4/5 Makes you wanna pick up a rifle and charge home!
  by Thomas A. Aschiero (DE, USA)
These movies are great. They give the viewer a great eeling of patriotism and thanks. Giving us all a reason to look back tothe past and salute all the men who died in this terrible war and allowing us to feel what both sides did. I highly recommen these movies and they are worth the time to sit down and watch.

4/5 THE Civil War historical drama
  by D. J. Nardi (Washington, DC)
I don't often give movies a 5-star rating. Gettysburg is one of those rare exceptions. This is a movie about the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the most pivotal moments in U.S. history. The movie rises to the occasion. The acting is great, with Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee and Jeff Daniels as Colonel Chamberlain. The film has a beautiful cinematography and an incredible soundtrack by Randy Edelman. This is a masterpiece and will remain a classic for decades to come. I wish it had encouraged more historical fiction movies, but in the years since 1993 I haven't seen many movies of this caliber.

Gods & Generals, the prequel, covers the two years before Gettysburg, particularly the battle of Fredericksburg. It stars most of the same characters as Gettysburg and was produced with the same care to historical attention. Robert Duvall and Jeff Daniels are both excellent as General Robert E. Lee and Colonel Chamberlain. The settings beautifully portray the historical era and battlefield sites.

However, Gods & Generals wasn't quite as satisfying as Gettysburg. It focuses much more on the Southern forces than the North. It presents a distorted view of the South, almost to the point of taking the Confederacy's side. It presents African American slaves as sympathetic to the Confederate cause. Much of the film stars General Stonewall Jackson, an annoying Southern fanatic who spews out religious fanaticism. In one long scene, he claims that the South was considering liberating the slaves, but this scene overshadows the fact that the Confederacy never came even close to this (and that after the war, Southerners spent decades harassing African Americans). Meanwhile, General Lee, a more sympathetic character, is more marginal than in Gettysburg.

I don't mind a movie that shows the Southern point of view and doesn't demonize them - Gettysburg did a good job of presenting Southern soldiers as human beings. However, Gods & Generals goes a bit too far.

5/5 Great movie
  by Jeremiah Marceau (Seattle WA)
This is a must see movie. I think this should be a part of every high school's lesson plan concerning the civil war. It is violet, but not in the bloody gory way new movies are. A great history lesson we should all learn from!

5/5 Gettysburg / Gods and Generals
  by Fred Patterson (Oregon USA)
One on the best Civil War movies I've ever seen. The starkness and raw emotions depicted in this movie, makes one think they've witnessed the carniage first hand. Historical in every way. Little known facts if what the soldiers endured are brought to the attention of the viewer. The reasons for secession from a southern perspective are expressed in a very frank way. An education for most who are not from the regions that comprised the Confederacy. A must see!

4/5 good but not perfect
  by James H. Nelson (Owatonna Mn)
Good movies, glad I bought them. Gods and Generals have good cast members and I liked the whole thing but I am a northerner and so accept that you cannot please everyone. Gettyburg, side A was worth the price of the whole series. Side B leans a little bit too much to understand the south, but very understandable. Lee is not as well played as in God's and Generals. Great history and I should note that the extras on God's and Generals are also good. Too much description of how it was made in Gettyburgs extras and less explanation on the history.