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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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GETTYSBURG
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Reviewed
by: |
Lawrance
M. Bernabo |
| Genre: |
Drama
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| Video: |
Widescreen
letterbox – 1.78:1. The movie is continued on the second side
of the disc following the same intermission break as was used
in the theaters (after the repulse of the Confederate attack
on Little Round Top) |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital |
| Language: |
English
5.1, French Surround Stereo, and Commentary 2.0 |
| Subtitle: |
English
and French. |
| Length: |
254
minutes (Some video versions add another 30 minutes of new footage).
|
| Rating: |
PG
|
| Release
Date: |
December
5, 2000 |
| Studio: |
Warner
|
| Commentary:
|
By Director/Screenwriter Ronald F. Maxwell, Cinematographer
Kees Van Oostrum, Putlizer-Prize Winning Author James M. McPherson
and Military Historian Craig Symonds. |
| Documentaries:
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“The Making of ‘Gettysburg.’” |
| Featurettes:
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Vintage
Oscar nominated documentary “The Battle of Gettysburg,” narrated
by Leslie Nielsen. |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Filmographies for six actors divided between the Union (Jeff
Daniels, Sam Elliott and C. Thomas Howell) and Confederate (Tom
Berenger, Martin Sheen, and Richard Jordan). |
|
Interviews: |
The
Interview Gallery features Ted Turner, Ronald F. Maxwell, Tom
Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Sam Elliot, C. Thomas Howell, Richard
Jordan, Stephen Lang and Civil War Reenactors. |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Theatrical
Trailer and Four TV Spots: Heroes, Brothers, Courage and Coward |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None
|
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
On
Location footage of the crew filming various shots in the battle
sequences and Maps of the Battlefield, which details the three
days of the battle with detailed maps and commentary |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Tom Berenger
(Lt. Gen. James Longstreet), Martin Sheen (Robert E. Lee), Jeff
Daniels (Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain), Richard Jordan (Brig.
Gen. Lewis A. Armistead), Kevin Conway (Sgt. “Buster” Kilrain),
Brian Mallon (Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock), C. Thomas Howell
(Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain), Sam Elliott (Brig. Gen. John Buford),
Stephen Lang (Maj. Gen. George Pickett). |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by
Screenplay by Ronald F. Maxwell based on the Pulitzer Prize
winning novel “The Killer Angels” by Michael Schaara. |
| Produced
by: |
Moctesuma Esparza and
Robert Katz |
| Directed
By: |
Ronald F. Maxwell |
| Music: |
Randy Edleman |
| The
Review: |
My favorite
shot in this 1993 film is towards the end, when the Confederates
of Pickett’s Charge are crossing the fence by the Emmetsburg
Road and the Union soldiers who have been hunched down behind
the stone wall at what would become known as the Bloody Angle
finally stand up, unfurl their huge battle flags, and unleashed
a deadly volley of musket fire. As a minor league Civil War
buff I knew all about the Battle of Gettysburg, but despite
everything I knew I was so caught up in this film the first
time I saw it that I kept wishing the Confederates would take
the position, that Armistead would not be shot at the High Water
Mark, and that all of these men would not lose their lives in
a futile charge. * * * “Gettysburg” is based on Michael Shaara’s
novel “The Killer Angels,” and both works focus on this crucial
battle on July 1-3, 1863 through from the perspective of four
key figures: The first day of the battle is dominated by Union
Calvary General John Buford (Sam Elliot), who slowed the Confederate
advance to preserve the precious high ground for the Federal
army. The second day comes down to the efforts of Colonel Joshua
Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) and the 20th Maine, who
hold the extreme left end of the Army of the Potomac at a crucial
moment in the battle. The third day focuses on the clash of
wills between General Robert E. Lee (Martin Sheen) and his veteran
commander James “Pete” Longstreet (Tom Berenger), who have been
arguing offense versus defense throughout the battle, climaxing
in the fatal finality of Pickett’s Charge. There is also an
eloquent sub-plot involving Confederate General Lowell Armistead,
who must charge across the field to attack a position defended
by his best friend Winfield Scott Hancock, made all the more
poignant by the fact that this was actor Richard Jordan’s final
role; he died from a brain tumor the same year this film was
released. * * * However, it is the character of Chamberlain
who emerges as the hero from this film. Chamberlain was featured
as well in the celebrated PBS documentary “The Civil War,” and
the result is that he has become the idealized citizen-soldier
or gallant knight of the Union army. The result of his military
and political career is almost as fascinating as his defense
of Little Round Top, for which he received the Congressional
Medal of Honor. Jeff Daniel’s performance is certainly the finest
of his career to date, and he gets to give an eloquent speech
on the Civil War as a fight to make other men free. His interplays
with veteran Sergeant Buster Kilrain (Kevin Conway) deal with
the war on a philosophical level, which is not surprising because
the man is a college professor. But in the heat of battle he
proves himself, and while we cannot imagine ourselves being
Robert E. Lee, we can identify with Chamberlain. The end result
is that the best part of the film comes not at the end, but
before the intermission. * * * I cannot believe that people
who do not know much about the Battle of Gettysburg could possibly
appreciate it as much as those who have studied the Civil War.
