Gods and Generals

[George Bellefontaine]

This was a good look at the Civil War , told mostly from the Confederate point of view. However, this movie was much too long ( well over 3 hours), it's a flipper, and if you want to see what happened to Jeff Daniels and Thomas C Howell, I guess you'll have to see other releases in the trilogy.

This film dealt mostly with the part Thomas ( Stonewall) Jackson played in the early part of the war, before General Lee decided to go North with his troops for that big battle of Gettysburg.

Too much time was spent on non-war moments, but when the battle scenes came up, WOW. And as for the transfer... simply gorgeous. And those cannons will rattle your wall.

Duvall very good as Lee, but does not have a great deal of screen time compared to Stephen Lang who played Stonewall Jackson. All in all, a good look at the early History of the civil war.

Now I gotta get Gettysburg.




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[David Meek]

George, that's interesting because in Gettysburg, Stephen Lang plays General George Pickett , and C. Thomas Howell plays Lt. Tom Chamberlain, Lawrence Chamberlain's younger brother.

At least Jeff Daniels is consistent and plays Lawrence Chamberlain in both.

Also, in Gettysburg Lee is played by Martin Sheen.

I read Gettysburg after seeing the mini-series, finished Gods And Generals not too long ago, and am about 1/2 finished with The Last Full Measure which takes up the story immediately after the battle at Gettysburg and finishes with the end of the war. Gods And Generals is devoted in large part to the set up of story of the war and how it divided friends, families and patriots. Once it gets to the actual Civil War however, the pace does pick up.




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[Danbry39]

I liked Gettysburg better than Gods and Generals, but liked Robert Duvall better as Robert E. Lee. The expository on the divided loyalties of many of the characters is nicely developed. What was more interesting to me personally were the stategic mistakes by the North during the war's early going. These errors in judgement opened the door for the South.

I am facinated by the subject matter and am considering buying Ken Burns's documentary, even though I saw it when it aired on PBS. This was a brutal war and deserves a lot more examination.




Keith

[George Bellefontaine]

Fascinating subject. I now will have to get Gettysburg. Anyone know is The Last Full Measure has been filmed as yet.

BTW, Tex, Howell plays the same character in Gods And Generals as he did in Gettysburg.




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[David Meek]

BTW, Tex, Howell plays the same character in Gods And Generals as he did in Gettysburg.

Oh, sorry George, I mis-read your post. I thought Thomas referred to C. Thomas and not Stonewall Jackson. ops:




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[George Bellefontaine]

Yeah, Tex, don't sweat it. I had Howell's initial in the wrong place. Do you know if the last in the Trilogy series has been filmed as yet ?




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[David Meek]

No, it hasn't been filmed yet, and I haven't seen anything about it being in production either. :nonod:




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[George Bellefontaine]

Thanks, Tex. I'll be watching. It would be nice to have the set.




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