Taglines: Same Land. Same God. Different Dreams.
Gettysburg movie storyline. The four and 1/4 hour depiction of the historical and personal events surrounding and including the decisive American civil war battle features thousands of civil war re-enactors marching over the exact ground that the federal army and the army of North Virginia fought on. The defense of the Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge are highlighted in the actual three day battle which is surrounded by the speeches of the commanding officers and the personal reflections of the fighting men. Based upon the novel ‘The Killer Angels’.
Gettysburg is a 1993 American epic war film written and directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, adapted from the historical novel The Killer Angels (1974) by Michael Shaara, about the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The film stars Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, and Martin Sheen; its score was composed by Randy Edelman.
About the Story
The film begins with an account of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Robert E. Lee, crossing the Potomac River to invade the North in June 1863, marching across Maryland and into Pennsylvania. On June 30, Confederate spy Henry Thomas Harrison reports to Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, commander of the First Corps, that the Union Army of the Potomac is moving in their direction, and that Union commander Joseph Hooker has been replaced by George Meade.
Longstreet reports the information to General Lee, who is concerned that the army is moving “on the word of an actor”, as opposed to that of his cavalry chief, J. E. B. Stuart. Nonetheless, Lee orders the army to concentrate near the town of Gettysburg. At the Union encampments near Union Mills, Maryland, Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the 20th Maine is ordered to take in 120 men from the disbanded 2nd Maine who had resigned in protest, with orders to shoot any man who refuses to fight. Chamberlain speaks to the men, and is able to persuade all but six to take up arms.
In Gettysburg, Brig. Gen. John Buford and his cavalry division spot elements of Henry Heth’s division of A. P. Hill’s Third Corps approaching the town, and judging the terrain to be “lovely ground”, elect to stand and fight there. Buford sends word to I Corps commander Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds to bring up reinforcements. Heth’s troops engage Buford’s cavalry the following morning, July 1, with Richard S. Ewell’s Second Corps moving in to flank them. Reynolds brings his corps forward, but is killed by a Confederate sharpshooter.
The Union army is pushed out of Gettysburg to Cemetery Ridge, and Lee – rejecting Longstreet’s suggestion to redeploy south of Gettysburg and go on the defensive – orders Ewell to take the Union position “if practicable”; however, Ewell hesitates, and does not engage. The armies concentrate at their chosen positions for the remainder of the first day. At Confederate headquarters at Seminary Ridge, Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble angrily denounces Ewell’s inaction to Lee, and requests another assignment.
Gettysburg (1993)
Directed by: Ronald F. Maxwell
Starring: Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, Maxwell Caulfield, Kevin Conway, C. Thomas Howell, Richard Jordan, James Lancaster, Stephen Lang, Sam Elliott
Screenplay by: Ronald F. Maxwell
Production Design by: Cary White
Cinematography by: Kees Van Oostrum
Film Editing by: Corky Ehlers
Costume Design by: Michael T. Boyd
Set Decoration by: Barbara Haberecht
Art Direction by: Michael J. Sullivan
Music by: Randy Edelman
MPAA Rating: PG for language and epic battle scenes.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: October 8, 1993
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