| The acting is top notch, most noteably Stephen Lang as Stonewall Jackson. The third and final installment, The Last Full Measure, was in pre-production but lost financing and has been suspended indefinitely. during our Civil War. External Reviews See it, and decide for yourself about this film. Gods and Generals helps the viewer understand how slavery was viewed at that time of the war. I liked Gettysburg and the novel "Gods and Generals" better. 18 years ago. Its not that I can't watch a long movie as all three Lord of the Rings were pretty good. Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 Page 1 of 7 I'm glad to have seen a different perspective but it seemed to be rather one-sided favoring the South. Maxwell has made the, shall we say interesting, decision to change [Stonewall Jackson]God's hellcat into a warm and fuzzy teddy bear. In one memorable scene, Col. Chamberlain [Jeff Daniels] sleeps on the nighttime battlefield using his fellow soldiers' corpses as bedding; come daylight, he uses those same corpses to absorb flying enemy bullets once the battle resumes anew. If You Don't Know Who Sandy Pendleton Is, Stay Away, one of the great epic films of the decade. How you could make a movie about the greatest tactician of the War and not examine his strategies in depth is a mystery to me. If you ask me, you're better off watching documentaries about the civil war. 'Gods and Generals' is a flawed piece that works better as an educational tool rather than as a feature film. Unlike most, I did not read the book, and when first viewing the film, was not aware there was one. "Gods and Generals" is well-made, old-fashioned film that gives an absorbing view of the U.S. Civil War and one of its leading figures. The film has no redeeming qualities as everything about this film is bad. I give it ten stars. This film is historically accurate, deeply moving, and with outstanding acting by all concerned. His religious zealotry is offered only as a deep and beautiful faith. This review is based on the movie and the quality of the movie not the historical accuracy or inaccuracy. Rating 1/10 avoid this film at all costs. But for open-minded individuals who like history and well-made movies this one can't be beat. It is long, but it is a good 'rainy day' movie. Men line up with their rifles (in a mode of combat no longer practiced), blast away at each other nearly face-to-face, and drop en masse like bags of bloody meat. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) was, like Chamberlain, a man of great religious faith who served in the defense of the Confederacy. Also other long films have been quite enjoyable. Despite an apparent attention to historical accuracies including battle recreations from hundreds of professional Civil War reenactors, the film falls far short from achieving a feeling of historical authenticity. The film also tried to do too much: Gettysburg also has its very boring parts, but is unified by concentrating on the major stages of one battle. I was surprised that they messed up this film so bad and there's still talk of another film. Seriously, if you have no idea who Sandy Pendleton is then you have no business seeing this movie. Instead Gods and Generals holds no resonance whatsoever meticulously plotting out the details and making this decisive moment in American history interminable at three and a half hours. User Ratings Wonderful classic 9/10 stars. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. The rise and fall of confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as he meets with military success against the Union from 1861 to 1863, when he is accidentally killed by his own soldiers. Regarding the length of the movie, all I can say is that I wasn't bored at all, or restless, just fascinated with what was happening on screen. Metadata: Format(s): Text Articles Share this post: THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (BP)–The sweeping Civil War epic begins in early 1861 and continues through 1863, just prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. Gods and Generals for PC game reviews & Metacritic score: The action and drama of the American Civil War comes to life in this new game from the creators of "Gods & Generals… God's and Generals is a great read for any who want to learn about the Civil War without having to read a "history boom". With Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels, Donzaleigh Abernathy. The acting was below average which is surprising give the talent involved. I'm sure for MTV critics any movie over 90 minutes is epic. Must try harder See me after class Detention for you Sonny Jim etc etc etc etc If you gave this film a good review, I can only suggest you get to the cinema more often, or set your standards quite a bit higher ! Then again, a historical film doesn't require explicit blood and gore in order to feel authentic. And he seems