Gods & Generals
by Ronald F. Maxwell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: George Allen, Jeff Daniels, Mark Aldrich, Robert Duvall, Stephen LangDirector: Ronald F. Maxwell
Brand: LANG,STEPHEN
Writer: Ronald F. Maxwell
Producer: Dennis E. Frye
Producer: Jeff Shaara
Writer: Jeff Shaara
Producer: Mace Neufeld
Producer: Moctesuma Esparza
Producer: Nick Grillo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 219 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-15
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Gods & Generals
Movie Review: The DVD Was Fine With Me
Summary: 5 Stars
Divers of other reviews lament the double-sided DVD, but I'm a veteran of handling these enough that it isn't a gripe with me at all.
However, it is a minor gripe that the conclusion of one side pulls you out of the movie. With the Gods & Generals release, you're pulled out during the charge of the Irish Brigade, and the movie is cut kind of funny, so you aren't inserted right back when you flip to side B. This is a shame, because this is walking into the part of the movie where Joshua Chamberlain's role really shines.
Mary Fahl's 'Going Home' theme at the beginning should win over viewers right away. From there, through the fine instrumental scoring throughout, and even to Bob Dylan's melancholy whaling at the credits, this is a greatly scored film, scoring that could hold it's own with anything.
The central character is General Jackson. At times, it will seem more like a Jackson biopic than a movie where the Civil War is the subject. This make Stephen Lang unquestionably the star of the film. Contemporary audiences will definitely flinch at times at what may seem an absurdly melodramatic portrayal, but I can't honestly say there's any other way one could really inhabit the role of General Jackson. I certainly don't question his casting.
And I also don't question the casting of Robert Duvall as General Lee. He may be the only living actor with the gravitas for it, and he marked a vast improvement over Martin Sheen. Now, Sheen was fine in that TV series as President Bartlet, but there's the gravitas for playing presidents, and then there's a level for Robert E Lee. Duvall had the quality to inhabit the role. It was perhaps the strongest supporting role ever, with the possible exception of Gerald McRaney as Patton in the much overlooked 'Ike'.
I have a lot of enthusiasm for what I saw in this picture, but will admit going in not looking for a movie. I went in with the eye of an editor, and must agree with all the other reviews concerning pacing and whatnot. The craftsmanship is perfect, but this is a miniseries shoehorned into a movie. You'll love it if you make those allowances, and you too will find yourself daydreaming of cutting this into the perfect miniseries.
Summary of Gods & Generals
A sweeping epic charting the early years of the Civil War and how campaigns unfolded from Manassas to the Battle of Fredericksburg, this prequel to the film Gettysburg explores the motivations of the combatants and examines the lives of those who waited at home.The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically respectable 220-minute historical pageant. In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996 novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville), Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure, this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film - but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. --Jeff Shannon
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