Civil War Movie Reviews

Let's review some Civil War movies. Since this is Black History month, "Glory" will be the first offering. The story is that of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment that became most acclaimed in its failed attack on Battery Wagner in South Carolina near Charleston Harbor. The 54th Mass led the attack on the ill fated night of July 18, 1863 but gained glory... Jacques in William Shakespeare's As You Like It would call it "seeking bubble reputation in the cannon's mouth"... for all its members as a result and most particularly for Sgt. William Carney who became the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, even if it took 40 years for it to be awarded. The cast is first rate, with Matthew Broderick portraying Col. Robert Gould Shaw, Morgan Freeman as Sgt. Major John Rawlins, Denzel Washington as Pvt. Trip, Andre Braugher as Cpl. Thomas Searles, and Carey Elwes as Major Cabot Ford.

Unlike most movies, the stars and their comrades do not win in the end. Instead, those who were able to get back to Union lines across that deadly stretch of sand leading up to Battery Wagner saw the Confederate flag raised at the end. The reality of the situation was that the 'fort' was never taking by Union assaults but was abandoned by the South only two months later. I give the movie a 5 out of 5 star rating because it accurately portrayed not only the brief battle at the end of the movie but showed quite well the carnage of the Civil War, the methods and conditions under which men of all colors trained and fought (I say 'all colors' because there were also Native American regiments fighting for both the North and the South), and the racial animosities that were overcome as men bonded and 'stepped up' to fight WITH each others as Brothers wearing the Blue Uniform. By the way, this same bonding occurred by many African American men of the South who went to war with their masters, but more of that later. By the way, I've watched "Glory" 13 times since May, 1991.

This next movie, "Gettysburg," is beyond a shadow of doubt my favorite movie; which I've watched 37 times since July of 1994, usually on one of the days of the anniversary of the Battle, but simple math shows how many times I've watched it on other dates!! Tom Berenger (General James Longstreet), Martin Sheen (General Robert E. Lee), Stephen Lang (Gen. George Pickett), and Jeff Daniels (Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain) head the great cast of actors who are in one of the few movies I've watched with absolutely no swearing in it. There are lots of battle scenes, lots of tear jerking moments that can just wrench your heart (my two favorites are Chamberlain's speech to the 'mutineers' early in the movie about just why they are fighting this war and the last scene where he and brother Tom embrace after they've survived the bloodiest three day battle of the War), and even several comedic moments, for instance when Pvt. Joseph Bucklin describes Union generals as not being smart enough 'to pour pee out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel.' The soundtrack to the movie is playing on my computer even as I type! Can a CD wear out? Just sayin'...well, make this one 10 out of 5 stars, folks, even though the raw mathematics fail miserably, you get the picture in terms of my enthusiasm for the movie!!

One piece of trivia from my book, God Caused the Civil War. If you notice the map of the battlefield, the Emmitsburg Road forms a perfect wind tunnel between Seminary Ridge where Lee's artillery barrage originated prior to Pickett's Charge and Cemetery Hill where the Union forces defended. One Union soldier who was behind the wall indicated that the dense smoke was blown away exactly at the time when Pickett's and Pender's men stepped off for the attack, leaving a perfect field of fire for Union artillery and riflemen. Some bold authors would say it was God's intervention, but I editorialize.

My third review is of "Gods and Generals;" which comes after "Gettysburg" in the filming process, but covers the actions of the Civil War from the United States Army Col. Robert E. Lee's rejection of Presidential adviser Francis P. Blair's offer of the command of the Union forces on April 18, 1861 to the death of General Thomas Jackson after the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, 1963. Admittedly, the movie is a bit more 'preachy' and talk-oriented than "Gettysburg," earning it only 8 stars out of 5 (so sue me, I was a political science major, not a math prof!). There are plenty of battle scenes to go with the extended dialogue; which, by the way, seemed a bit stilted at times only because writers Jeff Shaara and Ron Maxwell clearly used actual letters and journals of the period to construct the script. And how did I know this?...from reading 484 books and 363 articles to construct my own tome, silly!!

The character portrayals from the generals to the soldiers in the ranks as well as those of various citizens were excellently done. My favorite for comedic relief and at the end, pathos, was the job well done by Trent Walker as Pvt. McClintock (maybe a tip of the hat to a John Wayne movie by the writers?) who gibes with his buddy, played by Bo Greigh (Pvt. Pogue) until his death at Chancellorsville. Pvt. McClintock was the one who came up with all the nicknames of General Jackson in the scene under the stars when the Army of the Shenandoah was getting organized. Interestingly, he also portrayed one Tennessee Rebel who spoke with Tom Chamberlain in "Gettysburg" early in the movie in the quiet after the first day's battle. Before the movie was ever released, I knew it would be a good one when I learned that the Civil War re-enactors who participated as extras gave the production 'two thumbs up' with no hesitation. Oh, make it 14 viewings on my part since January, 2004.

My last review is of Ken Burns' Civil War, not precisely a movie, but a fabulous documentary that is so good my Mom and I actually wore out the VHS copies we had by watching as much as we did...9 times at last count, but I wouldn't bet the farm on that one! This time I'll give it 5 of 5 stars but will say that it produced perhaps my favorite piece of Civil War music, "Ashokan Farewell." Since I'm new to the Hub Universe and don't know either how to properly upload a You Tube video nor whether it can be legally done, I'll simply recommend you go there and type in "Ashokan Farewell" and try a variety of offerings. The picture here is Sam Watkins, a private in the First Tennessee Volunteers, Company H who wrote Company Aytch to show that not only the generals were able to write a history of the War. Burns quotes from Sam's writings extensively throughout the documentary, as he does from All For the Union by Elisha Hunt Rhodes of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers. Well, Ashokan Farewell is winding down, as am I, so grab the popcorn and beverage of your choice, get seated in a comfortable chair, and watch some great history and drama!