Gods and Generals

Not a bad film as Civil War films go, but the character of Stonewall Jackson, a hypochondriacal, anal-retentive, religious zealot as the saintly character played by Steven Lang is a little far-fetched. For example, we know that Stonewall rode with his left hand raised to keep his "humors in balance" and was constantly concerned about his alimentary health. The movie suggests that he rode with his hand raised only to stem the bleeding from a wound. 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. His religious zealotry is offered only as a deep and beautiful faith. The canonization of Stonewall is silly. I grant, a clever and courageous General, he deserves all our proper honor. But this film makes him an angel such as he never really was.

I think many people, particularly African Americans, should be offended by Gods and Generals. Telling the story from a largely Southern point of view, you would think the Civil War was an outright act of aggression by the the United States against the Confederacy. This movie just plays lip service to slavery, an evil institution, that the war was really all about. This movie justifies the Southern cause too much. What history book are these people reading? The South enslaved human beings and used states' rights to justify it. Read a good book about the Civil War instead of this movie.

I had the privilege of attending the Hagerstown Maryland premier of 'Gods and Generals' on Tuesday night and I came away absolutely amazed and thrilled at what I saw. The casting was fabulous, as were the costumes. The filming of the battle scenes was tremendous. And the acting took my breath away. No one could have played Stonewall Jackson as well as Stephen Lang did. Jeff Daniels was again superb as Chamberlain. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this film. Kudos and thanks to Ron Maxwell and all involved with the project.

First of all, all the negativity for this film makes me angry. Everyone is complaining about the length and the "Turner bias". You knew how long the movie was if you looked on the posters and you knew who funded it if you would take the time to read the credits on the very same posters. For all the people who say it is racist are racist themselves. FYI, in the early part of the war, the south won many battles at dismal odds, hence the prequel to Gettysburg. The movie was well done, and the length was intefral to tell such a story. If you like 1hr and 15 min movies, go watch Freaky Friday. I am a movie buff and when a long movie that can keep me occupied comes along - I am in second heaven (ie Godfather, Once Upon A Time In America, Lonesome Dove).

If you are a person who can't sit through a long movie, this may not be for you. This movie is on 2 DVD's and will take a good 3 and a half hours to watch. At the end it is worth it. But it is long and some scenes can get violent, although they are very nice battle scenes. There are some intimate parts for the people who are fond of love stories. From my point of view this is great movie and depicts the events as close to real life as they can get. I suggest it if you like history and/or the Civil War. 7 out of 10 stars... (ps. we got my dad this movie along with a biography of Roberrt E. Lee and I think if you learn more about the people you understand the movie more.)

Well, I don't know if the ironclads show up in this movie, but the wooden actors are there in force. Though even great actors might look bad saddled with such a mediocre screenplay and stilted direction. Every scene is a setpiece, with actors taking a deep breath and delivering the speech they've been handed. Even the battles are by-the-numbers, step-at-a-time affairs, with little sense of what it probably was like. As always, it's sad to see so many resources go to waste. I could only get through about 30 minutes of this. And why does IMDb require 10 lines of comment, minimum? I've said all I had to say. Save your time for another film.

I was very worried going into this film as I had seen the very low rotten tomatoes rating of 8%. That was worse than the Alexander 2004 review of 16% and that film was terrible so my hopes were not high for this. I had read reviews stating that this film was dull and moved at a snails pace. Never have critics been so wrong. This ia an epic prequel to 'Gettysburg' examining the early days of the American Civil War through the experiences of three historical figures. Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain must leave behind his quiet academic life, General Thomas Stonewall Jackson must contend with his great religious faith, and General Robert Lee is forced to choose between his loyalty to the USA and his love of the Southern states. The film is long at 3 1/2 hours but I was never bored and was totally invested throughout.

I just got back from the theater and I am still thinking about. This movie was incredible. Stephen Lang was nothing short of brilliant as Stonewall Jackson. Duvall was superb as Lee and Daniels again was wonderful as Chamberlain. The supporting actors were also very finely cast and the women in the movie were a breath of fresh air. This movie brought tears to my eyes more than once and other times I wanted to stand up and cheer. The battles scenes were fantastic but not too gross. Thank goodness! The Chancellorsville battle was amazing! The silent march and the music fit that particular battle so well. I also loved the way the movie started with the opening credits showing the flags while "Going Home" was playing. I will be going back to see it tomorrow!

Before I rip into this meritless garbage, I want to preface this that Gods and Generals is Neo-Confederate Propaganda. It spins a terrible lie, that the Confederate States fought for a justified cause. In reality It never was, it was always always for the cause of slavery, as led by wealthy oligarchs. But even as a movie, Gods and Generals is an epic disaster. Because it disgustingly venerates the Confederate generals as these untouchable saints and the Yankees as incompetent fools, all of the characters are flat and boring. The action is bloodless and incomprehensible, portraying these large scale battles as feckless and repetitive clusters of blues and grays. There is no story, no struggles to portray. Gods and Generals is a bellicose glory * on the Lost Cause and, ironically, a Lost Cause itself.