Gettysburg | | Cast : | Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen | | Director : | Ronald F. Maxwell | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, Dolby | | Released Date : | October 08, 1993 | | DVD Released Date : | June 07, 2005 | | Language : | French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | Gettysberg | Content
 | Turner production. well made awd fairly accurate. Good acting and good direction. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | Good teaching tool | Content
| While the ultra-purists may criticize this movie, many of the battle and camp scenes are excellent teaching tools for young people seeking to understand the realities of life in Civil War armies. And the artillery barrage that preceded Pickett's charge isn't duplicated anywhere else on film. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 24, 2005 | | Summary | Must have Civil War DVD | Content
| This is one of my "all time" favorites in my collection of Civil War movies.
Due to the late date, I am submitting my review, I will be brief but will say that this is a "serious addition" to any collection. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 15, 2005 | | Summary | Great movie, waiting for commercial release of extended play version | Content
| As much as I enjoy this movie, I enjoyed it that much more when I saw the extended play version of the movie on Turner Classic Movies this past weekend (9 July 2005). Does anyone know if this version (dvd, extended play (17 extra minutes), widescreen) available commercially? |
| Rating | | | Date | July 11, 2005 | | Summary | A treat for history buffs | Content
| Enjoyable movie for history buffs that reenacts the famous battle.
Great reenactments, especially of the artillery duels. I don't think I've ever seen so many Napoleons in action before in a Civil War movie.
The movie gives long overdue credit to Buford and Longstreet. Buford for holding back the Confederates long enough for Reynolds to come up and Longstreet for realizing the slow train-wreck for the South but being powerless to stop it.
A big plus in the movie is the terrain itself. It's a treat to see that it was filmed on the exact spot of the battle.
Tom Berenger plays a great Longstreet, who comes across as the voice of caution against Lee's overconfidence in attacking Meade on higher ground. Berenger could have easily over-acted it, but didn't. I suspect this movie won't go well for the Lee enthusiasts who won't admit that he could have made mistakes and have been blaming Longstreet since the war. In this movie however, you can see more and more Longstreet's objections to Lee's plans for Day 3 ring true.
Pickett's charge down the center on Day 3 is the climax of the movie and was well done. Lee was a hell of general, but he must of mistakenly thought this was another Austerlitz (trick the enemy to strengthen his flanks and then split his force at the center). In the movie, his motivations are to end the war quickly by attacking the enemy on their ground, proving to the enemy they can't win. An interesting approach but .....you can't help but shake your head at the climax of the movie as you get to see how over 7,000 men can be lost in 30 minutes. Non-mechanized Infantry to do a frontal assault over a mile of open ground while the enemy is dug in, out-numbers you and commands the high ground? A recipe for disaster, as the movie shows.
Chamberlain's crazy bayonet charge on Day 2 that saved the day on the left flank was staged well. You can see the wheels turning as Chamberlain thinks desperately on what to do when his Regiment runs out of ammunition. You can see how difficult it was to not only go up that damn hill but charge down it as well. The actual bayonet charge probably was not smooth, and indeed the re-enactors had to go around trees and bodies as they charged the Confederates.
Some parts of the battle were overlooked as well as Lee's retreat over the next 2 weeks. Not a peep about Sickle's controversial move to the Peach Orchard, Meade not attacking during the retreat or the Gettysburg address by Lincoln.
Some of the dialog was a little cheesy but nevertheless, this is a long movie, and the film makers have done an admirable job. |
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