Gods and Generals (2003)

The surprising success of "Gettysburg" (based on the novel THE KILLER ANGELS) inspired the filmmakers to try to make an even-handed earlier story of the war leading up to that great battle, focusing mainly on the stories of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) in gray and Jeff Daniels (reprising his role as Gettysburg hero Joshua Chamberlain) in blue.In some ways, "Gods and Generals" is an improvement over "Gettysburg." Martin Sheen's Robert E. Lee (no doubt the worst performance by a notable actor since Jason Robards' Brutus in "Julius Caesar" in 1970) has been thankfully replaced by the much better Robert Duvall (is there some way to digitize Duvall into "Gettysburg"?) Several good actors have joined the "Gettysburg" bunch, including England's always good John Castle (as a southern who grew up in rural areas where accents were still prevalent, I always thought Brits did southern accents better than Americans from other parts of the US, with the one exception of Michael Caine in "Hurry Sundown").On the other hand, "Gettysburg" had a good focus, retelling the battle of Gettysburg--well, as they thought of it when the novel was written, though recent research made those theories obsolete even while they were being filmed; so much for research)."Gods and Generals" is too diffuse. It tries to shove too much into one movie. It should have been a miniseries, an earlier "Game of Thrones" type of entertainment, without the gratuitous nudity. Instead, they shove into the length of one (very) long movie every battle in the eastern theater of battle, up to the (spoiler to anyone who slept through American history) death of Jackson. Though in the interest of suspense I won't say who killed him.Unlike with "Gettysburg" I did not see this movie in the theaters, only on disk where they added material to make it even more interminable.Beautifully shot--perhaps too beautifully. But up to Gettysburg that part of the war was all fought in the south, and the south is quite lovely and photogenic.I don't know how accurate the details were. I had a hard time staying awake.

Overall, the 2003 film "Gods & Generals" is an well-done time line of sorts for not only the American Civil War, but also the service of General Stonewall Jackson and his leading of the Confederate Army. Though a tad on the long side, this film does an excellent job of showcasing how the war created an instantaneous effect on the lives of all of those in the Confederate states as well as how the war effort became a top priority to all people within those states at the time. That can be seen as an issue however due to the fact that this film was largely from a Confederate standpoint. This of course presents some bias as well as tweaking of certain historical details. Though a tad dated, the film does a good job of making the battle scenes such as those in Fredericksburg feel very true to life and for the most part historically accurate. Leaving the audience at the end with a scene mourning the death of Stonewall Jackson was also very well done and showed the importance of Jackson's role in the war and what an integral cog he was in the wheel of the Confederate forces. Not to mention the film creates a fever-pitch of anticipation for its sequel "Gettysburg" (1993). All in all other than some obvious exaggeration for the sake of film making and a somewhat heavy Southern influence, "Gods & Generals" is a very good film to watch if you have the time, as it pertains to learning about the American Civil War and more particularly the role General Stonewall Jackson played early on in the conflict, giving the South the upper hand.

Firstly, I am not American. I have studied the American Civil War and I smelled a big fat dirty rat at the time we "learned" about it at school. Remember it is the VICTORS who write history, even if it has been twisted to alleviate the victors to hero status. What I "learned" about the American Civil War in school really did not make sense. A civil war about slavery? That's what were told! Well, that was the first lie: "The American Civil War was about SLAVERY." It's a lie. Truth: Abraham Lincoln was LOSING the war. The South were hammering the north - for 3 years! The south were winning. So, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln employed a purely POLITICAL MOVE and in his famous "emancipation speech" REDEFINED THE WAR AS BEING A WAR ABOUT SLAVERY. Slavery? Wait a minute! Truth is The American Civil War was about SECESSION. Secession - the thing the southern states did that Honest Abe frothed at the mouth over. Abraham Lincoln could not bear to have his little power trip upset by half the states leaving his little fan club, aka "the United States of America." Secession: leaving the Union to form an independent union of states, the "Confederate States of America." That was too much for Abe. Abe's solution was to use VIOLENCE AND FORCE. Abraham Lincoln STARTED the American Civil War. It was Lincoln: GUILTY!Lincoln was the only US president ever to INVADE HIS OWN COUNTRY! Slavery existed on BOTH SIDES - north and south. Oh, but we had to forget that in our lessons! Today, that would be called a COVER UP. The American Civil War was NOT about "slavery" until Abraham Lincoln turned it into one. GODS AND GENERALS is the story of the American Civil War primarily from the suppressed Southern point of view. It captures the ESSENCE of the mindset of the American people AT THAT TIME, and it does not WATER DOWN or be POLITICALLY CORRECT about those events. It is an accurate account of a time that occurred over 150 years ago. Different times, different values, different morals, different issues. 1861 is not 2013.I salute the film makers for making this film. For daring to put forth a movie that is historically accurate ahead of being politically correct or playing into the gross MIS-education that has existed for the last 150 years about this event. Seeing some of other reviews of this movie (negative) just tells me those people cannot CONFRONT the truth and would rather HIDE behind the safety net of the "official story" that so vilifies the south and makes Abraham Lincoln the big man hero. Abraham Lincoln was NO HERO. The real heroes are the people who fought that war, for what they believed in, whether they be north or south. This movie is YOUR CHANCE to get a real perspective of the American Civil War and what it was REALLY about so you can understand what really happened, not the litany of lies that the Yankee "victors" have spoon fed you for the last 150 years. You will appreciate even more how tragic that war was and how evil and horrible that time was. This is a great movie, very confronting, but absolutely ESSENTIAL viewing for anyone who can smell a rat in the information they have "learned" about this event. There is a dirty big smelly rat there. If you can't smell it GO BACK TO SLEEP.

'Gods and Generals' is one of the best films I have ever seen, it is also the best American Civil War film of our time in my opinion. The story is touching, it shows the real side of the Confederacy and doesn't incriminate them as every other film does. Although the Confederacy had slaves etc, they weren't all bad people. In fact many were intellectuals and gentleman etc. This film shows a divided nation in its most fragile time to date. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in the American Civil War or just likes a good historical film.I feel the film, actors and musicians never got the recognition that they deserved. This film was emotional, epic, historically accurate and interesting. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I do.