Gods and Generals

The type of picture where each minute lasts an hour. And this movie is way longer than three hours long. And unfortunately I mean that seriously. It seems like the actors were plucked off the street right before they started filming, otherwise I can’t think how it’s possible that their facial expressions don’t change even a little throughout. It is an unbelievable mixture of pathos and god-fearing performances, all crowned with paper-rustling dialogs that even the worst telenovela would be ashamed of. There is a total lack of directing and it is a patchwork of long, static single-take shots, no matter whether they are filming a stirring speech or a battle scene. (11/09/2005)

A historical film about events that have been filmed many times before, and much better. The interesting cast is underused, uninteresting actors appear in important roles, and unfortunately, the film doesn't have any extra message to justify its incredibly long runtime. The US Civil War is more interesting than what we get here. (22/06/2017)