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Monday, August 16, 2004

Movie: Gods and Generals

Watched Gods and Generals last night. I watched it and watched it and watched, and then watched it some more thinking that it couldn't possibly go on much longer, but it did. It finally did come to an end, though anyone watching it might believe that such a blessed event might never occur.

Now don't get me wrong -- the book was terrific, and I stand second to none in my admiration for the brave men on both sides who fought bravely (in such an unbelievably silly manner) for their respective sides. And certainly Stonewall Jackson was as fine a man and as fine a warrior as you'd ever want on your side. But this movie is just terrible. Set aside the fact that you have to sit through cameos by Ted Turner and Senator Byrd -- the dialog sounds like a cheap Victorian romance, and the melodrama is so thick that you can cut it with a battle sabre. The battle scenes are pretty cool, but the whole time I was watching those I kept wanting to shout "Lie down! Take cover! Stop standing there like an idiot! On your belly!" Sadly, it took another 50 years before the military figured out it's not really a good idea to line up and march at each other. Man, I could have won the war in a month for either side if they would have just let me change their silly battle tactics.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend the film. Unless you have FOUR HOURS to kill and have absolutely nothing else you can possibly think of doing.

posted by Nick at 11:35 | [Permalink] (0) comments

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