The turning point of the Civil War

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2019)

Anything you ever wanted to know about the battle of Gettysburg will be here in
this 4 1/2 hour film. The turning point of the Civil War, Gettysburg stopped a
series of victories won by Robert E. Lee. Had Lee won at Gettysburg he had nothing to stop him had he chosen to march north, east or west. It probably
would have meant a negotiated peace and two nations.
It should be emphasized that Gettysburg is not a film concerning a defense of
slavery. It is about a lot of brave men who met outside a Pennsylvania town on
both sides. Some of the scenes between battle scenes show the commanders
on both sides talking about their relationships with folks on the other side
before the war. That the struggle tore people apart is well documented here.
People fought people who were friends before 1861 and geography tore them
apart.
No computer graphics here. A cast of thousands, movie making on the scale
that Cecil B. DeMille used to practice. The repelling of the Confederate advance off Little Round Top and Pickett's charge are particularly well staged.
My favorite scene is the anguish of Robert E. Lee played by Martin Sheen when
JEB Stuart finally reports. Stuart's cavalry which was indispensable to Lee
went off God knows where and Lee lacked vital intelligence. Sheen really dresses Joseph Fuqua as Stuart down, but then says you're still one of the best
I have.
The battle was not planned at all. Advance troops of Lee's moved into Union
territory in southern Pennsylvania hearing of a shoe factory where Lee could
commandeer footwear for his troops, some of them marching barefoot. Advance Union troops engaged and more troops poured in from both sides.
The battle just grew from a skirmish to an epic.
The Confederates get more time than the Yanks. But on the Yankee side
attention should be paid to Richard Anderson as Union commander George
Meade and Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain and Brian Mallon as Winfield
Scott Hancock. Tom Berenger has a big role he makes the most of as General
James Longstreet, probably Lee's most valuable corps commander.
Like Birth Of A Nation, Gettysburg is some living history and makes great use
of some of the still photographs of the era. It is required viewing for Civil War
buffs.