MovieChat Forums > Gods and Generals (2003) Discussion > An awful movie, but a fantastic mini-ser...

An awful movie, but a fantastic mini-series

posted 12 years ago by jackwolf
2 replies | jump to latest

I just finished watching Gods and Generals a few minutes ago.
I watched it over the course of 3 days, watching one or two parts per viewing session. In that manner it works very well. I can't imagine anyone watching the entire thing in one sitting.

It boggles my mind that they actually released this in the theaters. Was there an intermission during the theatrical viewings? I would hope so.

Anything over 3-hours just doesn't work well as a film. The film studios will either chop it up and release a shorter, and thus crappier, theatrical version, or most movie goers will fall asleep long before the ending.

This should have been a television mini-series. I think the same can be said for the slightly better "Gettysburg" as well. I am glad that the blu-ray extended version is divided into 5 separate parts, allowing one to easily stop and resume viewing at a later time. Is the Gettysburg blu-ray also divided into different parts?

[–] cherubalways 11 years ago

I watched it all in one viewing, just now. As far as I'm concerned this movie got it right. Great, great 'you are there' battle scenes, authentic wardrobe (fake beards and mustaches greatly improved over Gettysburg make-up.) I could watch again!

[–] mcode518 11 years ago

I agree. This movie would be better received if it was televised as a miniseries - perhaps on TNT, one of Ted Turner's channels. Apparently, the movie was partly criticized for its general depiction of the Civil War, rather than following a specific narrative. The most obvious criticism, though, is the dialogue. It could have been better written to show characters conversing more normally than as actors in a Shakespearean play. The battle scenes are very well done, and Stephen Lang gives a great performance as the legendary Stonewall Jackson (for these reasons, I think the movie gets too much overall negativity). If it was presented as a miniseries, I think it could be presented mainly from Stonewall Jackson's point of view rather than showing the war as it was viewed by numerous officers on both sides. The theatrical release of Gettysburg (1993) was probably okay for that movie in the long run, but with Gods and Generals covering several major battles over a two year period, I think it was just too much for the audience to handle.

Okay, well... filibuster.