Most war movies use battle as a backdrop to little human dramas.
We learn of the private lives of the soldiers, their loves and fears. Personalities are sketched, weaknesses revealed, rivalries established that will all be settled under fire. Then we get the action scenes. This is a film, pure and simple, about the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, about the strategies, calculations, mistakes and heroism that turned the tide of the Civil War decisively against the South. The movie is some four hours long and every minute is devoted to either battle itself, or the planning and preparation for battle.