Gettysburg (1993)

The Confederate Army has invaded Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863, and the Union Army is converging to drive them out.

Northern cavalry commander John Buford (Sam Elliott) arrives in Gettysburg, finds the high ground and sees the Rebel infantry advancing.

Sending a desperate message back to Gen. Reynolds to advance as quickly as possible, Buford decides to try to hold the high ground should the Confederates attack.

Infantry under Gen. Henry Heth do just that, thinking they’re facing militia, unwilling to be stopped by dismounted cavalry, then finding themselves in a major engagement against the orders of Gen. Robert E. Lee (Martin Sheen).

And so begins what would become a three-day battle, the bloodiest of the Civil War, the turning point of the War Between the States.

Lt. Gen. James Longstreet (Tom Berenger) repeatedly urges Lee to swing his Army so that it’s sitting between the Union forces and Washington, D.C., in order to fight a defensive battle.

But Lee is certain his men can sweep any field, and they nearly do on the second day when a stubborn stand by the 20th Main Regiment under Col. Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top saves the Union Army.

That sets the stage for the fateful third day, and the Confederates massive, ill-advised charge on Cemetery Hill.

Jeff Daniels as Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, meeting a wounded soldier after the attack on Little Round Top in Gettysburg (1993)

Martin Sheen as Gen. Robert E. Lee, listening patiently to Gen. Longstreet’s concerns in Gettysburg (1993)

Review:

Originally designed as a television mini-series, this four-hour-plus film received a brief theatrical release in 1993, the 130th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Director Ron Maxwell received permission to film on the battlefield itself, and the result was an impressive spectacle of a film fill with epic-scale battle scenes.

The film also benefits from strong performances from Berenger as Longstreet, Stephan Lang as Gen. George E. Pickett and, especially, Daniels as Col. Chamberlain.

But not everything works, including a subplot that has Confederate Gen. Armistead constantly bemoaning the possibility of crossing swords with longtime friend Winfield Scott Hancock.

And Martin Sheen’s Gen. Lee hardly comes across as the military wizard who befuddled the Union Army throughout the early part of the war.

The film was based on “Killer Angels,” a best-selling book by Michael Shaara and was intended as the first of three Maxwell-directed Civil War epics.

“Gods and Generals” followed in 2003, but was such a box office flop that the third film, “The Last Full Measure,” never materialized.

C. Thomas Howell as Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain, listening to his brother’s orders in Gettysburg (1993)

Kevin Conway as Sgt. ‘Buster’ Kilrain, one of Chamberlain’s most trusted soldiers in Gettysburg (1993)

Directed by:
Ron Maxwell

Cast:
Martin Sheen … Gen. Robert E. Lee
Tom Berenger … Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
Stephen Lang … Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett
Richard Jordan … Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead
Andrew Prine … Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett
Cooper Huckabee … Henry T. Harrison
Patrick Gorman … Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood
Bob Brinkman … Maj. Walter H. Taylor
James Lancaster … Lt. Col. Arthur Freemantel
William Morgan Sheppard … Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble
Kieran Mulroney … Maj. G. Moxley Sorrel
James Patrick Stewart … Col. E. Porter Alexander
Tim Rudy … Maj. Charles Marshall
Royce D. Applegate … Brig. Gen. James L. Kemper
Ivan Kane … Cap. Thomas J. Goree
Warren Burton … Maj. Gen. Henry Heth
MacIntyre Dixon … Maj. Gen. Jubal Early
Joseph Fugua … Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart
Timothy Scott … Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell
George Lazenby … Brig. Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew
Alex Harvey … Maj. Hawkins
Charles Lester Kinsolving … Brig. Gen. William Barksdale
Graham Winton … Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes
Patrick Falci … Lt. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill
Jeff Daniels … Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Sam Elliott … Brig. Gen. John Buford
C. Thomas Howell … Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain
Kevin Conway … Sgt. “Buster” Kilrain
Brian Mallon … Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock
Buck Taylor … Col. William Gamble
John Diehl … Private Bucklin
Joshua D. Maurer … Col. James C. Rise
John Rothman … Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds
Richard Anderrson … Maj. Gen. George G. Meade
Billy Campbell … Lt. Pitzer
David Carpenter … Col. Thomas C. Devin
Maxwell Caulfield … Col. Strong Vincent
Emile O. Schmidt … Brig. Gen. John Gibbon

Runtime: 271 min.

Tom Berenger as Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, arguing for a shift that would force the Union Army to attack the Confederates in Gettysburg (1993)

Stephen Lang as Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett, eager to take his Virginians into battle in Gettysburg (1993)

Memorable lines:

Gen. Longstreet, of scout Harrison, who reports the Union Army’s advance: “You remember him, sir? The actor. From Mississippi.”
Gen. Lee: “An actor? We move on the word of an actor?”

Gen. Lee: “Well, all in God’s hands now.”

Col. Chamberlain: “Generals can do anything. There’s nothing quite so much like God on earth as a general on a battlefield.”

Col. Chamberlain: “This is a different kind of army. If you look back through history, you will see men fighting for pay, for women, some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, cause a king leads them or just because they like killing. But we are here for something new. This has not happened much in the history of the world. We are an Army out to set other men free.”

Sgt. Kilrain: “The thing is, you cannot judge a race. Any man who judges by the group is a pea-wit. You take men one at a time.”

Sam Elliott as Brig. Gen. John Buford, finding the high ground and determined to hold it in Gettysburg (1993)

Brian Mallon as Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, congratulating Gen. Buford on a job well done in Gettysburg (1993)

Gen. Longstreet, of Gen. Lee: “It’s amazing what one honest man can do.”
Gen. Armistead: “One honest man, and a cause.”
Longstreet: “Yeah, I don’t think on that too much anymore. I guess my only cause is victory. This war comes in nightmares. You pick your nightmare, put your head down and charge.”

Gen. Longstreet, remembering the Mexican War and how he’s now facing some of the man he once fought alongside: “Those boys in blue, they never quite seem the enemy.”

Union officer, posting Chamberlain and his men at the end of the Union line: “Now we’ll see how professors fight.”

Richard Jordan as Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead, concerned about the possibility of meeting an old friend on the battlefield in Gettysburg (1993)

Patrick Gorman as Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood, arguing against a frontal assault on Little Round Top in Gettysburg (1993)