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| Gettysburg (Double sided DVD) [1993] | ![Gettysburg (Double sided DVD) [1993]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51N94447W4L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Ronald F. Maxwell
Actors: Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Jeff Daniels, Richard Jordan
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £4.59
You Save: £9.40 (67%)
Buy New/Used from £3.22
Avg. Customer Rating:  (19 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1916
Format: Pal, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: Dutch (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Romanian (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Portuguese (Original Language), German (Dubbed)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Media: DVD
Running Time: 243 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 7321900861397
ASIN: B0001Z6440
Release Date: July 5, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: October 8, 1993
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Thanks to generous funding from media mogul Ted Turner, first-time director Ronald F Maxwell was able to make an almost word-for-word adaptation of Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Killer Angels. Running over four hours, Gettysburg (1993) splits into two convenient parts for TV viewing (although a 70mm print was given limited theatrical release). This story of three bloody days of conflict in July, 1863 (an unimaginable 50,000 casualties), is divided equally between Union and Confederate forces. On the Union side, Jeff Daniels is the quietly heroic Colonel Joshua Chamberlain; Sam Elliott is utterly convincing as General Buford, the Union cavalryman who holds the Confederate army at bay on the first day. Martin Sheen plays an oddly subdued and vacillating General Lee--a controversial portrait of the legendary Confederate chief--while Tom Berenger, despite being almost hidden underneath an enormous authentically period-style beard, is strong and authoritative as General Longstreet (whose opposition to Lee's plans gave many in the Confederacy a reason to blame him for the disaster at Gettysburg). Chamberlain's last-ditch defence of Little Round Top, which prevented the Union forces from being flanked on the second day of battle, forms the climax to the first half; the heartbreaking Pickett's Charge--the Confederates' disastrous frontal assault on the entrenched Union lines on the third day--is the movie's greatest set piece and one of the most compelling reasons to endure a little too much stodgy dialogue (lifted directly from the novel) and an apparently over-reverential attitude to the subject-matter. But much of this movie was made in and around the actual battle site, so it's only to be expected that the cast and crew tread carefully, as if literally under the watchful eyes of the men whose lives they are re-enacting. And re-enactment is the key: with a cast of thousands in splendidly detailed period costumes, cannonades galore and massed ranks of musketry, the sheer scale of the military spectacle is endlessly impressive. If as a piece of filmmaking it has many faults, as an historical re-enactment Gettysburg is unsurpassed--even by the epic Waterloo (1970), which drafted in a large chunk of the Russian army as Napoleonic extras. --Mark Walker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Oh dear September 10, 2008
Over the years I've avidly read numerous books on the American Civil War and, in terms of factual television, believe that the Ken Burns series was one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Having looked forward to watching Gettysburg with great anticipation, my sense of disappointment was therefore more crushing.
First, the plus points. The re-enactors do a sterling job in recreating the battle, adding something of an air of authenticity to proceedings, even if the battle scenes are somewhat over-sanitised (none of the truly horrific injuries for which this war is renowned were apparent no matter how intense the battle.) Additionally, the story, as told, is undoubtedly as historically accurate as a film production is likely to be. The progress of the battle is not abridged merely for editorial expediency and most salient and significant events are covered.
Unfortunately, this lack of pruning continued even where it was most drastically needed, namely in the prolonged and turgid dialogue. Listening to some of the speeches in this production had a similar effect to undergoing anaesthesia: not only an overwhelming drowsiness, but a mild feeling of nausea too. In parts, the sentimentality was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Maybe it is the, at times, stultifying script that handicaps the actors, but the performances are, on the whole, nothing to write home about either. Martin Sheen's portrayal of Robert E Lee is reminiscent of a mildly befuddled favourite uncle, whilst Sam Elliot growls out his lines so viciously that he's barely comprehensible. And I'm not even going to comment on the dodgiest "Irish" accent I've heard in many a long year (you know, the sort of accent that only Americans seem to be capable of...all "top of the morning" and "begorrah")
All in all a huge disappointment.
 One for the enthusiast but very good if visiting the battlefield itself September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Got this in advance of a trip to the US and a visit to the battlefield. Plus points are the great battle scenes and that it was mostly shot on location. Thus it is a good guide to at least selected parts of the battle. Pickett's Charge in particular is fantastic. It is also a very cheap DVD.
