Gettysburg (1993)

Gettysburg: Directed by Ron Maxwell. With Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Richard Jordan. In 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.

“A film that runs longer than u0026#39;Lawrence of Arabiau0026#39; and only covers three days of action sounds a long haul but it is not. As someone who is both British and interested rather than an expert on the Civil War I found u0026#39;Gettysburgu0026#39; very satisfying. The prologue makes the objectives of the two armies clear and the u0026#39;updatesu0026#39; in the form of dialogue between the commanders mean the viewer doesnu0026#39;t lose sight of the course of events. The battle scenes capture the u0026quot;terrible beautyu0026quot; of combat, conveying terror, claustrophobia and violence without being too horrific.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMore important, the film makes the most of the remarkably rich characters who took part. My only hope is that Col. Chamberlain was as intelligent, humane and courageous in life as Jeff Danielsu0026#39;s performance. This is just one example, and there are many men one would like to know more about as a result of seeing this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe one question I was left with came from Martin Sheenu0026#39;s portrayal of Lee. I know Lee had been unwell before the battle but Martin Sheen seems strangely remote from events, with a glazed look in his eye and high-pitched u0026#39;other worldlyu0026#39; voice. Is this fair and accurate? At least Lee has the moral courage to say u0026quot;Itu0026#39;s all my faultu0026quot; when he sees the result of Pickettu0026#39;s Charge. I donu0026#39;t remember Douglas Haig saying that after the first day on the Somme in 1916.”