riveting

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 1998)

Four stars, a masterpiece, well done from start to finnish. An honest, inspiring account of the greatest and most important battle in American history. While movies like The Deer Hunter and Saving Private Ryan are excellent in their own way, it's refreshing to watch a war movie that's message doesn't try to go beyond the spectrum of the battle itself. What really makes the movie brilliant is Randy Edelman's (Last of the Mohicans) score and the performances by an excellent cast. In particular were the Chamberlain brothers, played by C. Thomas Howell (what happened to that guy) and Jeff Daniels in perhaps the decade's most powerful performance. Daniels' range of performances (Dumb and Dumber to Gettysburg) is unparalled in both the characters he plays and the spectacular job he does every time.