Gettysburg

I have owned and watched FOUR different video versions of Gettysburg.The first was the 12-inch laserdisc version that was surprisingly well made. It was the theater-length release, at 254 minutes, and for me, a Civil War buff, watching it was almost like a religious experience. (I had a similar epiphany when I watched the Ken Burns Civil War documentary some time before, now available as a DVD.)The second was the “director’s cut” boxed-set laserdisc, that came with a nice book about the movie and about the battle itself. This second version, 17 minutes longer than the previous release, extended some scenes and added a few new ones, at least one of which added some dramatic depth to the movie. While I believe that the early disc was audio encoded in basic Dolby Surround (I am stretching my memory here), the second was done in DTS, which is also how the original was presented in movie theaters.The problem with this 271-minute boxed set was that the video and audio (the DTS audio technology notwithstanding) were both inferior to that of the earlier disc. The video was excessively dark and off color in some scenes and, worse, the audio lost much of its impact, particularly the sections that involved canon and musket salvos. The canon salvos lacked the low-end reach and even the sequences with musket fire seemed to be dynamically compressed. The team responsible for the reissue may have assumed that the sonic impact of the canons and muskets we had with the earlier disc would be too much for most TV speaker systems, or even outboard audio systems that had anemic subwoofers. They did not want set owners to rage about destroyed speakers.The third release was a DVD, and it improved somewhat on the second laserdisc. However, even it seemed to lack the impact of the first disc. Worse, the length was dialed back to 254 minutes - an artistic blunder. The disc, being an early DVD, also had the program split between two sides, and in spite of the extra surface space the disc seemed to have some tracking problems with some players (both of mine, for example). I have read elsewhere that this was not unusual, and so I ended up ordering a fourth version from Amazon.This one was a blu-ray item - and included a second disc that included three featurettes on the making of the movie, plus a booklet built into the disc holder that offered up some historical information, as well as information about the main actors. The movie disc itself has running commentary options by historians James McPherson and Craig Symonds. A nice, tidy item, this set.Best of all, this fourth version combined the best technical aspects of the previous ones into a terrific visual and DTS-audio package. Indeed, the canon and musket cacophonies were now more emphatic than ever. I have watched a lot of action movies over the years, and while the individual canon thuds were no more powerful than many other explosions I have experienced with various dynamic action movies on my AV system, the combined impact of dozens of thuds piled on in close succession was in a class by itself. I am convinced that many subwoofer systems (or woofers on AV rigs that do not use subwoofers) would be damaged beyond practical use if the volume were played loud enough for the dialog throughout the rest of the movie to be properly audible. Technically, this is a stupendous, demo-grade blu-ray disc that demands a “serious” audio playback rig.It is also a stupendous story. The actors were very well chosen for their roles, with all of the principles doing standout work. There have been criticisms of Sheen as general Lee, but I do not agree. Perhaps someone like Jason Robards might have been better (Robards looked more like Lee than Sheen, which is what my southern-born wife thinks), but Robards was 70 at the time the movie was made and Lee was in his middle fifties, the same age as Sheen was when he played the part.Anyway, Sheen played Lee the way I see Lee. Some (major fans of Lee, we can be sure) have criticized how Sheen made Lee seem almost deluded when rationalizing the potential effectiveness of the charge on the third day. However, to my way of thinking Lee almost had to be deluded and over-optimistic about what his army could do. He had to be so to think that Pickett’s 15,000 men could traverse a mile of open space while under fire from every gun on the Union line within range. General Longstreet, as played by Tom Berenger, was the only fully rational and aware Confederate with authority involved during the battle. Longstreet wanted to have the army shift position to better ground and fight a defensive battle, but unfortunately he could not get Lee, who was looking for a fight, to make that move and did not have enough authority to veto the charge.Regarding that charge, the movie was done before the kind of CGI abilities we have these days, so the men involved with the movie version were real men - Civil War re-enactors who had the chance of a lifetime to do a large scale presentation. There were not as many as in the original charge (perhaps only a third as many), but judicious and skillful camera usage allowed for a scene that is unforgettable. Incidentally, Ted Turner, who helped finance the movie, had a small and brief part in the move that those with sharp eyes will spot pretty quickly. Documentarian Ken Burns also had a small, and equally brief part.Anyway, the movie is terrific. It probably would be a good idea for those not apprised of just what transpired during those three days to read an internet summary or two (or maybe even a book about the war in general) in order to get an idea of what was going on. The movie covers only parts of the overall encounter (even though those parts presented were manifestly important), and a bit of background should make the viewing more meaningful than ever. I also suggest that a viewing of the Ken Burns documentary on the whole war would be a rewarding experience.

