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...

[EnquiringMind]

I believe Incident at Owl Creek was shown on Twilight Zone, not Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

[EnquiringMind]

S/B Occurrence

[ETL]

As you may well know, there were at least 2 other Twilight Zones involving the Civil War...

“The Passerby”
Airdate: 6 Oct 1961
Confederate soldier stops at a woman’s house after the end of the civil war. While there, they both watch soldiers, Union and Confederate, pass by.
Main Cast: James Gregory, Joanne Linville

“Still Valley”
Airdate: 24 Nov 1961
Paradine, a Confederate officer, walks into a town full of Union soldiers who have been frozen in time by a man with a black book. Close to death, the man gives Paradine the book and tells him to use it to win the war.
Main Cast: Gary Merrill, Vaughn Taylor, Ben Cooper

“Back There”
Airdate: 13 Jan 1961
Peter Corrigan and some friends are discussing time travel. He suddenly becomes dizzy and finds himself in the past at the date of Lincoln’s assassination. Can he change history?
Main Cast: Russell Johnson, Paul Hartman, John Lasell

[tanknetter]

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.

+1.

Although it should be noted that "Gettysburg" is largely based on the historical fiction novel "The Killer Angels." Which is a great book and the entry point into Civil War history for many (including myself). But also should be taken as historical fiction where the author (Michael Shaara - who we lost way too soon. His son Jeff has done a really admirable job in picking up where his dad left off) took some liberties with and often cherry-picked the sources he used for its basis.

For example, Shaara's (and therefore "Gettysburg's") account of the defense of Little Round Top is based pretty much solely in the post-battle writings of Chamberlain. Which have been disputed (somewhat) and were pretty self-serving - becoming increasingly more-so as Chamberlain recounted the story over the rest of his life.

Not meant as a criticism, btw, but as an acknowledgement.

Two additional points. First, since Gettysburg heavily leveraged the reenactment community the soldiers were decidedly older, heavier (just sayin') and better equipped (particularly, if not exclusively, on the Confederate side) than the actual soldiers of the time were. Second, if you see the 150th Anniversary Commemorative Edition Blu-Ray on an HDTV the fake beards on the more prominent characters (particularly Longstreet and Armitage) are blatantly obvious ... but people need to keep in mind that the movie was shot to be seen mainly on 28" old-style TVs.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Glory was excellent along with Red Badge of Courage.

[WorkingClassFilth]

We watched Lincoln the other night and I kept smelling lefties. Sure enough, at the end of the movie, Spielberg raved about Doris Kearns Goodwin and the great job she did with the Lincoln book on which he drew his film. To my recollection, she is the go-to historian for the lefties I know and she got slapped a while back for plagiarism. The film kept elevating slavery as the sole concern of Lincoln and nearly every other character in the film. From what I understand, for the vast majority, it boiled down to self-determination.

My double question: Have you read her book and what objections did you have to Lincoln’s portrayal in the film?

[WorkingClassFilth]

We watched Lincoln the other night and I kept smelling lefties. Sure enough, at the end of the movie, Spielberg raved about Doris Kearns Goodwin and the great job she did with the Lincoln book on which he drew his film. To my recollection, she is the go-to historian for the lefties I know and she got slapped a while back for plagiarism. The film kept elevating slavery as the sole concern of Lincoln and nearly every other character in the film. From what I understand, for the vast majority, it boiled down to self-determination.

My double question: Have you read her book and what objections did you have to Lincoln’s portrayal in the film?

[fatboy]

Glory is one of my favorite movies of all time, right after Gettysburg. Watch it.

[RegulatorCountry]

Black and white was at the pinnacle of artistic and technical excellence along about then, so moody and stark, even television series from the era are visually interesting regardless of subject matter, it's part of what makes old Twilight Zone episodes so memorable and so gripping.

That said, it's curious how unsympathetic the Union soldiers were portrayed by the French in this, snapping their heels like Germans, goose stepping around, reptilian and foppish by turns with the ridiculous manner in which they chose to wear their hats, one fellow even has his on backwards.

The final dream sequence of his return to hearth and home only to be dead after all appears to have inspired something of more modern vintage, and that would be the “turning” of Vampire Bill in season one of “True Blood.”

Here's a YouTube clip, warning, it's not something I'd consider family friendly, adult and fairly graphic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIxEuus0bJE

[N. Theknow]

The Great Locomotive Chase was my favorite.

[Dartman]

My favourite has always been The Horse Soldiers, but then again, I’m a big fan of The Duke. I like everything about that movie and have probably watched it about ten times.

[Jim Noble]

My favorite scene in Gettysburg is the Lee-Stuart confrontation.

The participants move from living in the 18th Century to living in the 20th over about 70 seconds.

Very well done.

[DoodleDawg]

My double question: Have you read her book and what objections did you have to Lincoln’s portrayal in the film?

Yes I read the book, and I thought it was fantastic. I think that Lewis's Oscar for Lincoln was well deserved; his performance was outstanding and was matched by the performances by Spader and Straitharn. But as for the rest of the movie, I thought that the characters were ridiculous. From an historical standpoint, there was a 13th Amendment and it was passed out of the House in January 1865 but the accuracy pretty much ends there. The overwhelming majority of the story is fictionalized BS.

[jimfree]

Alfred Hitchcock presents: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0508121/ Oh look, James Coburn plays a Union sergeant.

I understand that Serling licensed the French version for TZ.

[fatboy]

bt-99 said: I really like GLORY but I love the scene in Gettysburg when “chamberlain” yells... BAYONETS

I agree with you except my favorite line is during the the early morning scene on July 2, where Longstreet and Col. Freemantle talk, Longstreet said almost as a side note "we should have freeded the slaves, then fired on Fort Sumpter".

How true.

[ETL]

Thanks, I’ll check it out when I can.

[twister881]

Friendly Persuasion and Shenandoah for me. Not for the battle sequences, but for the human drama and the cost of war borne by families.

[bonfire]

Beautiful music score as well.

[ABN 505]

Agreed, [Friendly Persuasion] is a great movie with great actors I think it was Tony Perkins 1st film.

[ETL]

In the TW episode “Back There” that I referenced above, notice that it starred actor Russell Johnson. He apparently is still alive at 89 years old.

“Russell David Johnson (born Nov 10, 1924) is an American television and film actor best known as ‘The Professor’ on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan’s Island. He is one of three remaining cast members from that series, the last surviving male.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Johnson