gods & generals

[Dufrdan]

Here's a Baptist "take" on it --

REVIEW: 'Gods and Generals,' a faith-filled epic
By: Ted Baehr

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HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (BP)--Rarely does a big-budget Hollywood movie come along
that reflects history and the Christian faith of the protagonists in an
historical event accurately and faithfully.

"Gods and Generals," based on the best-selling book by Jeff Shaara, is such a
movie. It tells the powerful story of the most important event in the history
of the United States in an accurate and faith-honoring way.
There has never been an historic event which influenced the American people
as much as the Civil War, or the War Between the States or the War of
Northern Aggression, depending on your point of view. This tragic and yet
heroic event pitted brother against brother on an immense and tragic scale.

Ron Maxwell, the renowned director of the critically acclaimed epic movie
"Gettysburg," wrote and directed Gods and Generals. His new movie, which
opens nationwide Feb. 21, accurately portrays the history of the war, the
human characters and the faith of the key players, up through the death of
Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Because the book is so vast, the movie
focuses on General Jackson, with Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Gen.
Robert E. Lee featured as dictated by history and by the arc of the movie's
storyline.

Gods and Generals is the prequel to "The Killer Angels," the novel on which
the movie Gettysburg was based. Jeff Shaara (son of Michael Shaara, author of
The Killer Angels) wrote the prequel. Using his own script of Jeff's book,
Ron Maxwell filmed Gods and Generals in and around Sharpsburg, Md., the site
of the Antietam Battlefield, and on actual historic locations in Virginia and
West Virginia. Many of the actors from the movie Gettysburg reprise their
roles in the new movie, which also features the new characters Stonewall
Jackson, Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, Myra Hancock, Mary Custis Lee and Fanny
Chamberlain.

>From the Battle of Fredericksburg to the Battle of Chancellorsville, when
Jackson is mortally wounded by his own men, Gods and Generals paints a
brilliant portrait of the lives of these great leaders during the tumultuous
years leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg. It is a magnificent epic about
the Civil War, historically accurate in nearly every respect, yet powerfully
entertaining and emotive. Everybody in the screening audience of industry
professionals was moved to tears at points and swept along by the power of
the presentation by Ron Maxwell and his team.

Gods and Generals opens with a quote by George Eliot about the importance of
a sense of place. It is on the eve of the War Between the States. General
Lee, played superbly by Robert Duvall, is asked by U.S. Secretary Blair to
take command of the United States Army to put down the rebellion. Lee points
out that his house is just across the Potomac. He will not lead troops to
invade his home state. Very soon thereafter, Lee is summoned before the
Virginia legislature and called to command the armies of Virginia, to defend
against the invading troops from the north.
Col. Thomas Jackson is called up to recruit troops from western Virginia
while teaching at Virginia Military Institute. He leads them to the battle of
Manassas. There, he stands, and so do his troops, like a stone wall, thus
acquiring his name. The movie traces his career from the classroom through
his significant victories against overwhelming troops to his untimely death.
In the process, it also features Joshua Chamberlain preparing his troops in
Maine and General Lee leading the Confederate Army.
Gods and Generals is vast and grand in its scope. This movie has a powerful
unity which brings history magnificently alive.

The most amazing part of Gods and Generals is its recognition of the deep
spiritual values of those involved in the Civil War. Prayers are sincere and
heartfelt. References to Scripture are constantly invoked. Jackson tells his
orderly to write his reports based on the format he can find in the Bible. He
says those are the best battle reports ever. The characters often lift up the
name of Jesus Christ. A constant refrain throughout the movie is that God's
will be done.

War is not pleasant in this movie, and it would be impossible not to weep for
those caught in this conflagration. One of the most poignant moments is the
Irish troops from the North fighting the Irish from the southern states, many
of whom came over on the same boats when they fled the Irish famine. At the
end of the killing, the Irish fighting for the South cheer for their
brothers, who are fighting for the Union and who exhibited such valor against
all odds.
Gods and Generals does not whitewash the evils of slavery or of mercantilism.
It exposes human passions, and reveals compassion and kindness in the worst
of situations. The strength of character of the women and the children is
phenomenal.

The Washington Post reporter who visited the set of the movie last year
commented that he had never seen such a powerful love scene as Jackson
praying with his wife. The religious fervor of Jackson and Lee in the movie
is a commentary on the war fervor of the South in general. How could one
fight to dissolve the Union without asking God to be on one's side?
Gods and Generals is a monument of filmmaking which will be remembered as
long as there are devices to watch such a superb historical epic.

If you have seen Gettysburg, then you must see Gods and Generals. If you have
not (or even if you have), go see Gods and Generals first, then immediately
rent, buy and watch Gettysburg. You will be rewarded immeasurably.

Ted Baehr is chief executive officer of the Christian Film and Television
Commission. (Intended audience for Gods and Generals: Adults and teenagers.
The movie's content includes strong Christian worldview with powerful moral
moments and profound moral resolutions including a baptism, numerous prayers
and many invocations of God's grace; less than 10 very light obscenities,
many rebuked, and 5 exclamations to God; wartime violence in Civil War
setting complete with blood and body parts but much milder than many
contemporary war movies; two bedroom scenes of married couple with no sexual
activity displayed; upper male nudity, very brief, in naturalistic situation;
alcohol use as an anesthetic and other anesthetic uses; narcotic as an
anesthetic and smoking; and, nothing else objectionable.)

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[Barb1957]

"upper male nudity" ? Does that even count? LOL

[marc]

I'm still trying to find the time to see it.  Right now, setting aside a six-hour block (four hours plus travel time) is nearly impossible.

[jarschqua]

i've heard it has an intermission... is it true, do you know?

[david johnson]

folks:

i saw g&g yesterday.  it had lots of action, but moved slowly overall.  g'burg is better paced, but it covers only a few days while g&g tries a few years.
i didn't remember the book focusing on stonewall jackson as much as the movie did.  the best cinematic moment for me was jackson's attack at chancellorsville - gradual but quickening pace, spooky music....
i wish -
chamberlain, longstreet, lee had more lines and the music (pretty) was a bit more exciting.
favorite bit character (same as in g'burg)- artillerist edward porter alexander.
i you have an interest in the war between the states, you will like the show, but it is a bit slow.

dj

[janine]

Thanks, Dufrdan.

[admin]

I have been wanting to see this movie. My brother, dad, and father-in-law want to see it too. I guess we will just have to have a guys night out sometime to go see it. That will probably be when my brother gets back from Navy basic training.  :(

Lee

[Son of a Preacher Man]

I gotta go with Marc here.  Four hours is a LONG time without a "pause" button.  I think I'm gonna have to wait for video on this one.  [I don't lose much by waiting because I have digital sound and widescreen at home.]  But, wife really wants to see it as she's a history teacher...

but she'd rather watch Chicago[/i]first.  (go figure)

[Son of a Preacher Man]

[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote (jarschqua @ Mar. 17 2003,1:09)[/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]i've heard it has an intermission... is it true, do you know?[/quote]
G&G?  Don't know, but it sure should at that length.  Let me check it out on the net.

[marc]

It all may depend. . . I mean, when I saw Wyatt Earp in the theater, it had two intermissions.

Well, at least it did for me.  I don't think they paused the movie, though. :alien: