| Gods and Generals | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Ronald F. Maxwell |
| Produced by | Moctesuma Esparza Robert Katz Ted Turner Mace Neufield Robert Rehme |
| Screenplay by | Ronald F. Maxwell |
| Based on | Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara |
| Starring | Jeff Daniels Stephen Lang Mira Sorvino Kevin Conway |
| Music by | John Frizzell Randy Edelman |
| Studio | Ted Turner Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 21, 2003 |
| Running time | 214 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $56,000,000 |
| Box office | $12,923,936 |
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American film based on the novel Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara. It depicts events that take place prior to those shown in the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Shaara's father, Michael. The film stars Stephen Lang as Stonewall Jackson, Jeff Daniels as Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and Robert Duvall as General Robert E. Lee.[1]
It was written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, who had previously written and directed Gettysburg in 1993. Media mogul Ted Turner provided the entire $65 million budget.
Contents |
The film centers mostly on the personal and professional life of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, the God-fearing and militarily brilliant yet acutely eccentric Confederate general, from the outbreak of the American Civil War until its halfway point when Jackson, while on a night ride with his staff to investigate the grounds of battle, is accidentally shot by his own soldiers in May 1863 while commanding at the Battle of Chancellorsville. It also follows Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Maine college professor who is appointed a Lieutenant Colonel and becomes second-in-command of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The film prominently features the Battles of 1st Bull Run (1st Manassas), Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. The film's original running time clocked in at nearly 6 hours (much like the original running time of Gettysburg). The longer version featured the Battle of Antietam or(Sharpsburg) as well as an entire plot following the American actor and future presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth and his colleague Henry Harrison (from Gettysburg).
The film opens with Robert E. Lee's resignation from the Union Army, accompanied by the perspectives of various politicians, teachers, and soldiers as the south secedes from the Union and both sides prepare for war. Jackson, who is a professor at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington at the outset of the war, leaves his family behind to do battle at the First Battle of Manassas. Jackson is asked by a retreating General Bernard Bee for assistance against the Federal army who is pursuing them after a brief stand on Matthews Hill. In rallying his shaken troops, Bee launches the name of Stonewall into history and the Confederates win the day at Henry Hill, Manassas, Virginia. Jackson maintains steadfast discipline in his ranks during the battle despite suffering a wound to his left hand from a spent ball.
Meanwhile, Chamberlain makes his transition from teacher to military officer and practices drilling his soldiers. He is called to battle at the Union invasion of Fredericksburg. The southern forces lead a fighting retreat as the Union army crosses the river and storms the town, and there are scenes of the subsequent looting of Fredricksburg by the Union Army. Outside the city, Lee, Longstreet and Jackson have prepared an elaborate defense on the heights outside the town, and the movie focuses on Confederate defenses behind a formidable stone wall. Several Union brigades attempt to cross an open field and attack the wall, but are thrown back with heavy losses. At one point, two Irish units are forced into battle against one another, to the anguish of a southern soldier who believes he is killing his kin. Chamberlain leads an unsuccessful attack against Jackson's defenses and finds his unit pinned down in the open field. He survives by shielding himself with a corpse until nightfall; eventually he and the surviving members of his unit are ordered to retreat. Chamberlain and the defeated Union soldiers depart Fredericksburg. Jackson and Lee return to the city, and Lee is confronted by an angry citizen whose house has been destroyed by the Union forces.
Jackson spends the winter at a local plantation, where he contracts a friendship with a little girl who live there. Later, Jackson discovers the child has died from scarlet fever and he begins to cry. A soldier asks why he weeps for his child but not for the thousands of dead soldiers, and another soldier states that Jackson is weeping for everyone. Jackson is soon reunited with his wife and newborn child just before the battle of Chancellorsville.
Outside Chancellorsville, Lee identifies that the southern army faces an opposing force almost twice their size. Jackson calls upon his chaplain, who knows the area, and asks him to find a route by which the southern forces can infiltrate in secret. Jackson then leads his forces in a surprise attack on an unprepared Union camp. Although his men initially rout the opponents, they quickly become confused in the melee and Jackson's attack is stalled. While scouting a path at night, Jackson is caught in the no-mans-land between the two sides and badly wounded. During his evacuation, his litter bearers are targeted by artillery and drop Jackson on the ground. He is then taken to a field hospital where his arm is amputated. Lee remarks that while Jackson has lost his left hand, Lee has lost his right. Jackson dies of pneumonia a short while later, using his last words to extol his wife and fellow officers to "Press on!" The film concludes with a scene showing Jackson's body being returned to Lexington, Virginia.
