I just watched the Gettysburg movie again last night.I had not seen it in a couple of years and apologize if this topic has been overdone.However I enjoyed it much more this time since before I had only watched parts of it
My wife and brother in law watched it also and some interesting topics came up.
I liked it and thought it was fairly accurate.My brother in law was a little critical of the film.He said Martin Sheen as General Lee acted like he was senile and tired.He thought the movie dwelled too much on Chamberlain and was pro Longstreet.I thought the Sheen portrayal of Lee was ok though.
I am sure if we sit and pick it apart we can find some faults but again I accepted it as a movie and not necessarily as a documentary.It was especially good in the scenes of Little Round Top and Picketts charge.
I guess it could have had a little more of the up close battle from the perspective of the soldier (though maybe not to the level of Private Ryan).
As I have got my wife and her brother's opinion I am curious how you guys here on the board liked it.For example the actor's portrayals,the acurracy of facts and other bits.I had a friend who said in the uncut version(?) it showed some of the Confederate soldiers falling back at Pickett's charge shouting "remember Fredricksburg" and it was harrowing.
Anyhow enough from me I am interested in your opinions about the movie as you guys certainly know the civil war!
I'm fond of "Gettysburg" because it's probably what sparked my curiosity about the Civil War. I saw parts of it in 2000 with my re-enactment friends and got tears in my eyes watching Pickett's Charge. Incidentally, a few days later, I had the honour of meeting actor Andrew Prine, who plays Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett, and who was very gracious in talking to me about the emotional experience of shooting the movie. (my username, Garnett's horse, is to remember the occasion and a tribute to the unlucky general). At that point I was curious, I watched the whole movie and started reading all I could find on the topic.
I think that for a non-military expert "Gettysburg" is a good way to begin. Inaccuracies are overcome by the general fascination that leads one to do researches on his or her own. The parts I like less are the "speeches" that slow down the action. I do like introspection in a war movie, but I believe that here the structure is a bit unbalanced. I'd say that if one wants to do an introspective movie it would be better to choose a small episode and expand on it; on the other hand, a true movie about the battle would have to be more essential. But I'm not really complaining. I fairly liked Sheen and the rest of the cast, and especially Tom Berenger as Longstreet (apart for the infamous beard) and Richard Jordan as Armistead: they did manage, especially the first, to convey the inner drama with just some glances or a few words.
Somewhere online (and if I ever find it again I'll post the link here) I found a page listing all of the "mistakes" made in the movie "Gettysburg". There are quite a few, and it can easily take away from your enjoyment of the movie. But there are some quality aspects to the movie as well -
- I first saw the movie at the Charles Street theater in Boston, larger-than-life screen and an amazing sound system, surrounded by fellow followers of the War, many wearing various articles of period clothing. And in that setting, at that time, the scene on Little Round Top actually made me shiver. Though probably a little suspect with regard to historical accuracy, it's powerful stuff, one of the great combat scenes ever filmed.
- I like the soundtrack. Melodramatic at times to be sure, but befitting the great scenes of courage it was portraying.
- I liked Sam Eliot's portrayal of Buford.
- I liked that it was filmed in around Gettysburg itself.
But like most of us, I just wish it was a little better!
- Those d**n beards! Hard to get too involved in the scene when it looks like the actor's fake beard's gonna blow away any minute!
- I too was troubled by Sheen's Lee. Possible that Sheen was just trying to portray the fact that Lee "just wasn't himself" during the Gettysburg campaign, but the one word always attributed to Lee is "grand"; I just didn't think Martin Sheen made Lee look "grand".
- Pickett's Charge: distracting when the same scene is shown 2 or 3 times (even if from a different angle). Also, the whole scene just seemed a little "bloodless" to be portraying the carnage and the horror that was Longstreet's assault. I wasn't looking for gore, just a more realistic sense of what it might have been like to be there..