to have used his power and wealth to re-write history to suit his own self-identity process. Everybody is so good and decent that it's hard to tell where the generals leave off and the gods start. it seems inconceivable that more than 200 serious votes would give this masterpiece the lowest rating, a mere one, which likens it to seedy B movie trash. It IS too long if you have Attention Deficit Disorder or have been raised upon television sitcoms and the constant jump-cuts & meritricious visual razzle-dazzle of TV commercials and music videos. `Gods and Generals' plays less like a movie and more like a three-hour-and-49-minute long lesson in Civil War history. This movie was like a few movies in one. For one, all the foot soldiers are old men who are so obviously re-enacters that the action scenes have no weight. A rich man's attempt to "buy" history. Price Match Guarantee. cinematography is incredible, and the scope of the film is extraordinarily ambitious. The acting, writing, cinematography are all of top quality. Grueling and plodding, the film is almost the antithesis of `Gone With the Wind,' in that while both films are epic tales told from the viewpoint of the defeated South, `Gods and Generals' (unlike the earlier film) has been essentially drained of all emotion, drama and characterization. The direction is bad as Ronald F. Maxwell did a much better job with Gettysburg. All rights reserved. Gods and Generals is, however, fun to read. Stay far away from the three hour-plus Gods and Generals--unless, of course, you need a good nap. The period detail is impressive and clearly most effort went into its creation, and the actors make what they can of it, but it is far too long, not enough action and sickly sentimental. Two criticisms of the movie have been made repeatedly: (1) it's "too long"; and (2) it doesn't accurately portray the horrors of war. This movie seemed to lean a lot towards the South and portraying them as `real' people who cared about God's plans and weren't just slave traders, and the North as upper-echelon educated men portrayed mostly by Jeff Daniels' character. Unfortunately, a re-enactment during a … Thinks it is grand without ever being so. Because God is on their side, the kind, virtuous, heroic, men of the southern army prevail in several combat engagements against the godless, sex-crazed, murderous barbarians of the north. Characters quote poetry from memory and sometimes speak in almost biblical cadences, in the same way that Lincoln's speeches were deeply influenced by the language of the King James Bible. These men were fighting for their homes and what they believed in. On the other hand were reviews from Roger Ebert and others critics who I respected that said it wasn't very good. The sound and special effects were well done, and it gives you the feel that you are there in 1863. 1st watched 8/23/2003 - 5 out of 10(Dir-Ron Maxwell): Over-produced civil war movie with excellent portrayal of Stonewall Jackson by Stephen Lang. He was a decidedly unpretty man, but the depiction here is of a man who might model men's work clothes in an LL Bean catalog. Bad Bad Bad, I watched this thinking I might get a handle on the Civil War - Wrong only religious sentimental claptrap, Bad script, badly acted bad CGI and awful beards. The battle scenes are weak and not very exciting either. GODS AND GENERALS is a careful, meticulous, lovingly crafted three and a half hour chronicle of the Civil War. Forgot your password? I recently read Shelby Footes 3 volume narrative, which I found compelling, excellently written and fairly authoritative. However for those who love history and have an open mind then this is the movie for you. And, above all, he does a keen job of delineating character and profiling personality. Gods and Generals is the second installment of the Michael/Jeff Shaara Civil War trilogy and the second to be filmed. It may be an effort to contrast Jackson's of his grief for the death of the little girl with his apparent enthusiasm for setting thousands of young men to kill each other, but if so, the scene with the girl and the family are far too long to make that point. Stirring, well-acted, and intelligent film about the war. When you watch the film, try and keep that in mind and don't listen to these doorknobs who claim that everybody in the northern states were all righteous and pure and wanted to liberate the black slaves in the south and that all southerners were racist traitors, dry that out and you could fertilize Central Park in New York. Gods and Generals (despite the ravages of many critics) is a very good film. The battle scenes were probably the most realistic ever portrayed of the civil war and over-whelmingly long. So slowly and its hard to tell where the Generals leave off and the Gods.... 19, 2003 in viewed at that time of the decade business this! 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