Can a German director capture the true nature of the American Civil War ?

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2000)

Apparently he can, for I really enjoyed this movie. OK I am not American, but that is probably why I just thought this movie is good (otherwise I would have thought it was great or excellent). You see, this film is the same as every other war movie that was made: It appeals most to the people whose history it is. For me it was like that with Saving Private Ryan (thought it was good (nothing more) cause it was not my battle')). Other feeling I have had though with Stalingrad, Das Boot and also (but less) with Die Brücke. I really liked those movies, because it shows the history of my people in World War II and I can imagine that as an American you think Saving Private Ryan was the best war movies ever made. But for me, the best American war movie ever made is Platoon. To get back to this one, this one is really good and I despise all of you who did not go and see it at the theater, and went to other idiotic films instead (like Mission to Mars or the recently released Little Nicky). You could have spent your money better.

By now you are probably wondering what was so good about this movie. Well here it comes, there were great war scenes, good emotional scenes, good directing, good music, good acting, funny parts, there were no slow or boring parts plus it was different than other war movies made recently (since Saving Private Ryan). What do I mean by that you wonder, well to understand that you have to acknowledge that this war was very different from World War II in it's whole setup. Here there were ideals involved in which men strongly believed and thought these beliefs were worth fighting for, so they enlisted in the army out of free will (almost all of them). In World War II it was just about to eliminate a threat, which was not direct to most Americans, seeing as the battle was not fought in their own backyard. It is the origin of the War that makes it so different, the whole history behind it and the motives of the people to either be on one side or the other.

The film itself has great scenes in it, my favorite ones are when Mel Gibson Rides off to leave his family for the second time, the two cannonball scenes and the ghost scene. Those scenes were great. The rest was all good, except for a few predictable / unrealistic ones at the end and that revenge scene. But after seeing such a good film, who cares about those minor mistakes'? This is no Braveheart but it still is good. I thank Mel Gibson, Roland Emmerich (for making a great comeback after Godzilla) and of course John Williams.

For the American viewer: MUST SEE

For the non  American viewer: Recommended

8 out of 10 (a non  American viewer)