Customer Reviews

Gods and Generals: The Illustrated Story of the Epic Civil War Film (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook)

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This book is amazing ! Plenty of pictures about special effects, battle scenes, actors, makeup, soundtrack, landscape, a must have to all lovers of history, civil war or movies. I had never seen before such a work for a book about a movie ! You even could read the entire screenplay at the end !
Really, a wonderful job, Mr Maxwell !

For those of you who saw "Gods and Generals" and did not understand what was happening, then this book is for you. Filled with outstanding photographs from the set and scenes from the film, this companion book to the film not only takes a look at the making of the $ Million epic, but a look at the real-life characters and events that inspired the cinematic masterpiece that is "Gods and Generals." For history buffs and cine-buffs alike! Grade: A+

The collaboration of Ronald F. Maxwell (who wrote, produced and directed the film version) and Jeff Shaara (who wrote the book upon which the film was based), Gods And Generals: The Illustrated Story Of The Epic Civil War Film showcases an epic movie. Presenting the full-length screenplay as well as extensive revelations and insights about the making of a classic film, full-color photographs, a selected Civil War filmography, and so much more, Gods And Generals is the perfect companion volume for anyone who truly cherished viewing this great and enduringly popular film.

A movie not well received by critics and historical revisionists, it did poorly at the box office but fared much better in DVD sales.
"It was slow and boring," some said.
"It was too religious," others commented.
"It didn't show enough from the northern perspective," said still others.
So, was it slow? Well, it was dramatic but hardly slow if you are a fan of history.
Was it boring? Not in the least.
Was it religious? Absolutely! It depicted the times fairly accurately - folks in the 21st century have a difficult time realizing just how religious our 19th century ancestors were.
Was it mainly from the southern point of view? Yes. This would also be a complaint of mine. More of the northern perspective and northern generals needed to be shown.
That being said, this movie is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. It has everything I love most: drama, action, history, accuracy.
What more could I want?
Well, there is something else...originally, this movie had a couple extra hours of footage that were cut out - the Battle of Antietam, scenes with Booth and with Lincoln (separately, of course), and others. I would love to see these scenes restored with a special Director's Cut edition.
Seeing that may never take place, this book is the next best thing. It has the complete "director's cut" script so one can at least read what was filmed and see a few of the pictures from those scenes.
Also in this (mostly) full color book are behind the scene shots, tin types taken of the actors by wet-plate specialist Rob Gibson, articles about the re-enactors that participated in the filming of the movie, and pretty much anything else associated with the film.
If you enjoyed the movie, I would highly recommend this book.