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Thanks for the memories!

Perfect cast and a good story

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In 1861, Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) rejects the offer to lead the Union Army. Then he accepts to lead the Army of Virginia. At the start of the war, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) is a diligent instructor at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. He would become the legendary Confederate general who leads his army from one victory to the next. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) was a teacher who becomes Lieutenant Colonel in the 20th Maine leading his men in the most decisive skirmish in the most decisive battle. The movie follows mostly Jackson until his death. Everybody has stuffy lines as if they're reading period letters. Nobody is acting loose. It's a series of cardboard characters acting from one scene to the next. The dialog is unapologetically pompous and unflinching. I'd rather watch a documentary like 'The Civil War'. One would expect to dig a little deeper into the characters but we only get the stoic surfaces of these men. This does follow mostly the lesser done southern cause which is fascinating by itself. Of course, slavery is white-washed a bit with only master-loving house slaves. I just wish these characters are more flesh and blood.As for the action, it is very impressive with the reenactors and period equipment. There are certainly a lot extras. The wide shots look great but the close up action could be better done. It needs an expert action director and Ronald F. Maxwell is not the one. This movie is an exercise in recreating the history book but there is little in terms of dramatic cinema.

Firstly, I am not American. I have studied the American Civil War and I smelled a big fat dirty rat at the time we "learned" about it at school. Remember it is the VICTORS who write history, even if it has been twisted to alleviate the victors to hero status. What I "learned" about the American Civil War in school really did not make sense. A civil war about slavery? That's what were told! Well, that was the first lie: "The American Civil War was about SLAVERY." It's a lie. Truth: Abraham Lincoln was LOSING the war. The South were hammering the north - for 3 years! The south were winning. So, in 1863 Abraham Lincoln employed a purely POLITICAL MOVE and in his famous "emancipation speech" REDEFINED THE WAR AS BEING A WAR ABOUT SLAVERY. Slavery? Wait a minute! Truth is The American Civil War was about SECESSION. Secession - the thing the southern states did that Honest Abe frothed at the mouth over. Abraham Lincoln could not bear to have his little power trip upset by half the states leaving his little fan club, aka "the United States of America." Secession: leaving the Union to form an independent union of states, the "Confederate States of America." That was too much for Abe. Abe's solution was to use VIOLENCE AND FORCE. Abraham Lincoln STARTED the American Civil War. It was Lincoln: GUILTY!Lincoln was the only US president ever to INVADE HIS OWN COUNTRY! Slavery existed on BOTH SIDES - north and south. Oh, but we had to forget that in our lessons! Today, that would be called a COVER UP. The American Civil War was NOT about "slavery" until Abraham Lincoln turned it into one. GODS AND GENERALS is the story of the American Civil War primarily from the suppressed Southern point of view. It captures the ESSENCE of the mindset of the American people AT THAT TIME, and it does not WATER DOWN or be POLITICALLY CORRECT about those events. It is an accurate account of a time that occurred over 150 years ago. Different times, different values, different morals, different issues. 1861 is not 2013.I salute the film makers for making this film. For daring to put forth a movie that is historically accurate ahead of being politically correct or playing into the gross MIS-education that has existed for the last 150 years about this event. Seeing some of other reviews of this movie (negative) just tells me those people cannot CONFRONT the truth and would rather HIDE behind the safety net of the "official story" that so vilifies the south and makes Abraham Lincoln the big man hero. Abraham Lincoln was NO HERO. The real heroes are the people who fought that war, for what they believed in, whether they be north or south. This movie is YOUR CHANCE to get a real perspective of the American Civil War and what it was REALLY about so you can understand what really happened, not the litany of lies that the Yankee "victors" have spoon fed you for the last 150 years. You will appreciate even more how tragic that war was and how evil and horrible that time was. This is a great movie, very confronting, but absolutely ESSENTIAL viewing for anyone who can smell a rat in the information they have "learned" about this event. There is a dirty big smelly rat there. If you can't smell it GO BACK TO SLEEP.

I give it 2 stars, the extra 1 star being basically for the effort. Such a disappointment. The fault lies with the script and the wrong mind frame of the producers and writers, who wanted to present the idealization of the South that never was. It is a boring, talky, pompous, posturing, false and unfair film. Maybe the dialogue looked good on paper, but not in the film - with very few exceptions. It presents the South as some mythical, unreal and never existing fairy tale of gentlemen, ladies, piano concerts and content black servants who are part of one happy family with the white folks. In fact the only two notable black roles are: a black fellow who enlists to FIGHT FOR THE CONFEDERATES(!) and a black governess who treats her white owners as family and their house as hers. Rather unfair on all the slaves who suffered and perished in the southern states prior to the war. And what's with the incessant religious overtones and Bible citing? All this did for me was show how misled and unintelligent these "Christian" people in fact were and how the Bible encouraged war and slavery. The only good and memorable part consists of 5 minutes, when the general played by Jeff Daniels talks with his colleague about the reasons for this war and then explains why the abolition of slavery was worth even dying for. But 5 out of 220 minutes is far too little of the good thing...

Gods and Generals does not have the impact that Gettysburg had for viewers and historical enthusiasts. Gods and Generals is a long, boring movie that takes too much time trying to show sympathy to the southern army rather than tell the complete story. The consistent bible pounding, preaching, "thou art" dialog that Stephan Lang spouts takes a lot out of the movie. There could have been one scene where the film showed his devotion to his religion, rather than take every chance to preach to the audience. Face it--it is hypocritical to even try since these folks were abusing slaves, selling men and women, and treating other human beings as cattle. You can talk the talk, but the south never walked the walk of a Christian. To try and show that the southerners were Christians in the eyes of the Christian god is ridiculous. Secondly to have Jackson portrayed as this good fellow who has free slaves who follow him in pure devotion was beyond ridiculous. Jackson was the same as all slave owners. Even by any remote chance he did not beat his slaves, he still had them living in poor conditions, he still owned and traded human flesh and he was as guilty as every other southern gentlemen who fought to keep people in bondage. Any film that tackles the slavery issue and tries to bring sympathy for the southern devil isn't worth the film it is printed upon. More should have been spent on the battles and the slavery issue should have been avoided unless you wanted to portray it correctly.