Ted Turner has a cameo in the film as Colonel Waller T. Patton. Colonel Patton, the great uncle of George S. Patton, was mortally wounded at Gettysburg, a scene depicted in the movie Gettysburg. United States Senators George Allen (R-Virginia) and Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) also have cameo roles, both playing Confederate officers, Phil Gramm (R-Texas) appears as a member of the Virginia Legislature early in the film and Congressman Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) also appeared as an Irish Brigade officer. Most of the extras were American Civil War reenactors, who provided their own equipment and worked without pay. In exchange, Ted Turner agreed to donate $500,000 to Civil War battlefield preservation.
The movie was filmed in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and in western Maryland. Actual historic locations in the film include Virginia Military Institute and Washington & Lee University, known as Washington College during the Civil War.
Russell Crowe was the original choice to play Stonewall Jackson, but scheduling conflicts prevented his availability in the summer and fall of 2001 when the movie was filmed. Stephen Lang had begun to reprise his role as George Pickett, but instead was asked to fill in the role of Jackson. Billy Campbell, who had played a 44th New York lieutenant in Gettysburg was called in to hastily replace Lang in the role of Pickett.[2] Although Tom Berenger desired to reprise his Gettysburg role as James Longstreet (which he called his favorite role) he was unavailable because of scheduling difficulties. Bruce Boxleitner was instead cast in the role. Darius N. Couch was portrayed by actor Carsten Norgaard. Martin Sheen was prevented from reprising his role as Lee due to contractual obligations to The West Wing.
The Director's Cut was released for Blu-ray Disc on May 24, 2011. It runs 280 minutes. For the theatrical release, almost two and a half hours of footage were removed to get the length down to approximately 3 hours, 39 minutes.
Among the footage edited includes a sub-plot which follows John Wilkes Booth, the famous actor who would eventually become the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. One scene towards the end of the extended cut of the film features Chamberlain and his wife, Fanny, attending a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which Booth plays Brutus. Chamberlain and his wife have a conversation with Booth and his fellow actors following the end of the play. Another scene cut from the film features a performance in Washington, D.C. in which Booth plays the role of Macbeth, which is being seen by President Lincoln. When he gives the famous "dagger of the mind" soliloquy, he looks directly at Lincoln while reciting it. Later, when Booth is offered the chance to meet with Lincoln, he refuses.
A sequence dealing with the Battle of Antietam was removed from the film. The battle was seen mostly from the perspectives of Jackson (who played a major strategic role in the battle) and Chamberlain (whose brigade was held in reserve). In the Director's Cut the entire sequence at Antietam is shown.
In 2003, the film score was composed by John Frizzell, with some minor contributions by Randy Edelman, who composed the score for the previous Gettysburg. The soundtrack is notable for containing a new song commissioned for the movie and written and performed by Bob Dylan, Cross the Green Mountain. The track was later included on the compilation album The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs.
Gods and Generals was a critical failure and received mainly negative reviews. The film currently holds an 8% critical approval rating from 119 reviews accumulated on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with only 3% of their "Top Critics" giving positive reviews. Generally complaints have been to address what viewers perceive as an overwhelmingly pro-Confederate point of view (a complaint critics such as Gene Siskel had with Gettysburg), its running time, and that it lacked proper character development, spending too much of its time recreating events of the Civil War instead of focusing on a concrete narrative.
Author Jeff Shaara was disappointed with the film and has said that the book is "enormously different, it’s radically different from the film. There are characters in the film that do not exist in the book, and a great many characters in the book that never made it to the film. It’s just an entirely different story, and I have to tell you, I’ve heard from literally thousands of people through my website ... and the overwhelming percentage of those that wrote me said, “How could you let them butcher your book like that?” I have no answer to that because I had no control or power to change what came up on the screen."[3]
Gods and Generals is a PC game centered around the American Civil War released in 2003. It was based on the book Gods and Generals and its subsequent film adaptation. It is a first person shooter and uses the Lithtech graphics engine, made popular by the more successful and critically acclaimed shooter No One Lives Forever. It too was a critical failure with very poor ratings.
|
||||||||||||||