Review of Gods and Generals (2003) by Curtis W — 06 Jan 2004

Wow. My first post on my new computer in my very own home. Excitement! Patsy Cline is playing and I'm thinking about this post that I'm writing.

Somehow, between scurrying back and forth to Pantip, I managed to wedge in an epic Civil War movie.

I saw the first of this series (I was horrified to learn they plan a trilogy!), Gettysburg, and thought it was pretty good at the time. I doubt it would hold up much, because in looking back, all I can remember is a lot of fake facial hair and overwrought speechifying.

This is more of the same.

Still, I was really glad to see Jeff Daniels, Kevin Conway and C Thomas Howell (Lord knows he needs the work!) all reprise their roles from Gettysburg in this prequel, which recounts history from the battle of Bull Run (or Manassas if yer a rebel!) to the Wilderness. Respectively, the actors play Col Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Sgt Buster Kilrain and Sgt Thomas Chamberlain, Lawrence's brother.

Stephen Lang, who got all melodramatic as Pickett in Gettysburg gets to do overtime as Stonewall Jackson. Robert Duvall is a better Lee than Martin Sheen's stiff Bobby Lee in Gettysburg. Bruce Boxleitner has a small role as Gen Longstreet - so small that I guess Tom Berenger who was Longstreet in Gettysburg - didn't want to bother.

The dialogue. Geez. Well, since I have the book right here, let me quote Michael Shaara, author of The Killer Angels on which Gettysburg was based: "It was a naive and sentimental time, and men spoke in windy phrases." Shaara's son Jeff picked up where his dad left off on Gods and Generals, which I guess comes from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's utterance in Gettysburg: "There's nothing so much like God on earth as a general on a battlefield.".

But the action pushes this movie up in my estimation. The battle at Fredericksburg is pretty horrifying, especially the artillery. Those re-enactors (producer Ted Turner among them) must've had fun! The best battle is the Wilderness, which is unlike anything I've ever seen on film. It's hard to describe. Thousands of extras. The rebels give chase. The northerners flee. Then they turn around and fire. The rebs stop, and fire. And men on both sides fall. Insanity!