This is how We Became who We Are

Rating: Null/10 (27 January 2001)

Based on "The Killer Angels" by the late Michael Shaara, "Gettysburg" gets so many things right that it can be pardoned for its faults.
The novel and the movie stand virtually alone in crediting Gen. John Buford in choosing and preserving the ground on which the Union army would fight this critical battle -- a strategic choice which may have dictated the battle's outcome. The film also effectively makes the point that Longstreet and Hood BEGGED Lee to allow them to sideslip right and attack the Union flank, bypassing the Round Tops. Having accurately dealt with these two critical themes, the film accomplishes more than military historians can expect of most historical movies.
But "Gettysburg" succeeds as a movie because of the people who populate this story, and the actors who play them.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of the authentic heroes of the Civil War. His action in holding Little Round Top can be classed with Thermopolae, Cannae, Waterloo, and the Normandy invasion for historical significance. Jeff Daniels is perfectly cast as a college professor-turned-soldier, who recognizes the importance of the role into which he has been thrust, and inspires his men to help change the world.
Tom Berenger is terrific as an anguished Gen. Longstreet, who knows the revered Robert E. Lee is making a monumental blunder, but is powerless to affect the resulting slaughter he foresees so clearly. Sam Elliot may have been born to play the role of the tragic Gen. Buford, robbed by history of the credit he deserves, and dying of pneumonia within months of this battle. And Richard Jordan embodies the brother-against-brother nature of this conflict with his sterling portrayal of Gen. Lewis Armistead, who was killed while attacking troops commanded by his best friend. Seldom has the waste, frustration, and personal anguish of war been as well-portrayed as it is in this film.
This film can be justly criticized for its length, for the wooden portrayals by Sheen and others, and for taking some dramatic license with people and events. But it is simply the best depiction ever filmed of a significant event in American history. For all its flaws, it is must-see material for anyone who wants to understand why Americans are what we are.