Top 15 Civil War movies

The Washington Times ^ | September 29, 2012 | John Haydon

[iowamark]

15. “Cold Mountain” (2003) — Jude Law plays a Confederate soldier...

14. “The Horse Soldiers” (1959) — Directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and William Holden, this film is based on the true story of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson and the Battle of Newton Station...

13. “Gods and Generals” (2003)

12. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976)

11. “Shenandoah” (1965) — Jimmy Stewart plays a Lincolnesque widower from Virginia who is adamant about keeping his sons out of the Civil War...

10. “The Beguiled” (made in 1970, released in 1971) — Clint Eastwood portrays a wounded Union soldier

9. “Andersonville” (1996) — Director John Frankenheimer’s excellent piece of television focuses on the most notorious Confederate prisoner-of-war camp in the American Civil War.

8. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966)

7. “Gettysburg” (1993)

6. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” or “La Riviere du Hibou” (1962) — This French film is an adaptation of Ambrose Bierce’s short Civil War story...

5. “The Red Badge of Courage” (1951) — Audie Murphy, a hero from World War II, plays Pvt. Henry Fleming in this film...

4. “Birth of a Nation” (1915) — A provocative and opportunistic film by D.W. Griffith, sometimes known as the “father of film.” This silent film ran nearly three hours, portraying the saga of the Civil War and Reconstruction with remarkable scenes of the war. The film negatively portrayed blacks in the South and made heroes of the Ku Klux Klansmen.

3. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)

2. “Glory” (1989)

1. “The General” (1926) — An epic re-enactment of the Civil War is the backdrop to Buster Keaton’s immortal silent comedy and one of the great comedy chase films ever made...

[iowamark]

Links at the source.

Note that this list was compiled before the 2012 Daniel Day-Lewis movie "Lincoln" was released.

[Chainmail]

Yup - except Glory should be number 1. Best representation of combat of any of them.

[ETL]

Glory should be number 1. Best representation of combat of any of them.

It was a great movie. But you can't judge a war film solely on the realism of its combat scenes. Most of the leftist-produced war movies out over the past few decades were highly realistic and graphic, yet were loaded with distortions and/or outright lies. Not saying this is the case with Glory, just generally speaking.

[jimfree]

Agree with Glory at #1 - very well done. Incident at Owl Creek Bridge was also an Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1959.

[yetidog]

I am amazed that with the possible exception of Lincoln and Glory, better Civil War movies have not been made. The same can pretty much be said abou the American Revolution as well. Movies of both wars pale in comparison to the many quality war movies coming from WWI, WWII and Vietnam.

[jimfree]

Oh, should have noted - AHP episodes and the French version of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge are available at Youtube or other online sources.

[bt-99]

I really like GLORY but I love the scene in Gettysburg when “chamberlain” yells... BAYONETS

[djf]

Is the French version the same one adapted by Rod Serling for “The Twilight Zone”?

That’s a very, very haunting piece. I have the entire Twilight Zone series.

[huldah1776]

We absolutely need more truth about the Revolution, especially about Washington.

[DoodleDawg]

Note that this list was compiled before the 2012 Daniel Day-Lewis movie "Lincoln" was released.

Based on acting performance I'd place "Lincoln" at the top of the list. Based on historical accuracy I wouldn't place it in the top 15. On the other hand most of the other movies on the list would fail the historical accuracy test as well.

[Venturer]

I never watched Glory, it has Morgan Freeman in it and I just assumed it was a liberal OS, as for Cold Mountain I have the movie on DVD and have never been able to watch it.

Just cannot get through the thing, to me it sucks.

[ETL]

Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

That wasn’t an actual episode of the Twilight Zone. It was a short film made by others that Sterling thought so much of he aired it during his series run.

Here it is in its entirety (25 min):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DocXC-kobmU

[ETL]

Re: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

This one below is about 2 mins longer in length (27:45 min). Maybe Sterling’s airing cut out a few parts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuP5kUQro40

[lowbridge]

Ive seen Glory. And in typical liberal hollywood fashion, while its the story of an all black regiment, the story is told primarily from the point of view of the white officer that leads the regiment. Not the first or last time that black people played a background role in movies that are supposed to tell their story. (Amistad is another example)

[ETL]

From a pure entertainment perspective, I would say Josey Wales and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly win hands down.

[djf]

Thanks.

I have a bunch of series of programs on DVD and usually, about once a year, work through them all.

But I remember watching the original TZ broadcast.

[IwaCornDogs]

Totally agree! Instead, Hollywood continues to put out trash and remakes.

Looking forward to this, in case you haven’t heard the buzz about it yet ...
http://screenrant.com/turn-tv-show-trailer-amc/

Turn, AMC’s Story of Spies & American Revolution.

Have you read Citizen Washington? Really loved it ~
http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Washington-William-Martin/dp/0446521728

Cheers ~

[major_gaff]

Or when Brig. General Buford growls through his clenched teeth “...we will deny the enemy the high ground!” Sam Elliott rocks! How ‘Gettysburg’ is not in the top 5 is beyond me...it should be swapped with ‘Gone With the Wind’ which is little more than a soap opera set during the war, IMHO.

[Batman11]

PFL

[ETL]

The one I linked to that Sterling aired was about 2 mins shorter despite the fact that Sterling talks about it for awhile at the beginning. So the other (the original) has over 2 extra minutes.