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Gettysburg Movie Analysis

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Gettysburg
Perhaps one of the greatest civil war movies created, Gettysburg, an epic war film, which truly portrayed the brutality of one of the bloodiest wars ever conducted on American soil. The battle that played out in Gettysburg truly depicts how great the struggle was between the Confederacy and the Union. The movie gives us heavy insight into what occurred on the Battle of Gettysburg from both viewpoints. Set during the American Civil war, the movie centers on the 3-day battle of Gettysburg from July 1st-3rd, 1863. The movie begins with the confederate army commanded by General Robert E. Lee crossing the Potomac River to invade the North in June of 1863. General Robert E. Lee locates the Union's position near Gettysburg and decides to …show more content…

Filmed in 1993, the movie properly shows each side of the battle, giving us a whole new look and respect for the men that lost their lives in one of the deadliest battles in the civil war. The film starts off with Harrison a spy for Confederate General Longstreet reports with information of the Union army’s positions. Longstreet with this information quickly goes to General Lee's headquarters to inform him of their position. During this time, they also learn that the current General of the Union army has been replaced by General Meade and decide to deploy the confederate army to Gettysburg in the dawn. Union Colonel Chamberlain, leader of the 20th Maine, is ordered to take in 120 men who are sick of the war after being in multiple engagements. These men believe that the current Union army leaders will not be able to win this war, showing that the morale is low for the Union army. The soldiers now believe if the Union army loses this upcoming battle they will lose the war. Union General Buford spots the Confederate army on the move and realizes that they are deploying a massive force, he decides to set up west of Gettysburg on Chamburg Pike in order to slow their advance and buy …show more content…

It also shows how the Generals and Colonels valiant bravery gave the Union the advantage in this 3-day battle over Gettysburg. This movie shows us how great the struggle was for both sides in the war. Although a great movie, it is not without its flaws, the film was very long and drawn out resulting in over 4 hours of screen time. If a few scenes were cut out, this movie would have been an even more brilliant portrayal of the battle of Gettysburg. The movie is brought together by the great acting of Tom Berenger as General Longstreet, Jeff Daniels as Colonel Chamberlain, and Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. They truly capture the character's essence and emotions at the time of the battle. The director Ronald F. Maxwell truly gives us a very accurate detail of what happened during the battle of Gettysburg, the command orders, the thoughts and reasons for certain calls, along with the strategies being very accurately depicted. The movie also accurately shows what the clothing would be like at the time of the battle along with the structure and look of the props. In order to capture the full essence of the battle, Maxwell filmed at the actual Gettysburg location making us feel as if we have time travelled to the past and watching this battle from

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