Tags: print
February 21, 2003
A film fit for Gods and Generals
If you're looking for a movie that's like every other movie ever made, don't see Gods and Generals. With that said, the Official Standard Ingredients of Hollywood are in place: for the ladies, there's plenty of meaningful emotional discourse, and for the guys, well, let's just say it's going to be a while until another movie is made with the number of guns that Gods and Generals has.
The plot of Gods and Generals is no secret. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Jeff Shaara, and hundreds if not thousands of other books have been written about its topic: the first half of the U.S. Civil War. Gods and Generals is part one of a three-part series about the war. The first movie of the trilogy to be produced was Gettysburg, based on The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (Jeff's father), which was written before either of the others. The final film will be The Last Full Measure, based on the book by Jeff Shaara of the same title.
Gods and Generals covers the war from its beginning to events that occurred two months before the battle of Gettysburg. Fans of the book will be disappointed by the fact that director/producer/screenwriter Ronald F. Maxwell left out the first nine chapters almost entirely, but Maxwell makes the sacrifice to get right to the meat of the story in a movie already almost four hours long. A twelve minute intermission is built into the film.
The movie opens with General Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) taking command of the Confederate Army. A steady stream of short look-at-the-people-preparing-for-war scenes follows that to establish setting, and the film moves on to General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang). After the Confederate position is established, the movie introduces Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), the only Union officer to get any major screen time. That's the movie's major deviation from the book; it only keeps track of Lee, Jackson, and Chamberlain, an understandable sacrifice. For those who haven't read the book, it's written from the perspectives of various important officers, and to follow six characters around all the time would make the film a confusing mess.
Both sides see action at Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Strategy for all three battles are described quickly but comprehensively, and changes in both armies' behavior over time are evident.
Daniels, Lang and Duvall all do fine jobs of acting, but the supporting cast really shines in Gods and Generals. Jim Lewis (Frankie Faison), the black man who Jackson hires to be a cook, has very little screen time but participates in some of the movie's most memorable scenes. Sergeant "Buster" Kilrain (Kevin Conway) also performs admirably, staying truer to the book than perhaps any other character.
True, the battle scenes can get a bit boring because of length, and the level of destruction and gore doesn't come close that of most recent action flicks. Gods and Generals, the movie, isn't as good as the book. But then again, no movie ever is. The film conveys a strong sense of what the Civil War was about, and what the people who were part of it experienced. And isn't that what a movie like this should be like?
Gods and Generals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Antietam Filmworks/Mace Neufeld/Productions, Ted Turner Pictures, 3 hrs. 30 min. with 12 min. intermission, is rated PG-13 for extended battle sequences. Official website: http://www.godsandgenerals.com (requires Flash 6).
Official movie poster.
The plot of Gods and Generals is no secret. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Jeff Shaara, and hundreds if not thousands of other books have been written about its topic: the first half of the U.S. Civil War. Gods and Generals is part one of a three-part series about the war. The first movie of the trilogy to be produced was Gettysburg, based on The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (Jeff's father), which was written before either of the others. The final film will be The Last Full Measure, based on the book by Jeff Shaara of the same title.
Gods and Generals covers the war from its beginning to events that occurred two months before the battle of Gettysburg. Fans of the book will be disappointed by the fact that director/producer/screenwriter Ronald F. Maxwell left out the first nine chapters almost entirely, but Maxwell makes the sacrifice to get right to the meat of the story in a movie already almost four hours long. A twelve minute intermission is built into the film.
The movie opens with General Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) taking command of the Confederate Army. A steady stream of short look-at-the-people-preparing-for-war scenes follows that to establish setting, and the film moves on to General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang). After the Confederate position is established, the movie introduces Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), the only Union officer to get any major screen time. That's the movie's major deviation from the book; it only keeps track of Lee, Jackson, and Chamberlain, an understandable sacrifice. For those who haven't read the book, it's written from the perspectives of various important officers, and to follow six characters around all the time would make the film a confusing mess.
Both sides see action at Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Strategy for all three battles are described quickly but comprehensively, and changes in both armies' behavior over time are evident.
Daniels, Lang and Duvall all do fine jobs of acting, but the supporting cast really shines in Gods and Generals. Jim Lewis (Frankie Faison), the black man who Jackson hires to be a cook, has very little screen time but participates in some of the movie's most memorable scenes. Sergeant "Buster" Kilrain (Kevin Conway) also performs admirably, staying truer to the book than perhaps any other character.
True, the battle scenes can get a bit boring because of length, and the level of destruction and gore doesn't come close that of most recent action flicks. Gods and Generals, the movie, isn't as good as the book. But then again, no movie ever is. The film conveys a strong sense of what the Civil War was about, and what the people who were part of it experienced. And isn't that what a movie like this should be like?
Gods and Generals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Antietam Filmworks/Mace Neufeld/Productions, Ted Turner Pictures, 3 hrs. 30 min. with 12 min. intermission, is rated PG-13 for extended battle sequences. Official website: http://www.godsandgenerals.com (requires Flash 6).
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