Is The Gettysburg Movie Accurate
Gettysburg
The movie Gettysburg directed and written by Ronald F. Maxwell, is a historical film based on the 1974 historical novel by Michael Shaara which won the Pulitzer Prize. The movie came out in 1993 and starred Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, and Stephen Lang. The movie takes place in 1863 and is about the Northern and Southern forces fighting at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War. The film is based on the novel “The Killer Angels”. It was released on October 8th, 1993. The film is full of factual information. Military Strategy and tactics for the union and confederate army are accurately depicted, and so are the command orders. Also, the motivation of both sides and the individual leadership are well shown. The location was at the Gettysburg National Military Park, and this was the actual land that the fighting took place on one hundred-fifty years ago, thus providing the audience with an accurate view of what the actual battlefield looked …show more content…
like, instead of being filmed on a set miles away from the actual thing. The uniforms were remarkably accurate for the time period, and everyone on set made their own uniforms for the most part. Mostly all of the weapons used in the film were something that you could have found people from the North and South fighting with back then. Even though some guns used in the film were outdated for the time, you still could have seen some soldiers using them for battle. Several soldiers at Gettysburg used Model 1842 muskets, which was shown at parts in the movie. One of the confederate snipers used a Whitworth rifle with a scope to kill Union General Reynolds, in the battle, this was shown in the film and is accurate for the time period. The Yankee blockade was going on at the time of Gettysburg. Another interesting thing that was accurate was that people present during the Hancock wound. One of the most important accuracies is the battle for Little Round Top. The confederates did actually charge the men from Maine as shown in the film and even the gun that was pulled in the face of General Chamberlain is very accurate. It was actually filmed on the hill itself, making this one of the most accurate parts of the movie. Though very few, there are some inaccuracies to the film.
For example, I found that even though the battle scenes and techniques were accurate, that amount of blood and violence showed was not accurate due to the film being rated PG. There was way more during the real battle. The 20th Maine never was moved to the Union center on the third day. Another inaccuracy was that Pettigrew was shot in the breast in real life, not the finger which the movie shows. Longstreet was not with Lee when Stuart arrived during the second day of fighting. Originally the transfer and “mutiny” of the men took place six weeks before the battle at Gettysburg. Colonel Fremantle in the film was wearing a red uniform and forced to carry a cup of tea, this was put into the movie so that the viewers wouldn’t be confused. He actually in real life would have worn a dark blue uniform. One last inaccuracy found was that there were three Chamberlains at Gettysburg, not just two of them. The third Chamberlain was a
doctor. Overall, I would consider the film to be historically accurate. It is a very good way to see the events of the battle at Gettysburg and how it affected everyone. Most of the events portrayed in the film show exactly what happened and it is for the most part in the correct order as it really happened. If you want to learn about the battle at Gettysburg this is the way to do it. The film was well received among historians, scholars and film critics. Based on an award winning novel, about factual events this movie is as accurate as they come. In some ways society did influence the making of this film. During the time the film was made the novel that the film was based on was very popular. This could have caused the director to want to make a movie about it. The film and the novel also influenced society in a way because the film and the novel showed people two significant influences on modern day showings of what really happened during the Civil War. One of the scenes from the movie was based on an actual painting during the era, and they decided to include it into the movie.
Works Cited
Macomber, Douglas M. The Movie- Gettysburg. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
A PEDANT’S GUIDE TO THE MOVIE ‘GETTYSBURG’. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Gettysburg (1993)- Trivia." IMDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Gettysburg- Internet Movie Firearms Database." IMFDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Historical Accuracy ." Gettysburg. WordPress, n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
The movie Gettysburg directed and written by Ronald F. Maxwell, is a historical film based on the 1974 historical novel by Michael Shaara which won the Pulitzer Prize. The movie came out in 1993 and starred Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, and Stephen Lang. The movie takes place in 1863 and is about the Northern and Southern forces fighting at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War. The film is based on the novel “The Killer Angels”. It was released on October 8th, 1993. The film is full of factual information. Military Strategy and tactics for the union and confederate army are accurately depicted, and so are the command orders. Also, the motivation of both sides and the individual leadership are well shown. The location was at the Gettysburg National Military Park, and this was the actual land that the fighting took place on one hundred-fifty years ago, thus providing the audience with an accurate view of what the actual battlefield looked …show more content…
like, instead of being filmed on a set miles away from the actual thing. The uniforms were remarkably accurate for the time period, and everyone on set made their own uniforms for the most part. Mostly all of the weapons used in the film were something that you could have found people from the North and South fighting with back then. Even though some guns used in the film were outdated for the time, you still could have seen some soldiers using them for battle. Several soldiers at Gettysburg used Model 1842 muskets, which was shown at parts in the movie. One of the confederate snipers used a Whitworth rifle with a scope to kill Union General Reynolds, in the battle, this was shown in the film and is accurate for the time period. The Yankee blockade was going on at the time of Gettysburg. Another interesting thing that was accurate was that people present during the Hancock wound. One of the most important accuracies is the battle for Little Round Top. The confederates did actually charge the men from Maine as shown in the film and even the gun that was pulled in the face of General Chamberlain is very accurate. It was actually filmed on the hill itself, making this one of the most accurate parts of the movie. Though very few, there are some inaccuracies to the film.
For example, I found that even though the battle scenes and techniques were accurate, that amount of blood and violence showed was not accurate due to the film being rated PG. There was way more during the real battle. The 20th Maine never was moved to the Union center on the third day. Another inaccuracy was that Pettigrew was shot in the breast in real life, not the finger which the movie shows. Longstreet was not with Lee when Stuart arrived during the second day of fighting. Originally the transfer and “mutiny” of the men took place six weeks before the battle at Gettysburg. Colonel Fremantle in the film was wearing a red uniform and forced to carry a cup of tea, this was put into the movie so that the viewers wouldn’t be confused. He actually in real life would have worn a dark blue uniform. One last inaccuracy found was that there were three Chamberlains at Gettysburg, not just two of them. The third Chamberlain was a
doctor. Overall, I would consider the film to be historically accurate. It is a very good way to see the events of the battle at Gettysburg and how it affected everyone. Most of the events portrayed in the film show exactly what happened and it is for the most part in the correct order as it really happened. If you want to learn about the battle at Gettysburg this is the way to do it. The film was well received among historians, scholars and film critics. Based on an award winning novel, about factual events this movie is as accurate as they come. In some ways society did influence the making of this film. During the time the film was made the novel that the film was based on was very popular. This could have caused the director to want to make a movie about it. The film and the novel also influenced society in a way because the film and the novel showed people two significant influences on modern day showings of what really happened during the Civil War. One of the scenes from the movie was based on an actual painting during the era, and they decided to include it into the movie.
Works Cited
Macomber, Douglas M. The Movie- Gettysburg. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
A PEDANT’S GUIDE TO THE MOVIE ‘GETTYSBURG’. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Gettysburg (1993)- Trivia." IMDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Gettysburg- Internet Movie Firearms Database." IMFDB. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .
"Historical Accuracy ." Gettysburg. WordPress, n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2013. .