Gods and Generals (2003)

The rise and fall of legendary war hero Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as he leads the Confederacy to great success against the Union from 1861 to 1863. Prequel to the 1993 classic "Gettysburg".

Director:

Ronald F. Maxwell

Writers:

Jeff Shaara (book), Ronald F. Maxwell (screenplay)

Stars:

Donzaleigh Abernathy, Jeff Daniels, Robert Duvall

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donzaleigh Abernathy	...	Martha
Mark Aldrich	...	Adjutant
George Allen	...	Confederate Officer
Keith Allison	...	Capt. James J. White
Royce D. Applegate	...	Brig. Gen. James Kemper (as Royce Applegate)
Bruce Boxleitner	...	Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
Bo Brinkman	...	Maj. Walter Taylor
Mac Butler	...	Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker
Robert Byrd	...	Confederate General (as Robert C. Byrd)
Shane Callahan	...	Bowdoin Student
Billy Campbell	...	Maj. Gen. George Pickett
David Carpenter	...	Rev. Beverly Tucker Lacy
John Castle	...	Old Penn
Jim Choate	...	Brig. Gen. Bernard Bee
Martin Clark	...	Dr. George Junkin

Storyline

The rise and fall of legendary war hero Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as he leads the Confederacy to great success against the Union from 1861 to 1863. Prequel to the 1993 classic "Gettysburg".

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Plot Keywords:

hero | confederacy | war hero | prequel | stonewall jackson | 

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Taglines:

An unforgettable story of the Civil War, from the Director of "GETTYSBURG"

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sustained battle sequences

Details

Official Sites:

Sonnet Digital Media Corporation Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dioses y generales

Filming Locations:

Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$56,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,675,246 (USA) (21 February 2003)

Gross:

$12,870,569 (USA) (25 April 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Turner Pictures (I), Antietam Filmworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

219 min 280 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Robert E. Lee was a highly regarded officer in the American army, his dislike of slavery and rather lukewarm approach to the issue of secession combined with some early reverses while in command of the Virginia militia caused him to not be considered for field command in the Confederate army. He was instead made an advisor to Jefferson Davis. He was named to command the Confederate army outside of Richmond in 1862 when Gen. Joseph Johnston was wounded, because Davis disliked Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and did not want him in command.

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Goofs

St Claire Mulhollands Regiment the 116th Pennsylvania is depicted leading the Irish Brigades charge on Maryes Heights, when it was the 28th Massachusetts. The 116th was the only regiment in the Irish Brigade to not have the famous Green Flag but had the state of Pennsylvania flag.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: A human life, I think, should be well rooted in some spot of a native land, where it may get the love of tender kinship for the face of the earth, for the labors men go forth to, for the sounds and accents that haunt it, for whatever will give that early home a familiar unmistakable difference amidst the future widening of knowledge. The best introduction to astronomy is to think of the nightly heavens as a little lot of stars belonging to one's own homestead. - George Eliot

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Crazy Credits

The movie was dedicated to the memory of John F. Maxwell and Royce D. Applegate.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Silent Night"
Music by Franz Gruber (as Franz X. Gruber)
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr

User Reviews

Working title: How the CSA actually won

If you knew absolutely nothing about the American Civil War you might come away from Gods and Generals believing something like this: A madman named Lincoln decides one day in 1861 to raise an army to invade several southern states because he just feels like doing that. The people of these states have no choice but to start their own country to defend themselves and a polite, bearded, man named Lee leads them and this other polite, bearded, man Jackson too. Because god is on their side, the kind, virtuous, heroic, and excessively chivalrous men of the southern army prevail in several engagements against the godless, sex-crazed, murderous barbarians of the north. Jackson and Lee deftly direct the outnumbered army of Christ against the unwashed Yankee heathen and wins the war except that he got shot by one of his own men by accident and dies otherwise the south won.

Yep, that's just what you might believe.

Gods and Generals is a confused, heavily pro-Confederate, train wreck. It attempts to span two years of the war though the perspective of General Thoams "Stonewall" Jackson, arguably one of the most brilliant field commanders West Point has ever produced. Like it's antecedent Gettysburg it is of epic length except that Gettysburg made sense. This film is all over the place. Focuses on non-pivotal battle scenes and is bloated with nonsensical dialog and close ups of men talking to themselves in archaic,sanctimonious, soliloquies. There are no issues, there are no cassus belli,no internal conflicts, there is only a clumsy and amateurish elevation of the confederacy; an embattled yet righteous society defending their way of life against their tyrannical northern overlords. Or so you would be led to believe. There is one mention of Fort Sumter, a passing nod or two to slavery, and the rest is the Lee/Jackson traveling show. Overall a sloppy and weakly constructed PSA for why the south should have won the war.

To it's credit, it does have very graphic and disturbing battle scenes where both sides are, at times, honored and portrayed with equanimity.

However, G&G, like Gettysburg, had potential to evenly instruct and entertain. That's where the similarities between the two films ends Gods and generals is a ponderous and poorly edited, rambling, confusing, tribute to the CSA. Aside from it's endless length it jumps around way too much, lacks proper character development and historical veracity. It is no wonder it bombed at the box office. It's just not very watchable, at least not in one sitting. It might be of interest to those, like myself, who are interested in civil war films. This one is a grave disappointment.