Wicked Spring
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Movie Reviews of Wicked Spring
Movie Review: Wicked Spring
Summary: 5 Stars
In the dark woods of the Wilderness, lost Civil War soldiers blunder together and spend the night sheltering from the battle.
I liked a lot of things about this movie -- the way that a small number of participants were made to look like whole armies by using terrain (rather than just marching the same guys back and forth past the camera the way small-budget historical films often do); the realism of the battle and battle-aftermath scenes; the appealing, quirky and ultimately doomed characters; the lack of anything immediately noticeable as anachronistic. The film held my attention throughout and I found its conclusion both moving and thematically appropriate.
I wondered why the characters didn't figure out each other's allegiance until dawn (accents wouldn't help? Or the fact that the one guy had coffee and the other tobacco?). And I also question something I see over and over in Civil War movies: no one believes in what he's fighting for. Particularly Southerners. They're all just sort of innocent farm boys who are there because, apparently, they were too dumb to know better. Historically accurate film ought to portray the range of motivations that actuated Civil War soldiers on both sides to fight.
While I liked the dialogue-free quality of the opening scenes, I found their content cloying and only put up with them because I expected that there would be a big contrast coming up.
Having said all that, I liked Wicked Spring very much. I would compare it to much higher-profile Civil War movies such as Cold Mountain and Glory in quality.
Movie Review: took me there
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this film was excellent! It showed the complexity of war (in particular the Civil War). With a well-written screenplay, sound acting, beautiful cinematography and effective editing the filmmakers worked together to take you back in time. It helps to get into the characters to fully appreciate the dialogue that makes the movie more realistic. I love the down-to-earth approach taken in producing 'Wicked Spring'.
I especially thought the opener was effective in that there is no dialogue so pay close attention to the two male leads in those scenes. A lot more is happening than first may appear. The scene where the father is saying good-bye to his three daughters is very moving. What a thing it is to leave your home and family to go to war. The sacrifice for all involved is obviously tremendous.
I have seen a lot of civil war movies and I thought this was one of the more realistic ones. The lighting or rather lack of lighting in the night scenes is very effective. And I absolutely loved the natural pauses and simple inferences made during the dialogue between soldiers. There is a rather pivotal scene where two soldiers connect rather than disconnect through reading letters from home. The is the scene that made this movie a notch above the rest. The acting was refreshingly not overacted. Other reviews give more detail. Bottom line, check this one out.
Perhaps those who did not like this film just didn't get it!
Movie Review: Great Civil War Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie hits it right on the head. Great Acting and great Cinema. The battle scenes are some of the most realistic battle scenes filmed. These scenes are done realisticly. Not over dramatized like big production films but what it would have been really like in the midst of battle. The Story is a much needed view of the common civil war soldier. This movie does not hype the generals and all the big names in the war but the little guy in the fight. I have seen comments that people could not tell what sides the characters were on. Well I did not have a problem at all with that. Check the flags out behind the battle scenes.Some folks that viewed the movie state that these 6 men sitting around a campfire could not tell that they were infact sitting with the enemy. I did not see it in that view at all..I felt the
characters new all along who they were sitting with but in the midst of war, lost from thier regiments in the middle of the night were looking more for company and looking out for one another just for that night. When morning came a differnt Idea snapped into the one Rebs head and thats when it all broke loose.
I commend the film and all the people responsible for making it.
Very well done, very realistic and very believable. Best film I have seen for a low production budget. Gods and Generals was a high budget film and dissapointing to say the least. This one is a keeper.
Movie Review: Something rare and special...
Summary: 5 Stars
Writer-director Kevin Hershberger has done something special with Wicked Spring which other directors, with much bigger budgets, have failed to do: created a period piece which transcends the period. Wicked Spring is not just about a War; it's about the people fighting the war. Just as the soldiers from both sides of the conflict laid aside their weapons and shared a campfire, the Director laid aside the politics of the War and brought into the light the predicament men in war find themselves in: they want love, but are asked to kill. That's harder to swallow than tack.
The battle scenes were nicely wrought, and these are where Hershberger's vision came out the most: because of the evocative mood, tone, and depth of the camera shots, the battle scenes were some of the best I've seen in Civil War movies. Hershberger should also be given kudos for casting natural actors with the look and integrity to carry this picture. Hershberger obviously saw that the two lead actors had presence, and, when the scene boils down to just the two of them talking about life, love, and war, Wicked Spring is at its best.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend this movie. Especially to Civil War buffs, but really to anybody interested in what goes on in a soldier's heart.
Movie Review: Devestating Fear Caught in the middle.
Summary: 5 Stars
I am Very Proud of my Southern family and Heritage, and watched this movie with an air of defense as usual...at first. Then the awful reality of pain and fear set in. The begining shows the quiet truth of the family they had to leave to go fight for their country. THAT IS WHY THEY LEFT. As the movie continues, my heart ached for them all. It was so real, that it brought me to tears. All I could do was vasalate through a host of emotions. It brings home the realities of the devestating war in a very grafic and real way. I am sure this may have happened, and it leaves the viewer with a real sence of questioning in thier minds. It should be required viewing for all teens. As a reenactor myself, and a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, I would recomend it for the realisim factor alone. But the accuracy of this really happening to me is questionable. Loyalties were very strong, and I can't see them all together as buddy's at night, then against each other in the morning? But, I do think this is a must see for the battle alone, and the compasion of some. It left me weeping for my own Confederate soldiers and the fear they must have felt.