Revisiting Gettysburg

Rating: Null/10 (15 November 2003)

I saw this film on the heals of having visited Gettysburg. I have to confess that I was a little disappointed. Some of the more dramatic elements of the battle that the tour guides play up are not exactly presented here like they could be. Also, unless you know something about the battle and how it unfolded it is sometimes hard to follow.

I am sorry that Richard Jordan is gone though this is a great performance for his final curtain call. He and Jeff Daniels are about the only ones who deliver a performance that has some real depth to it. I also wonder what was up with all the well known actors popping in for about five minutes. It was hardly worth Richard Anderson's time to come in just to deliver that already tired line about "good ground". What the heck does that mean any way?
Kudos to Maxwell and his team on the battle sequences. They were pretty impressive.
If you get the DVD the extras are worth checking out, particularly a great old documentary on the battle. If you don't know anything about the battle watch that before watching the movie.