Cast

Confederates
Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee
Tom Berenger as General James Longstreet
Richard Jordan as General Armistead
Royce D. Applegate as General Kemper
Stephen Lang as General Pickett
Patrick Gorman as General Hood
Andrew Prine as General Garnett
Bo Brinkman as Major Taylor
Kieran Mulrony as Major Sorrel
Patrick Stuart as Colonel Alexander
Tim Ruddy as Major Mashall
Ian Kane as Captain Goree
Warren Burton as General Heth
MacIntyre Dixon as General Early
Joseph Fuqua as General J.E.B. Stuart
Tim Scott as General Ewell
George Lazenby as General Pettigrew
Alex Harvey as Major Hawkins
Charles Lester Kinsolving as General Barksdale
Henry Atterbury as Lee's Aide
Graham Winton as General Rodes
Cooper Huckabee as Henry T. Harrison (Longstreet's spie)
James Lancaster as Lt. Col. Fremantle (a British observer from the Coldstream Guard)
Morgan Sheppard as General Trimble
Patrick Falci as General Ambrose Hill
and

Ted Kozlosky, Curtiss Bradford, Daniel Chamberlain, Greg Ginther, George Heffner, Tom Landon, Michael Tennessee Lee (God, how appropriate), Rick Leisenring, Steve Leone, Tom Mays, Frank McGurgan, Peter Miller, Arnold Nisley, Ted Rebich, Curtis Utz, C. George Werner, Joe Ayer and Eric Ayer as various Confederate characters that went unnamed.

Federals
Sam Elliott as General John Buford
Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
C. Thomas Howell as Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain (the Colonel's younger brother)
Richard Anderson as General Meade (Commander of the Army of the Potomac)
Maxwell Caufield as Colonel Strong
Brian Mallon as General Hancock
Buck Taylor as Colonel Gamble
Josh Mauer as Colonel Rice
John Rothman as General Reynolds
John Diehl as Private Bucklin
Kevin Conway as Sgt. Buster (Colonel Chamberlain's Irish Aide)
William Campbell as Lieut. Pitzer
David Carpenter as Colonel Devin
Donal Logue as Captain Spear
Dwier Brown as Captain Brewer
Herb Mitchell as Sgt. Tozier
Emile O. Schmidt as General Gibbon
Scott Cambell as Captain Clark
John Heffron as Sgt. Veil
Mark Moses as Sgt. Owen
Leonard Termo as Cpl. Estabrook
and
Daniel Bauman, Ken Burns (Yes, the documentarian), Michael Callahan, David Cole, Mark Z. Danielewski, Brian Egen, Tom Fife, David Fiske, John Fitzpatrick, Vee Gentile, Gary Gilmore John Hadfield, Con Horgan, Richard Kiester, Matthew Letscher, Robert Lucas, Reid MacLean, Jonathan Maxwell, Barry McEvoy, Scott Mehaffey, Russel Starlin, Frank Moseley, Brian Resh, Lawrence Sangi, Michael Phillips, Adam Brandy, Sandy Mitchell, and John Durant as various Federal characters that went unnamed.

Olivia Maxwell and Darryl Wharton put in fine performances as a Taneytown Girl and escaped slave respectively (don't ask).

Music by Randy Edelman

Four Score and Seven Years Ago…

With those words President Lincoln began one of the shortest, but nonetheless moving, speeches ever given. Yet, in the few brief minutes it took to read those words, Lincoln immortalized the men on both sides of this great battle. A battle that happened by accident. A battle that, if lost by the Union, would have resulted in the breakup of the United States, possibly forever. Now, if you will, go back a few months before this speech to June, 1863…

The Confederacy is hanging on by a bare thread. The Union Navy has blockaded virtually every Southern port. Vicksburg is under siege in the west. If some miracle does not happen soon, the Confederacy and life in the South will become a fond memory. A bold stroke has been conceived and is being carried out this very moment.

Richmond has drafted a letter that is to be presented to President Lincoln. In this letter, the Confederacy demands that the Union either give up its war with the Confederacy or face the destruction of Washington D.C. and, therefore, the Federal Government. Lee's troops, with General Stuart and his cavalry in the lead are moving north through Virginia and Maryland into Pennsylvania to find and destroy the Union Army. Then they plan to swing southeast toward Washington D.C.

Lee, unfamiliar with Pennsylvania, is depending on Stuart to be the eyes and ears for his army. But Stuart has not been heard from for days. Lee is virtually blind and is totally ignorant as to the Union Army's whereabouts. Buford's Cavalry precedes the Union Army.

Initially paralleling Lee's troops through Virginia and Maryland, the Union Army is seeking to stay between Lee and Washington D.C. Once they reach Pennsylvania, the Union turns northwest toward Gettysburg expecting to meet Lee's force somewhere around Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.

As Lee's infantry and artillery approach Gettysburg, bypassing Harrisburg, Lee is unaware that he has been found and must rely on General Longstreet's hired scouts and spies to keep him informed. When his lead elements run into Buford's Cavalry who have established a line on the high ground with breech-loading carbines, Lee quickly discovers that Longstreet's spies have gauged the Union army correctly. The great battle is about to begin.

Thus Begins our Movie…

The movie is based on the novel The Killer Angels by the late Michael Shaara and converted to a screenplay by Ronald F. Maxwell. Maxwell also directed the movie. Every great movie attempts to find that magic that makes the movie-going-public say "I have to see that again." Unfortunately, four hours and fourteen minutes of movie tends to kill that instinct. But let's look at the ingredients that make a movie an Oscar nominee.

