There are war movies, and there are movies that are really about war. The likes of the Rambo series, and the abominable propaganda Hollywood put out during World War II, certainly belong in the first category. Gettysburg definitely fits in the second. It not only tries to impart a sense of the experience and horror of combat — a high-minded but almost trite ideal — it attempts to give the viewer a perspective on the strategies and tactics of the battle. Aided by location filming on and around the Gettysburg battlefield, and the participation of hundreds of historical reenactors, it largely succeeds. There are some failings, but where history falls short, it is because of dramatic errors. GETTYSBURG is a long movie, at over four and a half hours. Actually, it is roughly divided into three sections, each dealing with one stage of the battle. The first concerns the prelude to the clash, and the first day's combat. The second concentrates on the defense of Little Round Top on July 2, and the third vividly portrays Pickett's Charge on the third day. From the beginning, one of the film's strongest attributes is its examination of the leaders' decision making. On the July 1, there is a sharp contrast between Union General John C. Buford and the Confederate Henry Heth. As played by Sam Elliot, Buford is a thoughtful tactician, who deliberately sets out to delay the Confederate vanguard until infantry reinforcements could occupy the high ground to the rear. Heth is a different story. Despite Robert E. Lee's clear orders for the Confederates to mass before attacking, Heth stumbles into combat with little or no planning. Losing all control of events, he lamely confesses to Lee later in the day that his attack was dictated by the fact that his men "had their dander up." The second part of the film, on the 20th Maine at Little Round Top, is the best. As Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Jeff Daniels plays his character as superb officer, one who leads not with threats or bombastic antics, but with a natural, humane honesty. As a tactician, his thought processes are clearly visible to the audience; when the circumstances make retreat impossible and defense untenable, Chamberlain orders a bayonet charge, which Daniels makes look eminently reasonable. The movie bogs down appreciably after the action on the hill. In the night hours, Confederate generals amiably argue politics and Darwin. As Lewis Armistead, Richard Jordan dwells on the tragedy of an upcoming fight against his best friend, Union General Winfield Scott Hancock. One of the lasting images of the Civil War is of brothers fighting brothers, and in GETTYSBURG Armistead and Hancock are brothers more than even blood would allow. However, the movie does agonize over this to excess, maybe even tedium. If the section on Little Round Top excels for its tension and drama, the one on Pickett's Charge does so for sheer visual impact. The spectacle of massed troops advancing across that deadly open ground was breathtaking on the big screen, and remains memorable on the little one. This is not diminished by the sense that this is a Greek tragedy written in blood, the blood of thousands of soldiers who marched to a slaughter whose futility was preordained. The acting is GETTYSBURG is excellent at times. Daniels is superb, and Elliot also stands out. Tom Berenger rises to the occasion as James Longstreet, tying together the threads from the Confederate perspective. In a supporting role as Chamberlain's brother, C. Thomas Howell is another actor commanding special notice. The one star whose presence is inexplicable is Martin Sheen, as Robert E. Lee. In his hands, Lee is a tired, old man, sleepwalking his way through the movie. As a tactician, Sheen's Lee is downright delusional, his vanity reinforced by stubbornness. Little is seen of Lee the leader, and almost nothing of the generalship that stymied the North time and time again. True, Gettysburg was Lee's weakest battle and greatest failure, but the exhausted weakness of the character is an injustice to history. GETTYSBURG shows all ranks of the Army of Northern Virginia virtually worshipping him, then makes it all look like a mistake. Ultimately, the choice of Sheen is almost inexplicable. One wonders at the potential of having a more forceful presence — say, Tommy Lee Jones — play this legend. Sheen's skewed portrayal of Lee does not ruin the movie. However, the character does have a heavier dramatic burden, as most of the other senior leaders on both sides are little more than ciphers. George Meade, for example, makes one appearance, leaving the impression that Hancock and John Reynolds really ran the Army of the Potomac. Much has been written as well about the standards of makeup in the film. It is hard to believe that, in an age when Jurassic Park can have perfectly believable dinosaurs, no one in GETTYSBURG's makeup department could fashion a decent beard. Actually, with each successive viewing, the bad facial hair gets progressively more distracting. On a more substantive level, the focus of the movie works from a dramatic perspective, but can also mislead. Gettysburg was the largest battle ever fought on American soil, and so any film that tried to cover everything would be long enough to make this look like a short subject. It is far better that it work to cover a handful of areas well, than to give a superficial nod to everything and everybody. Yet some matters could have been made more clear, in the interests of entertainment as well as history. For example, when the Union line finally shatters on July 1, it is unclear that is was the infantry of XI Corps that ran, not Reynolds' corps, or the dismounted cavalry led by Buford. The movie gives that general a heroic persona, then somewhat undermines him and his troopers with this omission. Other important actions and places get only passing mention. Ewell's failure to capture Culp's Hill is skewered early on, then this critical, contested objective is forgotten. On the second day, there is no mention at all of Sickles, or his ill-advised decision to deploy forward into the Wheat Field and Peach Orchard. When the Confederates overrun them, and Devil's Den, it is just a means of getting at the 20th Maine. Although it is not perfect, GETTYSBURG is essential viewing. It is fascinating to see a battle recreated this accurately, at least in limited slices, on much of the actual ground over which the fighting took place. For someone who has visited the site and looked it over with an historically attuned eye, it is a grand and compelling overlay to one's own memories. Back to Cry Havoc #10 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com