SummaryGods and Generals, the screen adaptation of Jeff Shaara's heralded best-selling novel and prequel to the acclaimed drama "Gettysburg," is and epic and sweeping portrayal of a nation divided at the start of the Civil War. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By:Ron Maxwell
Written By:Jeff Shaara, Ron Maxwell
Gods and Generals
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
30
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
My Score
Drag or tap to give a rating
Hover and click to give a rating
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
3% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
34% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
62% Negative
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
63
Has the unfortunate effect of overtipping the dramatic scales in favor of the Southern generals and turning almost everybody into waxen idols who spout flowery rhetoric.
50
If ever there was a movie that could cause even the most restless sleeper to fall into a deep slumber, this is it.
User score
Generally Favorable
50% Positive
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
21% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
29% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
Dec 17, 2024
10
One of the greatest films about the Civil War. Truly an epic of a movie. Didn't get a lot of praise because it didn't trash the Confederates.
May 24, 2023
10
Absolutely amazing film. One of the best I have ever seen. I can't praise it high enough. The historical accuracy is off the scale, probably because they used thousands of historical reenactors.
40
By the film's finale the descent into unintentional parody is all but complete, with a big death scene for Jackson complete with an angelic choir on the soundtrack -- the surprise is that they aren't singing "Dixie."
38
General Boredom meets Major Tedium on the Civil War fields of Virginia.
30
A lumpy three-and-a-half-hour glob of Civil War history.
25
The film's staggering incompetence can be measured by the way it makes some of the most fascinating and heart-rending episodes in American history tedious.
10
Shot with the TV-movie blahs, the film itself is nothing more than an elaborate reenactment, perfectly mating box-of-rocks acting (bring rotten fruit for Mia Dillon's Southern matriarch) and repetitious dialogue so scripturally florid Maxwell might qualify for a Comedy Screenplay Golden Globe next January.
Aug 2, 2020
10
Best civil war movie ever made the speeches and conversations really show you how truly awful a war it was as men were forced to choose between their country and their home. And of course the battles are what everyone watches it for anyways and they are truly epic.
Jul 11, 2022
5
It depends from which point you see this film:
From a historic point, it is pretty accurate and well-written. The battles are well maid. From a film point, it's not a good drama, it's more of a documentary. Depende desde qué punto se vea esta película:
Desde un punto de vista histórico, es bastante preciso y está bien escrito. Las batallas están bien hechas. Desde un punto de vista cinematográfico, no es un buen drama, es más un documental.
Oct 19, 2024
4
The failure of this movie lies in its inability to show the war in a meaningful way. By simply focusing on the experience of a single person, and his experience in the war, this movie could be significantly improved. This is not one battle, it is years of war, trying to show it in a single movie is an unrealistic goal, never mind doing so from multiple perspectives. The result is unfulfilling and incomplete at best.
Nov 30, 2016
3
US Civil War. Ridiculously long, though it ends before Gettysburg, and amounts to a biopic of Stonewall Jackson. Cannon-shot explosons turn the victims into acrobats and the sanctimonious script and swirling score both invite parody, so it might be possible to watch some of it in a group on the basis of so-bad-it's-funny, but it's too long to serve any practical purpose for anyone not in a coma. Handily the movie is divided into parts 1-4, which I saw with breaks over 3 days and avoided being bored to death in one sitting.
Mar 21, 2022
2
It is insulting how much effort went into making this movie historically accurate by all the dedicated reenactors whose commitment to historical accuracy was **** on by screescreenwriter/director/producer Ron Maxwell who is more concerned with confederate apologia than telling a compelling or historically accurate story about a real, complex, and difficult period in American history. Ron Maxwell can eat a giant bowl of all the **** of every man who died in this war. And after that, he would still owe a debt to the men depicted in his trash fire of a film.
Production Company:
- Ted Turner Pictures
- Antietam Filmworks
- Esparza / Katz Productions
- Rehme Productions
- Mace Neufeld Productions
Release Date:Feb 21, 2003
Duration:3 h 39 m
Rating:PG-13
Tagline:The nation's heart was touched by....
Awards
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 2 Nominations
MovieGuide Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA
• 1 Nomination
