Gettysburg (1993)

Director:

Ronald F. Maxwell

Writers (WGA):

Michael Shaara (novel)
Ronald F. Maxwell (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 October 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War | Western

Tagline:

Same Land. Same God. Different Dreams.

Plot:

In 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | American Civil War | Gettysburg | Lieutenant General | Reference To Hamlet

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
Martin Sheen	...	Gen. Robert E. Lee
Stephen Lang	...	Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett
Jeff Daniels	...	Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Richard Jordan	...	Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead
Andrew Prine	...	Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett
Cooper Huckabee	...	Henry T. Harrison
Patrick Gorman	...	Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood
Bo Brinkman	...	Maj. Walter H. Taylor
James Lancaster	...	Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle
William Morgan Sheppard	...	Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble / Narrator (as Morgan Sheppard)
Kieran Mulroney	...	Maj. G. Moxley Sorrel
James Patrick Stuart	...	Col. E. Porter Alexander (as Patrick Stuart)
Tim Ruddy	...	Maj. Charles Marshall
Royce D. Applegate	...	Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper

Also Known As:

The Killer Angels (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

261 min | Sweden:254 min | UK:259 min | Netherlands:244 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) | DTS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate no. 31000) | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG | Greece:K-13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

TriStar Television

Trivia:

Many scenes were filmed or in the daily shooting script but not used in the final print: among them, there is a scene after General Reynolds death where his body is carried by stretcher through the Union lines by his staff. They pass by a stunned General Buford on horseback who pauses to watch it go by, before turning his attention back to the raging front line. This was filmed but eventually deleted. The raw footage can be found on the DVD version.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the beginning of the Confederate cannonade at the outset of "Pickett's Charge", Gen. Meade's headquarters is shown as being hit by a cannonball. In a later shot, the house is still completely intact.

Quotes:

[Pickett likes to wear perfume]
Lieutenant General James Longstreet: Good Lord, George, what is that smell?
Major General George E. Pickett: That's me.
Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead: He got it off a dead Frenchman.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-02-26)" (2008)

Long, But Worth The Effort Of Watching

A very interesting take on the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, which is unfortunately marred by its excessive length (well over four hours), which could easily have been cut by at least an hour if unnecessary marching scenes were cut out. (I timed one point in the movie when a full six minutes went by showing nothing but troops marching. This was absolutely tedious!)

There isn't much "drama" involved in this. How can there be? Everyone knows the Battle of Gettysburg, we all know that the North won, and serious students of the Civil War know most of the military manoeuvres that were used, as well as the fates of the major combatants. So, it was up to the director (Ronald F. Maxwell) and the various actors to give us something of a unique spin to hold our attention through the long story. For the most part, they were successful.

I was quite intrigued by Martin Sheen's portrayal of General Robert E. Lee. Lee comes across almost in a mystical way - a man of vision and courage, and yet also very human. The debates between Lee and General James Longstreet (played by Tom Berenger) over strategy were realistic, and the fact that Longstreet was proved for the most part to be right demonstrate the fact that Lee - while a great General - was subject to human failings as well. Sheen portrays a Lee who is coming to terms with his hero status among his troops, but also shows him subtly uncomfortable with it.

Also interesting was the constant hearkening back to the pre-war relationship between Union general Winfield Hancock (Brian Mallon) and Confederate General Lewis Armistead (Richard Jordan). Good friends before the war (almost brothers, as both describe the relationship) they now find themselves on opposite sides of this great battle, wanting to see each other because they are friends and yet not wanting to see each other as enemies. Tears well up in both as they speak to fellow officers about the relationship. A believable portrayal of how many Americans must have felt in this conflict which divided friends and families.

Most interesting of all, though, was the portrayal of General Joshua Chamberlain (by Jeff Daniels), the colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry. I was only vaguely familiar with Chamberlain when I first saw this movie, and was motivated by it to become more familiar with a truly fascinating individual. Hardly a classic soldier (he was a university professor of English and Religion back in Maine) Chamberlain displays a solid grasp of tactics, and comes across as the great Northern hero in this account of Gettysburg.

So, there are a lot of good things in this movie. Don't let the length of over four hours put you off. Although there are a few tedious scenes (such as the marching scene I described earlier) it's worth hanging in through them to get a very realistic and largely historically accurate picture of perhaps the greatest battle of the US Civil War.

6/10