Movie Review: Gettysburg

Gettysburg (1993, PG): ****

War movies have come a long way.  Narrowing that down to the war movies concerning the American Civil War, there are the two greats that always come to mind: Glory, and the later Gettysburg.  Both of them are very important historical pictures, even though I consider Gettysburg the higher achievement.  Gettysburg currently stands as the longest motion picture ever made, at somewhere in around four and a half hours should you include the ten-minute intermission.  With or without the immense running time, Gettysburg is a stunning film that touches the soul with its incredible cinematography, supreme music score and the vast, very well-done battle sequences that dominate the entire movie.  There's practically dead even screen time between the Union and the Confederacy, giving the best overview of the battle it could.  Now I must return to the battle scenes, which are very well-staged and look real.  It's a sight to look at for sure, especially the fight at Little Round Top and climatic Pickett's Charge on the third day of the battle where 15,000 Confederates charge the Union center line.  Gettysburg is an awesome experience, showing its utmost dedication to the real history of the actual battle, and when I first watched it, and all the many times since then, I felt that the real history was being replayed before me.  Directed by Ronald Maxwell.