HF Gettysburg the Movie

Historical-Fiction
Stephen Lang is an accomplished actor, and as Pickett in Gettysburg he was fantastic... but I don't think he was the right person for Gn. TJ Jackson, the right personality... if Gods n Generals could have cut out some of the fluff and showed more action, maybe with someone like Jon Voight as Stonewall, it could have come out much better.
In the 2007 ESPN miniseries the Bronx is Burning based off Jonathan Mahler's book about the 1977 Yankees team and the turmoil in NYC with the blackout, the fiscal crisis and the Son of Sam murders, Lang did a great job of portraying Inspector Timothy Dowd in charge of the special detective operation to hunt down David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam. Another Gettysburg and Gods and Generals alumnus Kevin Conway was in that miniseries as well as Yankees president Gabe Paul who disagreed with Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) over firing Billy Martin.
 
Last edited:
I must respectfully disagree. I thought Lang's performance as Jackson was one of the few redeeming features of Gods and Generals.
And both Jackson and Pickett graduated from West Point in the class of 1846. Jackson ranked 17th and Pickett ranked last. But I'm not sure if they were acquainted with each other at the Academy or in Mexico or even during the war before Jackson died after he was wounded at Chancellorsville. In the chapter of the first book of the North and South trilogy, both Jackson and Pickett are new cadets with the fictional characters of Orry Main and George Hazard and they introduce themselves to them. But it says that Pickett had struck up a conversation with Jackson and regretted it because Jackson was a bit awkward and quiet and also because Pickett was from Richmond and Jackson was from Clarksburg in the mountainous region of the state that later became West Virginia.
 
When Irish in government take care of themselves and their friends it's called corruption. When influential WASPs take care of themselves and their friends it's called good government.
Before the war, Daniel Sickles was involved with Tammany Hall
 
In the 2007 ESPN miniseries the Bronx is Burning based off Jonathan Mahler's book about the 1977 Yankees team and the turmoil in NYC with the blackout, the fiscal crisis and the Son of Sam murders, Lang did a great job of portraying Inspector Timothy Dowd in charge of the special detective operation to hunt down David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam. Another Gettysburg and Gods and Generals alumnus Kevin Conway was in that miniseries as well as Yankees president Gabe Paul who disagreed with Steinbrenner (Oliver Platt) over firing Billy Martin.
Grant's Tomb:

Stephen Lang is a native Noo Yawka and a darned good actor, underrated I would argue. Not to get too far off topic but he was also really good in "Public Enemies." Great job as George Pickett in Gettysburg. On You Tube more recently he has been doing some readings and it's well worth watching.

Bill
 
A little late to the party, but I've always loved the scene with General Trimble (masterfully done by W. Morgan Sheppard) ranting to R.E. Lee about General Ewell.

And although he was waaayyyy too old to play him, I thought Patrick Gorman did a great job portraying the spirit and fercocity of John Bell Hood and I enjoyed every scene with him.
 
@MajorFlynn Gorman was great as Hood in my opinion also, one of my favorites. Very believable. I thought that some of the less important characters in that movie were really good.

Even though he may have been kinda short for the character he portrayed, I really enjoyed Brian Mallon as Hancock, (coincidentally, I believe the Colonel of one of the regiments in Hancock's corps, the 42 N.Y., was named Mallon also). Too bad there weren't any opportunities for him to cuss like Hancock!

Those two guys pulled it off regardless of weather they were too old or too short, at least in my opinion.

John
 
I thought the horse that played Traveler did an outstanding job.

Actually, I liked most of the actors, and couldn't pick just one favorite scene. Many that would make my list have been posted by others above.

The one that makes me chuckle a bit is the scene where Pickett and others are playing cards by the campfire. I like the humor at the end, but as a collector of Confederate currency, I chuckle before then. Pickett has in one hand, a small stack of money. You can only see the back of one note, which looks like it's genuine from what I can see. The only problem is, the back design of that Twenty was only used on notes that would have had a date of February 17, 1864 on the front.

Picky, I know.

Shame that Jeff Daniels no doubt gets more fame from Dumb and Dumber.
 
Last edited:
Photo of me and Chamberlain ( Jeff Daniels) taken during a break in the shooting of Gettysburg.
jeffdaniels (2).jpg
 

This is the Greatest scene and music as well. Even Yankees like it.

View attachment 405962
I think this scene with the army cheering Lee, the defense of Little Round Top ("BAYONETS!!!"), and the beginning of the cannonade to Pickett's Charge getting lined up and starting out are my favorite parts of the movie. Richard Jordan doesn't sound like he's from Virginia though, which is always distracting. :smile:


On the other hand, once you've seen it a few times, the characters constantly asking "is this good ground" and the fact that almost every bit of Armistead and Hancock's dialogue is about each other does start to grate a bit. :D
 
I think this scene with the army cheering Lee, the defense of Little Round Top ("BAYONETS!!!"), and the beginning of the cannonade to Pickett's Charge getting lined up and starting out are my favorite parts of the movie. Richard Jordan doesn't sound like he's from Virginia though, which is always distracting. :smile:


On the other hand, once you've seen it a few times, the characters constantly asking "is this good ground" and the fact that almost every bit of Armistead and Hancock's dialogue is about each other does start to grate a bit. :D
They were trying to stay loyal to the source material which was the book. If you read the book those dialog points make perfect sense to be in the movie.
 
@MajorFlynn Gorman was great as Hood in my opinion also, one of my favorites. Very believable. I thought that some of the less important characters in that movie were really good.

Even though he may have been kinda short for the character he portrayed, I really enjoyed Brian Mallon as Hancock, (coincidentally, I believe the Colonel of one of the regiments in Hancock's corps, the 42 N.Y., was named Mallon also). Too bad there weren't any opportunities for him to cuss like Hancock!

Those two guys pulled it off regardless of weather they were too old or too short, at least in my opinion.

John
I met Brian Mallon once. He was very pleasant and fun to talk with. I think when Dumb and Dumber premiered, Jeff Daniels shrugged off the criticism of doing such a dumb comedy by saying ¨Well, at least I´ll always have Gettysburg.¨
 
I met Brian Mallon once. He was very pleasant and fun to talk with. I think when Dumb and Dumber premiered, Jeff Daniels shrugged off the criticism of doing such a dumb comedy by saying ¨Well, at least I´ll always have Gettysburg.¨
Daniels has done a fine body of work over the years. If anyone questions his acting range all he needs to point to are 'Gettysburg' and 'Dumb & Dumber' to close the deal. Can't get more diametrically opposed roles than these.
 
One of the scene that ended up on the cutting room floor in the original release was the conversation between Ewell and Lee. It is well done
 
I know I´ve said it before, but I´ll say it again: the best way to view ¨Gettysburg¨ is on a 1990s era CRT television. It was fun to watch on the big screen because we could see our friends and it was really a moment when Civil War reenacting was mainstream. But a modern digital television lets you see too much detail and spoils the experience. At this point, ¨Gettysburg¨ is as much a 1990s period piece as it is an 1860s costume drama.
It wins my award for ¨movie that most makes me want to go to a reenactment¨ though.
 
Back
Top