9 / 10
Gettysburg is four hours and fourteen minutes of Civil War battle filmmaking and it earns every minute. Ronald F. Maxwell directed it. Tom Berenger plays James Longstreet. Jeff Daniels plays Joshua Chamberlain. Martin Sheen plays Robert E. Lee. Sam Elliott plays John Buford. Stephen Lang plays George Pickett. Richard Jordan plays Lewis Armistead in what turned out to be his final role. The film is adapted from Michael Shaara’s 1974 Pulitzer-winning novel The Killer Angels, which gave it a literary spine most war films lack.
Originally produced as a television miniseries for Turner, the project expanded into a theatrical release after Ted Turner decided he had something more important on his hands than a TV movie. The film was shot on the actual Gettysburg battlefield, using more than five thousand Civil War reenactors as extras. The reenactors brought their own uniforms, equipment, and tactical knowledge. The combat sequences are unique in American cinema for that reason.
The Reenactors
Most Civil War films struggle with combat because the production has to teach extras how to perform period drill in a few weeks. Gettysburg did not have this problem. The reenactors had been doing this for years or decades. When the cameras rolled, the formations moved correctly. The fire-and-loading drills happened at the right pace. The infantry formations advanced and reformed under fire the way they actually did in 1863.
The Pickett’s Charge sequence is the result of this commitment. Fifteen thousand Confederate soldiers in three divisions advance across approximately a mile of open ground toward the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. The film stages the assault with hundreds of reenactors moving in actual brigade formation. The scale and accuracy of the sequence have not been matched.
For Writers
Authenticity in historical fiction is purchased through specific labor. The Gettysburg reenactors brought decades of accumulated expertise that no film production could have built from scratch. The lesson for writers is that authentic detail is usually outside the writer’s direct experience and must be sourced. Find the people who already know the thing. Talk to them. Use what they tell you. Authenticity is rented, not invented.
The Generals
The film spends most of its runtime in command tents and on horseback with the generals. Lee at his evening councils. Longstreet arguing against the assault. Chamberlain on Little Round Top. Pickett before the charge. The dialogue is taken substantially from Shaara’s novel, which itself was based on the historical record. Most of what the generals say in the film, they said in some version in real life.
Martin Sheen’s Lee is the most controversial casting choice. Historians have argued about whether Sheen’s interpretation is too gentle. The historical Lee was a more morally compromised figure than Shaara wrote, and the film inherits Shaara’s portrait. Stephen Lang’s Pickett is excellent. Tom Berenger’s Longstreet is the best performance in the film, playing a competent professional who knows the attack will fail and cannot convince his commander to change the plan.
For Writers
Adaptations inherit the source’s interpretation. Gettysburg uses Michael Shaara’s portrait of Lee, which is more sympathetic than the historical record arguably justifies. The film cannot easily correct this without disowning its source. The lesson for writers adapting other writers is that you are adopting their interpretive choices along with their plot. If you do not share an interpretation in the source, you are obligated to either rewrite it or acknowledge that you are amplifying it.
Chamberlain at Little Round Top
Jeff Daniels’s Joshua Chamberlain sequence is the moral center of the film. The 20th Maine holds the extreme left flank of the Union line on the second day. The Confederates attack repeatedly. The 20th Maine runs low on ammunition. Chamberlain orders a bayonet charge. The Confederates break and run. The left flank holds. The Union line at Gettysburg holds because of Chamberlain’s decision.
Daniels plays Chamberlain as a college professor who became a competent infantry commander through application. The pre-charge conversation with his brother is one of the great quiet scenes in the film. Daniels has talked publicly about how seriously he took the role. The performance is the foundation of his career as a serious actor and it deserves to be.
For Writers
A character who is brilliant at one thing and inexperienced at another is more interesting than a character who is good at everything. Chamberlain was a competent classics professor who became a competent infantry officer through study. He was not a born soldier. He was a man who applied himself. The lesson is that competence acquired through visible effort reads as more earned than competence assumed at character creation. Show the work.
Craft Note
Ronald F. Maxwell wrote and directed. Adapted from Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels (1974). Tom Berenger as James Longstreet. Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain. Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee. Sam Elliott as John Buford. Stephen Lang as George Pickett. Richard Jordan as Lewis Armistead (his final role; died after production). Approximately twenty-five million dollar budget. Filmed on the actual Gettysburg battlefield with thousands of reenactors. Released October 1993. Runtime two hundred and fifty-four minutes.
The Verdict
9/10. The most accurate large-scale Civil War battle reenactment ever filmed. The script is faithful to its source. The performances are good. The film is too long for general audiences but exactly the right length for serious viewers. Watch it if you care about the period. Skip if you do not.
FAQ
Is it really four hours?
Yes. Two hundred and fifty-four minutes in the theatrical version. Plan accordingly.
Is it accurate?
The major events of the three-day battle are accurate. The personal scenes and dialogue come from Shaara’s novel and are interpretive. The reenactors brought period-accurate uniforms and drill.
How does it compare to The Killer Angels?
Faithful adaptation. The novel is more economical. Both work.
Are there other films in the series?
Yes. Gods and Generals (2003) covers the war before Gettysburg, also by Ronald Maxwell, also adapted from a Shaara novel (by his son Jeff). Critics savaged Gods and Generals. The unreleased Last Full Measure would have completed the trilogy.
Is Richard Jordan really in his final role?
Yes. He died in August 1993, two months before the film’s release.
How does it compare to Glory?
Glory is the better film. Gettysburg is the better battlefield document. They are doing different things.
Should I watch this?
If you want the most accurate battlefield reconstruction in American Civil War cinema, yes. If you want a tight narrative, watch Glory instead.