Gettysburg (Movie)

Fate made them soldiers;

War made them brothers;

Courage made them heroes.

"Gettysburg" avoids all of those war movie cliches. This is a film, pure and simple, about the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, about the strategies, calculations, mistakes and heroism that turned the tide of the Civil War decisively against the South.

With stars such as Martin Sheen (Robert E. Lee), Jeff Daniels (Joshua Chamberlain), and Sam Elliot (Kentucy-born,Union Calvary General Buford), there's plenty of talent on board to pull it off. Sheen's Lee is surprisingly convincing, and Daniels is outstanding as the principled Chamberlain. Yes, it's long but it's also very engaging.

And most of all, we experience the horrifying reality of battle itself. What Lee called on his men to do was walk a mile across open ground, in the face of withering fire, and engage Union troops who were fortified behind a stone wall. That they would do this - that they still had the will to fight when they got there - is evidence of the deep, almost fanatical conviction that both sides brought into the war.

It has drama, action and character development. An important movie which also happens to entertain! Although it gave me chills with some war scenes, I still highly recommend it for movie-goers.