Reviews

As a history buff, I've visited many historical sites and battlefields and watched many short documentary museum films. This film was without qualification, the best I've seen yet.

I saw this film during my recent visit to Mt. Vernon. Beginning the visit with such a great film sets the perfect tone for the rest of the tour. Very high production values, excellent writing, and beautiful acting all come together to create a wonderful introduction to the life of George Washington.

The film highlights the events surrounding Washington's decision to cross the Delaware River and attack the Hessian force on Christmas. Demonstrating the type of man Washington was off the battlefield and away from the political arena, the film also shows how Washington met Martha Custis.

Overall, the film gives the viewer new perspective into the type of man Washington was, what his motivations were and how he came to be unanimously chosen as the first president of the United States.

I just watched this movie for the second time and my feelings are the same as upon first watching. I absolutely loved the book 'The Killer Angels', so of course the movie had a lot to live up to. What disappoints me most is that this movie could have been amazing. With such a cast and excellent source for the script, a competent director could have created a masterpiece.

My chief complaint is the tempo. So many scenes (even battle scenes)just dragged. Some directors have a way of taking all liberty with time to create an atmosphere, be it tranquil or tense, yet without the scene feeling mired down (Peter Weir is a master at this). Maxwell does not have that talent, or if he does, he does not display it here.

My second complaint is the score. I have no idea who Edelman is. Maybe his other work is better. There were a few nice moments where the score supported the scene nicely, but very few. One scene that stands out as particularly bad is Pickett's charge. The music seemed incongruous to the action on screen. It's as if the director said, 'Let's put something military-sounding in this scene' and the composer just slapped together some brass and drums without even watching the scene.

I won't get into the make-up problems as those were self-evident.

I just hate to see such a good opportunity squandered. That said, the acting was wonderful. Such a shame to have a wonderful cast like this and not turn out a better picture. I have to say my favorite performance was Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain. I fell in love with Chamberlain after reading 'The Killer Angels' as well as some biographies. Jeff Daniels captured Chamberlain's spirit exactly.

For all its faults, there are some very moving scenes such as Little Round Top and Pickett's charge (in spite of the score). It is worth watching for the acting alone.

I would love to see a remake of this with a better director and score, although it will be hard to match the original casting.