Gods and Generals

Rating:
Summary: Gods and Generals
Review: I greatly enjoyed "Gods and Generals." This film is interesting and the acting is superb. The people feel real. The music is memorable. The photography is beautiful. Stephen Lang deserves an Oscar for his performance as General Jackson. Robert Duvall is impressive as General Lee. And Jeff Daniels again portrays the abolitionist Chamberlain.

I appreciate the efforts to depict accurately the speech patterns and customs of this facinating period. It makes the past come alive. It also fueld my interest in the Civil War and preserving our battlefields. Highly recommended.

Having seen the film first at a theater, I bought the DVD which includes many extras (e.g. the African-American slave experience). This DVD belongs in the collection of anyone interested in our country's heritage. Those who like the film might also enjoy the book FAITH IN GODS AND GENERALS.

Rating:
Summary: The lost cause rides again
Review: I wish I could give this turkey minus five stars. Every bad thing the 100+ other reviewers have said about it is true.

1. It is unconscionably long and tedious for no reason. You will want to scream.

2. It does feature overweight, no-talent reenactors who lumber slowly up the battlefields towards their equally pudgy enemy.

3. It does glorify Stonewall Jackson until I wanted to vomit, and gives him credit for having a sense of humor and a racial tolerance that are simply unhistorical.

4. It does leave out Shiloh, Antietam, and in fact any battle that does not glorify the Confeds.

5. Pointless dialogue, bad music, horrible appearance by Ted Turner, endless parlor scenes of people talking drivel, poorly-conceived battle scenes, etc. etc.

6. It does whitewash of the slavery issue. The Civil War was fought to preserve slavery---that's why those 11 states seceded. Their elite, slave-owning leaders were afraid Lincoln and the newly-elected Republican administration were going to start taking away their slaves. The Confederates had a BAD CAUSE, and they lost, and they should have lost. Get over it, Johnny Reb, and move on.

Rating:
Summary: The best film ever made! PERIOD!
Review: Though it has been the point of critical controversy, Gods and Generals comes out way on top. Ron Maxwell's creative storytelling shows the civil war with such authority and authenticity that no other film can even match up to it. What makes this movie special is that it is not all blood and gore, but it shows what civilian and home life was like in that era. Gen. Jackson (played brilliantly by Stephen Lang) is the true American hero in this film. His couragous nature and love for God makes him a person that every young man should look to as a hero. Joshua L. Chamberlain (played again by Jeff Daniels) continues his complex character in this film. Although he appears older than in "Gettysburg" he is still able to make his authority known quickly. There are numerous other chracters who are played by the same actors in this film who were in "Gettysburg". A few of the establishing shots of the cities are a bit cartoonish. However there have been many who have been pounding on this issue. I feel that visual effects do not make a difference in this film, for it is a film about a strugle between humans. "Gods and General" will go down as the most epic and grand film ever to be made.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: I was a little hesitant on buying this dvd because the reviews werent all that great and I didn't go to see it at the theatres. But i went ahead and bought it. Wow I'm sure glad I did buy it. This movie is awesome. The combat scenes although they aren't many they are still very very realistic. I would recomend this movie to anyone and dont forget its about 3 and a half hours long. Have fun watching

Rating:
Summary: Where our country comes from
Review: I am not a war movie watcher. I watched this movie with my brother-in-law who loves war movies. The only complaint I have is that the movie is about three and a half hours long. But I loved the fact of the movie that the reason our country is here is for freedom to worship God!! I know and appreciate that is why we have America today. I was extremely impressed that Ted Turner even let that be shown in his movie. Even though God doesn't sell movie tickets but to show this country's history true to the core is to show that we were had very spiritual leaders in battles. I really loved that about this movie because not very many people are so bold to put facts like that in any type of movie. So I have to give this movie 4 stars!!!!

Rating:
Summary: What Could Have Been....
Review: After Gettysburg, Gods and Generals was an acute disappointment. One would have expected a great deal more, given that director Ron Maxwell was again at the helm, that "the formula" seemed clear, and that Robert Duvall replaced Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee - an urgently needed up-grade. But, no, they tried to do too much, they let the tentacles of political correctness creep into the mix, they let Ted Turner have a speaking role, and "in general," the whole thing was sub-par: a nearly four hour mess that had you wondering if this could POSSIBLY be the same gang that made Gettysburg. Some specific irritations...

The script seems to be 80% speeches and Great Discourses on Events of the Time. Few people have real, back and forth conversations. It is maddening - like a string of Shakespearian soliloquies.

The music isn't worth a grade B film, much less an epic. At one battle scene from out of nowhere comes a chorus of women's voices with a ludicrously inappropriate piece that distracts from, rather than adds to, the tapestry they are attempting to paint.

