What would you have cut from the film? POSSIBLE SPOILERS

I like your list. Most of those should have been cut down and the other stuff added.

I did like the irony of the desertion scene and showing the cold brutality of a Civil War firing squad.

I would have cut out and put in the deleted scenes the Bonnie Blue Flag scene but I guess they thought Ted Turner needed his cameo. It should have been left on the cutting room floor, though.

I would have added animated maps to illustrate where the action was taking place so people would have had some idea of the geography of the battles and movements of the various armies.

I agree the subplot with the Corbin girl should have been cut and the Antietam footage put in. Jackson's decentness had already been shown in the reaction to the birth of his daughter.

The focus should have been more on the characters from the book and telling their own interesting stories not on other superfluous characters that tried to embrace all of the Civil War.



Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.

I agree with much of your list of things to cut. As a Christian, I didn't have a problem with all of the religious scenes; and Jackson's faith was a big part of his life. But still, some of that could have been left out.

My ways to have improved this movie:

1. Balance the two sides more. Just because the South dominated the war during this period doesn't mean it had to all be from a Southern perspective (I think Last Full Measure would have been mostly about the North if it had been released). I think they should have done more with the 20th Maine- spotlight some of the men and how much they were excited to win glory in battle, only to sustain humiliating, crushing defeat.

2. Remember the runaway slave in Gettysburg? I think has story should have been featured in the movie- who he was, were he came from, who he ran away from and why he ran off. And by the way- what happened to Martha Beale and her kids? She talked about wanting to be free, but did she take the opportunity to leave with the Union Army?

3. Definitely put in the Antietam stuff.

I think there is at least another half hour of fat to be cut.

For a start I'd take out virtually all the Chamberlain scenes - in a film as unabashedly pro-Confederate as this they are just a token attempt at balance.

Was going to suggest cutting the Bonnie Blue Flag scene - but on reflection the voters of Virginia should never be allowed to forget electing George Allen.

Jackson's mad ranting to JEB Stuart about raising the black flag seems out of place that early in the war/film - they've hardly fired a shot yet and he's already contemplating waging a merciless war of extermination?

Similarly the Jackson speeches on the dire consequences of Northern victory and on how the good folk of the South will surely end slavery in their own good time are just neo-Confederate propaganda and add nothing to the film (Lee, Longstreet et al had exactly the same views but at least in Gettysburg the writers didn't see the need to have them all ponderously declaim about the justice of their cause every few minutes).

Given that they ignore a whole year and a half of hard campaigning and jump from First Bull Run to Fredericksburg I am not sure what adding back in Antietam would achieve.

I would have cut the beards. They are all too long (even if historically accurate).

It would be difficult to single out particular scenes that were unnecessary to the film, since Maxwell was simply not good as a screenplay writer and the editing of his films was also quite unsatisfactory (putting it rather mildly). Many of the scenes meant for “character development” were overlong and almost painful to watch. While I like Gettysburg in general, for much of the first an hour and a half of that movie, we just see characters – sometimes relatively unimportant ones – talking and talking to each other forever about their cause, religion, families and friends, and everything else. This was to get worse in Gods and Generals.

My main criticism is not that certain scenes were unnecessary and should be cut altogether, but rather that Maxwell did not seem to have a sense of proportion. For example, Jackson was a religious man and had sympathy for his soldiers and the people who suffered from the War – okay I get it. So I don’t mind having scenes with Jackson praying and the part with the little girl. But was it necessary for the viewer to hear Jackson praying for long minutes with the black cook, and again soliloquizing for some five full minutes before battle? Was it necessary for the film to have five or six scenes with the little girl and one with Jackson crying in full view of his staff for us to get the point? Also, there was far too much long dialogue between characters that was far beyond what could be justified for “character development”, comic relief, or for the viewer's understanding of the situation.

As one poster said above, Gods and Generals sometimes appears more like an educational piece than a movie. That a film is truthful in regard to historical events and characters to the letter does not in itself make it a good or entertaining film. Maxwell has an eye for historical accuracy and details, but he is definitely not a good film director or screenplay writer. The last point is best illustrated by the film’s ending. Even after Jackson was fatally shot and the film was practically over, it took almost another half an hour for him to die.