Minus points include a pretty lame script with some dodgy acting as well. Somehow the 19th Century speeches just dont sound right. There are also (as some have noticed) some of the worse stick on beards in film history. The re-enactors who provided the extras also look much older and fatter than you would have expected soldiers of the time.
The film also shows its age with a very sanitised view of the battle, no blood, no pain, no-one wounded. People just go "urg" and fall over. Saving Private Ryan it certainly isnt.
However if you are interested in the battle it is the best there is and I watched it with my kids (no unsuitable violence!) and it was a good introduction before visiting PA itself. This is particularly the case for those from the UK who are unfamiliar with the history and the characters.
The book on which it is based, The Killer Angels, is well worth getting as well.
 Why Fast Forward Was Invented May 25, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an epic film concerning the three days of Gettysburg but like Wagner while it has some marvellous moments it has some dreadful quarter-hours. The entire cast seem to miss no chances to prose interminably. Doubtless seeking not to annoy audiences of either a Union or a Confederate persuasion both sides come over as very nice chaps (a very civil war indeed, as it was described to me). This certainly makes the point that friends and familes were divided by the war but makes it a little bland.
The services of re-enactors permit the film to have a grandeur of sheer numbers but as a result one might think that ACW armies were composed of old and very rotund men. Whereas something more like the cast of THE GRAPES OF WRATH is required.
However, all that aside the combat sequences are simply breathtaking. The feel of combat (standing up and slugging away) is admirably dealt with as Buford defeats Heth. The battle on the Second Day involving the 20th Maine is amongst the most exciting and realistic war films I have seen, and finally the grandstand finish of Pickett's Charge knocks one's socks off. Although GETTYSBURG can come in for some ribbing (Gettysbeard, anyone?) its central core is impressive enough to merit a 5.
The Killer Angels November 10, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Gettysburg is actually the second part in an intended trilogy that will now probably never be completed in the wake of the dismal box-office for the bloated Gods and Generals. Thankfully it gains more by having a smaller canvas, focussing on one single battle and largely on three actions - Buford's inspired initial defense on the first day, Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge - and by seeing the action from the viewpoint of both sides throughout. The characters are better drawn, the dialogue feels more natural and you get much more of a sense of what a human tragedy the war was. As a British observer on the Confederate side points out, it all boils down to "same people, different dreams."
The problem with most epics devoted to single battles or campaigns (Waterloo, Zulu Dawn, The Battle of Neretva etc) is that without a single dominating personality they often get so bogged down with history or strategy that the human element gets lost, with a succession of stars acting almost like anonymous interchangeable sports commentators only there to explain what's going on for the layman. Gettysburg has its share of characters primarily there for exposition, but by narrowing its focus to a few of them and drawing on their own letters and memoirs it's able to give them a little more depth and personality. Martin Sheen's Lee's increasingly wrong-headed strategy as he consigns more and more men to pointless deaths with a homespun rationale that leads to horrifying casualties contrasts well with Tom Berenger's more cautious Longstreet gradually realising that the tide has turned against them while Jeff Daniels' awkward but sincere Lawrence Chamberlain gives a humane and decent voice to the Union's case. Richard Jordan is genuinely affecting in his last role - his final scene is even more moving with the knowledge that he really was dying at the time - and even George Lazenby even turns up briefly. As a result, there's more involvement in what's happening and more understanding of what's at stake on a personal level to both sides during the battle. Although shot as a TV miniseries before being released theatrically, it actually looks like a feature film, and one that manages to hold the interest over its four hour running time. It's such an impressive piece of work that you can't help but wonder why so many of the same people got it so wrong so often on Gods and Generals.
Excellent extras on the double-sided DVD, but sadly none of the deleted scenes from the 270-minute laserdisc director's cut.
Gettysburg..Well done Ted Turner! August 19, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was interested in finding out more about the US Civil War.
This was I feel a very educational DVD.
The various add-on's did in their turn lift the worth of the DVD, giving the bigger picture of events.
Hats off to Ted Turner for putting up the money.
A DVD I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone interested in the subject and will probably view it again myself.
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