Most of the story is woven around Stonewall Jackson. Now, in real life, he was either a "deeply pious" man or a religious whack job, depending upon your personal perspective. Here's a guy who wouldn't mail a letter just before the weekend because it might be carried on the Sabbath (but who found some convoluted reasoning that allowed him to fight on Sunday). Watching the film, however, you soon get tired of his sanctimonious prayers and his invoking God incessantly. Strangely, too, Maxwell choose Stephen Lang for the part - he who played George Pickett in the earlier film; makes you do some double takes. Lang has come along way from his wooden "Crime Story" performances, but he "ain't no Errol Flynn," and that's what the part called for.

There's a black character, a head cook, that's apparently supposed to add historical perspective to the film, specifically the "role of the black man in the war-torn South," and after introducing him, the movie drops him for over two hours! He then gratuitously pops up at the death bed scene. I'm not sure, but I doubt that Stonewall's cook was at his side as he expired. Certainly his widow's written account of the deathbed scene makes no mention of him.

At one point in the story, two soldiers on opposite sides of the war and a river they're standing beside, shout greetings and agree to exchange tobacco and coffee. These kinds of things are well documented from the war; but, in order to be "deeply philosophical" and/or "arty," Maxwell decides to have them come together, exchange coffee cup and pipe, and just stand there SILENT for a long while as the scene fades to black. With these two men taking a break from hell, after trying to kill one another but still being "brothers," hundreds of miles from home, getting to see the human measure of the enemy up close and personal, we are expected to believe that they wouldn't say a single word to each other? It's just absurd.

There were three major battles depicted, and that's simply too much for an audience to assimilate. It worked in Gettysburg because it was all in the same place and the strategic issues were all the same. In Gods and Generals, they should have focused just on Chancellorsville, Lee's greatest triumph and where Jackson is mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Speaking of Lee, he should have been MUCH more prominent in the story.

Joshua Chamberlain was "but a shadow of his former self," as portrayed in Gettysburg, but not in girth: Jeff Daniels was at least 40 pounds heavier, which was disconcerting.

So, it is disappointing indeed. Let's hope they get back on track with the last part of the trilogy which is currently planned for, but may be imperiled by the understandably poor showing Gods and Generals had in theaters.

Rating:
Summary: Can't believe I watched the whole thing
Review: Okay. I didn't see the DVD. I watched this in the theater. Maybe they reworked it after it ran in the theater to make it better. It couldn't get worse.

I am a fan of the Civil War (movies, novels, etc) so I was very enthused to watch this movie especially since I heard this was made by the same people who made Gettysburg (I highly recommend Gettysburg). Unfortunately, the storytelling was horrible. It had no life. The acting didn't help. The performances were wooden and amateurish.

The worst thing of all was that this drivel lasted 4 hours.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been SO good....
Review: I am not normally compelled to write a movie review, but as with many here, I feel the need to do so for this movie. This film could have been so much, if only the production staff had seen to it that the technical details were taken care of.

Cons:
1) For Heaven's sake, hire a writer! Having just re-read the original book, it looks like the writing staff for G&G was paid by the word. Could have been better off lifting the lines verbatim from the original....
2) Completely left out Gen. Hancock, one of Shaara's main characters from the book.
3) The soundtrack was ponderous and did not always match the visual image and was overdone.
4) The editors obviously were paid by the foot....of film left in the final reel that is.
5) The battle scenes were excellent, but the true high drama of some of these actions were not well explained to the casual viewer (those who aren't history buffs).
6) Ted Turner's awful cameo....

Pros

1) First feature film to genuinely tackle the historical background of the Civil War.
2) Solid, at times excellent, acting (unfortunately, they could not consistently overcome the script).
3) Filmed on location at the actual battlefields.

Bottom Line: Detailed, yes, however detail enhances a film, rather than makes it. PLEASE, Ted Turner, take care of the basics (script, editing, balanced character development) before worrying about the details for the Last Full Measure!!!

Rating:
Summary: just awful
Review: first of all the movie is like 4 hours long! only a little bit of it is battles and the battles they show dont have any blood or guts! they southerners talked so educated and trust me southerners dont talk like that. the movie made stonewall jackson seem like moses! it was like a religion story. gods and generals is boring and dull. there were only two good parts 1. stonewall got shot in the hand and they wrapped it up with only his middle finger showing so for 10 minutes he flipped his soldiers off. 2. the ending becasue it was over.
save your money go buy the patriot.

Rating:
Summary: Unrelentingly Brilliant
Review: "Unrelentingly brilliant". Those aren't my words, but they could be. That was the description by columnist Greg Kane of the Baltimore Sun. God's and Generals is a film made for a different audience than most of those going to theatres today. If you're idea of cinematic brilliance is Spiderman and Matrix, don't waste your time with this. If, however, you love the great epics of the past, Ben Hur, Gone With The Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, you'll love this. This is a film that harkens back to a time when character counted and entertainment meant more than stringing together 10 car chases. The performance of Stonewall Jackson by Stephen Lang is remarkable and turns what would be a very good film into a great one. One criticism I read of the film is that it is a movie that was made for people who read. YES! Exactly. But that shouldn't be a criticism of Gods and Generals. That's a criticism of what passes for movies in our culture. If you want to watch a film that will move you, educate you, and stay with you, then watch Gods and Generals. It will improve you.