An Epic Disappointment

Rating: 3/10 (19 January 2003)

Director Ronald Maxwell had a great opportunity to make a first rate film of the epochal battle of Gettysburg. First and foremost he had wonderful actors under his direction, particularly Richard Jordan and Jeff Daniels; superb source material in Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels"; superb camera work and a very high budget. Unfortunately the whole film disappointed me.
The screenplay is overladen with speech after speech after speech by each of the generals involved with the battle on either side. There is ironically very little tension and drama in the film. The music is overdone with a vengance, and it seems to sound the same. It is underlying just about every scene. It does get tedious after over four hours. In every scene we get the impression that the director is telling us 'this is great, this is memorable, what a sad thing to have happened, get on your knees and genuflect and reflect on the great tragedy.' I don't really mean to be sarcastic. The battle of Gettysburg was a great, tragic day for America. Its importance can't be overestimated. But director Maxwell keeps hitting us with this point over and over again that the message he was trying to convey gets lost in the morass. I visited the battlefields of Gettysburg myself, and it had an overwhelming impact on me. It was haunted with a sadness and loss that was both inexplicable yet very evident. There is almost none of that same feeling inherent in this film. It is watchable for the beautiful cinematography and the beautiful location scenery. Again, I want to single out the late Richard Jordan. He was remarkable. I suppose my ultimate judgement on "Gettysburg" is that it is a competent primer on the battle of Gettysburg, yet a disappointing, stilted drama.