In many ways, Gods and Generals was a necessary picture. It’s a prequel to the 1993 movie Gettysburg, which I think was the greatest Civil War film ever made. It’s based off of the book by Jeff Shaara, son of author Michael Shaara. However, Gods and Generals is hardly a versatile or even moving motion picture.
Unlike Gettysburg, which had an equal balance of screen time between the Union and the Confederacy, Gods and Generals is rather pro-Confederate, and centers mostly on General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. It only offers a few looks at other real life characters, again unlike Gettysburg which had equal-viewpoints from most of the characters. The setting of the movie is the American Civil War from 1861-1863. In other words, it features the prominent Civil War battles before Gettysburg, with the notable exception of the Battle of Antietam (which the Union won). The other main battles featured are: the 1st Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville (all of which the Confederacy won). The movie concludes with the death and funeral of Jackson, who was accidently shot by his own men.
Gods and Generals is not near to matching up the notable accomplishment that Gettysburg was. The same actors (although Robert Duvall replaces Martin Sheen) are here, the same director, the same production team, and Gods and Generals all gives the same noble effort, but the results do not come out in any outstanding way.
The major boost to the film’s overall quality is the once again well choreographed battle sequences, with thousands of men charging into the heat of battle across an open, batter field, and getting massacred under musket and cannon fire. The battle scenes are all very realistic and entertaining.
Stephen Lang stars as the hero of the movie, ‘Stonewall’ Jackson (he played as General Pickett in Gettysburg). Too much time is spent on Jackson, and the movie failed to even it out in terms of character development.
I would not call Gods and Generals a boring or uninteresting film, which is the primary form of criticism it received. But it does not show the conflicting human emotions due to the horrors of war. At times, the movie gets too elongated, and when it’s supposed to become emotional, it doesn’t.
This is not a movie that well appeal to most audiences. Like Gettysburg, which again I will state was an astonishing movie; Gods and Generals was a big box-office failure. I can see why. There are few movies that you will want to sit down for more than three hours for (the Lord of the Rings is an exception), and this is just like that. I wouldn’t mind sitting through this on my TV, but sitting through it in the theater would make me exhausted.
I will state, again, that the battle scenes are very well done, immense and real looking.
** ½/5
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