I saw Gettysburg for first time about 8 years ago on a rental DVD, bought it, and have watched it several times since then!! I would say Gettysburg and Casablanca and High Noon are my 3 favorite movies! I love history, and love to read about the Civil War, I particularly have enjoyed reading several books on Ulysses Grant.(amazing figure, to come from working in his father's tanning shop, to becoming such a great general that Lincoln would say, "I have a general!" after the ones before had been rather duds! I was pretty much blown away by this movie. Jeff Daniels blew me away, from near the start when he talks to the mutineers, the movie had me. The parts I was most moved by and just stunned by were when Richard Jordan (Gen. Armistead) talks to Tom Berenger (Gen Longstreet) about the possibility that he may face in some battle his good friend (from those days in California just before war broke out) union General Hancock, (Longstreet tells him Hancock is here at Gettysburg!) unbelievable acting by Jordan, just stunning and so sad--he knows he will probably die and gives Longstreet some papers to give to Hancock's wife in case he, Armistead, dies. Then Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Chamberlain should have been given the Oscar!! (was he even nominated?) His Battle of the Little Round Top is my next favorite part of the movie, probably close to 30 minutes long. As another reviewer points out here (on 4/10/2000 "A very good civil war movie") historians view "this small unit action" (by the part of the 20th Maine) to be one of the defining moments of history--I would think they probably mean world history, as I guess historians feel if Little Round Top was lost, Gettysburg would have been lost, the South would have won the war, and American history would be very different--this great experiment in democracy failed!!! Jeff Daniels is just stunning as he realizes there is nothing left to do ("if we stay here we can't fight --(they have run out of bullets) and we leave they will run over us and the whole hill will be lost " (to paraphrase what he said) and thus the battle will be lost, the war will be lost, and the country will be lost. So the only thing they can do is to take the desperate measure of drawing their sabers and charging. It is just stunning to see the faces of his men as he is telling them this, his Major Ellis Spears asking , "You mean charge?" and the men are stunned, but Chamberlain says, "Well, we'll have the advantage as we are going downhill." I just feel the whole Little Round Top 30 minute sequence is some of the best movie making ever!! The music, Jeff's talking to his men, the camera work and the music as he moves up and down his line of men. When he yells, "Bayonets!" he looks absolutely crazed, I love that either the director or Jeff felt he should look crazed as he yells at the top of his lungs so all can hear him, I mean it is almost ludicrous how crazy he looks--his eyes bulge out-- when he yells "Bayonets" but I think it was neat that he did this, he is trying to yell as loud as he can, and at this point who wouldn't be crazed--you may die in a few seconds, your brother may die, and your dear friends and fellow soldiers may die!!! And when Major Ellis yells charge and then Chamberlain yells charge and down the hill they go--into history--well, unbelievable movie making and gorgeous music!! The last part I love, but no one here I think has commented about, is the absolutely poignant 2 scenes with Gen Longstreet (Berenger) and his artillery commander, the 28 year old Col Porter Alexander played by the English/American actor James Patrick Stuart (who I see is in the TV show Supernatural--which I have never watched but am going to! to see his movie and TV credits just google him). The first scene, Longstreet is talking to Alexander about making sure he fires enough artillery to clear the Union cannons off Cemetary Ridge before Pickett can move, and then a short while later, the 2nd scene is utterly poignant: Alexander tells him that they had to move the remaining ammunition further to the rear so union cannons wouldn't destroy it, and Longstreet is frustrated as there are still too many union cannons firing; their conversation you might not get the first time, I didn't, because they are practically yelling at each other to be heard, it is noisy, but then watching it again, I listened better, and understood better what they were saying; Longstreet ends by telling him (paraphrasing) "Just keep firing, we have got to clear those cannons off that ridge!!" They salute each other, and Alexander kind of lets his hand fall from his salute in a hesitant, defeated way, as Longstreet turns and leaves; and Alexander then takes off his hat in the most dejected, sad, and poignant manner you can imagine! As he does this and turns and pauses with his hat on his chest for a second, it looks like a painting, young 28 year old Col Alexander is so handsome with his dark hair and beard and mustache, in his beautiful artillery commander long coat gray uniform with red accents (!!). I was just blown away by this! What acting!!! I have the 2000 issued DVD and the 2 scenes with Longstreet and Porter are on side B (yes the 4 hour plus DVD has 2 sides!) and these Longstreet/Porter scenes are scene #10 and the end of scene #16 (this is the sad, poignant one). The Little Round Top segment is on side A, and runs from scene 28 - scene 35 !! Just want to say also, as someone else mentioned here, that 60's TV actor Andrew Prine is wonderful, so good as Confederate Gen. Garnett--practically zombie like, but I thought totally believable as he is about to take part in Picketts charge, and the way he acts and what he says, it is like, this is the day, it is inevitable that this could be the day he will die!! I thought of all the generals, north or south, he was the best of the actors who played the generals even though his was a very small part, he and Stephen Lang as Pickett, and of course Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain; also very good as Chamberlain's younger brother Tom is C.Thomas Howell, so good looking and earnest--too bad Thomas Howell hasn't had a more prominent career as an actor. He was wonderful! And the ending of the movie is so poignant (yes, I use this word a lot but it seems appropriate for this movie about one of the most tragic periods in American history), at the very end as the smoke from the battle is still in the air in a beautiful sunset on the last day of the Gettysburg battle, Lawrence and Tom find each other, and look at each other in absolute sadness but also utter disbelief that they have both survived this battle, and then just embrace for a long time, and then look again at each other again, and then Tom's shoulders just go down just as the beautiful music just goes goes "downward" in a beat, just so touching and sad!! I am just a crazed older woman who loves reading, reading about history and momentous events, and I just love this movie!! Can you tell??!! PLEASE SEE IT, HISTORY BUFFS, AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!!