But in the end I like the movie, and I own the movie, and I'm glad the movie was made. And I'm glad that it was successful enough that "Gods and Generals" was made. You know I'll be at the Charles Street theater on December 27, and will love every minute of it
Gettysburg was my first taste of the Civil War. I began to learn about it from a man I talked with online. He just seemed to have so much passion about Gettysburg and that made me want to know more. He goes there a couple of times a year so has many pictures as well. He never pushed but would send pictures and talk a bit about it till I began to want to know more and more and more. I watched the movie and I really liked it. It's great to be able to watch the movie then see Gettysburg and know where this all happened. So I didn't pick the movie apart. I just enjoyed it. As far as learning about the rest of the Civil War I am new to that. I have only been learning about it for a year at the end of this month through two Civil War sites I belong to and the Trivia here mainly. It's all so interesting since I knew not a thing about the Civil War 4 years ago.
Lorrie
You definitely have the better approach Southern Heart: just enjoy it
I'm reminded of Mark Twain's quote about learning every bend and statistic and detail of the Mississippi River when he was working on a steam boat, and how once that happened the river lost all its beauty to him..
It's different I guess when we're talking about studying the War for it's own edification (enjoyable in itself); but in the case of "Gettysburg" it's just a movie, and your zen-like approach is right on...thanks for setting me straight ;)
I took my daughter to see Gettysburg in the theater when she was a junior in High School. At first I was rather aggravated because there was little to do with Culp's Hill or the RR cut. The RR cut was important to me because two companies of the 95th NY Volunteers were from my county, Rockland.
Then I realized it was from a novel and naturally a novelist can write about whatever he likes, so i dealt with it. Gettysburg, I think is a different kind of motion picture. From the start, I did not expect blood and gore. See Glory for that. Glory, by the way was a great picture as well, but I would have to say that Gettysburg is my favorite. I don't really know what Ron Maxwell wanted to portray, but to me he did a masterful portrayal of the Generals and the strategy involved. As to the performances, I thought Sheen stunk as Lee. I loved Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain. Of course I am from Lincoln County Maine originally so I am a little biased. I thought Tom Berenger did a good job of doing Longstreet, though I thought it was quite clear that the producer had a bias toward defending Longstreet.
The music was great, the charge scene was great. I sat in awe as Kemper did his thing (I used to be a reenactor and portrayed a sergeant in the 11th Virginia, part of Kemper's Brigade). So I was biased there as well. As a reenactor, I charged with Kemper and company 3 or 4 times in my career. You never tire of it.
Overall, I would rate Gettysburg as my favorite movie, period regardless of the faults. If it got just one person in each theater interested enough to start studying the real war then it did its job as far as I am concerned.
Now, we need to have a movie made about the CSS Alabama or the CSS Arkansas. I could die happy then.
Bill Doherty
1st Lt. (ret.)Co. D Fincastle Rifles
11th Virginia Infantry
Have to agree with Lorrie and just sitting back and enjoying the movie. Yes it has faults, but has done much to introduce more people to this period of American history, whether it be the battles or everything else going on in this era. And it was truly an amazing time in the history of this country.
On Lee not appearing 'grand' and but 'tired', he probably was very tired. The weather was hot, Lee was not a young man here, and campaigns of this sort had to be harder on him than on others 20 years and more younger. Its also known that he was ill, possibly even suffering a heart attack, but at the very least suffering from a bout with the dreaded 'trots' so common to soldiers, and which can be very debilitating to ones physical and mental state.
Possibly the worse thing in Sheen's protrayal was
his accent, he was supposed to have more of a Georgia, or South Carolina accent than Virginian
As for the showing the same scene 2 or 3 times, I thought the effect was grand, as of soldiers at different positions seeing it.
But all in all, I think we can all agree it was a Grand and Moving rendition of Gettysburg. Even after watching it 8 times, I'm still 'shaken' by the cannonade, the long lines coming across the field, and the terrible approach to the Wall.
But I can completely agree with the fake beards, yuck.
And yes to a movie on the CSS Alabama. I don't own a copy yet, but The Hunley would have to rate after Gettysburg for me.
Chuck in Il.
Cool site! I find nitpicking funny, even with a movie I love, as long as it's tongue-in-cheek and with no wickedness or intent to destroy it. Some "nits" made me laugh aloud. Others I had caught too but wasn't sure, such as Garnett saying Armistead's line.
My favorite movie. Watch it at least once a month (no I do not have a real life, and yes, I frequently use quotes from the movie, and no it is not a reference I use when debating or discussing the civil war except to the referral that General Kemper made, "Its the darkies, always the darkies." In any argument or debate about the causes of the war, it always seems to be about THAT topic.
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