to history.

Rating:
Summary: A true story - not "based" on a true story
Review: It is a rare movie made today this is not "based" on a true story - instead, that "IS a true story". I find it refreshing to see characters and history portrayed as they actually were - not a blur of reality and fiction. Though there are some imperfections, the historical accuracy is beyond what I have seen in years. The historical accuracy allows presenting issues normally risky, including issues of their time and ours - such as politics, race, and god. This is done even handedly...opening eyes and letting one individually consider them. This movie is a gem and I am thankful for its production.

Rating:
Summary: The Finest Film Ever Made About The American Civil War
Review: "Gods and Generals" easily surpasses it's predecessor "Gettysburg" and lays claim to the distinction of being the finest film ever made dealing with the Civil War. Although Ken Burns PBS documentary "The Civil War" is the gold standard for documentaries, "G&G" will capture the audience's attention and imagination from the very beginning to the final curtain like no other film has done before.

Here are, IMHO, the "pros":
Outstanding cinematography
Authentic period sets

Impressive performances delivered by Stephen Lang (Jackson), Jeff Daniels (Chamberlain), Robert Duvall (R.E. Lee), Kevin Conway (Sgt. 'Buster' Kilrain), Sean Pratt (Dr. Hunter McGuire)
Outstanding special visual effects, including
Computer Generated Imagery
Sound editing
Superb soundtrack score by John Frizzell, including the hauntingly beautiful "Going Home" by Mary Fahl, and Appalachia echoing "Cross The Green Mountain" by Bob Dylan
Re-enactors demonstrated higher authenticity standards than in film "Gettysburg".

Now for the "cons":
Minor special effects shortcomings. (Ironically, as CGI becomes more frequently used in Cinema, and as viewing audiences become more and more sophisticated, CGI use becomes all the more obvious. However, this more of an industry wide criticism rather than a direct negative criticism of the movie itself.)
Deleted battles - Antietam/Sharpsburg (will be included in the Director's cut version when released)
Some deviation's from Jeff Shaara's book, albeit in retrospect, they do not detract from the overall storyline.

Overall:
Definitely destined to become a classic in it's own right. Powerful imagery grabbed me from the very beginning (which included the fluttering of many well known regimental flags) and continues throughout. The sequence at 1st Manassas where Jackson successfully shores up the faltering Confederate battle line imbues the film with the cacophony of sounds and confusion of battle (similar to Saving Private Ryan) and immerses the audience into the middle of the fray as a participant, rather than from the perspective of a "mere" spectator, and continues throughout the film.

The Battle of Fredricksburg, Marye's Height segment is faithfully recreated as the audience witnesses regiment after regiment being committed piecemeal fashion in the hopeless Federal endeavor. Stirringly poignant in this sequence is the Irish Brigade advancing up the heights only to be met by Cobb's 24th Georgia, also made up of mostly Irish immigrants. Also, the horrifying aftermath of Marye's Heights, in human terms, is conveyed with chilling effect.

Maxwell also does a superb job in combining the audio/visual elements for Jackson's flank march at Chancellorsville. By taking John Frizzell's "VMI Will Be Heard From Today" score and blending it with the visual swiftness of of the surging Rebel tide, Maxwell places the audience on the precipice of an irresistible wave about to crash into Oliver Howard's XI Corps.

Stephen Lang is outstanding as the fervently spiritual General Jackson, which in my opinion should earn him at least a "nod" from the Motion Picture Academy.

I could go on an on, but suffice it to say, you won't be disappointed. It appears the Civil War living history and reenacting community has their very own "Patriot" and "Saving Private Ryan" in "Gods and Generals".

Rating:
Summary: Trailer looks interesting, but........
Review: Looking forward to the prequel of Gettysburg...but I do have a couple concerns. First, Stephen Lang will play Stonewall Jackson?
The problem will be everytime I see him I will think of Pickett.
A differnt actor should have been chosen to play Jackson.
Second, What about Tom Berringer? No Longstreet?
I do think Duval will play a better R. Lee than Sheen did. Sheen was weak.