In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the goal of marching through to Washington, D.C. The Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General George G. Meade, forms a defensive position to confront the rebel forces in what will prove to be the decisive battle of the American Civil War.
Acting
Jeff Daniels' Chamberlain carries the whole Union.
Practical Effects
Thousands of actual reenactors = authentic chaos.
Writing
Dialogue lifted straight from letters and memoirs.
Director
Ronald F. Maxwell
Jeff Daniels
Col. Joshua Chamberlain
Tom Berenger
Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet
Martin Sheen
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Sam Elliott
Brig. Gen. John Buford
Stephen Lang
Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett
C. Thomas Howell
Lieut. Thomas D. Chamberlain
Richard Anderson
Maj. Gen. George G. Meade
Richard Jordan
Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead
Kevin Conway
Sergeant Buster Kilrain
Andrew Prine
Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett
Cooper Huckabee
Henry T. Harrison
Patrick Gorman
Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood
James Lancaster
Lieut. Col. Arthur Fremantle
Kieran Mulroney
Maj. G. Moxley Sorrel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was originally a TV miniseries; theatrical release required an intermission. Most of the 'extras' were dedicated Civil War reenactors who supplied their own historically accurate gear.
Released during the early '90s heritage debate, the film's humanizing of Confederate leaders sparked ongoing criticism about romanticizing the Lost Cause. Chamberlain's 20th Maine defense remains one of the most celebrated small-unit actions in American military history.
US
