Gods and Generals [DVD] [2003] [Dual Disc Format]*

This lovingly made film covers the war career of Stonewall Jackson in a reverential manner that is not really fashionable these days. Its subject is the usual bundle of seeming contradictions that constitute folks from the past. The themes of service and religion mixing with a very aggressive attitude to the Yankee invaders, and slavery hanging around the edges. Into this Rebel world comes a sub-theme of the union officer (Chamberlain) who we meet at Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Chamberlain is in some ways Jackson's Union opposite, also a teacher, also religious but also an amateur soldier where Jackson is a professional to the tip of his very large beard. Both tend to prose fit to bust, at times the script reads like those 19th century novels where the story telling deserves the description "dense". But I am not persuaded that this is inaccurate.

Between conversations we Yahoos can enjoy some extensive battle scenes in which rather portly re-enactors give one a very good idea of what it was like. The film does regard military service and sacrifice as honourable things, and in this it is faithful to the period. The battles are not the usual League of Evil Marksmen affairs, here both sides take casualties as they duke it out face-to-face and shoulder-to-shoulder. First Bull Run, Fredericskburg, Chancellorsville are all well observed though Fredericksburg gives one a feeling of World War One as the units rush towards the Confederate fortifications.

While I thought much it did was worthy I must confess to resorting to the fast forward when another Yack Attack threatened. The Christmas scene being particularly nauseating, but that probably says more about modern tastes than the subject of the film.

A couple of years back, a spectacular war epic had the Japanese launching a sneak attack on a love triangle and Pearl Harbor [DVD] [2001] just happened to get caught in the collateral damage. In GODS AND GENERALS, several Civil War battles serve to interrupt the idyllic home life and prayers of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

There's a core of usefulness to this film, which is its reputedly and apparently accurate rendering - such as they are - of the battles of First Bull Run (1861), Fredericksburg (1862) and Chancellorsville (1863). For the historical knowledge to be gained, I would rather that today's young generation watch this than the steady diet of silly, albeit spectacular, fairy tales served up on the Silver Screen. Unfortunately, the combat footage is interspersed with too much overwritten and pretentious dialogue played to the tune of an overly melodramatic soundtrack. And since they're almost carnage-free compared to such recent war epics as Saving Private Ryan [DVD] [1998] and Band Of Brothers - HBO Complete Series [DVD], the battle sequences have been criticized as glossing over the horrors of war. But how else does the studio get the film a PG-13 rating that will allow younger audiences in to see it? To be sure, its 3 hour and 40 minute run time could have been slashed by an hour, at least. GODS AND GENERALS makes Gettysburg (Double sided DVD) [1994] seem like a great film in comparison.

Stephen Lang (General Pickett in GETTYSBURG) does a creditable job as the screenwriter's vision of Jackson, though I'm not convinced that this and the "real" Stonewall resemble each other. Unfortunately, much of the General's career and reputation was established by his brilliant Shenandoah Valley campaign of early 1862, events outside the scope of this epic. From reading, my impression of Jackson is that he was an austere, aloof, brilliant and eccentric commander who drove his men to the breaking point, and won their devotion in the process. The Jackson played by Lang comes across as almost warm and fuzzy. I don't know which version is more accurate, but this relatively pallid cinematic one isn't what I expected.

Robert Duvall plays General Robert E. Lee in GODS AND GENERALS, and his rendition is much more robust and believable than Martin Sheen's in GETTYSBURG. Jeff Daniels, a little chunkier and nearly a decade older, pretty much reprises the Joshua Chamberlain character of the 20th Maine Regiment, although he occasionally falls victim to windy monologs about the sanctity of the Union and the evils of slavery. In GODS AND GENERALS, unfortunately, there's no Little Round Top to valiantly defend to the last minie ball. The best Chamberlain can do is get pinned down by Confederate fire below Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg

Civil war buffs such as myself will certainly enjoy this film while fidgeting between battles. First Bull Run comes across rather stiff and awkward, but the troops are fully into it by Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. It also helps if the viewer has some pre-knowledge of the battlefields and the locations of the opposing lines because there's too little elucidation provided by the on-screen tacticians. Those who've seen GETTYSBURG will recognize many of the actors who reprise their roles from the earlier sequel.

See GODS AND GENERALS and appreciate it for what it's worth. But don't expect a profoundly moving or satisfying experience.

Listen i am a black man who also happened to serve 6 years as an officer in the British Army (as a Tank Commander). Let me say that i think that this film is quite excellent. I am a big fan of that part of American History not least because it is not quite as black and white (excuse the pun) as some people would like to think.

I guess there's the military part of me that marvels at the excellence of the Southern Generals (particularly Stonewall Jackson on whom this film concentrates)and delights in the human dimension that often moved me to tears as i watched this masterpiece

Trust me if you liked Gettysburg by the same director and are into the American Civil War this is a film you must must watch