Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17283 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Running time: 219 minutes

From Amazon.com
The more you know about the Civil War, the more you'll appreciate Gods and Generals and the painstaking attention to detail that Gettysburg writer-director Ronald F. Maxwell has invested in this academically respectable 220-minute historical pageant. In adapting Jeffrey Shaara's 1996 novel (encompassing events of 1861-63, specifically the Virginian battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville), Maxwell sacrifices depth for scope while focusing on the devoutly religious "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang), whose Confederate campaigns endear him to Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall, giving the film's most subtle performance). Battles are impeccably recreated using 7,500 Civil War re-enactors and sanitized PG-13 violence, their authenticity compromised by tasteful discretion and endless scenes of grandiloquent dialogue. Still, as the first part of a trilogy that ends with The Last Full Measure, this is a superbly crafted, instantly essential film for Civil War study. For all its misguided priorities, Gods and Generals is a noble effort, honoring faith and patriotism with the kind of reverence that has all but vanished from American film – but provides abundant proof that historical accuracy is no guarantee of great storytelling. --Jeff Shannon

Review
While being a tale of truly epic historical proportions, Ron Maxwell's Gods and Generals is missing any sense of focus, the one key ingredient keeping it from the greatness it comes so close to achieving. Obviously made with great love for its Civil War subject matter, the film is dead on accurate in its attention to detail involving sets, costumes, and battle sequences. This love and attention to detail matters little, however, if the viewer does not possess a passion for the subject matter. This is a film in which seemingly every line of dialogue (and there's a lot of talking for a story so rich with battle) is part of a long-winded speech, a Bible quote, or a reference to past historical events. When those words are combined with the entire cast's wooden delivery, dealing with it for the film's unholy three hours and 45 minute running time turns out to be nothing but brutally annoying. Gods and Generals features so many characters, so many settings and so many plot lines in it's epic story that it loses all dramatic focus and its audience in a blur of confusion. The final product is something that sadly seems much more like a made for television miniseries rather than a theatrical feature film. ~ Jason Gibner, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
Side 1 Movie Plus These Special Features: Introduction by Executive Producer Ted Turner
Commentary by Director/Screenwriter Ronald F. Maxwell and Historical Advisors Col. Keith Gibson and James I. Robertson Jr.
Theatrical Trailer
Side 2 Special Features: 3 Documentaries Journey to the Past: the African-American Slave Experience in the Film's Era, the Life of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and the Authenticities of the Film
2 Music Videos: Bob Dylan's Cross the Green Mountain and Mary Fahl's Going Home.
DVD-ROM Interactive Civil War Activities: Including Knowledge Quiz, Production Stills and a Historical Primer With Timeline.

Customer Reviews

Underrated
Even though I can understand where the bad press about this film comes from, I believe that those that are fairly knowledgeable about the Civil War will enjoy the historical accuracy in this film. Real, oftentimes famous quotes are used by the main characters. The KFC eating southerners present in Gettysburg are absent in Maxwell's movie as well. Even though it's fairly long and takes some appreciation of the fine details, this film is underrated and doesn't deserve the bad reputation that it has received.

One of the greatest movies of the century so far
If there is ever a true story as good as this one, I have never seen it. General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson is the main character under the command of one of the greatest military leaders of all time, General Robert E. Lee. This film shows how these two Virginians fought together and were able to outflank the yankees. One yankee from Maine who volunteered was a man named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. He is a colonel who volunteers, and in December 1862, gets a first-hand glimps of how similar war and hell are. This film shows everything in the early days of the Civil War in Virginia, from Lee declining the offer Lincoln gave him to be the head of the US army, to the brilliant flank movement by Jackson at Chancellorsville. All of this film leads to another brilliant movie, Gettysburg.

Gettysburg so good, this so bad.
I am only adding my review to the many already submitted in the hope that the average review rating comes down from 3 stars. After admiring Gettysburg, it is difficult to understand why the same people produced a movie so different and so awful. Gettysburg was an epic saga. Gods and Generals is an overlong homage to one man, Stonewall Jackson, not an overview of the Civil War prior to July 1863. It is so full of monologues that it reminded me of Shakespeare. More erudite reviewers have made cleverer comments than I ever could but if anyone reads this then I recomend that you borrow this movie from a friend, see it once and then watch Gettysburg. Gettysburg first kindled my interest in the Civil war. If I had seen Gods and Generals first I believe I would never have got started. This film has convinced me never to read the book.