Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) | Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen

Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) | Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen | Excellent movie !

vhs video:

Gettysburg (Widesc...

	Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen Turner Home Ent, 2000 average customer review:based on 461 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Three days in the summer of 1863, at a place called Gettysburg. Although it received a theatrical release, this four-hour depiction of the bloody Civil War battle was shot as a made-for-television film. But no taint of cheapness or shortcuts should stick to this magnificent picture (well, except maybe for those phony-looking mustaches). Based on Michael Shaara's book The Killer Angels, this film takes a refreshingly slow, thorough approach to the intricacies of battle. In ordinary circumstances, those intricacies might seem of importance only to fans of military strategy or Civil War enthusiasts, yet in Gettysburg they come across as the very stuff of life, death, and unexpected heroism. If the film has a problem, it's that it climaxes too early: the first long segment, detailing the struggle of a "civilian soldier," Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), to hold his ground against long odds, is an enthralling piece of moviemaking. Daniels, in a heartbreaking performance, does his best film work. Other cast members include Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, and Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. Richard Jordan, in his final role, gives a powerhouse performance as Confederate general Lewis A. Armistead. Oh, and you can also try to spot Ted Turner, whose company produced the film, as a Confederate soldier. Writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell seems inspired by the gravity of the battle; long as it is, every moment of Gettysburg is informed by a nobility of purpose. --Robert Horton

for more information click here

Terrific - period.

Not too many war movies can make you understand how brutal, exhausting, emotionally painful, draining, exciting, boring, glorious and ugly war is, but this is one of them. The scenes of the march starting Pickett's charge alone will blow you away - I understand thousands of men were crying just reenacting it. The combination of excitement and terror are caught so well at Little Round Top and Pickett's charge that you just can't stop watching. For the acting - Jeff Daniels nails Joshua Chamberlain - scholar, soldier and brother - so well, I couldn't believe it was Jeff Daniels. Richard Jordan as "Lo" Armistead - what can you say? The man was an incredible actor his entire career, and this, his last performance, a doomed man playing a doomed man - I don't know how he found the inner strength to do it, but it's the best work he ever did. And while I thought Martin Sheen was miscast at first, the more I watch his performance, the more subtleties I catch, the more I think this might have been his best work, too. The best thing was that this film made me understand the Civil War and the battle of Gettysburg with an intimacy I never knew before. It's like a million men from 1863 all looked me in the eye and said, "NOW do you understand?" Well, not as well as you did, but a lot better than I did before.

for more information click here

Excellent movie !

With all the research that went into this to make it true and factual, this was a very riveting movie all people should see for a truer historical count as to what really lead up to this massive battle in Gettysburg, PA...

Great work of History!

The only wiff of turd in this whole thing was having Sheen play Gen. Lee!

I wonder if Ted Turner knew when he insisted on Sheen, he was sleeping with his Wife at the time! Hey, maybe I'm wrong.

A Classic Piece of American and Film History

Gettysburg is a stunning film with strong characterization, amazing action and enthralling epic atmosphere. Jeff Daniels does his best film work ever as the Colonel from Maine who does a desperate bayonet charge to stop the Confederate onslaught. That single event held the line. The other actors are stellar, including Tom Berenger, Sam Elliott, and Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. I especially liked Richard Jordan (Confederate general Lewis A. Armistead) whose dearest friend was in the Union Army. The heartbreak that Jordan conveys in wanting to see his friend, separated by this war is so palpable that it's just heart renching.

This film is a Must See for anyone interested in America and American History.

for more information click here