The Music

Randy Edelman created a wonderful masterpiece that is the recurring melody throughout the movie. Randy also coordinated the music played by the many re-enactors that participated in the movie. If you have seen Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans, or Glory then you know that music can send a chill down your spine.

The Actors

As history buffs, it is our duty to pick apart every movie that tries to "tell it like it was." Gettysburg I'm sure has it detractors, but they are few. In other words, do you feel that you are looking at the actor or the character he portrayed?

The three actors that best accomplished this feat were Tom Berenger (as General James Longstreet) and C. Thomas Howell (of E.T. fame) as the rambunctious Lieutenant Chamberlain who kept referring to his brother (Colonel Chamberlain) by his middle name "Lawrence." Jeff Daniels (Terms of Endearment) played the part of the noble Colonel Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine who is forced to take along a group of soldiers of the now defunct 2nd Maine who mutiny. The 20th then receives orders to break camp and head towards Gettysburg.

On the first day of battle, the 20th Maine is assigned the far left flank of the Union line on Little Round Top. Colonel Chamberlain's regiment holds off several Confederate assaults. Finally, counter charging when the unit is out of ammunition. The best line in the movie comes during a bombardment when Colonel Chamberlain says to his brother "Thomas, please move to the other end of the line. If a shell lands any closer, mother is going to have a very bad day."

When the majority of the Union Army has finally arrived, the 20th Maine is relieved and sent to the "safest place on the field" - the center. The irony here is that the center becomes the focal point of Pickett's Charge highlighted later in the movie. Finally, that night, General Meade arrives at Union headquarters where he quietly demands an answer to the question "Is this good ground?" After Meade is assured that "This is good ground…very good ground" the focus of the movie shifts to the Confederate side of the battlefield.

Much of the Confederate story is played out between Lee and Longstreet. Longstreet, who believed the slaves should have been freed prior to Fort Sumter, is Lee's right arm. Longstreet felt that once the Union had taken up defensive positions on the ridges that Lee should have pulled out of battle and headed towards Washington D. C. to force a battle on ground of his own choosing.

Lee felt compelled to stay and fight rather that risk losing face to his men. His words summed it up: "The enemy is here. The fight is here." Lee had attempted to outflank the Union on both ends. He therefore deduced that the Union was weak in the center and set about planning the ill-fated charge - the charge that everyone refers to as the "High Point of the Confederacy." Longstreet attempted to dissuade Lee from making the charge. Lee and the rest of his commanders were thoroughly convinced that this charge would destroy the Union Army and ultimately end the war. Longstreet's words fall on deaf ears.

The next half-hour of the film is the bloodiest. With 15,000 soldiers being assembled for the charge. Now this writer wouldn't know what 15,000 soldiers with muskets and bayonets would look like if I fell over it. But the movie sure made it look like they were there. Imagine being on the receiving end of such a charge. The movie follows the men across the open ground. At first men disappear in ones and twos. Then the cannons switch to canister and whole units of men are ripped apart. Finally, at point blank range, everything is being thrown at the charge. When Lee, Longstreet and Pickett see the last of the colors go to the ground they know it's over. The carnage is great and final. For the first time in his career, Lee now fears a counter-attack.

Lee orders Pickett to reform his division at the top of the ridge. When Pickett fails to respond, Lee orders "General Picket, look to your division!" Pickett, with tears in his eyes responds: "General Lee, I have no division!"

Lee, now realizing what he has done, then pulls the tattered remains of his army together and begins their long march home.

The Set and Camera Work

When shooting on location, especially in Pennsylvania, you run the risk of "background noise." Background noises are all the modern conveniences that litter our lives and are now in, and around, Gettysburg. Every time the camera pans, there is that chance you will catch an airplane, a jet, a car, a power line or telephone pole in the background. The battlefield has the added features of landmarks, you know where some poor guy took a bullet on this spot and a huge marker is there for all to see. The crew did a great job of keeping these nuisances just outside camera view.

The Special Effects

After the first day of battle, Longstreet visits the field hospital to rally the wounded. There is a wagon destined for Parts-R-Us. The arms and legs were good enough to make me want to puke. The only other special effect was the effort to show what a unit looks like after they have met Mr. Canister. Whole swaths of units are seen after being ripped to shreds.

The Movie Length

This is the only part of the movie that killed the audiences. Unfortunately, to shoot a movie of this magnitude and give it any meaning, you can't leave too much on the cutting room floor. If you knock it down to two hours, then it is merely a documentary. Braveheart was three hours long and won several Oscars. In 2013, when they celebrate the 150th anniversary of the battle, I am sure they will put it on television with enough commercial time to make it a 3-night mini-series. Hey look, I survived The Winds of War, so deal with it!

The movie was shot on location in Gettysburg National Park. A foundation has been started to preserve as much of the park as possible. Foundation money is used to purchase areas of the battlefield currently owned by farmers and a few others when the current owner contemplates selling the property. Monies are also being used to help offset the cost of burying utilities (power lines, telephone lines, etc.). It is the hope of the foundation that the battlefield can be returned to the state it was in July 4th, 1863 (minus the bodies of course).

The movie has since been dedicated to the memories of author Michael Shaara and actor Richard Jordan (pictured in the center with his hat on his sword). The movie is available in both VHS and DVD. The soundtrack is also available on CD and cassettes by Milan.

Final conclusion

This movie is definitely worth seeing again and again. Just make sure you allocate enough time in your life, and you have a fresh box of popcorn - you'll eat all three packages. Thanks to Ted Turner for putting together an epic movie. A big thanks goes out to the thousands of Civil War re-enactors without whom this movie would not be possible. Those units that participated in the making of the movie are listed in the final credits.

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