MovieChat Forums > Gettysburg (1993) Discussion > More civil war movies?

More civil war movies?


Hello all,

I'm not an American (so excuse me for any spelling or grammar mistakes :) ), but i've been fascinated by your country since i was a kid, and I became an amateur student of American history. I'm particularly interested in the civil war. When I was a kid, and saw Glory for the first time, i knew that that was the time period i should learn more about.

I already saw:

- Gettysburg
- Gods and Generals
- Glory (really a masterpiece)
- North and South
- The good the bad and the ugly
- The horse soldiers and several other John Wayne movies (i don't like them to be honest)
- i forget the name, but the one with Armand Assante and the first submarine
- Cold mountain
- The general
- Lincoln

So, are there any more good movies out there?

Thanks!

English isn't my 1st language. I'm sorry for any mistakes in grammar, spelling...

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Glory is the best; Gettysburg and Lincoln next best IMO In the US, Public Television is currently showing a miniseries called Mercy Street which is also good and probably will come out on DVD at some point. There is also an older film called Andersonville.

Your English and grammar are very good. You don't need to worry about them. I hope you get to come here and visit some of the sites someday.

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You named most of the best one's and as the poster above me mentioned; "Andersonville" is a fine film of an underrated story of the war, especially for a tv-production.

I would also recommend (trailers included):

"Ride With the Devil" - https://youtu.be/F8Vwm6dBQI8
"Gone With the Wind" - https://youtu.be/h2oX0zQA67U
"The Conspirator" - https://youtu.be/yb0yIj9Zp_k
"Shenandoah" - https://youtu.be/4jNk3YdA5_k

But what I really recommend even more than these films is the History Channel's "Civil War Journal". You can find the entire series in order on Youtube. It's quite stellar and far more accurate.




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There's another mini-series from the '70s-early 80s called "The Blue & The Grey." It's available on dvd.

Audie Murphy in "The Red Badge of Courage" based on Stephen Crane's novel. I have it on VHS; I don't know if it made it to dvd.

There's an old Disney young adult movie from the '50s/early '60s called "Johnny Shiloh" that's loosely based on the youngest US soldier, a drummer boy, in the Civil War. It's on YouTube.

A couple that I picked up in one of those public-domain "50 Greatest War Movies" sets are "Yellowneck," about escaped rebels trying to make their way across Florida to freedom in Cuba, and "Drums in the Deep South," about rebs making a stand atop a mountain during Sherman's advance in Georgia. 1951 movies but they're not bad.

Are you just interested in history-based movies or in documentaries?

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Thank you all for your responses!

English isn't my 1st language. I'm sorry for any mistakes in grammar, spelling...

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Other films with significant parts devoted to the Civil War that I recommend:

RAINTREE COUNTY

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

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In addition to the ones already mentioned, there are several Indie-films about the Civil War, the recent "Field of lost shoes/souls"(Battle of New Market), "Wicked Spring" (Wilderness), "No retreat from Destiny" (Monocacy), but to be honest these are rather poor, lacking big battle scenes, which is strange considering how many reenactors there are out there. Only watch them if you really have to.

Also, watch "Civil War Combat" available on Youtube, they're documentaries about Cold Harbor, Antietam and Gettysburg. quite good I think and well worth the watch.

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If you are interested in a documentary (and if nobody else has mentioned it), check out Ken Burns' "Civil War". It's a bit dated (it's over 25 years old now), but it is a very entertaining overview of the war and especially of the people who fought it. It was a sensation in the US when it was first shown (on Public Broadcasting) and it still resonates today. Best of all... at least last time I checked... it can be watched for free online.

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That's why I asked him if he was interested in just movies or also documentaries. TCW is still fascinating, even if it's now 26 years old.

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