The opening credits, where the photographs of these real soldiers
are replaced with those of the actors playing them, is quite
effective, especially when Randy Edleman’s evocative score swells
as we see the face and name of George Pickett. Even if you have
never seen this movie you have undoubtedly heard Edleman’s score,
which has been used to advertise several films and for the closing
credits of the Olympics broadcast. It should have been nominated
for an Oscar, but since this film was intended at some point
to be a made-for-television movie, I guess it could not be considered
to be a real film. But "Gettysburg" embraces history in a way
few films, about any war, have ever done. |
| Image
and Sound |
I first
saw this film in a theater with a brand new sound system and
remember being blown away by the sound of all those muskets
and cannons going off at once during the battle sequences. The
soundtrack was remastered in Dolby Digital 5.0 and this DVD
contains a new digital transfer. |
| The
Extras |
Side A offers
the 1950 documentary “Battle of Gettysburg,” narrated by Leslie
Nielsen, which tells the story of the battle entirely in terms
of shots of the hundreds of monuments and statues covering the
National Battlefield in Pennsylvania. This feature was nominated
for Best Documentary Short Subject in 1955. All of the other
extra features are found on Side B. “The Making of ‘Gettysburg,’”
the other main feature, does a nice job of capturing the sense
of reverence the actors and reenactors had for making this movie
on locations in and around the actual battlefield. The featured
actors are unanimous in their respect for the thousands of Civil
War reenactors who came to Gettysburg to participate in making
the film, living in tent cities and bringing their own uniforms,
guns and knowledge of the life of Civil War soldiers. Certainly
they get the credit for bringing the wonderful sense of realism
to the battle sequences and in the film’s closing credits all
of their units are listed. |
| Commentary |
The commentary
track, which is only for selected scenes and not the entire
film, focuses primarily on the actual Battle of Gettysburg.
Unlike most commentaries, what you will find here matches up
with what is happening on screen and there are several sections
keyed to specific shots or lines of dialogue, which is much
appreciated. In addition to applauding the historical accuracy
of the film, McPherson and Symonds make a fascinating case for
Lee’s logic in ordering Pickett’s Charge. Shaara had based parts
of his novel on Longstreet’s memoirs, and since Lee died without
ever writing his own, a case can be made that the historical
record is somewhat skewed. They also do a bit of debunking regarding
Chamberlain’s decision to do a bayonet charge. Maxwell’s most
interesting section is when he talks about how they studied
the films of Kurosawa and other masters to come up with the
best way of shooting battles sequences, which resulted in setting
up difficult dolly shots for the Battle on Little Round Top.
Civil War buffs will enjoy this commentary much more than film
students, but that is totally appropriate for this particular
film. You will not find anybody talking to fill in dead air
on this one. |
| Final
Words: |
Every year
I watch “Gettysburg” on the four days covered in the film, June
30 and July 1-3 (then on the 4th of July I watch “1776”). Only
“Glory” stands on this level in terms of depicting Civil War
battles. I taught a class once in which I showed them the story
of the attack on Little Round Top on Day 2 of the battle from
Ken Burns’ classic documentary on “The Civil War” and then the
corresponding sequence from “Gettysburg.” The thing I noticed
was that this film was so accurate that the Confederates charge
the Union position five times, just like they did on July 2,
1863. This battle sequence stands out as the best Civil War
battle scene in cinematic history and I have recommended it
to several teachers as the best way of giving students a clue
as to what it was like to be a soldier in that war. |
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