Gods and Generals (film)

• 1. Turner's Personal Stake

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  Ted Turner personally financed the 2003 film Gods and Generals after Warner Bros. Pictures rejected his initial pitch in 2000. The final production cost reached $60 million, with an additional $30 million allocated for distribution. This made it one of the most expensive independent films ever produced at that time. Turner also appeared on screen as Lieutenant Colonel Waller T. Patton, a character who was mortally wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg. United States Senators George Allen and Robert Byrd both played Confederate officers in cameo roles. Phil Gramm appeared as a member of the Virginia Legislature early in the narrative. Representative Dana Rohrabacher played a Union officer while Ed Markey appeared as an Irish Brigade officer. Most extras were American Civil War reenactors who provided their own equipment without pay. Ted Turner agreed to donate $500,000 to Civil War battlefield preservation in exchange for this volunteer labor.

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• 2. Recasting The Legacy

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  Russell Crowe was originally selected to play Stonewall Jackson but scheduling conflicts prevented his availability during summer and fall 2001 filming dates. Stephen Lang had begun reprising his role as George Pickett before being asked to fill the lead role instead. Billy Campbell replaced Lang in the role of Pickett after only days of preparation. Tom Berenger desired to reprise James Longstreet from the previous film Gettysburg but became unavailable due to scheduling difficulties. Bruce Boxleitner took over the part of Longstreet. Martin Sheen could not return as General Lee because of contractual obligations to The West Wing television series. Robert Duvall stepped into the role of Lee despite having previously chosen to appear in Stalin instead. Duvall claimed he is related to Robert E. Lee on his mother's side of the family during a CNN interview on the 15th of February 2003. David Carpenter portrayed Reverend Tucker Lacy after playing Colonel Thomas Devin in the earlier film. Two rebel privates developed a friendship throughout the story played by Bo Greigh and Trent Walker who both appeared in Gettysburg.

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• 3. The Cut That Changed Everything

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  Post-production resulted in a film running over five hours long before any editing occurred. Maxwell decided to cut the theatrical release down to three hours and forty minutes following test screenings in 2002. This decision focused the narrative strictly on Stonewall Jackson's character arc while removing other major plotlines. Turner intended for the full version to be released as a miniseries on TNT and home video months later. The film failed at the box office causing Turner to cancel plans for adapting Shaara's third book The Last Full Measure. Maxwell blamed the single theatrical release decision for the movie's failure stating that storytelling became disjointed without the removed material. The Southern Poverty Law Center criticized the film heavily for its pro-Confederate slant and endorsement of Lost Cause mythology. Historian Steven E. Woodworth called it the most pro-Confederate film since Birth of a Nation. He argued the presentation was more favorable to slavery and treason than any modern telling. Critics also faulted the pacing and screenplay despite complimenting historically accurate costumes.

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• 4. A Divided Critical Response

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  Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes listed an eight percent approval rating based on one hundred twenty-one reviews with an average score of 3.60 out of ten. Metacritic gave the film thirty points out of one hundred indicating generally unfavorable reception from critics. Audience polling by CinemaScore resulted in an average grade of B plus on an A plus to F scale. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the movie one and a half stars out of four possible ratings. He described it as a Civil War movie that Trent Lott might enjoy while noting World War II would face hell if handled similarly. Conservative commentators defended the narrative claiming Phyllis Schlafly called it an epic movie presenting truthful history rather than fiction. The American Enterprise magazine declared it the finest movie ever made about the Civil War period. Author Jeff Shaara originally liked the project but later expressed disappointment over differences from his source material. He stated characters existed in the book that never appeared on screen while others were added without his control. Thousands of emails reached Shaara asking how he could allow such treatment of his work yet he had no power to change the final product.

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• 5. The Lost Cause Debate

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  Historians widely viewed Gods and Generals as championing Lost Cause ideology through its presentation favoring the Confederacy. Steven E. Woodworth derided the movie as a modern-day telling of Lost Cause mythology in The Journal of American History. He criticized the portrayal of slaves as generally happy with their condition despite historical evidence contradicting this claim. Woodworth also noted the relative lack of attention given to motivations of Union soldiers fighting in the war. He excoriated the film for implying the South was more sincerely Christian through judicial omission techniques. William B. Feis criticized the director's decision to champion simplified interpretations found in post-war Lost Cause mythology. George Ewert wrote for the Southern Poverty Law Center that the film represented a growing movement seeking to rewrite American South history. White-supremacist groups like the League of the South praised the film according to Ewert's analysis. Filmmaker Andrew Rakich called it the most offensive Civil War movie since Birth of a Nation while criticizing its technical qualities too. Critics argued the film downplayed slavery and the economic system sustaining it throughout the narrative structure.

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• 6. Restoring The Full Vision

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  The extended director cut arrived on Blu-ray Disc on the 24th of May 2011 eight years after the theatrical release. Special screenings commemorated anniversaries of important Civil War battles starting the 22nd of July 2011 at George Mason University. Footage edited from the original included subplots following John Wilkes Booth who would eventually assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. One scene featured Chamberlain attending Shakespeare's Julius Caesar production where Booth played Marcus Junius Brutus. Another deleted sequence showed Booth starring in Macbeth seen by President Lincoln during his famous dagger soliloquy. A full battle sequence dealing with Antietam was removed until this restoration appeared. The Antietam scenes depicted fighting in Miller's Cornfield where soldiers fired from mere meters apart. Jackson played a major strategic role in that battle while Chamberlain's corps remained held in reserve. Soundtrack composer John Frizzell created new music for the film with minor contributions from Randy Edelman. Bob Dylan wrote and performed Cross the Green Mountain specifically commissioned for the movie. The track later appeared on compilation album The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs. Music by the 2nd South Carolina String Band also appeared on the official soundtrack.

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