Marred by melodrama.

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2004)

A very good film, good acting, very well executed. If you should make a war movie today, this is the way to go with character building and fighting scenes, not computer effects. My compliments to just about everyone involved.
Just one thing, it's this melodrama that present throughout the movie. It's general Hood losing his leg, it's Chamberlain losing his aide, it's Armistead whining about his union friends, it's the overacting when pointing out that the Maine regiment is the end of the line (I lost count at them saying they were the end of the line after 10 times), etc etc. Now many filmmakers seem to think that melodrama makes the viewers symphatize with the characters. But too much melodrama just makes me mad and hate the characters and wish they would pass on peacefully and most importantly quietly. And this film has enough melodrama for quite a few movies.
Two other funny things are the bands that seem to be playing everywhere, and that people seem to stand around in photogenic poses.