Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2005)

This film is ostensibly based on the great novel "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara. While the history matches, most of the original dialogue made me cringe.
According to this politically correct film, most Confederate generals were angry religious kooks who were stupid enough that they could have invaded Pennsylvania only through some bizarre accident. Meanwhile, the Good Guys in Blue Coats(TM) all fought for Tolerance and Enlightenment(TM)! If the filmmakers had discarded the weaker speeches and lame dialogue, "Gettysburg" would be about two hours long, by my estimate.
On the plus side, Jeff Daniels shines as a realistic Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. The film is not the gratuitous gore-fest it would have been with many directors, and the battle scenes are cinematically well-shot.
For a better Civil War film, see "Gods and Generals," which is a prequel of sorts to this one. It is based on the novel of the same name by Jeff Shaara, Michael's son, and remains mostly true to the spirit of the Shaara novels.